The Detroit times., 1909-04-02
.FR|TCH FREED ON
PERJURY CHARGE
Justice Jeffries Thinks There Is Evi.
dence of Fraud, But Prosecutor
Throws Up His Hands.

Against his own judgment. Police
Justice Jeffries, Friday noon, dismiss.
ed the perjury charge against DR.. Geo.
A. Fritch, in connection with the GER
tificate filed on the death OF DR.. Ira
p. Collier, in 1906. on the recommends
ton OF Assistant Prosecutor Crane,
who expressed himself as satisfied be-
yond ali doubt that there was no hope
OF convicting the doctor before jury.
There is no question In my mind.
said the court, but that this order
(the Maccabees OF the World) has
been defrauded, and believe there Is
prima facie evidence that the law has
been violated in the making out OF
the death certificate in this instance,
but in view of the prosecutors atti-
tude | will discharge the defendant"
The case hinged almost entirely OH
the testimony OF DR.. David X. Clark,
superintendent OF St. Joseph's retreat
in Dearborn, where DR.. Collier died
Dec. 2. 1906, two or three days after
being received as patient in the In
stitution. While the doctor testified
that he was satisfied that the imme-
date cause OF death was strangula-
ton, he made admissions that tended
to materially weaken his testimony on
this point.
II was on the assumption that the
real cause of death was strangulation
and not Brights disease, as reported
by DR.. Fritch to the Maccabees. that
the charge against the doctor was
Lased, and while still asserting the
belief that this was the cause, DR..
Clark admitted that there was room
for reasonable doubt, even In his
own mind, and testified that DR.. Collier
would have died in "a hours even IL
it had not been for this spectacular
incident" as he referred TO the pa
tents alleged attempt at suicide.
DR.. Clark testified that he found DR..
Collier dead In bed with the cord of
his bath robe wound once around his
neck and tied In a surgeons knot. The
dead mans hands chung to another
knot several inches below the first
and the rope between the two was
twistly tightly. The doctors face,
however. was not congested, as Is al
most invariably the case where death
results from strangulation. Neither
WAS tueTe u udtk rug dfouHu thC hSSn
as would naturally be expected; only
crease In the neck where the cord
had bound the flesh. DR.. Clark said
he had reashed the conclusion that
strangulation was the immediate
cause OF death from a merely super
fetal examfnation. He had made nc
post-mortem.
And you didn't notify the coroner
asked Attorney Lodge. for the defense
mo, that is where was wrong"
DR.. Clark said that when DR.. Fritch
came TO the retreat the following day
the latter mentioned the fact that de.
ceased had considerable life insurance
that might be invalidated IL the cause
of death were given as strangulation
and told him the widow would prob.
ably see that he was well compensat'
ed IL that spectacular cause" did not
appear However. DR.. Clark says he
made out a certificate giving the cause
as "strangulation as an end process in
some obscure form of delirium." This
certificate, he says, he handed to FIR,
Fritch, but what became Of 1t Is not
known.
DR.. Golfers widow was In court but
was not called.