Omaha daily bee., 1920-06-30
TEST REVEALS
EVIDENCE OF
POISON IN GIRL
Presence Of Aconite Shown
by Examination of Stom-
aCh of Frieda
BoSteIman.

fore the scheduled time for the re-
opening of the inquest this morn
ing and the court room was packed
with spectators, mostly women.
Audience Is Restless.
The weather was intensely hot
and. as the hearing progressed, the
audience grew restless, shifting
about in their seats and mopping
their faces repeatedly with handker-
chiefs.
The first witness called to the
stand today was Mrs. Fred Bostel-
mann, mother of the dead girl, and
wife of the man who is held in con-
nection with the death.
She was dressed in deep mourn
ing and was very nervous. but did
not cry as she did yesterday.
The next witness was her daugh-
= ter, Marie, l6-year-old sister of the
dead girl.
1t was apparent through the testi-
mony cf the mother and daughter
that they were making an attempt
to show that the cause of the girls
death was due to taking too many
headache tablets.
Takes Many Tablets.
A bottle containing l3 tablets of
patent headache medicine was in
troduced in evidence and the two
women testified that there were Is
tablets in the bottle the day before
Fri!da died.
L'r. X. {. Bowles, who was pres
ent when the girl died, blasted the
testimony of the mother and sister,
however, when on the stand he de-
clared these tablets each contain
cne-tenth of one grain of acetana-
lyme, and that even if the girl did
take the II tablets that would hard
ly have been enough to cause
death, and even then, the symptoms
OF convulsions would not have been
present
Contradicts Herself.
The mother seemed forgetful on
the stand today, contradicting her
self several times with reference to
evidence given yesterday. 1t was
quite apparent she wishes to defend
her husband.
Fred Bostelmann, himself, was
then placed on the witness stand.
He was led into the courtroom by
Sheriff Hall and one deputy, an
other deputy following closely be-
hind.
Nervous on Stand.
Bostelmann was extremely nerv-
Gus. As he sat in the chair, he
twisted about, plucked at ravelling
on his sleeve, continually wet his
lips, and clasped and unclasped his
- hands.
His eyes shifted to all parts of
tNe courtroom and he seemed un-
AIDE to meet anyone's gaze
Bostelmann admitted he was op-
posed to the proposed marriage of
his daughter, Frieda, to w. J.
Butzke, p years old, professor at
the Lutheran school in Chester.
He said he had nothing in particu-
lar against Butzke except that he
was a school teacher and therefore
could not make enough money with
which to support wife properly.
No Other Objection.
He declared that was his only
reason for opposing the marriage.
He said Frieda and Butzke had
been going together since last
Thanksgiving, and that at one time
they broke off but started going to-
gether again soon after.
Bostelmann admitted he had
warned his daughter she would
either have to drop her acquaintance
with Butzke or leave home
Freda and her father finally de-
cided to go to Chester. see Butzke
and talk it over. Bostelmann testi-
fed.
Consented to Parting.
His daughter, even consented to
return a picture of her fance she
had. and break the engagement, he
said.
On cross examination. however, he
admitted that on the fatal day he
quarreled again with Frieda and she
ran down the road
He denied chasing her, but admit
ted he followed her for way and
that when he came near her she
screamed and cried out:,
You're not going to kill me, are
your"
Finally, he said, he persuaded her
to 60 to Chester with him and they
h. started on their journey in the
: buggy.
7 Became Suddenly Ill.
When about mile from home,
Frieda became i'll and they turned
about and fastened home. he said
Bostelmanr admitted that when
he reached the porch of the home,
bearing the PROSTATE form of his
daughter. his wife cried"
my God, Fred, you've poisoned
Frieda"
He said he asked the girl if she
lad taken anything and that she
denied having done so.
Kept Poison in House.
L Mrs. Bostelmann, when on the
stand, testified that the family had
kept strychnine in the house for
seven or eight years to poison
Eophers.
She said Frieda was in charge of
the poison and used to mix it up
( for use against the gophers.
/, She said she knew there had been
some in the house only few days
before Frieda's death.
Drug Disappears.
Investigation, however, had failed
10 reveal any.
4 When confronted with this fact
\ by the county attorney, the mother
z declared she had destroyed the
strychnine but was unable to remem-
\ Der just when or where or how she
y Rad done it. ......-.
The county attorney asked her
why she had not turned it in with
jhc headache tablets and other medi-
tine as evidence.