The Washington times., 1934-01-11
DOCTOR IN DAZE,
J. IMPERV|OUS
To NOISE
Accused Woman Shows Signs
{ OF Life When Jury Picking
h Opens Chicago Battle
BY DOROTHY DUCAS


CHICAGO, Jan. II U.N.S0.
Dr.. Alice Lindsay Wynekoop came
to trial for murder today with
the shouts Of a blood-thirsty
crowd ringing in her ears.
The 62-year-old woman physi-
clan who, the state charges,
killed her daughter-in-law, Rheta
Gardner Wynekoop, on an operat-
ing table in the basement of her
home, was such a drawing card at
the Cook County Criminal Court
building that several thousand
men and women, denied admiS-
sion, howled their disappointment
through the corridors.
Has No Effects
The sound struck the woman
doctor full in the face as she was
assisted into the courtroom from
the frowning Jail behind IN e
courthouse. It ruck-a n d
glanced off, like paper pellets
against q granite statue.
The crowds pushed and shouted
for 40 minutes before they calmed
down. Most of them, avid-eyed,
had waited since a. m. for
glimpse Of Chicago'S steel-nerved
grandmother, who is charged with
murder.
At 1890 Chief Bailiff James G.
Gabriel issued orders that the pub
lie was to be excluded from the
fifth floor while the trial was in
progress, to avoid a repetition of
the near-riot. DR.. Wynekoop did
not seem even to note the sudden
outer silence.
It was not lasting silence. The
crowds would not go. Their
ghouliSh glee rose three times to
crescendo, causing the judge
finally to call recess until the
whole building was cleared.
Police Are Called
Police reserves were summoned,
women protesting being elected.
One heaped shrill curses on the
head of her who sat at a table
in the courtroom, feeling already
accursed.
DR.. Wynekoop was carried into
an anteroom back of the court
where she will plead for her life,
a life already flickering violently
beneath the winds of disease and
age, to face a battery of cameras.
She seemed unimpressed, one
black -gloved hand rested at her
throat, cutting off the clay-like
pallor of her face beneath it's
black brimmed hat. A flashlight
bulb exploded. The, hand did
not move.
On first sight the woman
physician seemed to be a crea-
ture of shadows.
There was her head-gray and
black, the eyes trimmed by glasses,
a black veil dotting her skin with
shadow specks. She sat erect and
still, her bony figure outlined by
a new black silk gown and white
silk scarf.
Almost Unreal
She sat almost too still-frozen.
It was as if she had withdrawn
inside herself deliberately? leav-
ing the surface of the accused
murderess completely unreal.
The only time she showed any
awareness was before Judge
Joseph B. David entered the
courtroom.
Then, her son Walker, six feet
tall and blonde, leaned over to
say:
"GOOd luck, mother"
And DR.. Catherine Wynekoop,
her only daughter, put hand
on her shoulder.
DR.. Wynekoop looked up swift
~, and rested her fingers in
Walkers hair, and kissed him.
Then Catherine bent and kissed
her lightly. as if she would i'm
part confidence by her very man
ner. The two took seats just
behind and to the left of the
defendant.
Earle Wynekoop, central figure
in the tragedy, for the prosecu-
ton contends it was to pave the
way for his happiness that DR..
Wynekoop choloroformed and
shot Rheta, the 23-year-old wife,