Albuquerque weekly citizen. (Albuquerque, N.M.) 1891-19??, 1905-03-04
CELEBRATED PATRICK
CASE UP AGAIN

Z via ~, hih appeared hefufN the court
Of appeals and argued for a new trial
IN the case Of tho man convicted Of
the murder OF william Marsh Rice.
the Texas millionaire. Mr.. Hill used
as the basis Of his argument for q now
trial the report Of tho special com
mittoc 81 the Medicofegai society, APP
Z pointed TO Investigate tho Effects Of
the cmbalming before rlgor mortis on
congestion Of tho lungs. without with.
drawing bl0Od from the body. Tho 70.
port vas wholly favorable TO the con.
yictcd lawyer, every member OF the
committed signing an opinion that
Rice did not die from chloroform pois-
onlnE, and that the condition OF his
lungs was entirely due 90 the ombalm.
Ing process employed by che under.
takcr. IN Sc report the committee said
In part;
"it would he impossible for any one
20 discriminate from tho post norton
Appearance between the administration
% chlOroform a. the cause ~ death or
az the result OF The emhalming pro
cess. a. stated IN tho evidence. No
one could truthfully have stated chat
death was wholly caused BY tho In
halation OF chloroform. from appear.
ancog ~ presented at the autopsy. be.
cause ~ the presence OF emhalminr
fluid. ana further because chlorofnrm
vas NOT found by chemical tosts
"The committee n satisfied. after a
review of Ail the evidence. that Rice
died from old age. weak heart. etc. or,
10 other words. from the r0adl.ions
embraced IN Dr Walker Currys Ger
tlncate " death. aud on which the Ru.
thoriiies allowed tho body 20 be- Gro
mated. Il ~ alsO the opinion OF the
committee that no chlovoiorm was ever
Administered b Rice by Jones. ~
stated by him. because Il would have
been impossible not 20 have detected
the odor OF chloroforln either IN the
room occupied by the deceased or on
the body, az the amount OF chlorolorm
employed, a. alleged. would have sat
urated the beard OF the deceased and
retained the Od0r Tor many hours"
! q q conhdently believed that on the
strength uf this report the court OF
appeals Will grant new trial 10 Pat.
rick In this event II II considered
, probable that Patrick. who has been
ia the death house at Sing Sing for
nearly Eve years, win either be- ac-
Quilted. a. was Roland Mollgeux I'M
I der similar circumstances. or that
there win he ,iistrial. a. In che caso
Of DR.. Kennedy. and that the prosecu.
Z tion viii then dismiss the case.
4 Tho Patrick case IL ono OF the most
famous In the annals Of the New York
courts. william Marsh Rice, nm &C.
! centric millionaire, died AZ his homo
4 IN Madison avenue, New York city. on
4 September %. 1900 On the day be-
/ fore his death he ate inordinately OF
. bananas. and. according 90 his phyni.
clan, he was taken III with indigestion
the next day and died the day follow.
ing Albert r. Patrick was n lawyer.
pfacticing his profession. Ho took
charge Of the millionaire'a affairs az
the solicitation Of the iatier's wife.
Il had an undertaken embaim the body
and fixed the day for the funeral tie
Il tween the hour OF Ricc's death and
4 the day OF the funeral several sBspl.
!. cious thugs had happened. Several
a ChCcks had been presented at the
Il banks for certincatioR. They we're all
b signed by the dead man aud were pay
u allie TO the order OF Albert r. Patrick
\ The banks frankly admitted that the
checks appeared 10 be good. but AZ
n the checks wcre for large amounts an
r. Investigation was started. aud then
a the nee began to gather about the law
yer Patrick.
Il Suspicion feIl on Charles r. Jones
Ricc's valet, who, n was learned had
b had several conferences with Patrick
Ia Immediately before and just after
"a Rice's death While the police were
striving 10 straighten out the details
n Patrick produced will. dated June
90, 1909, under which the bulk Of tho
IS entire estate. aggregating t5,00os0uO,
o was hequeathed to him. He also ex'
4. hihlted several checks aggrogRting
n tiG0, GOO which had been placed In his
custody FOR various heirs and business
interests identified with the late mil
q. lionalre.
a. Then Il tranaplred that there waa
"a another will IN existence, dated four
n years earlier, In which the bulk of the
ID estate Nas left to the proposed VII
4 liam Marsh Rice institute AZ Houston
~ Texas Cropping In the dark. the po
10 lice arrested Jones' on suspicion. and
NJ th0n came the hrst sensation. Under
tho questioning OF the police Jones
es made the startling confession that
h. Rlce had been murdered by Patrick
IN Though he was IN an adjoining apart
ID. ment, Jones said he had not actively
RI. participated In the crime. Patrick had
~ formed a plot 90 have the millionaire
y. leave him his property by will. and
re. had found Il necessary 20 take the old
ID mans life 10 prevent the revocation
IA of she document A cone saturAtes
with olflorOform had been placed 0vcl
ad the old mans face while he slept, and
nj death had thus been accomplished, &C
In cordinE 10 the Wallets confession.
e. Paifick'a arrest followed immediate
be ~. Tie remained cool. and nsserto,
by his Innocence. on April ] tho pre-
M. ilminaFy hearing IN thu ease began be
bid fore Justice (R0w District Attorney
Ne Jerome. The second great confession
A. came on the second day o. the hear
er INK, when Jones, after passing a sleep
70. less night Ia tho Tomba, went upol
he the stand and confessed that he anl
NJ. rot Patrick, had KILLED tho AGED mil
nd lionaIre. with clrcumslantial detail
he he related cold bloodedly how no ha,
IN fed che millionaire poison, and finail!
err placed the conc over his face. all q
ite the instlgatiOn Of lawyer Patrick.
Patrick was convicted. and a mOtiol
OK for new trial having been denied
sentence 81 death was Imposed upol
him. About two years ago ne sue
90 ceedod In getting a new trial, whiel
~ likewise resulted In a verdict OF gun