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Trial of Prof. John W. Webster

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Trial of Prof. John W. Webster Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2010 with funding from Open Knowledge Commons and Harvard Medical School http://www.archive.org/details/parkmanmurdertriOOwebs 'tl * 1^ f^ OP Bi3 ^re the Siipreiiie Judicial C the City of Boston. "With Mniiieroms Aconrat© IIIiiBtra'tioiis. PRINTED AT THE DAILY MAIL OFFICE, 14 & 16 State' Street. SCHOOL OF MEDICINE AND PUBLIC HEALWl LIBRARY ^ir "\ OF FOR THE MURBEK OF SUPREME JUDICIAL COURT OF MASSACHUSETTS. Present Chief Justice Shaw, and Judges Wiide, Dewey & Metcalf, Tuesday, March 19, 1850. Empannelling the Jury: Simeon P. Adaras, Co jnsel for the Comraonweath, Hon. John H. challenged peremptorily. Clifford, Attorney Gi-riera), assisted by George Charles H. Applt-toii, formed and expressed Bemis, £.«q. ; for the prisoner, Hon. PHny an opinion. Set aside. Merrick and E. D. Sohier, Efq. Thomas Barrett, accepted and saorn. The Court came in at precisely nine o'clock, Winiam H. Bailej —fjrraed an opinion auid at once proceeded to tht empannel.ng of a against the prisoner. Stt aside. jury. George Bemis, had formed an opinion, bat Three jurymen called were excused on ac- vas not prejudiced against the prisoner. Was count of sickness, certified and sworn to by their Oj posed to capital punishment. Set aside. physicians. Numerous certificates were handed James Bliss, had formed ana expressed an in to the court notswOiit to, urging excuses from opinion. Set aside. serving on the trial, to vi'hich the parties were John Borrowscale, accepted, and Ewora. called on to cerrify by oath. Some half dozen John Bowker, Jr , had formed and 'expressed others obtained leave from serving on account and opinion. Set aside. Baldwin peremptory challenge. of ill heahh, tiishoush the (hief justice was quite Hiram — close in his questioning. Three were excused Robert J. By ram, sworn and accepted. on account of belonging to rheivoluntter militia Benj. Chandler, Jr.,—peremptory challenge. The nunibef of jiiryiiif-u remaining of the entire George H. Chapman had formed and ex. fequenily. Set aside. panel was forty-two, fniiii v. bich the jury wag pressed an opinion Child. aside on account o$ to be selected. Nathaniel F. Set The cl.ief justice thfn read from the jury law his views of capiial punishment. in explanation of thf cnu.^es which may prevent James Crosby, accepted and sworn. Davenport, accepted and sworn. a juryman from serving, t? bias or prejudice for John E. or against the prisoner, idvln? formed and ex- Albert Day, had formed a partial opinion, but piessed an opiniori of gisilt in the matter, oppo- thought he could try the cause impartially. Ac- sitijn to capital punishment, &c. cepted and swora. William L Eaton, pt'reinptory challenge. utes before 2 o'clock P. M., r»i .hp 23d day ©f James L. Fo ler, ppremptory challenge. Ncvember, enteriof, the MeHic-l College; he George O. Fro'hinghain, peremptory chal- was not hcrme to dinner; hs rlangrhier was sick lenge. in her chamber, and it will be ^ shown that he Benjamin TT. Crppnf , acceptfld and sworn. had purchased a quantity 'f Ipttme. a rare plant Nathaniel HaM, pfreinptory chalipnge. at that time, for her benefit. Harmon Havwar ', accepted and sworn. He did not return that dn'. Thise tha Frederick A (!< iK'prson, accepted and sworn. knew him, and l;new his t'sbits, were inP>rmed John B. Hnglips, spt asidf> on account of be- of his absence. The next tlav, Satu'day, the ing opposed to capiial punishment. prdice were informed, and notc^s were publish- Alonzo Jones, Jr., had formed an opinion, set ed calling he a'tention of thp public to his dis aside. appearance. Rumors of his having been seen George W. Larnpd, peremptory challenge. wre rife, but in every ihsancr pro'-ed un- Waller C. M^-ni,,?, " «» founded. William C. Molvln, " " His friends were so much affected by tliese Samnel P. M.