Omaha daily bee., 1911-04-12

Chusman swope. Margaret swope. Lucy
Lee, Sarah and stella swope Lenors Cop
ridge, a colored servant Georgia Compton
a seamstress, Nora Dixon. a visiting
cousin. and Mildred FOX, a transient Wis .
itor All OF these recovered excepting
Chrisman swupe. Eho died December 8, {
1900"
These. the court says. were introduced +
and charged to Hyde partly to support
showing that the more Swope heirs died (
the larger would be the share OF Mrs I
Hyde but the court does not treat the I.
proof that HYDE had anything to do with |
these misfortunes as conclusive IL points /
to the evidence that Colonel Swope was /
about 50 years old, I'm feeble condition dur
ing the previous year and the symptoms OF /
his last sickness would II that were all,
Justify the conclusion that he died from
senile debility or uramic poisoning and
would fail TO establish the corpus delectL
The court says taking the experts on
both sides into consideration, III we were
to lay aside the testimony Of one witness
for the state. Dr. Vaughn we would find
it difficult to reach a satisfactory conclu-
sion that there is sufficient proof to make
prima fact case Of death proof to make
According TO the authorities the symptoms
as QtIaleQ III Nile tNlufilNt are ibN Nitdlte
and Enthusiastically those Of strychnine pois-
oning nor Of cyanide
History Of the Case.
The Missouri supreme courts decision
today was on an appeal OF Hyde's attor
neys for a new trial. He had been SEN
fenced July 5. 1910 to life imprisonment
by Judge Latshaw. September %. 1870 his
attorneys asked the highest court in the
state for a new hearing, charging error in
255 points These included the following
allegations:
The indictments we're illegal and the evil
dence insufficient to support the allega-
lions, that competent testimony was barred
and incompetent testimony received; that
prejudlcial remarks were allowed by the
( prosecutor and by the court, that the
court should not have revoked Hydes bond
during the rial, and that the verdict was
the result OF passion and prejudice.
The chief evidence attacked was that of
the Chicago and Michigan toxologists who
examined the viscers Of the dead swopes;
and especial attack was made on Prof.
Waugh Of Michigan. who testified he found
strychnine in the liver Of Colonel Swope.
DR.. Hyde was found guilty OF murder
May 16. 1910. His inability properly to ex-
plain the purchase OF capsules of cyanide
was chiefly responsible for his conviction.
He said It was used to kill cockroaches;
the prosecution said It was to kill men,
bers Of the swope family and asked Does
a man Kill cockroaches with poison cap
sules?' Two days and half after the argu-
ments ended the verdict was returned
Series OF tragedies.
The first OF the series of tragedies in
the swope family was the death Of James
Moss Hunton, October 1. 1903. The prose-
cutlon charged Hyde bled the patient be-
yond the limit of recovery, purposely.
Two days later Colonel swope was
stricken with commissions and died. Wit
} nesses testified that few minutes before
/. the CONFUSION DR.. Hyde had given Colonel
swope a capsule similar to the cyanide
capsules II was shown he bought. The
; coloners win leaving $1,6OOOOO to relatives
was filed, and then Miss Margaret Swope
} a niece Of Colonel Swope, became Ill with
typhoid fever Then Chrlstman Swope and
two other relatives mentioned in the will
became III Of typhoid. December 6, Chris
man swope died. having commissions SINH
lar to those of his uncle, the colonel.
Two days later two more girls-legatees
under the will-became i'll with typhoid
fever and nurses at the trial testified
Hyde had inoculated the sick persons with
the fever germs. The repeated and con-
tinued illness and the two sudden deaths
aroused suspicion and a secret autopsy
} was made OF the exhumed body of Colonel
, Swope and later that of Chrisman On
. the toxicologists reports and the testimony
, of a druggist who sold Hyde the potassium
; as well as that Of nurses in the Swope
I home and of the typhoid patients, Hyde
! was convicted.
j Mrs. Hyde, a niece Of Colonel Swope
stuck by her husband and against hei
relatives and went on the stand in his be-
half, but in vain Hyde claimed the men
had died Of natural causes. said the cyan
a ide was to exterminate vermin, and saic
he had purchased typhoid fever cultures
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