The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, December 13, 1898, Page 1

The all Oy p— the L. " from e [l AFy, ¥3e, ““fin...._\m_ — VOLUME LXXXV,—NO. 13. SAN FRANCISCO, TUESDAY, DECEMBER 13, 1898. PRICE FIVE CENTS. Relatives of the Murdered Women |o Tell How Death Entered Their HE horrifying story of the mur- der of Mrs. Mary Elizabeth Dun- ning and Mrs, Ida Deane has been told to the jury that is trying Mrs. Cordella Botkin for crime. The prosecution began the ac- tual presentation of evidence yesterday | morning, and before the day was over every incident in the dreadful scheme of assassination had been described. Even the cold, dry formalism of the law could not rob the recital of its dramatic interest. The host of listeners that crowded the court room of Judge Cook followed with eager, silent attention every de- tail of the plot of the poisoner as it was presented in question and answer by the officers and witnesses of the State. A picture of the Pennington household at Dover and the devasta- | tion that the murderous impulse of some fiend swept through it was drawn slowly and clearly as each witness came and went. And when the day was over not one word had been said to indicate who the cruel assassin i{s. The prosecution has not come to that development of proof, but is expected to do so to- It will now begin.to present its against Mrs. Botkin her directly and maliclously with the awful murders at Dover, and to de- mand of the jury that her life be given in exchange for those taken in murder. day Tt in the court room yester- day v most dramatic. As the rela- tives and friends of the murdered wo- men told in cr Botk chapters the story of the who maintained a composure that seemed almost to be unconcern. d to be a most unusual oc- ¢ ice that the prosecution should, during the day, win its most import- t point through a slip of the guarded movements of the defense. The prosecution will seek to demon- strate that the flend who mafled the package of death to Mrs. Dunning also wrote anonymous letters which that woman received more than a year the before her death. An effort will then be made to prove that Mrs. Botkin is guilty of both acts. At the stage reached yesterday in the proceedings the prosecution could find no legal way in which to connect the letters with the kage. John B. Pennington, the of the murdered woman, was on the witness stand, and, a% a matter of fact, believed from a close comparison that the letters and the address on the package were written by the same per- 80T The prosecution was not per- | mitted to introduce this fact yesterday, but the defense did so through a ques- tion asked in cross examination by At- torn Knight. This will relieve the lawyers of the State of much prelimi- nary legal fencing in placing what they believe to be the facts of the case be- fore the consideration of the jury. The first witness was Thomas M. Gooden, the postmaster of Dover, Del. The introduction of this witness as the first in the case indicated the plan of the State to pre- gent the dreadful facts of the murder of Mrs. Dunning and Mrs. Deane In chronological order. In a dry, legal, halting way the recital of death was to | be made to the jury The first witness was nervous, excitable, emphatic. He was sure of his ground and fretted un- | der the cross examination of Attorney Knight. Gooden related on the witness stand no fact that was not already known to the public. He told the circumstances under which the package of poisoned candy reached Dover on August 9 of this year. The prosecution, it was evident, had determined to trace the box of bonbons on its mission of death from the moment it arrived in the mail at Dover. This method of proof In itself excited interest. It was thought that the facts and circumstances con- necting Mrs. Botkin with the purchase and disposition of the box would first be shown, but Assistant District At- torney Hosmer and Attorney General ‘White of Delaware preferred to estab- lish first the fact that a crime had been committed and then to expose the per- petrator. This plan of procedure will make the conduct of the trial excep- tionally dramatic. Postmaster Gooden told how the vackage, which he identified on the =tand, came through the mail to Dover and was placed, after the distribution of the mall in the postbox of J. B. Pennington. Attorney Knight badger- ed the witness, but did not break him in his position. A tilt between Knight ‘and Hosmer followed and then the prosecuting officer proceeded to trace the box of death into the Pennington home. The next link in the chain was sup- plied by Harry C. Pennington, nephew of the murdered women. The