The Bennington evening banner. (Bennington, Vt.) 19??-1961, 1920-07-21
SUNDAY NIGHT
TEA PARTY IN
MURDER CASE

! d. Purdy of Manchester, Harvey S
Lincoln of Rupert and Ralph II. White
of Bennington, were beginning to con
slider the possibility of being obliged
to summon third panel.
With the opening Of the Afternoon
session the proceedings moved rapid
| ly Five of the tentative jurors were
removed through the peremptory chal
lenges but the vacancies in the list
we're quickly filed and almost before
the spectators realized what had hap
Ipened the jury was completed. Tive
of the talesmen to whom counsel OBJ
jected were William II. Lundergan
and John LaFlamme of Bennington.
The jurors are nearly all farmers
IOne of them S H. Abbott of Land
grove is one of the tallest men in
Bennington county.
County Clerk j. j. Stakeholder ad
ministered the oath to the jurors and
then Judge Wilson directed that the
Officers of the court also be sworn
The clerk then read the indictment
but Pettibone was not asked to plead
for the reason that this feature of the
trial had been enacted when he was
arraigned some time ago.
States Attorney Graves briefly
stated the case for the prosecution. In
substance the state contended that the
respondent brought about the death of
his wife through the medium of
strychnine which he had secured from
a Bennington drug store several days
prior to April 6, the date of the alleg-
ed crime The state charged that the
respondent, Pettibone, prepared three
doses of salts which were taken by
himself, Mrs. Pettibone and Eugene
Rcce who roomed at the house on
School street, The prosecution fur
ther contended that Mrs. Pettibone
became ill, that DR.. E. NJ. Gardiner
was called in attendance, that the
patient died in a short time and that
an autopsy disclosed sufficient
quantity Of strychnine in the stomach
TO cause death.
DR. E. NJ. Gardiner of Bennington,
who attended Mrs. Pe.tibone on the
night of her death, was the first wit.
ness, The physician testified that he
was called to the Pettibone house on
School street at 1850 o'clock on the
evening of April 6, that he was sum.
moned by telephone by Pettibone. The
witness further. stated that he heard
Mrs. Pettibones voice over the tele
phone and that the woman urged him
to hurry. When he arrived he found
Eugene Rice, Pettibone and Mrs Pet
itibone at the house. Mrs Pettibone
was in bed. The physician described
4 the treatment prescribed and went in
Ito de'ails concerning the condition ci
the patient He stated that he was
present 'at the autopsy. During his ex
animation by the states attorney the
physician was exceedingly nervous
but when cross-Questioned by Attorney
Henry Chase for the defence was
more direct in his answers The ply
sician was positive thai he heard Mrs
PettibCne's voice over the telephone
Attention was called to the fact thai
he had made no mention Of this incident
when testifying at the preliminary
hearing before the Bennington munici
pal court. DR.. GARDINER was question
ed a. length in relation to the symp
toms of his patient and their similari
ity to symptoms in cases of uremiC
poisoning and the similarity of treat
ment usually prescribed. He denied
that he had on any occasion said Mrs
Pettibone had died of uremic poison
ing. He admitted that two days after
Mrs. Pe,tibones death he had made
the statement at the Putnam Mcmori