The herald. [microfilm reel] (Los Angeles [Calif.]) 1893-1900, 1893-05-13
shut and her hands as soft as anybody


ba ok in rather rigid condition: eve,
wide open; VIRTUALLY dead when I got
there; froth coming from her mouth
arms drawn up over her chest and very
rigid. There was spRsm of the muscle,
the form we call tetanic; | did not see
the case in time TO make proper dag.
nosis; she appeared to be dead when /
got there; she was dead when [ got
there; l lifted her arm, which was
rigid. and applied my ear over the haart
and heard few hutters; her laws were
firmly set; | saw symptoms that might
be attributed to strychnine poison; did
not have time to make as thorough an
examination as | would have liked:
was simply trying to find out if she was
dead remained only a short time;
was inclined at the time to attribute her
death to heart disease; did not make ur
my mind what che died Of"
THE sTRYcHNINE THEORY.
About one month after death the BODY
is exhumed and an analysis made of the
stomach and liver to ascertain the pres
ence Of Htrychnine enough of the poi
son is found insthe stomach to kill two
persons, but none is found in the liver
no analysis of any other parts of the
body is made to ascertain the presence
of poison.
The above testimony clearly shows
that Mrs. Bentley was dead when Mrs.
Watson and Mrs. Pouyfourcat arrived.
and il dead, then she was certainly dead
when DIR. Burnett arrived, not less than
half an hour later. So that the only
person Decide the defendant who saw
a motion Of deceased from the time
| of her attack until her death wss the
servant girl, Miss Olotilde Huarcada,
and her testimony ls wholly lncompati-
BILE with strychnine poisoning. She
says deceased never moved muscle of
her face, nor her hands, nor her feet, or
any portion Of her body after she went
in there; that her mouth was open,
tongue protruding; that che raised her
head and it was not stiff. Besides, this
witness was contradicted by two wit
nesses who swore that on the day Mrs.
Bentley died, Miss Clotilde told them
she was combing Mrs. Bentley's hair,
when she gave one gasp, and fell back
dead.
1t is impossible to take the view that
she lay in spasm from the time Mrs.
Watson and Mrs. Pouyfourcat arrived
until the doctor came, for strychnine
does not so act, the spasms lasting no
longer than two or three minutes, rarely
eight minutes, and Mrs. Watson says
she had laid in the same condition from
the time she came until the doctor came,
more than half an hour, and that when
he came he simply looked at her, placed
his ear over her heart and said she was
dead. Besides, Mrs. Watson swears
| land she is corroborated by Miss Clo-
tilde) that during that time deceased
was limp, and not rigid, 30 that Mrs.
Pouyfourcat's testimony must be elm
mated from the case; and indeed her
manner while on the stand was vindic-
tive, carried away with what no doubt
she believed to be great wrong upon
her mother.
DR.. Burnett did not see the movement
of muscle after he got there. He gave
the case hasty examination, just suf-
| ficient, aH he says, to satisfy himself ahe
was dead, and left. He does not detail
single act except to raise the arm and
| apply his ear over the heart. He saws
at the time he was inclined to attribute
her death to heart disease; go that his
testimony throws very little light upon
the question as to the cause Of death.
He says himself that he does not know
the cause.
NO POISON IN THE LIVER.
Then the absence OF the poison in the
liver should of itself call halt and
throw the gravest doubts upon the
charge.
Having heard the medical experts,
am satisfied that where strychnine is
found in the stomach after death, as
rule it will be found in the liver and
that the case must be very rare indeed
where this is not the case SO that find
ing strychnine in the stomach OF a de-
ceased person and not in the liver is al
most proof positive that it has not been
absorbed nor entered into the cir
culatory system, and if not, could not
reach the nerves and muscles through
which alone it DESTROYS life. In this
phase of the case unless there were the
strongest corroborating circumstances OF
guilt, it would be dangerous to convict
upon the presence OF strychnine alone
in the stomach and not found in other
organs, after death. Here number OF
authorities are cited
FAULTY ANALYSIS.
Now when it is remembered that the
two analysis of the stomach and liver of
deceased, by chemist Hance, were both
after the arrest of defendant, the force
of Mr.. Wharton.s observations quoted
above, an applicable to this case, will
be seen. Mr.. Hance analysed the stom-
ach and its contents together, this he
should never have done. 1t WAS impos-
sible from this mode of analysis to de-
termine if strychine was in the coats of
the stomach (having been absorbed or
simply in the juices of the stomach. He
should have analysed the kidneys, this
he did not do. So that Judged by the
rule laid down in Mr.. Wharton :(ouota-
tion) and indeed all books on that oues-
ton the analysis was exceedingly faulty
and made ex-parte when the defendant
was in Jail awaiting a hearing on q charge
of having administered this very poison
for which his prosecutors were search
ing. But what are the corroborsting
circumstances in this case, circumstance
of guilt2 The evidence shows no mo-
tive; on the contrary, so far as pecu-
mary motive is concerned, it ia in favor
of her lie. The $500 stipend per month
on the life of deceased and which ceased
at her death would stimulate defendant
to use all means to prolong her life. The
testimony is they lived on most friendly
terms in this city, for many months be-
fore her death.
1t is true that bottle of strychnine
was found in the little bag or Hatchel of
deceased. and in defendants trunk: but
when it is considered that for nearly a