New Britain herald., 1916-05-26
Denies He Ever Formed Intention of.Killing Wife, Although Ad-
 mittin6 Other Murders
SAYS "I DON'T REMEMBER"
 TO JUDGES QUESTIONING

Marmalade Which, She Thought,
 Contained Sand. But Which Prisoner
 Admits Was Ground Glass.
 New York, May 26-Could a sane
 man commit the series of crimes
 confessed by pr. Arthur Warren l Waite?
 l ms questiaon confronted the jury 1 today Tn the Peck murder case. The
 young dentist left the witness stand l last night after five hours and 45 1 minutes crowded with horrors unpar- 1 alleled in the history of New York 1 cr11nlhal trials Every detail of his
 story was noted by the alienists en- gagged by the defense fer use in re- plying to the hypothetical question to De propounded by counsel for the
 accused man, before the attorney asked the jury to decide whr+het Waite was mentally responsible wien
 he killed his father-in-law. John F.
 Peck.
 Waltes testimony left the prosecu-
 tion's attorneys today nothing more
 to do toward proving that he com-
 mitted murder. Their problem was
 to show that a monster of crime such as the defendant confessed himself
 might have been mentally normal and therefore, a fit subject for the cleo tric chair.
 Counsel for the defense said today that they had few, if any more uues- tions to ask their client It was ex- pected that the alienists would take the stand soon after the state tin- 1shed cross examining the defendant.
 Was Mad for Money. .-
 The supreme moment of Waites tale came last night when the young witness declared in calm conversa- tional tones: "Why I wanted those bacteria to kill those three persons
 MT. Peck, Mrs. Peck and Miss Peck, the maiden aunt. I wanted them to die. I wanted their money.''
 This attempt to murder three per sons, two of whom he sent to their
 graves, was the climax Waite showed of a long career of crime. Without
 a change of voice or expression to
 indicata ''~~t he recognized the enor- mity -, confession, he described 1 minut, " he gave his victims ar
 senic, powdered glass, chloroforn1, disease germs and over doses of med 1cine; how he burned fly paper and gave the residue, which he had read contained arsenic, to MT. Peck; how he generated chlorine gas in the father-in-law's room to make his throat more sensitive to the germ cultures, how he dampened the sheets in his bed and drove him in swift
 automobile with open windows ana raised the windows of his room in md winter in an unsuccessful effort to give him pneumonia. Women were excluded from the
 court room when Dr. Arthur Waite resumed the witness stand today. Hundreds of persons in the corridors vainly tried to gain admission to the
 court room.
 Waite appeared pale but seemed to have braced himself to face the or deal His counsel, Walter R. Deuel, 1 told Justice Shearn that he had only
 few more questions to ask the den-
 tist before the cross-examination
 would begin.
 Never Planned to Kill Wife.
 'Did you ever try to kill your
 wife?' asked MT. Deuel. Mo- replied Dr. Waite.
 Did you ever plan to kill herr" No, never"
 You never thought you might kill herr"
 I am not sure that I would not
 have killed her." said Waite. Assistant District Attorney Brothers then began the cross examination or Dr. Waite. The attorney first asked the prisoner: Do you recal telling me that you did not want your wifo to learn of your relations with Mrs. Horton %
 "No,'' replied Waite. Waite folded his arms and smiled at the prosecutor as he denied having any conversation with MT. Brothers In Dr. Waite's apartment. The den- tist said he was surprised to learn that he had given ring to his nurse. He denied also that he feigned insanity in Bellevue or in the Tombs or that he deliberately planned q false defense or read books on ner- vous diseases.
 Repudiates "Man From Egypt Waite declared he did not tell Dis trict Attorney Swann and MT. Broth CTS while in Bellevue hospital that the "Man from Egypt" had killed John F. Peck.
 Are you crazy?" asked MT Brothers
 q think not"
 After you took Mr. Peck's life, you could not sleep, could you?''