The Washington herald., 1906-11-06
slee.1. b, ~. Wa-lrr-tou ROOD

seee.a. f. Tae Washington Hel-,l
Baltimore. Ma. Nov. With the police
hot On his tral ard q twenty-year sen
t~uoc ia the penit-nriary staring him in
the face for numbering his wife by poison
iag her On her deathbed. Dr. J. 3. Ma
theees. % Greensboro. Y c. to-day blew
oUt his brains in a lodging house at g.
East Baltimore street He was found
dead IN his room with bUllethole in
his head and a revolver beside him.
Dr. Mathews. after q sensational trial
in North CarOiina, was sentenced 10
twenty years IL prison. He claimed 20
have been insane from drugs. and that
the verdict should have been death on
the gail0ws or insanity. The question OF
lis sanity was taken 10 the Supreme
Court of North Carolina. and in the
meantime the doctor was out on bail. and
was a patient ~ Mount Hope Asylum.
near hero.
Last week the court adjudged him
sane and ordered him 70 servo out his
sentence. When the officers Of the law
came here for the doctor he had left the
asylum. and his whereabouts were uu-
known. Tho officers were closing in or
him when the pistol shot to-day ended the
case.
Trial Sensational.
The evidence in the Mathews case was
sensational Mrs. Mathews failed 10 ap-
pear among her associates for seversI
days. and some of these made repeated
efforts to visit her at her home. Each
was received by Dr. Mathews. who told
them that Mrs. Mathews was only slight
y ind.SDOsed. bat in order n hasten her
recovery he had ordered absolute quiet
ard would allow no ono 70 SOC her.
On the morning Of December ! Edward
Cipmau, q Pullman conductor. Of Phiia-
de,phla. who had long been close friend
called. AID when refused permission to
see Mrs. Mathews brushed Or. Mathew
aside and made his way 20 the sick caam-
Der. There he was told hy the stricken
woman that she was being slowly poison
cd 10y her husband.
Cipman ieft the house and sent Mr..
Hay. a neighbor, while he summoned
three phyricians. among them Dr. J. T.
Turner, the county coroner. The d0ctoIF
diagnosed the case as severe example
Of opium poisoning. and by means Of pow
erful antidotes moGe heroic efforts t.
save her life.
Later IN the afternoon. believing that
their PATIENTS end vas nea1. they info. IA
ed Or. Mathews that MS Is fe was dy'ns
Re wepl ard pleaded 20 b. allowed to
have q last word with her In private but
this the attending physicians refused t.
sanction although they Withdrew to an
other part Of the room while the husband
knelt at MS vife's bedside 20 pray.
what happened then is best told n the
out the warrant for Mathews arrest.
Injected Poison While PrnyinE.
we heard Mrs. Mathews utter a Tow
moan declared DIR. Turner. "and. hast
ening 20 the bedside I seized Mathews
and found his right hand cIssping that of
bis wife. while his left hand, which was
under the coverlet. Rrasped Q hyp5deruic
syringe. the needle OF which had been
plunged into a vein of the dying woman s.
leg"
Dr Mathews vas then accused Of n1ur-
der and arrested. while DIT. Turner made
an analysis Of the contents Of the syringe.
which. hc ayOwed, had contained s1if-
fcient sirychnine 20 kill ten people
Two days before the trial. to assure
himself that his analysis was correct. he
had chemist at the State University
again snalyze the contents or the syringe.
and, TO the CONSERVATION Of the prosecu-
ton. the latter declared It 10 be morphine
and not strychnine
As the indictment was based on the
fact that Mrs Mathews came 10 her
death by means Of strychuine admin
istercd hypOdermically by her husband. it
was feared this phase OF the case might
upset the entire line OF prosecution. Fc
was convicted. hCweyor. and the Supreme
Court affirmed the sentence.