boy told how he took the package from the vostoflice and carried it to the home of his aunt, where he was spending a Vacation. The young witness related the incidents that followed, the opening of the box, the eating of the sweet- d‘h:’ H“)f’*"fluvm sickness, suffer- nd death, v vhi ish witness w nql:n“;? “[h“P this bows defense indicated the fest aer e ine e e e first element of Every effort will be made to interfect t:n single element of reasonable doubt that w B 5 n Knight's cross-examination of Harry Penning- ton and of every following witness of the | to connect | eye was turned upon Mrs. | for the prosecution | Home. Ithe day the most stubborn endeavor was made to cloud the proof of the | prosecution that the murdered women | and their friends and family had par- | come dangerously ill. Knight wished to | | | | | taken of the candy and then had be- | | know what the 1 — i W ooer == T1ZEN JUDGES OF MRS. BOTKIN LISTEN T0 THE STORY OF THE DOVER TRAGEDIES © 9000060900400 H0S0S0P0P0 $0HIP0P0S0H0H0P0P0S0P0$0$0 # 0$090$0S06060$09090$0006 0% & & [} & [} full deliberation. at great length yesterday afternoon. : HARPER’'S PETITION IN THE SUPREME COURT HE State Supreme Court has not yet officially considered the application made by W. L. Harper for a writ of prohibition to prevent Judge Cook from continuing with the trial of Mrs. Botkin. Through some misun- derstanding in the office of the Clerk of the Supreme Court the application was before the tribunal, and could not therefore be orderly considered. by the attorney for Harper, whose petition will then be properly presented. While the Supreme Justices have taken no official notice of the application, they considered it informally The Justices have still to consider some of the points and authorities raised by Harper's attorney, as the case is considered to be of far too great importance to be dismissed without It is intimated, however, that Harper’'s petition will be denied. vital import to the defenders of Mrs. Botkin. @ 9090906040809 090P090H0P0P09PIP0S0H0P0P0P0P0S0V0P0P0P0S0G0S0H0HP0S0S0H0H0P0H0S090S0 HARRY C. PENNINGTON WHO BROUGHT THt TH PACKAG DEA = = WITNESSES FOR THE PROSECUTIO HE Prosecutors of Mrs. Cordelia Botkin Made Substantial Progress Yesterday in the Presentation of Their Case Against the Accused Woman. Tragic Story of the Death of Mrs. Dunning and Mrs. Deane Was Told in Dramatic Chapters by Men, Women and Children, Who Had Personal Knowledge of the Events They Described. The Recital Was Given From the Moment the Package of Death Was Received at the Dover Postoffice Until the Bodies of the Poisoner’s Victims Were Interred. This defect will be remedied this morning o b4 o @ o @ o @ o » not properly presented o L o ® o @ o @ o @ o @ o @ o ® Such a decision would be of 9 o & [} PENNINGTO | DENTIFIES THR ONYMOU 'S AN Y"}_&TT N TELLING THE Pennington family had eaten for din- ner that day of death. He demanded to know where the food was purchased, and who cooked it. As the lawyer pro- gressed his cross-examination became more insinuating. There might have been a rebellious and dangerous ser- vant in the house ready. to avenge with murder a real or a fancied griev- ance. There might have been poison in the cooking utensils; in the drinking water. Knight was doing his best to show that death under conditions that existed at the Pennington home might have been brought into the household in a dozen different ways. After young Pennington had told of his terrible suffering after eating the poisoned candy, he was released from the witness stand, and was followed by Lelia Deane, his cousin, and the young daughter of one of the murdered wo- men. The appearance of this child as a witness gave a pathetic interest to the trial. The girl was the first of sev- eral witnesses Wwho appeared to tell their sad story of death in their home. The father of both murdered women, the husband and daughter of one of them and friends of both told to the jury the story of heartless murder that shocked the continent. There was bit- terness in their voices, and even that meant the seeking of vengeance for the gullty one. More than one glance of hatred was sent from the witness stand toward the woman who is on trial for her life. The children in| the attitude of the children a sternness | watched her with a wondering horror, for they do not understand that accu- sation dces not always mean either guilt or conviction. ‘When court adjourned for the day the following witnesses for the State had been examined: Thomas M. Gooden, Postmaster of Dover; Harry C. Pennington, nephew of the murder- ed women; Lelia Deane, daughter of Mrs. Deane; Miss Josephine