-rsp, " " re- ports, that in their public notices they sanctioned William W. Peirc?,bad expressed an opinion; one of them; but at length it was found that the set aside. parties were either mistaken in the time or the per Moses Pike, ppreaiptory challenge. son. Greenleaf C Sanhorn, psremptory challenge. The entire police of the city were brought into Stephen A. Sttick pole, accepted and sworn. requisition, and large rewards were offered; but, when the rewiirds brought no tidings of his having The Jn-y was consti'ntpd as follows: wandered away, that hope vanished, and deepens Thomas Ba>rp<t, .Tnl>n Borrowscale, Robert into certainty that he was not in the lano of the J. Byrsim, J<mps C'ln^hv, John E. Davenport, living. Albert Dav, J. >sp,h F.i-tJs. Dsnipl T. Fnllpr, On Sunday his family learned from Dr. Webster Renjainio H O-po-ip. ^mo) 1 Havward, Stenhen A. Staokpoln, Fipd'rirk A. Henderson. Robert that he had been in his company between the hours 2.'ith J. Byram was a.innintrd foreman. of I and 2 o'clock, on the cf Novembei . The The Jury was c^mnVted at half past ten search was contiri-iil ihroii^Ii the week, Monday, ;esday, aiid up to Friday. And although the o'clock. T friends of Dr. Parkman and the police did occasion- The Clerk ih°n tr-orpprlef^ «o read the indict- ally hear that he had been seen after the time he • ment found asrain^* tVip nrisoner by the Grand visited the Medical College, they followed up every Jury, the prisonp^ rpmqi.iing standing with his one of these riunors, and they were ascertamed to ri^ht hand raise i. be false. Mr Clifford ojjtiied the case for the Goyern- So far as had come to the knowledge of the gov- ernment, no person had been found who would say meat at about 11 o'clock, tie commenced by that he had seen Dr. Parkman after the time that celling attention to he iniportance of the case, he entered the Medical College. it upon and the st<i"tliiig eflect wliich had had The river was dredged; the yards and the dwell ings in Western city the whole comniunity; tlie duties were painful, the part of the where Dr. Parkman owned property, were searched. On laborious—b a nevt^nheless they were duties Monday and Tuesday tiiere was a search at the rooms of the Medical College. That search was a which ihey o>vfd to the country. The Grsnd formal one, no suspicion being yet in the minds of Jury had U()on their oaths ctiarged u, on the the police against the prisoner. On the 30th of November, in the vault of a privy, prisoner the crime of murder, and the jury he connected with the chemical laboratory occupied by was addressing hiid been selected to hear all the the prisoner, a portion of a human body was found, and with it certain towels, marked with the name evidence in the case and then pronoimce wheth-^r of the prisoner. On that day, also, was found in the grate of the furnace, pressed into the cinders, cer- he vias gniliy or innocent. Ke was hers to aid tain bones, parts of mineral teeth, and jjieces of gold. and assist theii, disavowing and repudiating the On Saturday there was found in a remote corner of that labojatory, in a place where it had been noticed common idea that a p.-csecuting officer was to before, but not examined, a tea-chest, i.'i which was act with a view lor conviction whether guilty discovered, imbedded in tan, the Ihora'c ar.d chest of a human body, with a hunter's knife, and a piece of or desired at innocent. All he was to get the twine. truth, with their ajsistanue. These remains were submitted to competent med- ical and scientific gentlemen, and found to corres- The indictment c »ntdined the general propo- l>ond in every particular with the body of Dr Geo. sitions—first, that Dr. George Parkman was Parkman, so far as they were parts of a body. There were missing the head, arms, both feet, and the right murdered, an't second that he was murdered by leg from the knee to the ancle. The evidence would satisfy them that they belonged to a (lerson of the John W. Wobster. As to the first proposition, age of Dr Parkman, and that these peculiarities cor- Dr. Park man wai last seen alive about 15 min- respond with those of that gentleman. The witi'.esses would explain how they came to he called again on Dr W., and declared with great the conclusio!! that the height was 5 feet 10 1-2 in- decision that something must be done. The next ches, and tliey should show that that was his height day Dr W. wrote him a note. On the day previous precisely. to the alleged murder, Dr P. rode out to see Dr W. But then, they should i)ut in evidence in this case at Cambridge. that, of the bones Ibuwd in this furnace, not a frag- On the 23d of Nov. Dr. W. called at the residence ment was found hut duplicated that found in the of Dr. Parkmarf, and made an appointment to meet vault and tea chest, showing that all constituted Dr. P. at the Medical College, to come to his rooms portions of one liiiuian hody. There wouhi also be at 1 o'clock, and to receive his pay. He returned some evideuct that would indicate the probabihty about 9 o'clock to the Medical College, and had an that some of the l)oi]es found in the furnace were interview with Mr I'ettey, wlio was anxious to get fractured before tliey were put into the furnnce.
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