Los Angeles herald., 1909-06-02
FIND POISON IN
WOMAN'S BODY
WHEN EXHUMED
STOMACH CONTAINS QUANTITY
OF STRYCHNINE
DIED IN LOS ANGELES; GRAVE IN
ILLINOIS OPENED
Daughter Of Mrs. Josephine Carleton
Archer Institutes Investigation
Which Results In Finding
Evidence of Crime
TELEGRAPHIc dispatch from

A TELEGRAPHIC dispatch from
~ Galesburg. ILL.,. received in Los
"a Angeles late last night, contained
the information that large quantity
of strychnine had been found in the
stomach and viscera of the late Mrs.
Josephine Carleton Archer of Los An
geles, who died January at her homo
at 14O6 Harvard boulevard. The body
was dislnterred at Oneida, ILL.,, last
week at the instigation of Mrs. Arch
er's daughter. Mrs. Helen Carleton
Marsh.
Mrs. Marsh caused the body to be
exhumed after a family disagreement
regarding the appointment of the sur
viving husband, R. P. Archer, Los
Angeles broker. as administrator OF the
dead womans estate, all of which was
left to the daughter. Both Archer and
Mrs. Archer have been married before,
Mrs. Marsh being Mrs. Archer's daugh-
ter by her first marriage. r. L. Archer,
a son of the surviving husband, is now
at the family home, with his father:
Last night the younger Archer limited
that the disagreement between the two
Marsh to bring about the investigation
of Mrs. Archer's death. Mr.. Archer
emphatically denied statement, con-
tanned in the Galesburg informatlcN,
that suit for divorce had been filed by
Mrs. Archer two weeks before her
death.
Son Denies Disagreement
There is positively no truth to any
report of a disagreement between my
he caid 6r1hR
whole proceedings in having the body
disinterred are outrageous and do not
place the slightest credence in the re-
port that strychnine was found IN the
viscera."
Mrs. Archer was ill several days be-
fore her death. She was attended py
DR.. II, M. Rooney, S036 West Pico
street. who signed a death certificate
stating that her death was due 10
uraemia.
CAS- / remember the case, it was
clearly uraemia," said DR.. Rooney last
night. 81 had been treating Mrs, Ar
cher for kidney trouble, and had not
at the time the slightest doubt as to
uraemia being the cause of the death,
DR.. William Dufield also was called,
and agreed with DIR. Rooney that kid
ney trouble was the cause of death.
The legal preliminaries leading up to
the exhuming of the body and the anal
ysis of the contents of the ViScera were
negotiated by Mrs. Marsh's husband,
who is a roadmaster employed by the
Burlington railroad in Illinois. The ac-
ton was taken after a six weeks secret
investigation. The dispatch from
Galesburg quotes Mrs. Marsh as de-
claring her mother was in perfect
health until two days before her death.
Neighbors Unsuspicious
Inquiry in the Archer neighborhood
failed to reveal any rumor OF domes-
tic troubles in the Archer household,
and no suspicion of irregularity is
known to have arisen regarding Mrs.
Archer's death, other than that re-
ported as having been expressed by
her daughter.
The body was prepared fore ship
ment by the undertaking firm of Orr
& Edwards of Los Angeles No infor-
nation regarding the methods used in
embalming the body could be gained
from representatives of the company
last night.