Arizona republican., 1914-08-14
TRIAL OF MRS. BOTKIN


 in a nutshell Women were always in evidence. They ranged in ages from IS to S2. They were young and old, grave and gay, wise and other wlse; plain, pretty, passe, good. bad, indifferent, but in one thing only were they identical-they were all part and parcel of a poisoning case unmatched in numbe.' of petit coats involved. Never before or since has there been such a wealth of gossip, backbiting, hairpulling, tears and angry protestations. Injured in- nocence wept it's heart out at un welcome notoriety and above the con- fusing chorus the chief sounds dis Cernible were:
 You did!"
 T didn't"
 You did sol"
 On August F, 1898, Ms Cunning ana her children. together with her sister, Mrs. J. D. Deane, ate of some candy sent to Mrs. Cunning from California with the following mes sage:
 With love to yourself and baby. Mrs C."
 Mrs Cunning and Mrs. Deane both GieG but the children recovered. The candy box bore San Francisco postmark, and immediately d search was made for the identity of a Mrs. C." upon whom could be fixed the charge of having mailed the candy. Mrs. Corbaley, an intimate friend. was first entangled in the case to her very natural distress. Later it was found that Jack Cunning, the husband of the murdered woman was living there with a Mrs. Botkin who had formerly lived in Dove-, Delaware, where the women resided Who had eaten Of the candy and since died
 A motive for the crime was quick ly found in the statement made by Mrs. Botkin after her arrest in San Francisco to the effect that she re- garded the husband of the murdered woman as her particular affinity"
 Mrs. Botkin was eventually put on trial in California charged with hav- ing murdered Mrs. Cunning and Mrs. Deane, of Dover, Delaware, daughters of former Congressman Pennington, by sending them poisoned candy. The cause alleged was her infatua ton for MT Cunning. In Septembe' of 1898, the same year the death of Mrs Cunning occurred, Mrs. BOtkin was convicted and sentenced to i'm prisonment for life. Later she car ried the case to the United States years granted a new trial on a legal technicality.
 The new trial began on March 10, 1902, when Mrs. Botkin was more than hopeful as to her acquittal, as some of the most important witness es had died since the first trial. The second trial was nothing but a long series of contradictions. Two of the nurses who had attended the prison CT testified that before the murder Mrs. Botkin had often asked about the effects of arsenic poisoning. Frank Gray, a druggist, testified that he had sold some arsenic to a woman he believed was Mrs. Botkin.
 The following day Mrs. Botkin took the stand and branded all the tes- timony given as false. She denied absolutely what half dozen wit nesses had sworn to in much detail; she was excited, but delivered her many telling points with much dra matic effect. She denied that sne ever wrot9 the note in the poison candy box. One of the salesgiils from Haas store. where the candy was alleged to have been bought. testified that the prisoner often bought there.
 On he. part, Mrs. Botkin denied purchasing a handkerchief found in the box of poisoned candy. and said she had never in her life been in the store of Haas X Son. On April 4. a strong alibi was set up for the defense. The main testimony was that of Sheriff Lachman. Superin- tendent Washington, of the dry goods store said there was no record of the sale of the handkerchief, and MT. Ford, postmaster of the Ferry Post, cast doubt on the identification of Mrs. Botkin's handwriting on the toX.
 On April ', the jury retired, and late that night returned with a sen- tence of guilty of murder in the first degree and fixed the penalty at inn prisonment for life. A second charge | was brought against the prisOne. by ! the husband of Mrs. Deane, but upon l this charge Mrs. Botkin put up no | defense. Throughout the trial, in
 many instances. it was charged that | the jury was being tempered with and several of the men said before 1 hand that they did not want to sec 8 woman hanged. On August P l 1904, expressing regret that he could
 not sentence Cordelia Botkin tC
 death, because the jury's verdict had fixed the punishment, Judge Carol l