The Bismarck tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, N.D.) 1916-current, 1924-03-07
REASONS FOR
D!ISMISSAL0F
CASE SET OUT
Not Sufficient Evidence To
Convict Mrs. Ursula Smith,
Officials Hold
POISON CHARGE MADE

Minot, N. D., March Reasons
for dismissal of the murder charge
against Mrs. Ursula Smith of Gran
vile, formerly charged with first
degree murder in connection with the
death Of her divorced husband, John
Smith, last April 9, was fully outlined
in papers filed in the case at Devils
Lake before Judge w. j. Kneeshaw,
copies Of which were received in Mi
not recently. Judge kneeshaw has
signed an order of dismissal in which
he states that it appears to the salts
faction Of the court that there is
grave doubt as to the guilt of the
defendant and that no unprejudiced
jury would convict her upon the tes-
timony which the state has to offer.
This is an action brought on the
charge of murder in the first degree,
the information alleging that the de-
fendant poisoned one John Smith
with strychnine, says States Attor-
ney Albert Weber of Towner in his
reasons for dismissal Of the case.
Ursula Smith was formerly the wife
of the deceased. An analysis of the
contents of the stomach of the de-
ceased by Professor G. A. Abbott of
the state university disclosed 1855
grains Of strychnine. A small guam
tity of black coffee in a cup stand
ing on the kitchen stove at the time
the man was found dead disclosed
an equally high percentage of the
same poison.
Alibi Presented
mo strychnine was found in the
coffee pot standing on the stove
alongside the cup. The defendant
was seen with the deceased about Z
o'clock in the evening prior to the
morning on which John Smith was
found dead. The same witness John
Heath) for the state was the one
who saw the defendant with the de-
ceased at o'clock in the evening,
saw her leave deceaseds company and
go in the direction of her mothers
house and later on at about 10 clock
Of the same evening the same wit
ness saw the deceased standing in
the kitchen Of the Smith home.
'The. mother of the defendant tes-
titled that defendant stayed with her
at the mothers house all night after
having been seen to leave the de-
ceased at o'clock in the evening.
The medical authorities are
agreed that strychnine is extremely
bitter in taste and the average fatal
dose about 112 grains or one and
three quarters grains and in cases
of large doses death would occur in
a very short time after the poison
was administered, instances being
reported where death occurred as
soon as 10 minutes after taking of
the poison. I
Poison in Cup Alone
"The doctor, DR.. F. X. Kolb, saw
the body at about 9 o'clock in the
morning and from his examination
testified at the hearing that the man
had been dead from six to eight
hours. Under the circumstances 1
cannot see how any jury could be
satisfied beyond reasonable doubt
of the guilt of the defendant. The
deceased could not, if he had been in
possession of his faculties, have
drank the draught without being
aware of the bitter taste. The poison
was mixed in the cup and not in the
pot and the dosage was fixed SO high
as to insure speedy death. The
man was seen standing in thd house
three hours after the defendant was
last seen with him and the state is
unable to destroy the alibi of de-
fendant produced by her at the pre-
liminary hearing. 1t is doubtful if
the state could escape an advised
verdict at the close of the testi-
n,