The Carbon advocate. [volume] (Lehighton, Pa.) 1872-1924, 1892-03-12
DARKDEEDSALLEGED'
A WELL KNOWN MINISTER'S SON
FEARFULLY ACCUSED.

LFNNNN| 0kAN FN1109AagH
DR.. 'scudder, II Is Charged, Neat Hii
HTother-ln-Iaw to Death, Tried to Poison
His Father-in-law and Forged the nrur.
dered woman's Name to a Bogus win.
CHICAGO, March 4-Dr. Henry NJ scud.
der, son Of the famous pastor Of Plymouth
church, is under arrest at his fathers home,
1891 Grand Boulevard, charged with mur.
der. He is sick and is closely guarded by
officers. The warrant on which Dr. Scud.
der is held was sworn out by the venerable
F, H. Dunton, proprietor Of The Spirit Of
the Times and the father-in-law of the &C
cused. Scudder married an adopted daugh.
ter Of Dunton's whose feeble wife had for
tune of $1,000 in her own right, which up
to a few days before the time Of her death
she had purposed leaving to some blood rela-
tives.
On the morning Of Feb. q DR.. Scudder,
who was constant visitor OF the Dunton
mansion, was alone with Mrs Dunton dur.
ing the temporary absence Of the servant.
Mr.. Dupton was In bed in an adjoining
room recovering from an illness with which,
it is also claimed, DR.. Scudder is painfully
connected. Mrs, Dunton uttered piercing
scream which was heard all over the house.
At, or aboHt the same moment, witness
whose name is withheld for the present
saw her on all fours on the floor and DR..
Scudder striking her on the head with some
thing like a club. The witness was in fear
Of the Scudders and suppressed the fact
until later.
When Mrs. Dunton screamed every one
in the house ran to the room, the first ar
rival being Mr.. Dunton, whom Dr. Scudder
gently pushed back, assuring him that he
was too i'll to see his wife To the rest OF
the family he said that Mrs Dunton had
fallen down three times and struck her head
against the furniture Mrs. Dunton was
lying on her face, with her head bleeding
profusely, and she said nothing ineligible
before she died. Dr. Scudder and others
started out for physicians and Dr. Bassett
and DR.. Leavitt came in.
Very Suspicious Wounds.
&They made an examination of Mrs. Dun
toms scalp and found that it had on il five
or more wounds, which penetrated to the
skull bone. II was plain also that they were
made downward and forward on the top
and rear OF the head. Dr. Scudder told the
other physicians that he was present when
Mrs. Scudder fell three times against the
furniture while he was attempting to hold
her up. DR.. Bassett expressed astonishment
The explanation was not sufficient to Dr.
Leavitt. To his practiced eye the wounds
were not such as a casual fall would pro-
duce He communicated his suspicious to
the husband Of the dead woman, who re-
called circumstances connected with the
will which sharpened him in memory and
shaped his action later.
1t is charged that DR.. Scudder tried his
hand first on Mr.. Dunton. On the Thurs
day preceding Mrs. Dunton's death he was
conspicuously attentive to Mr.. Dunton,
who was in very feeble health. He accom-
panied him down town to his office and told
Mr.. Dunton that he was evidently i'll and
he wanted to watch over him. Just before
the couple left Mr.. Dunton's office to 60
home for the night Dr. Scudder told him
that he must take a stimulating draught
He then administered to him, in the pres
ence Of witnesses, dose of something that
he called brandy and quinine.
By the time Mr.. Dunton got home he was
out of his head, and then went into a coma
tose state, exhibiting all the symptoms of
apoplexy, from which he did not recover for
forty-eight hours. It is supposed that the
failure Of this attempt may have produced
the determination to put Mrs. Dunton out
of the way.
Tried His Hand on Her Husband.
Previous to both of these events, how
ever, DIR. Scudder had made arrangements
to have Mrs. Dunton make a more salts
factory will. Mrs. Dunton had often said
that she would not object to making some
little alterations in her will Accordingly,
tiree days before her death and while Mr.
Dunton was in a comatose state, DR.. Scud-
der brought her a new will in which the de-
IL IL
pleased her very much. DIR. Scudder read
1t to her, had her sign it, and then had 1t
witnessed by himself his fourteen-ye
daughter and Mrs. Duntonis fifteen-year-old
daughter. He then made pretext to take
the pen and ink down stairs, and soon after
ward got little Miss Dunton to follow him
He told her that she had signed the will
in the wrong place, and easily induced her
to sign it again, as she supposed, in the
right place But the allegation is made that
she was deluded into signing a different
will, as witness 1t is charged that after
ward DR.. Scudder and his daughter also
signed it as witnesses, and that then he
forged Mrs. Dunton's name to it. This
third will gives pretty much all of Mrs
Dunton's property to Mrs. Scudder.
| Wounds that fully confirm the suspicion
that Mrs. +. H. Dunton was murdered were
nsclosed AT the autopsy held upon the
woman's body at GAINESVILLE, Wis Six ex-
ternal injuries and five fractures of the
skull show how death was caused. The ex-
animation was made by GAINESVILLE physi-
clans.
soudder WIN BE Tried for Murder.
CHICAGO, March 10.-Dr Henry M. Scud-
der has been released from the detention
hospital and turned over to the police TO
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