The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1904-04-18
SWALLOWS ARSENIC
TO SAVE HIS CLIENT
Brig. Gen. Colby Takes Desperate
Method to Prove Her Innocent.

ST. LOUIS, Mo-, April 17.-Brig.
Gen. Leonard w. Colby, who is under
charges in connection with the alleged
incorporation of funds belonging to
the Nebraska militia, has figured in
the public eye on several occasions. He
is fond of show. Many years ago he
bought the white Arabian stallion
which was presented to Gen. Grant bv
the sultan of Turkey.
This spread his fame through the
land, and the horse became the center
OF attraction in every parade in which
Colby took part-and he missed few
west of the Missouri river.
But Colby's greatest claim to no.
toriety rests on the fact that he is
probably the only lawyer who ever
swallowed poison to obtain a clients
acquittal. At this time he was a strug-
Cling lawyer in Beatrice, Neb.
He was called upon to defend a wonn
an accused of killing her husband bv
poisoning him with arsenic. The evil
dence was practically conclusive, and
there was hardly a flaw in the case
presented by the prosecution. The
husbands body had been exhumed, the
poison found and placed in a bottle.
There was indubitable proof that the
woman had administered the poison,
and Gen. Colby did not contest this
point ~-l yksrs-s@
He merely laid stress on the con-
tentlon that the man had died from
natural causes, and that the poison
round in his stomach was not sufficient
to cause his DEATH On this point his
expert testimony was rather weak. and
ne had to impress the jury by some
other method
Colby's Office was in a building adj
Joining the court house. When he en-
tered the court house after the noon
recess to make his argument for the
defense he appeared more nervous than
usual, but this was attributed to the
high strung temperament that seems
characteristic of the orator. His speech
was eloquent and the peroration dra-
matte.
Gentlemen of the jury" he said. in
summing up, II contend that the poison
my client Is said to have administered
TO her husband was not enough to
Kill any man, to say nothing of one
possessing his constitution. He died
from some other cause. If that poison
would have killed him it would kill
me-"
He picked up the bottle of poison
from the table before him.
There is not enough poison there to
Kill kitten. I will prove to you that
there is not enough to kill man"
Before anyone could prevent him he
pulled out the cork, threw back his
head and drained the bottle. Then he
stood before the jury. his black eyes
flashing and Numbered out:
Gentlemen of the jury, if this poison
kills me -you-can. convict my client, but
if l hve-as shall-yOu will have to
bring in verdict in her favor"
With a parting bow to the judge and
the twelve men in the jury box he
walked out of the courtroom to his Of
flee, where he locked himself in. In
twenty minutes he was back in the
courtroom, smiling and confident 1t
took the jury about three minutes to
bring in a verdict of acquittal
A few days afterward it leaked out
that Gen. Colby had doctor in his
office, and that the physician removed
the poison-enough to have killed ten
men-with a stomach pump. Of course
there was an uproar, but the law says
that a prisoners life cannot be twice
placed in jeopardy, and Colby had de-
stroyed the only evidence upon which
conviction could be obtained in event
of another trial.