The Indianapolis times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1922-1965, 1930-07-16
LAST MEAL OF
Wife MAY FIX
FATE OF KOLB
Amount of Breakfast Eaten
by Victim Becomes
Crucial Point.
DOCTOR AIDS DEFENSE
When Poison Was Taken Isl
important Issue in
Death Trial.
BY BEN STERN
Times STAFF Correspondent

GREENFIELD, Ind, July 16. -
Upon the breakfast eaten by Mrs.
Edna Dagler Kolb the morning OF
her death last fall today probably
rested George Kolb's fate with the
Hancock circuit court jury trying
MIN on charge of murder.
Expert testimony introduced by
the defense this morning tended to
show that any strychnine admin
lStered by the 55-year-old Rushvilie
farmer would have killed her sew
eral hours before she died.
The Kolbs, on the morning on
Oct. q, 1929, left their home aboux ;
$50 and drove to the home of her
mother in RushvilIe. Mrs. Kolb died
at 1910 p m.
On the witness stand today. DR..
Henry r. Alberger, indianapolis.
diagnostician, consultant, formerly
professor of pathology at Indiana
university school of medicine, and
pathologist at several Indianapolis
hospitals, said under ordinary cir
cumstances that the recipient of a
lethal dose of strychnine would be
dead in thirty minutes.
Time Is Important
In my opinion, the strychnine
was administered subsequently td
the time they referring to the
Kolbs) left home. If before. the
woman ordinarily would have been
dead before they arrived at Rush
VILE" DR.. Alberger testified.
On cross examination by Paul
Benson, chief of the prosecution.
DR.. Alberger said there we're rare
cases when patients survived more
than two hours with full stomachs
when the poison was taken.
ITS possible, but very improbable.
should hate to be the recipient
he said, answering Benson's uues-
tons as to whether the patient
could have lived two hours If the
stomach we're full of food.
The defense then put on the.
stand William Kolb, I7-year-old SON
Of the defendant, who said his step
mother ate only cereal and drank
coffee anf eter for breakfast that
mornir
Tries to Impeach Testimony
His younger brother testified SINH.
larly Tuesday afternoon.
Benson attempted to impeach
their testimony by proof that, before
the grand jury which indicted Kolb,
they had said their stepmother ate
heavily before leaving the house.
Kolb is charged with having adj
mlnistered a capsule of strychnine
to his wife, telling her it was aui-
nine. The defense seeks Kolb's ac-
quittal, counter-charging suicide.
Feasibility is being exhibited by
attorneys for both sides, resulting in
frequent fare-ups.
IF the young man for the prose-
cution would keep quiet, we could
go ahead with our examination and
SO expedite Matters comes fire.
quently from John H. Kiplin9er
veteran criminal lawyer, when Paul
Benson, former Henry county prose-
cutor, objects to the line of oues-
tioning.
Crowd Well Entertained
Benson's answer invariably con-
tainS some reference to the elderly
gentleman for the defense"
Under the questioning of Ray !,
mond Springer, Connersville, a de-
Tense attorney, Raymond Kolb, is.
told how, when he was 8, his mother,
Louise Alternately Kolb, the de-
PENDANTS first wife, died and he
helped his sister in the homework
and with the cooking. Then, when
he was II, he said, he became the
housekeeper for his father and
elder brother, William.
Raymond corroborated previous
testimony that Matte Rhoades
Kolb, the second wife, was nervous
and irritable, subject to fainting
spells, had shelf full of medicine
and, on one occasion, had threat
ened to drown herself.
Testimony Corroborated
This was corroborated by the
testimony of Mrs. Bessie Kolb True,
Is, Spiceland, who defended her
father and denied that her mothers
death was similar, to that Of the
two stepmothers.
Botn exnloited much emotion in
discussing the third wife, Edna Dag
Ter Kolb, ana declared that she was
extremely kind and nIotherly to
them.
SkillfulIy led along, they told that
a depression settled upon Edna
three weeks before her death, as the
result of the death of her son,
Russell Dagler, who was killed in
an automobile accident at that