Bateman, friend of the family; Ethel Jane Mil- lington, friend of Lelia Deane; J. D. Deane, husband of one of the murdered women; John B. Pennington, father of the murdered women. This aged wit- ness was still under cross-examination when court adjourned for the day. The trial will be resumed this morning. The defense took - some encourage- ment from the testimony of Miss Bate- man, who established the fact, as far as assertion may do so, that she ate some of the poisoned candy and then found crystals of arsenic in her mouth. Miss Bateman was very sure that the candy contained the poison. She had, almost immediately after eating the candy, suffered from arsenical poison- ing. The lady was quite as sure that the poison was crystallized arsenic. The defense seemed to consider this assertion as of great importance to Mrs. Botkin. The prosecution will in- troduce evidence, however, to show that Mrs. Botkin purchased both pow- dered and crystallized arsenic and that both forms of the drug were found in the death-giving candy. As the important results of the first day of trial the prosecution has shown that a double murder was committed at Dover. It has been shown that friends of the Penningtons, who did not dine with them that night in August but who did partake of the deadly candy, suffered the same symptoms of sick- ness that reached a climaxin the death of Mrs. Deane and Mrs. Dunning. There is now also legal testimony to show the belief of the father of the murdered women that . the flend who mailed the package of candy from this city sent also the anonymous letters a year before to Mrs. Dunning. ST T The Morning Session. ‘When proceedings commenced in the morning all witnesses were excluded from the room at the request of Attorney Knight for Mrs. Botkin. The first witness called was Thomas M. Gooden, Postmas- ter at Dover, Del. He was questioned by Assistant District Attorney Hosmer as to the 5:58 mall. This was from the north and west and any mail from California would arrive in that mail. He testified that he placed a package in John B. Pen- nington’s box. He described it as an ob- long package gddressed to Mrs. John P. Dunning. It was placed in Mr. Penning- ton's lock box. The witness was sure of this, as he handled the box three times, it belng among the packages of mail that were addressed to people in his district of the city. He was shown the wrapper which was taken from the box of candy and identified it as the one which in- closed the poisoned candy. Attorney Knight tried to get the wit- ness to tell how he identified this particu- lar box, when so many packages were handled daily. Under cross-examination by Attorney Knight the witness testified that his at- tention was called to the wrapper on the box, owing to the number of times he handled it, He handled the mail for about 350 private boxes and no other large pack- age was recelved that day. No amount of questioning could cause him to recall any large package addressed to any one else. He described minutely the manner of handling packages of mail in the Do- ver Postoffice. He unlocked the mail bag when it was brought to the station and the janitor spread the contents out on the table. Three distributers then took it in hand and placed it in the various private receptacles. Mr. Knight questioned him so exhaustively on the matter of any other large package being received that Assistant District Attorney Hosmer ob- Jected, and the representative of the de- fense finally let him go. Harry C. Pennington, the sixteen-year- old nephew of the murdered women, was the next witness called. Under the ques- tioning of Mr. Hosmer he told of the part he played in the tragedy at Dover. It was his custom nightly to go to the Postoffice for mail for the family, in whose house he was spending the summer. On the fateful night in August he found some letters and an oblong package in Mr. Pennington's private box. The package was addressed to Mrs. John P. nning, and he iden- tifiled the wrapper shown as being the one around the box. He took it home and gave it to his aunt, who was sitting on the orch. It was examined first to determine rom whom it came. Mrs. Dunning opened it .and found it contained candy, a small white handkerchief and a note “‘Love to yourself and baby. Mrs. C.” He identl- fled the chocolate as having been in the box and told of the persons present who partook of it. He ate some of the hard pieces of candy and also some pepper- mints. After it he with other members of the family took a walk and had no symptoms of illness that night. The next 'The Prosecution Makes Rapid Prog- ress in the Presentation of Its Case. morning he had a headache, was vomiting and had an _unquenchable thirst. This lasted for a day and a half, when he re- covered. He told of the death of Mrs. Deane on Thursday and of Mrs. Dunning on Friday night. He said that neither Mr. Deane nor Mr. Pennington was {ll. He had not seen them eat any candy. Mr. Knight took the witness in hand J D DEAN TELLS THE STORY OF His UFE STORY OF THE DOVER MURDERS. The for cross-examination and drew from him that the house in which he lived at Dover was a large roomy one. He could not tell how many rooms it contained. 