Connecticut western news., 1895-09-12
HELD MRS. FLEMING.
SHE IS STILL IN THE TONES cAARG-
 ED WITH MURDER.

ED WITH MURDER.
 Although the coroner's Jury Did Not Im-
 piicate Her. She Was Not BeIeased-Ths
 Prosecution Holds Back Part of Its Evi-
 dence.
 O. 'Meagher and jury made an inquest into the causes of the death of Mrs. Eve lima Matilda Bliss, whose daughter, Mary Alice Almont Livingston, otherwise known as Mrs. Fleming, is accused of poisoning her. Through the fear of the district attorney to reveal to the defense the whole strength or the possible weak ness of the case he has against the accused woman the jury was forced to bring in this noncommittal verdict:
 "We find that Evclina Matilda Bliss came to her death on Aug 30 from acute gastritis. also chronic nephritis and lime plates on cardiac valve the result of causes unknown to tho jury"
 There was no mention of poisons, al- though the little testimony that was offer ed was replete with suggestions of 1t. This was a negative acquittal of the wom- an charged with the crime. Consequently her lawyers demanded that she be released, declaring that the coroner had no right to recommit her. The coroner wavered, then issued n warrant for the recommittal of the prisoner which was not, however, formally served.
 So the strange little woman who is ao- cused of matricide sat in the courtroom for more than three hours, advised by her friends that she was being restrained without due process of law, but knowing that should she start to move Acting In spector McCullagh, as a peace officer, would arrest her.
 During that long wait after the verdict of the coroner's jury witnesses were being rushed before the grand jury for the pur- pose of having the woman indicted. Only part of the witnesses were heard, but 1t was understood that an indictment will be returned today.
 Bench Warrant Resorted To.
 To meet the emergency of the night and to overcome all question of the legality of Mrs. Fleming's recommittal by coroner whose jury had failed to find against her, Judge Fitzgerald, in general sessions, was applied to and granted bench warrant for her arrest. Demanding an examina- tion, she was taken before the judge, and the hearing of the case was set down for p. m. today. It is not probable that there will be any hearing, however, for the in- dictment will, it is said, be handed down by the grand jury before noon, and pro ceedings under it will supplant proceed ings under Judge Fitzgerald's warrant
 The caso attracted a great crowd to the municipal building and there was much excitement during the day as the case passed from one stage to another. Whom Coroner O'Meagher entered, he found Acting Inspector McCullagh and Police Captain Thompson sitting close to the witness chair. Chemist Walter T. Scheele, who analysed the contents of Mrs. Bliss stomach and part of the unused clam chowder, reporting that he found arseni- ous acid and antimony in large quanti- ties, sat with Dr. w. J. O'Sullivan, the medico-legal sharp who Is likely to enter the case for the defense if 1t ever gets to trial
 Assistant District Attorneys Mcintyre and Miller were there to look after the peo. ple's interests while Charles w. Brooke, Gratz Nathan, John c. Shaw and Howard | P. Okie were defending the accused wom- an. Henry E Bliss, son of the dead wom- an and the prisoners half brother, sat In the rear of the room, pale and nervous. | His father and sister were not there. Nei- ther was Augustus l.. Tuebner, who sat at Mrs. Bliss bedside the night she died | she had been poisoned by clam chowder sent her by a relative. Grace Fleming, the accused woman's S-year-old child, and | Florence King, her playmate, who are said to testify that they carried the clam chowder from Mrs. Fleming to Mrs Bliss were also absent. A few women attended. How Mrs Fleming Looked.
 There was a murmur when Mrs. Flem- | ing entered in the custody of a court offi- cer. The eyes of the little woman in black, whose marked physical peculiarities have been so fully described, looked red. Her naturally white skin had assumed an al- most ghastly pallor, accentuating the prominence of her nose, her big brown eyes and the disfiguring mole on her lip. | She was dressed in full mourning, but at no time yelled her face.
 She smiled us she greeted her counsel and friends and took seat before the coroner's bench, with her back to the crowd. She kept on smiling throughout the ordeal that followed but her smile was rather an hysterical, involuntary action of her features. Once she wept. It was not when she listened to a description of tho autopsy that had been performed on the l body of the mother she stood accused of | murdering, or when her half brother, evil l ,lently under a severe mental strain and scarcely able to retain his composure, was with downcast eyes and scarcely audible voice giving testimony against her. Her tears came when, after the verdict of the jury, the lawyers were arguing the ques- tion of whether she should be recommit- ted or not.
 The jury was out just 17 minutes and | returned to render the verdict above print sd Its reading was followed by an out break of applause from the crowd, which was quickly stopped by the court officers.
 Those who are familiar with such pro- ceedings were not surprised at the verdict, seeing that in the effort to keep the de- fense from learning his case Assistant Dis trict Attorney Mcintyre had failed to give the jury sufficient evidence to find a crim- mating verdict on.
 Mrs Fleming started up as though to leave the court Mir Mcintyre asked that she be committed to await the action of the grand jury. Mir. Brooke declared that the coroner had no authority to commit her after the finding of the jury, as he was not sitting as a magistrate. He de- manded that she be released. There fol lowed a long argument over tho law.
 After it was all over and Judge Fitz- gerald had issued bench warrant the little woman in black was led back to her cell in tho Tombs, and still she smiled as she went. She will be brought into court this afternoon, but it is likely thnt the examination will be cut of by the intro duction of an indictment to which she will have to plead, and that she will 60 back to tho Tombs to await her trial. |
 Mnk on Draft
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