Evening journal., 1903-10-09
WILLIAMS CASE
GOES To JURY
Woman Charged With Muir
dering Her Babies Soon
Will Know Her Fate
ACCUSED RETAINS RER CALMNESS

Philadelphia, Oct. 9--Mrs. Emma VIII |
liams. the little woman charged with
poisoning her two daughters, Will soon
know what fate has in store for her
The actresses Of the opposing lawyers
and the judges charge to the jury was
listened TO with the closest attention.
The case was given TO the jury To-
day and a verdict is expected late this
afternoon.
In the first sentence Of his closing
address District Attorney Bell called
attention to the record breaking char
acter of the trial. Four weeks have
passed since the opening arguments.
The defense, backed by the industrial
insurance companies, has cost, accord
ing to many estimates, fully $4,000.
Near the close Of his argument MI
Bell referred to this feature OF the
case. saying:
"Oh. gentlemen, it must be evident
to you that there is some great imam
cial backing behind this defense. The
prisoner has said the insurance COM
panies are paying the great bill. 1t is
my belief that by your verdict you Will
rebuke such methods and break UP
that traffic in babies lives that is now
indulged in.
"The defense itself has offered
strong proof that Annie died OF ar
senic. Counsel for the defense has
seized every opportunity to suggest
how arsenic might have entered the
girls body through the air or wall pa
per or everything. This fact rises like
mountain Of truth.
"The person who administered this
poison" said Mr.. Bell, was no other
than the prisoner in the dock. The
first fact is that the prisoner had the
opportunity to administer this poison.
Such a crime is done secretly. Seldom
is the murderer seen giving the poison.
There are two essential items OF evil
dence that must convince you that she
administered the poison. The first, the
direct evidence of Mr.. Pefile and Mrs.
Patterson that Mrs. Williams practi-
cally confessed"
Touching upon the question Of mo-
tive, Mr.. Bell referred to the Williams
family's poverty and the great aid 10
them the trifiing sums from the insur-
ance upon the children would be. He
also pointed out the evidence that she
wished to make a reputation as a me-
dium by predicting the deaths Of the
little ones.
This Is the 9th murder case former
Judge Stevenson has participated in
and it was felt that his experience
would be taxed to the utmost to ex-
plain away the many weaknesses in
the defense of the present prisoner
Mr.. Stevenson said in part:
Il am no orator, simply plain mar
come here in a plain manner to argue
the matter to plain men. The distric
attorney forgot to tell you that the pre-
sumption Of innocence is with th'
prisoner. Has he satisfied you tina
Annie williams died Of arsenical poi
soning? Are you prepared to say tina
the arsenic did not come from the I'M
purities in the substances makiAg th'
test2
IN the case of Laura William
parts of her body were taken AM
placed in a jar. What became Of th
jar? 1t was carelessly thrown out AM
lost Are you prepared to say after
great mistake like that there could no
have been similar mistakes in thei
b other steps in this case?
IF, however. you do conclude tina
arsenic was found in Annie's body, ha
the state shown you how II came there
The state declares Mrs. Williams sc
cured the arsenic from Hossey. Il
prove this the state depends upol
I Pefle and Patterson. The whole bat
tie has been to support these wit
nesses.
who is Peffle? We find him fre
quently in company with Mrs. Patter
son, married woman, whose husban
you have seen.
"Who is Mrs. Patterson? She live
of her spiritual belief. She make
money telling fortunes. She knee
Hossey. How did she become interest
ed in this case?
will men and women become inter
ested in cases for various motives
{ Some are under one pressure, som
under another. Torture is sometime
applied What did the detectives hay
against Mrs. Patterson by which the
could put the thumb screws upon her
Was it because Of Hossey? Was It h'
q cause of her mother?
/ why did Patterson and Pofle writ
+ out their testimony and learn it? d
q honest people do that?
l. If you don't believe these witnesse
n what becomes Of the case Of the con
s monwealth?"
/. Mr. Stevenson keenly attacked Il
u post-mortem work In Annie's case an
!. the services of DR., Levy. 1T WASH
l. a case. he said, "of a physician a
a tending these children: it was ca
Ie of Mrs. Williams continually runnir
e after a doctor. If she poisoned Il
J. children, why should she so constant
is run after a doctor?"