'ine housework was done by a colored woman whose rame he did not know, and she was assisted by a colored man. He told of the supper they ate on the night the mm‘fl was received. It consisted chiefly of fis and corn fritters. The former was not canned, but he was not so sure about the corn. He was asked if his grandfather ever had any trouble with the colored woman. Objection was raised to this and sustained. He then went over the ground as to %ettlng the mail each evening. He teld of receiving the package of candy and of taking it to Mrs. .Lunning. She opened it and passed it around. They wondered who sent it, but were not able tc determine. He took three lumps of candy. Mrs. Pennington took one, but immediately spat it out, saying it was no goed. The grandfather did not take any. L he %oiwn did not begin to affect him until the next morning, when he had a headache and vomiting. In answer to a question he said he had not discussed the symptoms of arsenical poisoning with anybody. He said he moped around all day, not knowing what was the matter with him or with the others who were aifling. No one told him what was tne matter and he did not know. The taste left in his mouth was different from that left by other illnesses, but he was un- able to describe it. To a juror he said that he first felt ill about 7 o'clock {n the morning. He had eaten nothing after sug};er but the cnn%)’, and did not feel i1l before going to bed. ¥ Lelia Deane, tne 14-year-old daughter of one of the murdered women, was &e next witness to take the stand. She:iaentified the wrapper as having inclosed the box of candy, which she described. Upon re- ceipt of the box the members of the fam- 1ly on the porch of the Pennington house tried to decipher the marks on the box in order to determine whence it came. “I read ‘Francis,’” she said, “and that was all I could make out. At the time we wd not agree that it came from San Frane cisco.” Mr. Hosmer showed the jury where the stamp was marked across the face of the stamps. Miss Deane identified the note shown her, but could not identify the handkerchief, which she said, how- ever, looked like the one shown her by the prosecuting officer. +She took some of the hard candy and then made a call, accompanied hy her mother. The next day she could not sit up and remained in bed all day. The at- tention of the doctors was given entirely to Mrs. Deane and Mrs. Dunning—they did not prescribe for her at all. She did not recover until Saturday. In the mean- time both her mother and her aunt suc- cumbed to the poison. Mr. Knight took the witness and tried to draw from her the information as to a possible quarrel between her grandfather and Rosy, the colored woman employed as cook. The prosecution took exception to this and the objection was sustained. She explained that she felt ill when she got up in the morning. She was languid and dizzy and wanted to lle down. She had no burning pain in the stomach, in fact no decided symptoms or pains, only a desire to vomit. ‘“To what did you at- tribute your {llness?”’ asked Mr. Knight. Objection was made to the question, but not sustained, and the witness replied that she had not thought about it. She took no medicine. Her mother had told Dr. Bishop that she (the mother) had eaten heartily of corn fritters. She did not know if he had asked whether they were made from canned corn; neither did she know of her own knowledge whether it was canned. Drs. Bishop and Davis had consulted over the cases in the house, but she did not hear any discussion as to da.rsenic until after her relatives had died. The usual hour for adjournment for luncheon had by this time arrived, and Judge Cook asked the jurors if they would be willing to extend their sesslons a half hour both morning and afternoon. One juror opposed the extemsion of the afternoon session, but it was finally agreed to continue a half hour longer each morning. Miss Josephine Bateman was called. She testified that she was passing the Pen- nington house and was called in and of- fered some of the candy which had just arrived. Mrs. Dunning showed her the box, which she