The Butler weekly times and the Bates County record. (Butler, Mo.) 1918-1950, 1919-11-27

s a s s ssss ~
| iKansas City Coroassr ynSy lssconi-:
mend that II. A j. efstaf Of
If,is Ccs,aty; 3she lln1band, Il i
. aad 3 Iv, !. l.s Dossess
81 Death Of Mrs Rosa Biggerstaf,
tI04year-old bride Of two weeks, ri.
1.-THE office ar Dn William Davis Fos-
ter. z2 Altman building, Tuesday as
Iter no6n resulted in i ccroner's jury
latter hearingethe testimony Wednes-
iAay, Recommending that Dr.. Foster,
IJ3r. M. Chfisty, Butler, Mo-, and
lH. D Biggefaten, husband, be held
/ for pfosecutiQn. e. 1.sI
The coroner's jury found that Mrs.
Riggcrstaff, young wife of the Bates
lcounty farmer, came to her death -
| the result Of criininal surgical OPP
teration, performed At room S22 Att
/ man building, IN Kansas City. Mo-,
II lNoyernber I0Gs " # I.
4 The, Jury held Dr.. Foster, DR.
II fChristy and the husband "criminally
iiiable for the death.
\ The two physicians were arrested
Y "wednesday morning before the in
quest was held, and with Biggerstaff
ElWerc charged with second degree
manslaughter., The three pleaded
mot guilty" when arraigned before
| Justice John George and were re-
leased on $1,000 bonds. Their pre-
l1iminary hearing was set for Novem-
Der 26
Il According to Biggerstaff's state
ment,. he and his bride had known
each other more than two years.
| In a statement to DR.. w. H. Cof-
fey, coroner, and Preble Hall, deputy
prosecutor, Biggerstaff said that his
wife had revealed her condition to
him before their marriage. After
their marriage, he said he and hi his
wife consulted DR.. Christy in the lat
ter's office in Butler and that DR..
Christy assured him that he would
take Mrs. Biggerstaff to Kansas City
and have an operation performed.
| IBiggerstaff said DR.. Christy assured
him they were taking no risk.
/ Biggerstaff said he and his wife
again went to Doctor Christy's office
Saturday and arranged for the visit to
Kansas City. They met Doctor
Christy by appointment here Mon
day and the three later met Doctor
Foster. An operation was decided
Upon for the following day, Bigger
staff said.
II Biggerstkff and his wife spent the
hight 1t a hotel and, appeared at, DOG
| tor Fosters office Tuesday morning
Iaf 9 o'clock. At ri o'clock Bigger
Il staff said, plans for> the operation
were begun. DR.. Harry ! c. Lane,
who has offices in the Altman build
/ ing, was called in to administer an
anaesthetic, and ch1oroform, Bigger
staff said, was given at 1890 o'clock.
A half hour later, it was stated, DR..
| Lane sent out for a quarter of a
pound of ether and substituted that
:or thS chloroform. Biggerstaft sa;a
he was assured that his wife would
be all right III a little while.
In the statements of Biggerstaff,
Doctor Foster and Doctor Lane, it
is admitted that Mrs. Biggerstaff was
under the influence of an anaesthetic
at o'clock in the afternoon and at
about that time Doctor Foster and
Doctor Lane went out to luncheon,
remaining away for an houf. When
they returned, Biggerstaff states, he
told them that his wife had been rest
less. Biggerstaff was assured that
she would get along all right and he
left the office.
! When Biggerstaff returned shortly
hefore s O'Clock, he says his wife was
tdying. Doctor Fosters statement
says that Mrs. Biggerstaff had died
when her husband returned.
Doctor Christy, who had no part
in the affair after he had introduced
the Biggerstaffs to Doctor Foster
was notified BY telegram Of Mrs.
Biggerstaffs death and he started
Immediately for Kansas City. He
was arrested ct I:3o o'clock Wednes-
Iday morning as he stepped from Al
ltrain at Union station. He protested
Ethe Injustice of his arrest. Doctor
k1sane was not arrested.
m a dispatch from Butler says Doc
ktaf Christy has practieed medicine
kf6e2lp years; L. I, director of q lead
l6 bank in Butler, and has large
|1faefice. He owns = 4o0-acfe farm,
Enns " the best in Bates county.
nfI0erstaff is zS years old, His
ENife 80 formerly Rbse O'Bannon,
the dfH Ster of 3asmef. They lived
|{ja8t @ ~ northeast of Butter. The
Bt91ef1es were married on MOI
|yeAlb<t lost BY the Rev. ]. w.
astor .of the Bepti5t
|eestS ~ sler.-T Thursday Ksn-
ga messl 81 The Times I'm