The Miller press. [volume] (Miller, S.D.) 190?-current, 1909-10-21

time to go to the pasture and milk
the cows. His wife objected, anu
said to let the COWS go. Nels sven
son said the ows should be MIXED
and that he would remain with Del
tina and look after her. When Char-
lev returned an -FOUR later his wife
was very sick and having convulsions
He realized then that Bertha was
seriously i'll. AS he was about to go
and telephone for a doctor a second
time. his father walked to the head
Of Bertha's bed and took from under
her pillow a bottle of whisky.
HUSBAND BECAME INDIGNANT
The husband was indignant, and
wanted to know why his father was
putting whisky under his wife's pill
low. The old man replied that Ber-
tina had been stealing his whisky,
and he thought he would leave 1t
there. His idea was to convince the
son that his wife had been taking
whisky. The old man then went up
stairs and found two other bottles
of whisky, which he said Bertha had
stolen from him. And this in view
of the fact that four gallons of whis-
ky had been received by the Sven
sons but a few days before, a gall
Ion Of which a gone to the Char
les Swenson home, the other three
being taken in charge by the father
in-law and locked up in the little
shed in which he slept.
At 9 o'clock the husband .gain
t~elephoned for DIR. Elliott, but before
he arrived the woman had breathed
her last. To DIR. Elliott on his first
visit Bertha Swenson had said that
the old man had given her poison,
but the Beresford physician declared
that there were no signs of ~strychnine
poisoning when he examined the
patient. This gave rise to the theory
that the poison was administered
during the interval that Charley was
milking the ows and the prosecu-
ton made a strong plea on this
point. The finding of the whisky
under Bertha's pillow by her father
in-laW was also ground for suspicion,
as 1t left the impression that il had
been doped and placed there for a
purpose. 1t was argued that Just as
soon as the old man saw that the
poison would do it's work, he desired
to get the whisky from the house. on
being questioned at the coroner's in
quest as to what he did with the
whisky he replied hat that was his
business.
DEFENSE BEST WITNESS
The best witness for the defense
was the little girl, the S-year-old
daughter of Mary, but before her
cross examination was finished it was
clearly brought out that she had been
coached by members of the family
as to what she should say when plac-
ed on the witness stand. The Jury
evidently did not consider her testi-
mony seriously, else the conclusion
would have been reached that the
woman committed suicide. The lit
tie girl testified that she saw Bertha
take "A bottle from the cupboard, pour
out something white into a cupful of
water. and drink it.
Back of the events that terminated
in the death of Bertha Swenson there
stood out in bold relief the accusa-
ton that had been placed against her
by her father-in-law of the theft
from him of $500. The old man had
accused her to her face, had men,
TONED 1t to other members of the
family. and even to n~eighbors. The
loss OF this money was uppermost in
his mind from the day that he dis
covered hat it was gone He had
brought $4,000 in gold from Reras-
ford and hid it in an old He
advanced the argument that some
member of the family must have
stolen 1T; that If a robber had found
the money he would have taken the
whole thing. From that day until the
tragedy the miser had dotted on the
loss of his gold.