Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1906-12-18
Granting of Rehearing in SUI
preme Court May Give Con-
victed Murderer New Trial
CASE ONCE WAS AFFIRMED
Defendant. Attorney Insists. That
Purchase Of Poison by BIydenburs
Was Not Proven on the TriaI-Har-
din County People Opposed to the
Granting of Rs-trial.
Special to Times-Repuplican.

I>eS MoineS Dec. 1S.-The Iowa SUI
preme court late yesterday afternoon
entered of record an order for a re-
hearing in the case of Blydenburgh,
under conviction of murder for the
killing Of his wife at Eldora few years
ago. The argument for rehearing was
made last spring. The case will thus
be reopened before the supreme court,
but this does not necessarily mean that
the convict will get new trial in the
lower court.
Recently the supreme court affirmed
+ the, judgment of the lower court, under
which he Is serving life sentence at
Anamosa. Two judges dissented from
the majority opinion affirming the life
sentence. These were Deemer and
Weaver. Judge Bishop wrote the OPP
inlon for the majority.
Judge Martin j. Wade is the attor-
ney for Blydenburgh. All the others
have dropped out Of the case. They ill.,
cluded Huff & Huff, Nagle & Nagle
and J. n. Scales. Judge Wade made
the argument to the supreme court on
the petition Of Blydenburgh for a re-
nearing.
1t was the contention of the attor-
neys for Blydsnburgh, including
Judge Wade, thai. the corpus dilecti
was not proven III the trial of Blyden-
burgh.
The charge was that the man pois-
oned his wife with arsenic, contained
in rough on rats At the trial drug
gtst with fine nswspackage Of rough
on rats was allowed to testify, but it
was not shown that there was arsenic
in the dope. And no allusion was made
as to the character of the rough on
rats in the package from which 1t was
alleged Blydenbulgh had secured the
poison to end the life Of his wife.
1t also was pointed out that the wife
was not enormously wealthy, and own
ed only an unimproved farm into
which Blydenburgh put his money for
improvements; that she wished to be
taken to Ohio to be buried, and that
elbow" journalistic accounts of
Bluebeardism' in connection with the
case were responsible for the intense
public feeling against the defendant.
Biydenburgh is the father of the girl
who met a tragic death in Des Moines
last summer, and for whose death two
men have been held in part responsible
by the grand Jury.
He was an Ohio schoolteacher and
went to Eldora early in this century. He
met woman twelve or fourteen years
older than himself and married her,
This discrepancy in age raised a pre-
sumption, but his attorneys insist that
1t ought not to be conclusive to his
prejudice. Their life together was
reasonably happy, but after she return
ed from church one Sunday and par
took Of a pie, she died
Her husband seemed to display unus-
elal haste in taking the body to Ohio |
for interment. He returned to Eldora |
and started to settle up the estate. !
Runnors started an investigation, dis
interment of the body, disclosure of the
presence of arsenic in the vital organs
the arrest of Blydsnburgh and his COM
viction and life sentence.
But 1t is the contention of his at
torneys that it was not shown on his
trial that he administered poison to her,
for 1t was not shown that the rough on
rats which it was sought to show he
had administered to her contained
poison.