Evening journal., 1903-06-30
WOMAN ON TRIAL
FOR HER LIFE
Mrs. Phares Faces Jury on
Charge of Poisoning Her
Husband
SWEET LITTLE CHILD IN HER ARMS
Will Try to Prove She Murdered
Pharcs BY Giving Him Stryohnine to
Marry Garfield Taylor-Testimony
Of Witnesses.

WARY Sd'Helo ldJloV-l o5tlmonJ
of Witnesses.
Mount Holly N. j.. June 3o--sit-
ting between her brother and sister
and nursing a sweet little child OF 3
years on her lap. Mrs. Annie pharcs
faced jury and began her fight 20 free
herself Of the charge that she muir
dered her husband, Albert A. phares,
Mr.. Atkinson stated the prosocu-
tons case and said the state would try
TO prove that the defendant adminis-
tered strychnine to Mr.. phares and that
during the same afternoon he died;
that the poison was bought Of Ray
mond Wells. a druggist. and that Mrs.
Phares asked him how much It would
take to kill n man. The motive for the
alleged crime. Mr. Atkinson said the
state would show was Mrs. Phares'
intimacy with Garfield Taylor, with
whom she had made several trips to
different places, and in one of them
at least posed as his wife. She had
asked Taylor to marry her, the prose-
cutor said. but he refused because she
had one husband. Shortly after this
conversation that husband died sud
denly.
A recital Of the incidents in the
Phares home on the day of Albert A.
Phares' death was given by Harry w.
Burr. a young farmer of Jacksonville.
who knew phares we'll. He said he
called to see Phares about half-past
IL o'clock on the morning of March 9.
Phares was lying on the couch in the
sitting room and said he felt IN. He
complained of intense nausea. and said
he had been vomiting considerably.
Mrs. Phares was not at home when
Burr got to the house, but she came in
about noon.
When Mrs. Pharcs came In she pre-
pared dinner, meanwhile giving her
husband two brown powders which,
she said. had been given her by DIR.
Dubell Burr stayed to dinner. Phares
sat up at the table, but was unable to
cat any more than a small quantity
of a breakfast food. saying he felt too
m. He then went into the sitting-room
and noticed that his friend was twitch-
ing convulsively. The spasms kept up
until he rolled off the couch. Burr said
he asked him how he felt. "As though
my stomach was being eaten out and
my heart had stopped beating" re-
piled the suffering man.
lie said that Phares remarked that
"Dr. Dubell gave strong medicine" ="
and that Mrs. Phares told her husband
that the doctor had told her the medi-
cine might make him feel worse at
first. but after a while it would do him
good Burr did not see Mrs. Phares
mix the powders. She brought them
in from the kitchen. he said.
A strong point in Mrs. Phares'
favor was next brought out by persls-
tent questioning of Burr. He testified
that it was only after repeated appeals
of Mrs. Phares that her husband per-
mitted her to send for a doctor. When
Burr returned from his quest for a
doctor he helped Charles Johnson, an
other neighbor of the Phares, to get
the sick man upstairs. Mrs. Phares
assisted them.
; When Phares died. Burr said Mrs.
Phares wept bitterly and tottered as
though she was about to faint.
Mr.. Budd said: Didn't Mrs. Phares
say to you Immediately after Albert's
DEATH IVY must Albert be taken away
and leave me with three small chill
, dren?'"
The witness said Mrs. Phares had
made such a remark. Later she said:
( 1--WE have done all we could" Burr
! repeated his testimony to the effect
, that he took exception to Mrs. Phares
telling DR.. Dubell that her husband had
. died easy He told the coroner that
Phares died hard if ever a man did
and said that Mrs. Phares asked him
why he said that because she had told
7 the doctor that his death was quiet.
Carles Aaronson. an employe Of the
( general store at Jacksonville, also told
e. of Phares' suffering before his death
a Aaronson's testimony corroborated in
: part that OF Burr's.
e Raymond Wells. a druggist at Co
lumbus. was next called TO the stand
and he testified that Mrs. Phares pur'
chased from him 80 grains of strych
nine. explaining that she desired Il
kill rats with the poison. Mrs. Phare'
= came to me. said the witness, "ant
] after purchaFing one or two articles
. asked me If ! had any poison. l tol'
her I he'd. AID she then said she wanted
TO kill rats.
= "Then in a iesting way she asked m'
II that was enough with which 70 xii
: a person, and replied that there wa
q enough in the bottle 10 kill two o
three She then added in bright veil
that she might want to take some"