sald she thought came from some friend in San Franecisco. The ‘witness identified the wrapper and the box shown her. She took but one piece of candy and picked out a similar piece from the box: - It was a piece of cream choco- late with a pecan nut on it. After placing it in her mouth she found three hard lumps in it; took them from her mouth and threw them on the street. She also found a foreign substance on her gum, and removed it. The next day the gum was ulcerated, as were also her lips. She felt ill that day and also the next day. After throwing away the lumps she ate the candy. In her examination she adroitly dodged a question which would have disclosed her age. In doing so she said she was born in Dover. Attorney Knight got at the matter of age delicately by asking how long she had been in Dover, and the witness answered, “‘Since 1857.” In answer to Mr. Knight, she told of being called into the Pennington house. There was a discussion as to the writing on the pack- age, but Mrs. Dunning was not suspicious as to the contents of the box. Witness testified that she was surprised that a friend would send a note written on such a plece of paper. She thought either a card would be used or else a whole sheet. Witness, who is a teacher, is familiar with chemistry, and has seen arsenic since. She had learned what powdered and what crystallized arsenic is. She said she spat it out because it was of a gritty nature and about the size of a pea. She thought it was some imperfection in the candy. It looked like rock salt. It was firm and solid and would not dissolve. The witness was excused and recess de- clared. S sl gk The Afternoon Session. Upon rollcall at the opening of the aft- ernoon session Jurors Heyman and Ken- nedy did not answer to their names. Mr. Kennedy appeared shortly, but the court room clock ticked off several minutes be- fore Mr. Heyman appeared. Judge Cook watched the door with a look that boded no good for the deligquent juror. He finally appeared and before he could take his seat the Judge stopped him. In sim- ple but sarcastic words he told him he would have to set his watch by the court room clock. He had been late at both sessions of the court. If it occurred again, the Judge said, he would order the jury into the custody of the Sheriff, who keeps his watch right. Ethel Jane Millington was the first wit- ness to take the stand. She resided near the Penningtons and called on them the evening the candy was received by Mrs. Dunning. She took one piece of candy. The witness identified the box and the candies as the ones she had seen in Do- ver that night in August. She was taken i1l the next day with nausea and could not get up. She identified the note and the handkerchief as well as the wrapper when shown them yesterday. Turned over to the tender mercies of Mr. Knight she said in_answer to questions that she remembered looking at the stamps in order to find out where the package canie from. The members of the family had discussed it before she arrived on the scene and they asked her if she could make out the postmark. The matter was discussed at length. Miss Millington was accompanied on her visit to the Pennington residence by Ethel Clark. They took but one candy each and after eating them spent the evenlng at the house.” She felt no ill effects from the candy that night, but the next day she was con= fined to her bed. She was dull and lan- guld, but there were no symptoms of urning. On Thursday she was able to leave her bed and had felt no ill effects from the pofson after that. With this explanation the witness was excused. . D. Deane, husband of one of the dead women, was called next. He testi- fied that the fish served at the table the night his wife was poisoned was fresh and not canned and that the corn was also fresh, having been picked from the garden of the house that day. He was not at home when the candy arrived and he experienced no ill effects after takin; his supper. He returned home about o'clock and found the members of his family plafivlng “parchesi,” a game like checkers. He retired and during the night his wife was taken ill.. She went from one attack into another, each apparent- ly more severe than its predecessor. The attacks continued all ‘ednesday night, growing less on Thursday, when they gradually ceased. Mrs. Deane remained conscious, but took no interest in pass- ing events. She complained of pain and of a terrible burning inside. She asked to be fanned, as she was burning up with the fire that seemed to be within her. She cgntlnged this way until she died Thursday afternoon. The wi}t'ness testified that his wife’s face Continued on Fifth Page.