Newark evening star and Newark advertiser. [volume] (Newark, N.J.) 1909-1916, 1910-04-18
SWOPE POISONING
CASE OPENS WITH
CLASH OF COUNSEL
DR.. B. Hyde's Lawyer Forces
Appointment of Opponent as
Special District Attorney.

KANSAS CITY, April 1S.-Before a
courtroom thai was crowded TO its ut
most capacity long before the regular
opening hour, James A. Reed today de-
livered the opening statement of the
prosecution in the Hyde murder trial.
The opening of the case was marked
by a sharp CLASH between attorneys
for the two sides. The defense waged
a hard fight on the court, permitting
Mr.. Reed, as special counsel, to deliver
the opening statement.
Judge Latshaw held that it was en-
tirely legal, but as a precautionary
move, suggested hat Mr.. Reed be ap-
pointed a special prosecuting attorney.
This was done. Before Mr.. Reed was
fairly launched upon his address, Frank
P. Walsh, leading counsel for the de-
Tense, interposed objection to the prose-
cution introducing statements regard
ing any feature of the case except that
dealing directly with the death of Col
onel Swope. for whose alleged murder
DR.. Hyde Is now being tried. He was
overruled.
Mr.. Walsh spoke in a loud tone of
voice and branded many of the persons
who had gathered evidence against DR..
Hyde as liars and thieves" Mr.. Reed
sought later to tell the story of the
courtship of DIR. Hyde and Mrs. Hyde.
Mr.. Walsh objected and was sustained
by Judge Latshaw.
The real question at issue in the
trial is:
did DR.. Bennett Clark Hyde in
noculate nine members of the Swope
family with typhoid germs, hoping
thereby to send them to their deaths
in order that the whole of the immense
Swope fortune might go to his wife?"
Colonel Thomas H. Swope came of an
old Southern family. He was eccentric
His fortune was estimated at 49, 900, 900.
Colonel Swope died October 8, 1909,
after a brief illness. He passed away
in CONFUSION. His death came only
four days after the death of Colonel
Moss Hunton, who for years had beer
the confdant of Colonel Swope and the
manager of the ~latter's large property
interests.
Later Chrisman Swope, a nephew of
the millionaire. died. Typhoid fever
caused Christmas Swope's death. And
just about this time eight other men,
bers of the Swope family were stricken
with typhoid fever. All recovered.
DR.. Hyde. five years before this, had
married Miss Frances Swope, a niece
of the millionaire. There had been op-
position on the part of Mrs. Logan o.
Swope, the girls mother. and of the
father. Hyde they regarded as an ad-
venturer. Frances Swope was sent
away to Hot Springs, Ark, in the hope
that she would forget Hyde. He fol-
lowed her, and the wedding was cele-
brated In the Arkansas city.
Mrs. Logan O. Swope, while outward
ly friendly to her son-in-law, seems tc
have cherished a bitter hatred toward
| AT any rate, after the death OF
Colonel Swope there was much talk OF
foul play In connection with his death
A nurse told of having administered
strychnine.
Then Mrs. Logan o. Swope stepped
into the breach. You are a murderer!
You killed Moss Hunton. You killed
Colonel TOM You killed my nephew,
Chrisman, and o tried to kill all the
rest of u.s." she said, in effect, to DIR.
Hyde. her ~son-in-law.
Poison was found in the viscera OF
Colonel Thomas II. Swope. This fact
seems definitely established. DIR. Hyde
did buy some typhoid bacteria for Gull
lures and had them in his home. This
point is established. DIR. Hyde was In
attendance at the d~eathbeds of Moss
Hunton and old Colonel Swope, al
though he was not the regular attend
ing physician.
BY the will of the eccentric million
aire the bulk of his fortune was left to
his nieces and nephews, of which Mrs
Hv6a was nnP TT ono nf them dia6
that ones share of the estate reverted
to the other residuary legatees.
This, the. prosecution will hold, fur
nishes the motive for the crime with
which DR.. Hyde stands charged.