The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1895-10-10
LEGAL GRIND AT PROVO.
FRANK CARING CHARGED WITH
POISONING w. j. COULTER.
Alleged That He Put Strychnine in
Milk, After VIII Had Been in
Favor of CarIinS-Mrs. Haight
AdjudSed Insane.

PROVO, Oct 9. 1S95.-At II o'clock
this morning the case of the. people vs..
Frank CARING was called. S. R.
Thurman prosecuting and Sam A
King, James A Melville and D. D.
Houtz appeared for the defendant. The
defendant sat beside his counsel and
appeared very detected and down
hearted, and fully realizes the posi-
ton he is in. The boys father,
brothers and friends are in attendance
in his behalf and will see that no evil
dence in the boys favor will be left
ont. The crime charged is a. very
grave one and the boy and his friends
fully sense the enormity of the offense
The Indictment charges Frank
CARING with administering fifteen
grains of strychnine to William j..
Coulter, of Fillmore, with intent to
kill Coulter Coulter is a man about
81 years of age and is possessed of
considera BILE property. a motive for
the crime will be introduced in the
shape of a will in the defendants
favor This will, Mr.. Coulter says is
a forgery. Following is a copy of the
will:
''FILLMORE CITY, July l., 1894.
This is to certify that I, on July
the 18th, 1894, give to Frank Caring,
at my death, whenever that might be,
my house which [ am now living in,
and its surroundings and 'allco' the
'fowr' lots which is Joining and all the
animals which [ one
This is my wishes if not changed.
civilian ]. COULTER.
CTR ANK CARVING"
On the back of this paper appears
the following:
FILLMORE, Dec. Z, 1894.
The undersigned witness to this
will, JAMES SHALL"
The boy does not look nor act in any
way like one who would commit so
grave crime. He looks to be a
quiet. inoffensive young man.
The defense will attempt to prove
that CARING was in the opposite end
of town on the evening of the 5th of
March, when the poison is alleged to
have been placed in the milk. They
will also put evidence on to prove that
Mr.. Coulter actually did make the will
in favor of the defendant and after
wards regretted the transaction and
trumped up this charge against the
young man.
ness, was the first sworn. He testified
that he was 81 years old, has known
the defendant number of years. His
business is freighting. Saw Frank
CARING on the I'd of March. On that
day he came to me, said the witness,
and asked to borrow my horse to go to
Deseret; saw him again on Monday
following. I was away all day and in
the evening came home and found Mr..
CARING at the house. He mad brought
the horse back; myself and CARING
went to the house together; I said that
I wanted a cup of tea; he said for me
to go to the yard and feed my stock
and he would make a fire to heat some
water for the tea; when 1 came hack
the water was boiling and CARING at
once said he must go home; he then
went; I poured some tea and put
sugar and milk in it and after stirring
it with spoon, drank some and
found it to be bitter and spat it out
and threw the balance away; the
water in the pail tasted all right; the
next evening when 1 was preparing
my supper CARING came to my place;
I invited him in; he sat by the table;
before he came I MIXED the cow and
strained it in a bowl which would not
hold it all; the milk was sweet;
tasted it; when he (Carling) came,
said come in; he sat down by the
table; I made a fire; put the milk en-
the table near the defendant; he
asked if I was going to have milk for
supper; l said yes and went into an
other room for some cake; then Went
after some wood for the evening;
when I got in with the wood, the
milk was sitting in front of him; he
then said he must go; l went out to
the gate with him; there he offered me
something to drink; he said it was
brandy; tasted it; then went to the
house and proceeded to eat my supper;
found the milk spilled upon the cake;
l looked to see how it could come
there; 1 took a mouthful and found it
to be as bitter as gall
The witness seemed to be
very anxious to tell his story
in his own way and was stopped by
the judge and told to answer the ques-
tions put to him. The witness pro-
house and we examined the milk; I
was too sick before this to see for
myself; when my brother came I put
a spoon into the milk and drew out a
small white substance about the size
of a pea; | left the milk with nv
brother and went home; before going
to bed L took down a small account
book and found a paper or document
Ghe purported Willy Witness identi-
fed the paper as being the one found.
Characterization elected nothing
new in the evidence. Witness stated
that he did not sign the paper pro-
duced as the will; said that his name
was spelled wrong.
The case is being contested step by
step and will likely not be terminated
before Thursday evening.