The Bennington evening banner. (Bennington, Vt.) 19??-1961, 1916-05-26
WAITE GAVE MRS.
PECK MILLIONS
OF GERMS
Confessed POiSOner Says He Used
Many Kinds of Bacteria
DID NOT PRODUCE RESULTS
Forced to Employ Poison When
Ground Glass, Poisonous Gases
and Other Methods Failed.

New York, May 25.-Dr Arthur
Warren Waite calmly reeounted on
the witness stand last night, in an eff
fort to save himself from conviction
for murder by showing that he was Of
unsound mind, how he attempted to
cause the death of Miss katherine
Peck, the wealthy aunt of his wife
and his own benefactor, by feeding
her disease germs. He told also of
trying to kill his wife's parents, Mr.
and Mrs. John f. Peck, in the same
way before resorting to poison He
testified, in addition regarding his re-
lations with Mrs. Margaret Horton,
his Studio" companion.
Waite said he put ground glass in
a can OF marmalade and gave it to
Miss Katherine Peck prior 10 mis- mar
riage. He also put disease germs
in a can OF fish and gave that to her
Afterward he frequently gave her
germs of other varieties, including ty-
phoid, while he was studying bac-
teriology.
"Was there any arsenical fypaper
in her room?' the dentist was asked.
"Oh. yes" he answered. Il read
somewhere of an arsenical fiypaper
which, ii treated and put in a per-
sons pocket, would cause death, so
got some and put it in her room.
He had given Mrs. Peck millions
of germs, he said. Asked how many
kinds Of germs he administered TO
MIR. Peck, Waite replied Typhoid,
diphtheria, pneumonia and Others.
gave him a spray, and put diphtheria
and later pneumonia germs in it, and
had him spray his throat every time
he went out They had no effect and
| tried to make them stronger.
81 put water in the sheets OF his
bed so that he would catch cold, but
he didn't | also put chemical
compound in his room which would
create a poisonous gas, but it failed
to produce results. one night ! turned
on the gas. but the superintendent of
the building came up and turned it off.
81 gave him arsenic a few days be-
fore he was planning to go away. |
got 90 grains. | think. | think it was
three or four days before Mr.. Peck
died that began to give him arsenic.
| gave him little at first and in
creased the dose until all of it was
gone. ! gave him the doses in his
food. Once or twice it was in eggnogg
and once in rice pudding and then
once in hot milk
Waite told of sleeping on the couch
on the night before his father.in-law' S
death so as not to disturb his wife.
He got up an hour after retiring, he
said, and administered chloroiorm to
Mr. Peck
The prisoners story was devoted
largely to admissions of a series OF
thefts from the time he was a boy
until he pifered $40 from the purse
Of the mother of the girl whom he
later married. He told also of his
wooing of his wife. who sat not far
| from him in the court room with head
bowed while he testified.
The young dentist was preceded on
the witness stand by his father, WaI
rem w. Waite, and his brothers, Frank
and Clyde, The father told of taint
of insanity in his family in the hope
of thereby aiding his son. .All three
related incidents in the defendants
life designed to show that he was pc
culiar even as boy and that his
thieyery always was problem fol
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