The Marlboro democrat. [volume] (Bennettsville, S.C.) 1882-1908, 1906-03-23
WEIRD STORY.
a Girl Poisaled to Death by a
Dead Man, Was
WAS HER sUITOB.
------
Takes Fatal Poison He Left When lie
Killed Himself a Month Ago. lie
Gave Her the Deadly Poison,
caIiirg 1t a Love
Charm
A Girl Poisoned to Death by a
WAS HER SUITOR.
Charm.

Charm.
Stranger than all the tales Of the
polsonings by the Borgias, and sur
passing all stories OF death pacts by
disappointed sweethearts arc the cir
cumstances surrounding tho death at
Paterson, N. j., OF Mae Agnes Nor.
ton, q young wOman OF nineteen, who
o month after the death Of her sutton,
james Boucher, by his own hand, fell
a victim to the dead man, a murderer
In death.
Only his surprising belief In tho
wonderful power Of the young wo-
mans love for him could have inspired
the f~ar-reaohiDg plot and sent the
young man to his grave confident that
his sweetheart, Innocent of any inten.
ttOn upon her 0wn life, but trusting
In the efficacy Of the potion he had
left with her at their sad parting,
would soon follow him TO the land OF
the shadow.
The church has set It's seal upon
the verdict Of murder against the
young man, acquitted Miss Morton OF
The charge Of suicide, although she
confesse9ly died CT poison administer.
ed by her W hand, and permitted
her body TO be laid at rest In II
Grated ground.
1t was the law Of the II lman Gath.
olio Church which forbids the burial
Of the self slain In conseoratcd ground,
invoked In this case on behalf OF M IS
Morton, that brought to light the re.
markable story OF love, suicide and
post norton murder. In d space If
five weeks the plot was formed aud
made complete In the duel tragedy.
Miss Morton, well CONNECTED and
socially prominent, who lived witt
her father, Alexander Morton, at NJ,
70 Madison street, met, some mouths
ago, James Boucher, a young man OF
excellent ancestry, the nephew OF Dr..
William a. Norval, CT No. 3Sl Ma.u
street, a member OF the Board OF
Nreeholders. The young man end
woman became s~WeetneartS, but fur
some reason there was OH cIion Fl
their marrying on the part Of Nj 5
Morton's family, and afGer the cpp1.
sitiOn to their courtship had cuntiu.
ued for some time, and had ouly ssrv
cd to cement the bond Of affection bc.
tween them, the young man, de5pait-
ing Of his suit, decided TO l3ave Pate.
son
Before the final parting the plot fol
the death OF Miss Morton ana nimsal.
must have formed III his mind, an0 a
the last he put 1t Into execution. ii
gave to his sweetheart just before b.
left Paterson on FSbruSry I an enve
ope containing a number Of tablets
He told her that they we're u love por
tion or charm, and that she SHOULD
take one Of them every time sh
thought of him when he was absent
that the mysterious power OF the tab
let's would bring them into a. clio e
communion Of souls, and that b
would know she was t~htnktag Ct aim
The trnsttul young woman bulev.t
him, and jeal1usly guarded tho pre-
ciOus tablets, which were in rualit.
corrosive sublimate, and deally.
On February 8 Boucher was fouu(
dead In his room in the L1cawann,
Hotel, In Scranton, Pa. 1t was al
first believed that he had died of hear
failure, but q further examination
showed that his death had resulted
from mercurial poisoning, and that ht
had ooubtless killed himself. Ii is
belle we'd now that he also toglk zorro.
Bive subllmate to end his life.
MISS Morton was SO affected by the
death That she was Frustrated az he,
home and unable to attend the funer.
al Of look upon the face If the dead
man. Her grief over his death made
her forget about the potio. given &c
her by Boucher when they parted.
Miss Morton, Rrieving over the
tragic death OF Boucher and constant
ly thinking Of him, remembered q few
days ago the tablets in che envelope
and took a number Of them, regarc
less Of the pain they caused her. Sht
took them just cften enough to ,,ro
duce the cumulative effect which re-
suited in her death.
When Miss Morton became III en-
Thursday 1t was believed that she
was suffering with gastritg. Sac grad.
uallV grew worse and the physlcinns
diagnosed the case as one Of D isoniny
but believed 1t to be ptomainc. she
was then In a dying condition, and
the physicians questioned her aboL5
what she had eaten, and for the
first time learned OF the existence OF
the love tablets.
The last rites Of the church we're
administered to the dying girl, n
after her death a se"rch was made FOR
the tablets Of which she had spoken.
The envelope which had couta ned
them was found, but she had taken
oil the tablets. Some powder from
them remained and this was analyzed
and found to be corrosive Iublinate.
A letter written to Boucher b. Mis-.
Morton probably the day after he lltt,
but never mailed, was found among
her eff cots, and In 1t she spoke about
the tablets and her determination to
take them.
DR.. Mcbride reached the ~tcc9nical
finding that the death was q suicid :,
but the authorities OF st. JjSeph's
Roman Catholic Church mace an IL
v%estigation and concluded that the
dead man "a guilty Of murder AID
that the girl was blamelcss In Ter
death. Funeral services were held
over her body In the church ard she
was buried in the Cemetery OF tie
Holy Sepulchre.
For mcr Monk 10 Marry