The Bennington evening banner. (Bennington, Vt.) 19??-1961, 1911-05-04
imp OSS|BLE FOR
HEATH TO HAVE
SHOT HIMSELF
So Testified Dr.. Stone Who
Made Autopsy
NO POWDER MARKS VISIBLE
Jurors Startled When Physician Pro-
duced Heart Of Man Killed at
Mrs. Dodges Home

Nuiiuidli, May An lutlIndtlOn OF
the line of defense which may be fol-
lowed by attorneys for Mrs. Florence
Nj. Dodge Of Lunenburg, Vt, who is
charged with the murder of William
Heath, was brought out yesterday In
the trial when in crossexamining a
witness the attorneys secured the adj
mission that from the position of the
body and other circumstances he had
formed the opinion that Heath shot
himself, either accidentally or with
suicidal intent. The witness was Guy
Garyin who was one of the first per.
sons 10 view Heath's body after the
tragedy. At that time, he testified,
the dead mans hand was outstretch-
ed toward the revolver, which il is al.
legged caused death.
DR.. Il. III. Stone of Burlington was a
principal of IL witnesses yesterday.
pointing out to the jury the course of
the fatal bullet, by running pen.
stock through the heart which had
been removed at the autopsy, and Civ
ing 1t as his opinion that the bullet
could not have been fired by Heath
himself. DR.. Charles +. Dalton OF
Burlington, who assisted at the autop-
sy, corroborated the testimony of DR..
Stone. On cross-examination DR.. Dial.
ton stated that he could not remem.
Der seeing anything on the clothing
worn by Heath that looked like powd.
err marks.
Three years before Heath was shot
Mrs. Dodge said she kept a revolver
under her pillow every night for the
sake of protection, according to the
testimony offered by Mrs. Clara Mic
hols of Lunenburg. Mrs. Nichols
said that Mrs. Dodge had made that
statement to her and had also said
that another reason why she kept the
weapon was because ii was the prop.
erty of her dead husband. Judge
Kyle t. Brown of Lunenburg, who
was on the stand when adjournment
was taken last night, testified that on
the day of the alleged murder he
heard Mrs. Dodge say she was afraid
she would have to go to court, per.
haps to Jail.
The jury heard very graphic des-
cription by the governments expert
of what he believed was the death
scene as deduced from the results OF
the autopsy. 1t was DR.. Stones op.
inion that Heath was crouching on
the floor bearing the weight of his
body on his left arm, which was be.
ing held away from the body The er.
lvolyer, he said, must have been held
more than three feet away and some.
what behind, for there were no powd-
er marks on the clothing, nor about
the wound Suicide. he said, was i'm.
possible, and death was practically in
Simultaneous. DR.. Stone showed the
clothing to the jury. pointed out the
bullet hole on the left side, then held
the bullet, which he said was from a
3S-caliber revolver, so that it could be
seen by the ~ men and Mrs. Dodge
as well.
The woman never moved muscle
and remained outwardly calm when
Dr. Stone unwrapped the heart and
startled one or two of the farmers in
the jury box. Taking the heart in
one hand and a penholder in the 9th
er, he showed the direction Of the
wound and said that all the blood
must have poured out of the heart
within so seconds. DR. Stone said
that he saw a revolver in the room
but did not examine it. A rigid cross
examination failed to shake his testi
mony. Before leaving the stand DR.
Stone stated that he found no evi
denee that Heath had been drinking
The direction of the bullet and the
position of the body on the floor lee
him to the opinion that Heath was
painting the Dashboard of the room
and that the shot was fired from the
doorway leading to the front room.
Mrs. Allen S. Bowker was one o
those who rushed to the Dodge hous,
after the murder and who saw Mrs
Dodge. She could recall nothing tina
Mrs. Dodge said at the time although
the states attorney questioned he
closely and asked her several times /
she had not stated something of tn,
kind at a previous hearing. One o
the first public officials to reach tn,
, Dodge house was Seectman Harle,
w. Powers, who stated yesterda,
that the loaded shells in the revolve
we're incrusted with green and whit,
substance, while the bottoms of tn,
empty shells were moist. He turnet
the revolver over to the states al
torney the next day. He was ques
, toned closely as to any paint brusl
/. near the body, but could remembe
none, neither did he notice whethe
the door to the back sitting room wa
{ closed