The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1897-12-09
TO POISON THE FAMILY
WILLIAM EDMONsON CHARGED WITH
DESPERATE ATTEMPT.
Dumped Enough Paris Green Into the
Well to XIII "a Regiment-At
Outs with His Wife.

A charge Of attempting to poison a whole
family is made against William Edmond
son, colored man under arrest at the po-
lice station. The attempt was made Tues
day night, and had the culprit been little
smarter a half dozen people would now be
murdered at his hands.
Tuesday night about o'clock John Smith,
who lives with the family of Robert Lewis
at 211 West Thirteenth street, went out to
the well for a pitcher of water. He lives
in the west side of a double house occupied
on the other side by Mr.. ard Mrs. John
Head, colored, and Mrs. Edmondson, who
is Heads sister. Both families use water
from single we'll. When Smith reached
the light he noticed the top Of the water
was covered with a green powder, which
was afterward found to be paris green The
fact that the bastard who put the poison in
the well used a colored powder is perhaps
all that saved all the members of the two
families. Being powder, it stayed on the
top, and, being green, it was easily noticed
1t is deadly poison, however, and would
doubtless have caused the death of any per-
son who might have taken a drink in the
dark from the pump.
The crime is traced by the police TO Ed
mondson, though he stoutly denies it, De-
tectives Thornton and Weible investigated
the case yesterday. They learned that Ed
mondsons wife had refused to live with
him and was making her home with her
brother, John Head, who lives at No. 209
West Thirteenth street in the east side of
the double house. Edmondson has been try
ing to prevail upon his wife to live with
him, and called frequently at the house to
talk the matter over with her, but she
steadfastly refused to have anything to do
with him. They quarreled usually when
ever he called.
This trouble between Edmondson and his
wife is given as the only motive for the
attempt to poison two families. About five
minutes before Smith discovered that the
water had been poisoned Mrs. Head went
out to the we'll and pumped pan of water
with which to wash some rabbits. She dis
covered nothing wrong with the water then,
and 1t is known that the poison was not in
the We'll at that time. Shortly after she
went into the house Edmondson came in
through the back door, and then in very
few minutes it was found that the we'll had
been poisoned
The Head family charge Edmondson with
the crime. They say that was the first time
he had ever entered the house through the
back door. They also claim that basin of
water in which he washed his hands had a
sediment of paris green in 1t. They say
that no stranger could have entered the
yard and deposited the poison in the pump
without being discovered. for they keep a
vicious dog and he would have made
noise. The detectives found a box in the
vault which had contained paris green. Ed
mondson explained the fact of his entering
the back way by saying that he went into
the clubhouse. About a quarter of a pound
of the poison was deposited in the we'll
through the top of the pump. The detec-
tlVes pumped out quantity of water and
found traces of it. They also scraped con-
siderable of the inside of the pump.