Norwich bulletin., 1914-11-11
FAMOUS TRIALS
TRIAL OF MRS. BoTkIN.

Cordelia Botkin poisoning case in . nutshell Women were always in evil .dence. They ranged in ages from IS to S2. They were young and old, grave and gay, wise and otherwise; plain, pretty, passe, good. bad, indif- ferent, but in one thing only were they identical, they were all part and par eel Of a poisoning case which is with out a parallel in the number of petti- coats involved. Never before or since has there been such a wealth of gos- sip, backbiting, hairpulling, tears and angry protestations. Injured inno- eence wept it's heart out at unweIcome notoriety and above the confusing chorus the chief sounds discernihle were:
 You did!"
 T didn't!'
 'sYou did SOL"
 On Aug. F, 1898, Mrs. Dunningt and her children, together with her s!s- ter, Mrs. J. D. Deane. ate some candy sent to Mrs. Dunning from California with the following message:
 With love to yourself and baby. Mrs. C."
 Mrs. Dunning and Mrs. Deane both died, but the children recovered. The candy box bore 3. San Francisco post mark, and immediately a search was made for the identity of Mrs C. upon whom could be fixed the charge of having mailed the candy, Mrs. Cor bailey. an intimate friend, was first entangled in the case to her very nat ura1 distress. Later 1t was found that Jack DunniRgs the husband of the murdered woman. was living tseIe with a Mrs. BotkinS. who had formerlV lived in Dover, Dels where the women resided that had eaten of the candy, and since died.''
 A motive for the crime was quick ly found in the statement made by Erc l>{yy aFk S,. G. Francisco to the effect that she re- garded the husband of the murdered woman as her particular affinity E Mrs, Botkin was eventually put on trial in California charged with haY- ing murdered Airs. Dunning and Mrs. Deane. of Dover, Del, daughters of r-CongreSsman Pennington, by sending them poisoned candy The cause alleged was her infatuation for Mir. Dunning. In September of 1898, the same year. the death of Mrs. Dunning occurred, Mrs. Botkin was convicted and sentenced to imprison- ment for life. Later she carried the case to the United States Supreme Court, which after four years granted her 8 new trial on a legal technical ity.
 The new trial began on March 10, 1902, when Mrs. Botkin was more than hopeful Of her aGquittal, as some Of the most important witnesses had died since the first trial. The second trial was nothing but a long series of con tradictions. Two of thes nurses who had attended the prisoner 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. Botlzin. The following day Mrs. Rotkie took the stand and brand ed all the testimony given as false. She denied absolutely what half a dozen witnesses had sworn to in much detail, she was excited, but delivered her many telling points with much dramatic effect. She denied that she ever wrote the note in the poison candy box. One of the salesgirls in Haas store, where the candy was al = legged to have been bought testified that the prisoner often bought there.
 On her part, Mrs. Botkin denied purchasing a Handkerchief found in the box of poisoned candy, and sai1 she had never in her life been in the store of Hass 6 Son. On April 4. a strong alibi was set up for the de- fense. The main testimony was that of Sheriff Lachman. Supt. Walking ton of the drygoods store said there was no record of the sale of the hand the Ferry Post, cast doubt on the Identification of Mrs. Botkin's hand- writing on the box.
 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 im- prisonment for life. A second charge was brought against the prisoner by the husband of Mrs. Deane, but upon thie charge Mrs. BotISin put up no de- fense. Throughout the trial, in many instances, 1t was charged that the jury was being tempered with, and several of the men said beforehand that they did not want to see a woman hanged On Aug. 22. 1904, expressing regret that he could not sentence Cordelia Botkin to death, because the tury's verdict had fixed the punishment Judge Carroll Cook sentenced her tc life Imprisonment in the State prison at San Quentin. for the murder oi Mrs. punning. The charge concern 1 ing the murder of Ida Henrietta Deane was dismissed on the grounds of lack ! of prosecution.
 So Cordelia Rotkln lost everything including the man she loved and for l whom she committed the murder. Her husband received a divorce, in 1902 | and later died from a broken heart 1 upon her conviction, and most of the women who passed under the calcium ] light of the case are dead,