The Richmond palladium and sun-telegram., 1911-10-25
Was POISON BOTTLE
FOUND IN SHR0UD2
Richeson's Freedom De
pends Largely on Secret
Body Exhumed.
(National News Association)


BOSTON, Oct. 25.-Whether the
Rev. Clarence v Richeson, the bril-.
liant young pastor of the Emmanuel
Baptist church at Cambridge, Is step
nearer the death chair today or wheth.
er his fight for freedom has been fur.
thered az the result of exhumation and
examination yesterday OF the body OF
Miss Avis Linnell, the pretty young
choir singer, whom he is charged with
having murdered with cyanide OF
potassium Is a secret fast locked in
the breast Of the prosecution. Medical
examiner Timothy B. Leary, who made
yesterdays examination OF the re-
mains, absolutely refused to state
whether the receptacle that held the
poison with which Miss LinnelTs
death was accomplished was found in
the bathrobe that enshrouded the re.
mains. This is a vital point in the tes-
umony second only to the discovery
Of the identity of the person who gave
the girl the cynanide.
The body of Miss Linnell was sent
back to Hyannis on the first train to-
day to be re-buried. Medical Examiner
Leary declared that the result of his
examination would be contained in a
report he will make to District Attor'
ney JOS Pellitier later today.
The examination of the body was
conducted with the utmost secrecy
and nobody was admitted to the
morgue while DR.. Leary was at work.
As far as it could be learned, DR..
Leary, Dr. Kendrick and his secretary.
and Louis Pasco, superintendent OF
the morgue, were the only ones pres
ent at the examination. Whether or
not the medical specialists employed
on the case were in attendance has
not been learned. 1t Is known. how
over, that four men were admitted to
the City hospital grounds at midnight.
Their names were refused, but 1t Is
assumed they we're DR.. Chas. Sedg-
wick Minol, professor of embryology
at Harvard; DR.. VIM. F. Whitley,
medico-legal expert chemist at Harv-
ard: DR.. Alfred w. Balch. professor
Of chemical pathology at Tufts and DR..
II. l.. Emerson. expert of chemical
analysis and author Of a book on legal
medicine. These are the four experts
who have been called into the case by
the prosecution.
Judge Murray to-day was scheduled
to return his decision to the plea en-
tered by Rihceson's counsel to have
one OF their representatives II Sec
ond autopsy should be performed on
the body of the Linnell girl. The mo-
tion was made yesterday and Judge
Murray withheld his decision on the
case until today. The body will be
buried before Judge Murray gives his
decision on the motion of the defense,
thus frustrating the plans of the de-
Tense to be present at a second au.
topsy.
Although medical Examiner Leary
denied that he personally performed
another autopsy at the morgue, early
today 1t was believed that one might
have been performed by Louis Pasco.
the morgue superintendent.
Conviction grew today that the
prose- 'tion took advantage of Judge
Murray's delay and performed the all
topsy while the decision was pending.
Otherwise the question arose, why
should they have brought Avis Lin.
nclrs remains all the way to Boston
from Hyannia inst to examine the
body surerficially and to search the
hathrobe. Both OF these things might
Just as we'll have been conducted at
the grave in Oak Grove cemetery or
some other spot at Hyannisport where
DR.. Leary could work without inter-
ference or espionage.