The herald., 1898-09-22
STORY OF MRS. BOTKIE
LOVE FOR THE MAN WHOSE EVIL
DENCE CAUSED HER ARREST
The Letter That Aroused Her Jealousy
and the Accusations Which
t- Followed


Mrs. Cordelia Botkin is either the I'M
happy victim of q curious chain OF very
innocent circumstantial evidence, or Mrs.
Botkin is a very unusual criminal. If Mrs.
Botkin conceived and executed the plan to
destroy the life of Mrs. Dunning and her
little child, she did 1t to remove from her
path the only two human beings who stood
between her and her love for Mr.. Dun
ming.
4 1t was not until Mr.. Dunning, n war cor
respondent Of the Associated Press, got
home from Porto Rico that the identity
Of the mysterious assassin was suspected.
Upon his confession of his relations with
Mrs. Botkin tie police at once began work.
The facts which developed upon investi-
CATION show that Mrs. Botkin was In love
with Dunning and despairingly Jealous of
the wife. She had met Dunning by chance
while he was at the head Of the Associated
Press bureau In San Francisco. At the
time they became acquainted Mrs. Dun
ming was living with her husband.
little later she left Dunning and went to
her father at Dover, Del.
From that time on the friendship between
Mrs. Botkin and Dunning began to grow
very rapidly. Dunning called frequently,
accompanied Mrs. Botkin to the races,
spent many social evenings at cards with
her, and finally moved into the same house.
Mrs. Botkin had been separated from her
husband for years, and being heart free,
she grew to love Dunning. Dunning, on
the other hand. never ceased to profess his
love for his wife and child in the east Mrs.
Botkin was very jealous.
Rut she concealed we'll Cha ceered IN
be the best friend Jack" Dunning had on
earth. When he became tangled in finan-
cial affairs she was there to comfort him.
When he feared his financial misfortunes
would involve his family in scandal, 1t was
Mrs. Botkin who brought him back to for
getfulness and happiness. When Cummings
financial clouds cleared away and he had
regained his peace of mind. his friendship
for Mrs. Botkin was firmly established.
When the war broke out Dunning suddenly
determined to go 10 the front as a corre-
spondent. This took him further from Mrs.
Botkin and nearer his wife, but the close
friendship he had formed in San Francisco
was not broken at first. He wrote often
to Mrs Botkn, and her letters to him were
most affectiorate.
Mr.. Dunning's Letter
One day Mrs. Botkin received a letter
from Dunning which stirred up the old
Jealousy and made her feel that the ad-
vantage she had gained over Mrs. Dunning
was to be lost. The following is part of
X:
"March 16.-Dear Ada-I have been too
much rushed In the last few days to send
you even line. l am now on my way by
train from New York to Key West, and
Will take steamer at the latter place for
Cuba. am going to try with all my power
to live down the past with all It's sorrows
and II anything arises in Cuba to give
me chance to do something. I believe
that my future Is assured. God grant that
everything Is we'll with you. want to hear
from you as soon as possible.-J."
The letters that followed excited Mrs
Botkins jealousy more and more. She saw
plainly that when his service as war cor
respondent came to an end he would return
to the neglected wife at Dover. Mrs. Dun
ming was in the way-she stood between her
2 and the man she loved.
The police point out as a signafcan. fact
the highly nervous condition Of the mind
OF Mrs Botkin as soon as the news of Mrs
Cummings death reached her. Before she
was suspected Of any direct connection
with the murders she talked vaguely of de-
velopmen;s and her own possible arrest.
She was like hunted criminal
Wanted Her Husband
She then telegraphed an alarm for her
husband. She felt even before any ac-
cusation was made. the need Of some one
stronger than herself TO rely upon.
II was at this time that Mrs. Botkin
made certain statements that show her
familiarity with candy making and
ptomaines and poisons She said signifi-
cantly in discussing the sending of the
poisoned candy to Mrs. Dunning:
Nov, how do they know the candy was
poisoned with intent? Did you ever know
that when candy is sent a long distance a
poison is terminated: Suppose friend
sent that candy to Mrs. Dunning and such
was the case? I wonder why the doctors
have not thought of that theory"
When John p. Cumming came north at
the news of his wife's death he knew, as
he afterward said in statement the hand
that sent the poisoned chocolates to his
wife.
He made nothing public, but all that he
knew, everything that could in any way
lead to the Identification of the murderess.
he told to the police authorities, and on his
evidence Mrs. Botkin was arrested.
Some Strong Evidence
On the day of her arrest Frak J. Gattrell.
a clerk, who is employed in the Wave candy
store. called at the police headquarters of
the town to say that he had sold a box
OF candy some weeks ago to a woman
whom he believed to be the much talked-of
Mrs. Botkin. Close questioning brought out
plain. straight story of the incidents of
the sale as he clearly remembered them.
On some day between Wednesday, the
18th of July. and the Saturday following. a
woman. slightly under the medium height.
came into the Wave and asked for a box
OF flfty-cent chocolates. She added that
she had some candy in paper bag she car
ried In her hand. which she wished to mix
with the candy she was buying Knowing
this, Gattrell substituted plain box with
out the firm name When he had the box
partially filled the woman stopped him and
taking the box, emptied the candy from
her bag into 1t.
From the pictures Gattrell had subse-
quently seen in the newspapers he was
quite ready to identify Mrs Botkin as the
one who had purchased the candy.
Important Identification comes from J.