The Waterbury Democrat., 1942-11-20
Mass Murder In Mad
 House, Charges Gov.
Inmates of Oregon Institution Questioned Following
 Poison Deaths of 47, Caused By Eating Eggs

identified by pathologists as sodium fluoride following an examination of the viscera of several of the victims and of the scrambled eggs.
 Detectives discovered that a quan- tity of roach poison made up largely of sodium fiuoride was kept In the hospitals fruit cellar, which is ac- cessible from the Kitchen in which the eggs were prepared. It is always locked and detectives ascertained that it was locked "wednesday even- ing. In another Storeroom near by is baking powder, milk powder, and other cooking ingredients and 1t too is always locked.
 A. B. McKillop, 8 member of the hospital staff, is chief cook, and Mary O'Hare, another staff member, is his assistant. They have 6 num- Der of inmates as helpers. all of whom are considered rational and harmless. Only McKillop. Miss -O'Hare, and other members of the hospital staff, had keys to the store rooms. Wednesday afternoon, Me- Killop opened several cans of quick freeze egg yolks, contributed to the hospital by the federal government and poured them into bowls. He was preparing the supper of the 460 ir1- mates rational enough to work around the hospital who get a workers diet"
 The bowls were unwatched for a moment while he went to the store room for powdered milk to add to the yolks to make Q scramble-egg batter. Returning, he met Miss OT5are and while he made his bat ter and cooked the eggs, she rolled and baked biscuits. The food was then carried to the five wards of the working inmates where, within the hour, 1t was convulsing scores of men and women with acute stom- ach cramps, together with paralysis of the respiratory organs.
 McKillop didn't cook all the bat ter. What remained was subjected to chemical analysis and showed no trace of poison. This seemed to rule out any possibility of negligence. Other cans of egg yolk from the same consignment, all of which had been under sub-zero refrigeration for six months, were examined and found pure.
 "As soon as received the report that deaths at the state hospital were caused by chemical poison, i" Gov. SpraguA said, T directed the state police to take charge of the investigation and to leave no stone unturned in an effort to fix respon- sibihty for this mass murder.
 There's nothing wrong with these eggs. The poison was evidently added in the preparation of the food"
 pr. John c. Evans, superintend- ent of the hospital, had hesitated to say whether the poisoning was intentional or due to carelessness. Capt. Walter Lansing of the state police and Dr. Frank Meme, Uni versity of Oregon pathologist who identified the poison, said they re- Eained open minded regarding an intentional poisoning theory.
 Evans and his staff of six doctors and 10 nurses, who have been on duty continuously since Wednesday evening. fought to save the lives of l2 inmates who remained danger ously ill."
 pr. Joseph Beeman, director of the state crime laboratory, said in Portland that the organs of those who died and the cooked eggs, showed the presence of sodium fiuoride in considerable quantity" He described the appearance of the poison as a white, crystalline substance, very similar to salt. Five grains, about the weight of an as- pirin tablet, is fatal, he said.