Mexico weekly ledger., 1896-07-02
A
Mrs. Fleming, of New York, Accused
OF the Crime of Matricide, Ac-
quilted After a Lengthy
Trial.

oWiuS w OuC pOlAbiChl oACitcIi6Hb
little attention has been paid to the
trial IN New York of Mrs. Fleming
for the murder of her mother; but
this is as it should be, for had 1t not
been for politics we might have had
nothing in the papers but the details
of the crime and trial. The woman
was acquitted, but the case was inter-
esting.
The woman is young, beautiful, in
telligent, we'll educated. If she be
guilty, it is a case of heredity, for she
claims that her knowledge of evil
came from her mother. The alleged
motive of the crime was apparently a
desire to gain possession of $50, 900
which was to revert to Mrs. Fleming
on the death of her mother. This
money is now in her hands, and she
used it to pay the ablest lawyers of
New York to defend her. The trial
lasted almost six weeks.
Briefly, the facts r these: Mrs.
Evaline ID. Bliss, the mother of Mrs.
Fleming, died at her home, 397 st.
Nicholas avenue, on the night of Au-
gust 80, 1895. The preceding after
noon Mrs. Fleming had sent some
clam-chowder to her mother by her
little daughter Grace. Mrs. Fleming
lived at the Colonial Hotel, a short
distance from her mothers house, and
it was her custom to send appe-
tizing dishes to Mrs. Bliso. After eat
ing the soup Mrs. Bliss was seized
with cramps, which lasted until her
death, some hours later. She sus-
pected her daughter, and in her dying
paroxysms accused the daughter OF
having poisoned her.
Mrs. Bliss, the mother of the ac-
cused, was also a woman of great
beauty. Years ago, when a young
woman, with a reputation for giddi-
ness, she met and fascinated one
Robert Swift Livingston, a wealthy
octogenarian. The bride was about
twenty-fi five years old, and was the
daughter of an old New York actor
who committed suicide. A daughter
was born to Mrs. Livingston, and not
long after Mr.. Livingston died. The
Livingston estate was large, and the
widow inherited two hundred thous-
and dollars, her daughter one hun
bred thousand dollars. Mrs. Living
ston, being a young and pretty widow,
married again, this time wedding
Henry FL. Bliss, a real estate dealer.
The girl who, now a woman, stands
at the bar accused of matricide, grew
up under the tutelage of these two.
They we're not desirable persons to
train a young girl, and she herself
says frankly: 81 drank evil from my
mothers breast when an infant, and
she it was who first led me astray.u
She vas in the habit of accompanying
her mother and her step-father to
various places of amusement, and it
was at a music hall that she met Fiem-
ing. Like her mothers husband, he
vas a wealthy man, and like him again
he was old. She cunningly compro-
missed and entangled the man, sued
him for breach of promise, and was
given a verdict of $1,000, the largest
verdict for breach of promise ever
given in New York. She claimed to
be his"tcommon-law wife," and after
his death assumed his name.
Mrs. Fleming was extravagant, and
ran through the 500, 900 left her by
her step-father. She then began i'm
her mother, Mrs. Bliss, for
money, but the latter grew tired of
her demands, and refused. Mrs.
Fleming knew that on her mothers
death $50, 900 would revert to her I'M
der the will of Robert s. Livingston,
her s~tep-father, and this is the cause
alleged for the crime.
The theory of the prosecution was
that Mrs. Bliss died of arsenic poison
ing. A pitcher, a tray, and a piece of
pie, all with traces of arsenic on or in
them, have been introduced in evil
dence. The State called in special
counsel to assist its regularly elected
officials, and there was an imposing
array of talent on either side. Ex-
perts, medical and chemical, swarmed
and testified pro and con One thous-
and talesmen were summoned, and
out of these, six hundred and nine |
were examined before a jury could be |
selected. A curious fact concerning
the jury is that there were three men
of the same name who were impanel-
ed on the jury, and these men were in
way related, and not one had ever
seen either of the others before.
The most sensational testimony was
that of a little 11-year-old girl-one
Florence King-who told how she and
little Grace Fleming had carried the
clam -chowder and pie to Mrs. Bliss, |
Mrs. Fleming's mother. She related
that when they returned to the rooms
of Mrs. Fleming, she heard her ex-
claim to Grace, her daughter: 81
you didn't eat any of grandma's
There was a violent quar-
rel over the experts. DIR. Walter T.
Scheele is a chemical expert employ
ed by the prosecution. He was BIT
terly attacked by Charles w. Brooke,
senior counsel for the defense.
The %acquittal of the woman leaves
the question of her guilt or innocence
still open with the public, and the
worst of 1t is that already there is
talk of her going on the stage.