New Britain herald., 1916-05-22
WAITE TRIAL OPENS;
 PRISONER IS CALM
Dentist Unmoved as Jury to De-
 termine His Fate Is Chosen
INSANITY PLEA EXPECTED
State Is Prepared to Contest Such
 :,
 Grounds With Three Mental Ex- perts and Witnesses Who Nrcw Him Before Alleged Murder

1 pcItS dlIu "lL1cSSeS WHO At2cW tln
 Before Alleged Murder. l New York, May 22.-Four alien l ists headed the throng of witnesses l gathered in the criminal branch of 1 the supreme court today for the trial of Dr. Arthur Warren Waite charged l with murder, first degree, in poisoning l his father-in-law John E. Peck, a ! wealthy manufacture of Grand Rap l ids, Mich. Since he has confessed 1 the deed the prosecution believes that the defense will rely upon plea of insanity.
 To combat this testimony the state has engaged three medical experts and 1 summoned witnesses who knew the ! defendant at different periods of his l career. The defense has summoned l one alienist.
 Probably the most interesting fig ures at the trial next to the prisoner himself, will be his wife Mrs. Clara Peck Waite, and Mrs. Margaret Hor- ton, with whom Waite occupied at times 'studio" at an uptown hotel Altogether the state has subpoenaed ll5 witnesses. Extra panels of :5O talesmen have been summoned, and it may be a day or two before jury is selected.
 Mother-In-Lav Died First Mr. Peck, the alleged murder vic- tim, and his wife came to New York shortly after Christmas of last year to visit their daughter and son-in-l law. The second week in January Mrs. Peck became i'll and on January 30 she died in the Waite apartment At Waite's suggestion her body was taken to Detroit and cremated. Because of this fact the prosecution sought an indictment against the son-in-law only in connection With the death of Mr. Peck, which took place March 12 Waite, clean-shaven and neatly dressed was brought into the court room a few minutes after the arrival Of Percy Peck, his brother in law and the latter's wife. The prisoner occu- pied a seat beside his two attorneys, Walter R. Deuel and Joseph F. Cra- ter. The wife of the accused was not in court
 Long before court convened a crowd gathered about the criminal courts building, but owing to an extra panel of talesmen and the large number of witnesses few persons not connect ed with the case were admitted to the court room.
 Mechanical Engineer First Witness.
 Indications were that it probably would require the better part of the day to select a jury. Robert NeiT a mechanical engineer the third tales man examined, was the first accent a ble to both prosecution and defense and he was sworn in as the first juror
 In interro gating the talesmen Mir. Deuel laid stress on the question as to whether consideration would be given to evidence calculated to show the prisoner was mot we'll menta1ly' at the time he administered germ cul- lures of deadly diseases to Mr. Peck, as he has already confessed
 Assistant District Attorney George N. Brothers conducted the ease for the state.
 One hour after. the trial started twelve talesmen had been interrogat- ed, three of whom were accepted as jurors.
 Waite showed no emotion during the proceedings.
 The task of selecting a jury was competed shortly before 1: 30 o'clock today Peter Hebel, cheese ner- chant; Thaddeus $. Barlow, superin- tendent; Paul D. Case, who said he was an assistant secretary; George A. Helme, a capitalist; James H. Betts, a sales manager and Edwin M. Frledlander, a broker were next &C., cepted making seven jurors in the box before noon.
 Jury Chosen in Three Hours
 The twelfth juror was in the box three hours after the first taIesman was examined. Seldom has a trial of the kind moved so rapidly, 1t was said.
 Waite himself appeared as calm as any of the spectators who crowded the court room.
 Although a special panel of 500 talesmen was summoned, it was necessary to examine only 56 of them to complete the jury. Of this num- Der thirteen were peremptorilv chal- lcnged by the prosecution and six by the defense. The others were xcused for cause.
 The jury is composed of ten mar red and two single men. The oues- tions put to the talesmen by counsel for the defense indicated that the attorneys hope to save Waites life on the plea of insanity although the defendant himself has repeatedly de- clared that he is sane
 Justice Shearn announced that the jury would not be kept in custody during the trial but would be allowed to go to their homes.
 Orpet Trial Resumed Waukegan, H., May 22.-The sec