The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1916-04-27
ACQUIT A MOTHER
Insane When She Poisoned
Children, Jury Agrees.
State to Drop White Slave Case
Against Husband.
ROGERS SCORED BY ATTORNEY
Credits Him With Fixing Up
Records of His Crime.
Illicit Relations With Rogers
Ruled Out by Court.
ROGERS SCORED BY ATTORNEY

New York. April 27.-Mrs. Ida Sniff
fen Rogers is free, following the de-
cision of the jury. which refused to
believe that she, VIGOROUSLY loving
mother. could have been in her right
mind when she poisoned her two chill
dren.
Not guilty on the grounds of in
sanity" was the verdict announced in
the Bronx supreme court late yester-
day. after two hours elaboration.
Mrs. Rogers uttered a choking
sound. Her lips parted She swayed
and would have fallen if her husband
had not caught her in his arms. And
they sobbed together for some mo-
ments, careless of inquisitive looks.
lost in the immense relief of that mo-
ment.
The ordeal of the preceding hours
had been a fierce one. District At
torney Martin had been unsparlng in
the eloquence of denunciation- He
had characterized the woman at the
bar as a cold blooded murderess and
described her crime as one of the
worst he had ever encountered
Rogers's Former Wives There
The court room was crowded with
women. many of them hardly more
than girls. In a far corner sat Mrs
Anna Roquemore Rogers, the first
complicated matrimonial adventures
had landed him and one woman in
net of tragedy not to be forgotten in a
life time
Much beloved by women. Rogers lis
tened with composure to the impas-
stoned censure from the mouth of a
man.
Gentlemen of the jury, think this
man is the worst 1 ever heard of in my
life" the prosecutor exclaimed He
has left trail of broken families be
hind him The kind of life those two
were living inevitably leads in the d.
rection of murder"
Lewis Stuyvesant Chanler. chief of
counsel for the defense, had held up
his client as a model of motherhood,
incapable of harming her little ones
if she had been in normal state of
mind. In a passionate outburst he
had cried:
motherhood Is at the Bar"
Motherhood is at the bar HUI
mainly is on trial here
Yes. humanity is on trial here"
District Attorney Martin retorted,
pathies should not be for this woman,
but for the two helpless children who
were murdered. They were not ply
sically able to put aside the drafts of
poison that were handed to them
They were slaughtered by this woman
and unable to protect themselves.
''She was living with this man as
his mistress He was married and liv-
ing on Riverside drive. He had been
divorced. Mrs Rogers had been di-
vorced from her first husband
Her little son, John, whom the in
dictment charges her with numbering,
was conceived when she was the wife
of Walters. although she claimed
Rogers was the father. Gentlemen.
they were living like a lot of wild
beasts. Look at the desperate plight
she was in. if Rogers should leave her
with the two illegitimate children on
her hands.
It's Framed Up Case?
You can see the hand of Rogers all
through this case He is skilled not
only in immortality but in fixing up
the records of his crime. If this
isn't a framed up case, 1 would like
to see one. The records show this
woman did not take any of the poison.
If she had taken % grains of bichlo-
ride of mercury, she would not be alive
here today
Justice Tompkins, in his charge to
the jury, was particular in warning
them to have no prejudice in their
minds against Mrs. Rogers because of
her irregular relations with Rogers.
Before leaving the court room, Rog-
| erS said that he would immediate 1y
take legal steps to have the white
slave" indictment that was returned
against him either brought to trial or
dismissed
Il am neither a skunk nor repro
bate" he said. Il admit that l have
done wrong in the past, but 1 am sorry
for my mistakes and anxious to repair
| them
He Faces White Slave Charge.
His manner toward his wife was
/ tender and protecting, and he an
nounced that he intended to do his
/ best to atone to her for all the suffer-
/ ing that she had endured He prom
ised to resume the practice of law as
| soon as possible.
/ The white slave indictment against
/ him was returned by the same grand
! jury that indicted Mrs. Ida Walters, as
she was then, for the poisoning of her
I 10-yearold boy and her baby girl In
asmuch as the bond between the two
was one of love, voluntary on both
sides, with no faint of the condition
aimed at by white slave legislation,
District Attorney Martin allowed it to
| be understood today that the indict-
ment would be dropped.