The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1896-11-27
NAY NOT BE MURDER
DOCTORS OPINIONS WILL GO FAR
TOWARD CLEARING PERLITT
SMITH.
THANKSGIVING DAY TRAGEDY
RESOLVES ITSELF INTO NATURAL
THOUGH SUDDEN DEATH OF
THE VICTIM.
BURGLARS USED THEIR GUNS.
James Nc Cabe Receives n Bullet in
His Arm-Nevys of Minne-
aDOIis.


doned woman, and a familiar figure in
the police court, whose lifeless body
was found in shed in the rear Of 204
Twelfth avenue south at o'clock yes
terday morning, was not, as at first
supposed, the victim of brutal muir
der.
This was revealed in the course of an
examination of the body conducted by
Drs. Ringnell and Nye yesterday after
noon, their statement being that, to
the best of their knowledge and belief,
the woman died Of natural death. All
of the circumstances in the case at
first indicated murder, and Perlitt
Smith, colored, 116 Second street south;
John Jensen, 206 Twelfth avenue
south and William Glennon, 1904
Fourth street south, were arrested
shortly after the finding Of the body,
the former on suspicion of having been
implicated in the supposed crime, and
the two latter as witnesses.
The story leading to the arrest of
Smith is best told in the words Of Jen-
sen. AS related in the central police
station, he and Glennon were drinking
beer in the rooms Of the Mcdonald
house at 206 Twelfth avenue south,
Wednesday night. During the early
part of the evening Smith came into
the room and joined in the frivolities.
Jensen says that Glennon was the first
to leave the room, and that he Jensen)
soon followed, leaving Smith alone
with the woman. This was about IL
o'clock.
Helen Wilson, who resides in the
house in the rear of which is the shed
in which the body was found, gave
testimony Of a very damaging char
acter to Smith, and which led to the
Immediate arrest of Smith. She said
that she was aroused about II o'clock
by a noise in the woodshed, opened the
window and asked. who's there
Hush, Helen. Keep still. Say,
Helen, where's there a hole? I want
to hide something This came from
she says, was pulling the body of a
woman toward the shed. She became
SO frightened, however, that she closed
the window and returned to bed, not
caring to make any further investiga-
tiOnS
- Capt Ness, of the South side station.
and Inspectors Hoy and Lawrence, who
had interviewed the Wilson woman,
went directly from her house to Smiths
rooms, and after short parley with
the woman of the house, gained en-
trance to Smiths bedroom. He was
still in bed and being taken completely
by surprise, made no resistance, but
calmly accompanied the officers to the
station.
To the officers Smith admitted that
he was with the Mcdonald woman, as
described, but denies having threatened
70 II Il
thS/ cutlery. In his statement to the
oRcers he says that he left the room
Immediately after Jansen threatened to
get the police, and that the woman fol-
lowed him to the top of the stairs. He
claims that he went down and was
standing at the foot of the stairway
in the open air, when she slipped and
fell to the bottom. He was afraid he
would be held responsible for her death
and so left.
Yesterday afternoon Doctors Ringneil
! and Nye carefully examined the body
at the mOrgue. No signs of violence
| could be discovered, the only bruises
being on the knees, which would seem
to bear out the statement of Smith
that the woman fell. The physicians
found that the woman had been in a
poor physical state. The kidneys were
badly diseased, as if from the frequent
! use of liquor. The heart was found to be
|
ton. The most serious physical de-
feet, however and the one which will
most materially affect the future of the
! alleged murderer, lay in an obstruction
to the blood vessels. The right pull
mOnary vein was especially affected in
this manner a calcarious formation
! having stopped the flow Of blood and
caused the right lung to become
clOgged. Deaths from this calcarious
obstruction, the doctors say, as a rule,
are very sudden.
Doctors Ringnell and Nye are both
firmly Of the belief that Mary Nc
| Donald succumbed to natural causes,
from the fact that no injuries of a
| serious nature whatever were found
| upon the body, and that the obstruc-
| ton Of the pulmonary vein was suf-
ficient to have caused sudden death.
This would seem to bear out the story
told by Smith to the police, in so far
as the death itself is concerned. The
fact that the body was found in the
| shed, and that Smith carried it there
! If the testimony Of Helen Wilson is to
| be believed, leads but to one cOnclu-
sion, granting that the woman died OF
natural causes. 1t is now believed that
Smith, finding the woman dead or
| dying on his hands, and fearing that
he would be accused Of numbering her
! dragged her to the place where her
lifeless body was found. This is the
i only possible explanation after what
was developed at the post norton eX-
I animation, although further light will
4 undoubtedly be thrown upon the mys-
this morning at 10 o'clock, by Coroner
icf1o