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DEATHAROUSED SUSPICION OF HERMOTHERcDAYTON WOMAN, WIDOW WIT WER, HELD ON SUSPICION.a€CA HORRIFYING PUZZLING CASE.t FOURTEEN PEOPLE HAVE DIEDUNDER ODD CIRCUMSTANCES.2And the Ghastly Details of Their Agonizing End Are Woven With the Life History of This Woman Who Cooly Talks of the Case—Chemist Making an Analysis.Dayton, Ohio, Oct. s—Murder in the first degree was charged against Wid* ow Witwer this afternoon. The tha: ge against the woman was based it is said, on the analysis made by thr ehemist.Dayton, O., Oct. 8.—Widow TVitwe.-'s arrest on suspicion of 14 murders, rue list including four husbands five children, one sister and four memoer3 of irfferent 'families, in which she vasiemployed as housekeeper, is l!ie sole t^iuc here.The last supposed victim, was the Bister, Mrs. Anna Pugh, who died a week ago, under mysterious cirouinstances. An autopsy performed at the*request of of Mrs, Witwers mother.who came here from Detro^, is said tohave disclosed the presence of arsenic1iand copper in the stomach. ; ifallowing closely upon the death of i fher first husband, Fre.l SUiw-gei, came the death of two children. The1second husband died suddenly several years- after the wedding and three ehil-dren of this marriage died in rapid succession. Her last husband, A. J.Witwer, died last April. In ear a m-•fanoe death was sj.Ttwiui. sudden and all were strangely alike. jThe prisoner is 47 years of ago and!iformerly lived in Middletown, this jK —~state. She has two sons in the Phil-ii»iu€k and a sister, i* is stated in a New York asylum. No conceivable motive for the' suspected c-mies has been disclosed. Drugs whica were found in the house.occupied 'y Mrs. Witwer are in possession of the police and will be examined.. The third husband of Wiiwer was William Stowe, who'-died at Mid dletown under symptoms it is stated, of.. arsenic poisoning. Mi'. SLowe’.-jdeath at that time created a sensation and was the subject of an inve3tiga-tion by the coroner, it was shortlyafter Mr. Stowe’s death that Mrs. Wit-'wer came to Dayton. She shortly *.fror-lyards assumed the duties of house-keeper for Charles F. Ke^cr, a widower. Keller died suddeiilv and she in-% *• -*formation since gained by the* coroner concerning Keller's death is that his ailment ^yas similar to that of a perT‘ son affected by poison.She next acted as housekeeper for John A. Wenz, an east eml djuggisr. Wenz died in September, one year ago.- rThe doctors attributed his death to I . •blood poisoning, but nosv toll the coroner that they were dissatisfied with *their diagnosis at the time, '“womonths before Mr. Wenz's or alb his*• fpur year old son died suddenly Mrs. Stowe next resided with a Mr. and Mrs, Babler on Best street, Riverlale. Ttiese two persons died suddenly and the coroner now says that their ,^ok ness was of the nature of arsenr poisoning.Mrs. Brown, a sister of Mrs. Witv'er made a statement in whi^b she said:that since the death of her sister. Mrs.Pugh, she could recall tliac the little son of the accused woman, who died at her house, had suffered untold agony and seemed to.be a viethn f tcis-ort. Mrs. Bausnian who resided n-jxt door to the Witwers, declares that an the morning of the day that Mr. Witwer was taken violently ill .Mrs. Witwer tqld her that she had a presentiment or suspicion that her husband would he taken sick that day. The youngest son of Witwer by a foimer marriage now recalls that he look his father's, dinner to him and that half all hour afterwards he was taken des-
Newspaper Details
Newark Advocate
Newark, Ohio, US
Tue, Oct 08, 1901
Page 1
Full Page
Clipped by
Rebecca H.
OH, USA 15 Dec 2019
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