New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1912-11-22
Witness at Gibson Trial Shows
How He Also Forced Dead
Woman's Chin Down
About Four Inches.
BIG POINT FOR DEFENCE
Hoped to Upset States Conten-
tion. That Organs of Throat
Were Forced Out of Place
by Strangulation-
Juror Saves Life.

fFrom a STAFF Correspondent Of The Tribune
Goshen. n. Y, Nov. 21-A dramati
incident marked the trial Of Burton W
Gibson for the alleged murder of Mr'
Rosa Merschik Szabo here this after
noon, when an attendant lay on tn
courthouse floor with the judge. jur
and counsel grouped about him. an
rc-enacted an alleged scene from th
tragedy OF July 16, in which Mrs. Szab
lost her life In Greenwood Lake, o
which the defence places great relianc,
Gibson showed more than any da
yet the effect of the ordeal he is pass
ing through. When he went to his ce
he complained OF feeling sick. and lat
in the evening physician was sent FOL
who prescribed for him. 1t was sal
he would be I'm court tomorrow.
When the jury came out OF the cour
where they are deciding whether or no
man shall forfeit his life one OF then
saved the life of boy in the street a
the risk of his own, by running on
and stopping a runaway
In the dramatic scene already re
ferred to the attendant represented tn
lifeless form Of Mrs. Szabo when IT wa
drawn up from the bottom Of the lax
two days after she met death. Bend
ing over him with flushed face was tn
fisherman, Thomas Garrison, who ha,
brought the body to the surface.
81 took the body So" said Garrison
grasping the attendants shoulders. "
raised it this way. put two blocks o
wood under the head" illustrating witt
a cushion. 81 twisted the neck aroun,
libe this. so that the face would be II
front and not 10 the side, as 1t va
when ! found II. Then ! pushed tn
head down" Garrison grasped the at
tendant's scalp and forced It downward
and forward. Il should say the chir
went down four inches. almost restlnl
on the breast ] left It that way iot
eight hours and a half. till the under
taker came"
Through this illustration the defenc,
hopes TO upset the states entire con
tention that the organs OF the deaC
woman's throat were forced out Of posi-
ton by strangulation Medical expert,
for the defence are prepared TO testify
tomorrow that Garrison's treatment OF
the body was sufficient TO have forced
the tongue, palate and windpipe into
the position in which the state claim!
they were found at the autopsy.
Saw Tragedy with Good Eye.
Garrison was one OF ten witnesses
put on by H., defence to-day. Pre-
vious to his dramatic recital of wha
he had done with the body he testified
that he had seen two people stand uI
in the boat near each other and thef
go out on opposite sides Of the boat
did you see that through your glas,
eye or your good eye?" asked Judg,
Tompkins, who Is an old friend OF Gar
rison.
Through my good eye-and that 1,
a double sighted eye" Garrison replied
II thought that they were swimming
and went on. / took a sight on tn,
'Rooster'-that's a camp where | could
see some people"
Were they all roosters?" the judg,
asked
Not all; some Of them were hens.
Garrison replied.
He told how he had helped grappl,
for the Dody, finally bringing IT 10 tn,
surface next day by means OF a two
inch fish hook which caught In tn,
stocking.
With the closing Of the case fol
the prosecution against Gibson at noon
the defence began It's efforts to stem
the tide Of adverse testimony that hal
been raised against him, opening with
an address by Charles Goldlzer. Mr.
Goldizer outlined in detail the means
by which IL is expected to explain
away the mass of circumstantial evil
dence which IL is charged proves Glib,
son guilty Of the murder OF Mrs. Szabo
Mr.. Goldizer said:
We will divide our defence into two
parts. The first part will deal with non.
medical evidence, and the second par
with the medical testimony produced b.
the prosecution. and will show that It 1.
impossible from an autopsy held NOR,
than fifty days after the woman died Il
determine conclusively she met deatt
from strangulation, but may have died
from a number of causes.
AS to the first part, we will prove that
some Of the witnesses for the prosecution
have made misstatements, and we will
modify the testimony given by Others
by means OF witnesses of our own, who
saw the occurrences at Mrs. Szabo's
from within a few hundred feet. Oui
witnesses will Iot be subsidized by q
foreign government, but will be disin'
terested strangers to Gibson.
We will also produce witnesses to whom
the deceased woman introduced a woman
under the name OF Petronella Menszinh
as her mother In this country, after the
time as alleged by the prosecution OF
the death Of a Petronella Menszik In
Austria. Hence the claim of the prose
cution OF a deep laid scheme on the part
of the defendant TO obtain Mrs. SZabo''
property after getting her to wfll IL, as
alleged, to a mother he knew to be dead
has no foundation. We will prove thai
the woman's death was not wilful mur'
der, but was an accident. such as occurs
frequently on the treacherous waters OF
Greenwood Lake, summer after summer
SAYS Tonaue Was in Normal Place
AS to the condition found In tho
woman's throat, declared by the prose
cution's medical experts to indicate thai