New Britain herald., 1917-06-18
CHOOSING JURY TO
 TRY MRS. GILLIGAN
Alleged Poisoner Appears in Court
 Accompanied by Daughter

NOT PUT TO PLEA TODAY Good Progress Made in Selecting Men
 to Decide Her Ea3e-Aocused on
 Five Counts of .Caustng Death of
 Inmates of Home for Aged.
 Hartford. June 1s.-Mrs. Amy E. Archer G1lligan. indicted for murder in the nrst degree, was placed on trial in tho superior court hero today. The woman has maintained as private in- sdtution the Archer home for elderly people in Windsor; six miles north of here. Public attention was directed to this home when, on May 8, 1916, Mrs. Giiligan was arrested by order of statee Attorney Hugh M. Alcorn, She was placed in a jail.
 Tho body of Franklin R. Andrews in the cemetery at Cheshire, who had been an inmate of the home was ex- humed. An effort was made to keep this fact secret. Andrews had died suddenly. His maintenance at the home had been provided for by an ad- vance payment under an agreement that he was to have been cared for until his death.
 pr. Arthur J. Woln, a bacteriologist, analysed the, organs from Andrews body. In September Mrs. Gilligan was indicted in i've counts charged with poisoning Andrews.
 Meanwhile. attention had been called to the fact that in period of several years more than score of deaths among the inmates had OCT cured and in examining. the death re- turns 1t had been noted that quite a number of persons had died from ecauses not clearly defined and after brief illnesses. Relatives of some of those who had died had been in con- troversy with Mrs. Gilligan over money or property assigned to her for the care of the inmates. Mrs. Giln- gan had a plan of caring for persons in thar declining years in return for transfer to her of a fixed sum of money, usually about 1000, or some- thing of equivalent tangible value. Ap- parently, there had been a number of sudden deaths among those whose fu- ture maintenance had been provided for. After Mrs. Gilligan's arrest a number of persons came forward to give their opinion as to the cause of a relative. On the other hand inmates of the home spoke of the excellent care given them and of the comforts of the place. -. :sa ...=
 Throughout the inquiry conducted by the state police MT. Alcorn main tained extreme reserve. Mrs. Gilligan had retained Benedict M. Holden as her counsel and he secured delay in trial in the winter and spring on the ground that the woman was mental ly unbalanced. Physicians agreed that she was not In good health.
 Today the state was ready to pro- ceed. Little was known in advance of the evidence to be offered. Judge Gardiner Gteene of Norwich presides, and the first task was to secure 8 jury from an extra large panel of tales men.
 Arrangements were completed for the trial when court opened. No time was lost in disposing of preliminaries.
 Mrs. Gilligan entered the courtroom with her daughter. Mary Archer. aged 1s. She looked frail but in good health. She took seat near MT. Hol- den. The roll of 100 talesmen was called. At the time there were only few, spectators in the courtroom. in- cluding two women.
 Mrs. Gilligan will not plead until the jury is completed. Up till IF noon three Jurors had been accepted. They were: Edward J. stevens, farm CT, Rocky Hill; Henry E. Hart. fac- land D. Barnes, civil engineer, Bristol. | yTv1. ~~. ~rrova %o1 frnro fan fQ1QSmen. Counsel on both sides asked questions. An outline of the states case is thought to have been indicated by some of MT. Alcorn's questions. He told talesmen under examination that Mrs. Gilligan would be charged with the death of Andrews by poisoE and that it might appear that she caused the death of one or more other persons. Talesmen were further asked by MT. Alcorn if they would be adverse to q verdict of guilty be- cause the defendant was a woman. or if they had an opinion on capital punishment. Several were excused because they had opinions and oth- CTS were excused because they did not believe in capital punishment. Mrs. GilMgan kept her eyes lowered until Stevens was accepted. Then she looked at him intently. It developed in regard to Stevens that he is a member of the Home Guard in Rocky Hill.
 The talesmen were kept in a sep arate room until called one by one and each juror was sent out of the court room.
 Before the noon recess two more jurors had been accepted. They are | Albert c. Griswold, insurance agent. wethersfield, and Leonard Dickinson. tobacco farmer. Hartland.
 States Attorney Alcorn, once while examining a talesman. mentioned the l romes of Michael w. Gilligan, second