Speaker 1: Paul Buler got Calm, Grand Rapids, Michigan, September nineteenth, nineteen
Speaker 1: thirty three.
Speaker 2: Corner H. C. Wolfe and police detectives yesterday started an
Speaker 2: investigation into the death of thirteen year old Gerald van Gilder,
Speaker 2: son of mister and Missus William van Gilder, two oh
Speaker 2: five Hall Street, Southwest, who died four o'clock Monday morning.
Speaker 2: The boy became ill Sunday evening and may have died
Speaker 2: of towmain poisoning, although police were investigating a report that
Speaker 2: two boyfriends now in juvenile home had given him liquor
Speaker 2: to drink which may have contained poison. The lad together
Speaker 2: with other boys of the neighborhood, went to the airfare
Speaker 2: on Sunday, but returned home in the afternoon, and Van
Speaker 2: Gilder accompanied two boys to a garage where they dissembled
Speaker 2: a bicycle said by police to have been stolen. The
Speaker 2: two boys in juvenile home because of the stolen bicycle
Speaker 2: told police that Van Gilder became ill while with them
Speaker 2: and went home. They denied they had seen him eat
Speaker 2: or drink anything. The parents told coroner wolf that they
Speaker 2: called the city physician's office at eleven pm Sunday and
Speaker 2: asked for a doctor. They said they called again at
Speaker 2: eleven thirty and at midnight, and several other times before
Speaker 2: the boy died, but that a city doctor did not
Speaker 2: arrive until after the boy had died. On each call
Speaker 2: after the first, they were told that a doctor was
Speaker 2: on the way, they said. Doctor Paul W. Kiniskern, City Physician,
Speaker 2: reported last night that an investigation in his office revealed
Speaker 2: the information that no call for a physician was received
Speaker 2: from the Van Gilder residence until about four am, and
Speaker 2: that a doctor was sent on the call within a
Speaker 2: half an hour. Doctor Kinniskern said that he was informed
Speaker 2: that an ambulance was dispatched also within a half hour,
Speaker 2: and that the boy died in the ambulance en route
Speaker 2: to the hospital. Sergeant Ray McBride of the third Police
Speaker 2: Precinct station said last night he did not recall exactly
Speaker 2: what time the first call was made for a doctor
Speaker 2: at the Van Gilder residence, but said he believed it
Speaker 2: was about three o'clock, although it might have been a
Speaker 2: half hour earlier or a half hour later. Sergeant McBride
Speaker 2: said he personally placed one call to the City Physician's
Speaker 2: office and was informed a doctor is on the way.
Speaker 2: At least three calls were made, the police sergeant said
Speaker 2: before an ambulance was called about four o'clock. The ambulance crew,
Speaker 2: Sergeant McBride said he understood reported that the child child
Speaker 2: was dead on their arrival. Coroner Wolfe said he had
Speaker 2: not completed his investigation either as to the time the
Speaker 2: calls were placed or as to the cause of death.
Speaker 2: Tests are being made at the Blodgett Memorial Hospital laboratory
Speaker 2: to determine the cause of death. A post mortem, doctor
Speaker 2: Wolfe said, revealed a disorder of the finest glands and
Speaker 2: an enlarged spleen and liver. Besides the parents, the boy
Speaker 2: leaves two sisters and three brothers. Crime Historian presents Unsolved,
Speaker 2: a special edition of Yesterday's News exploring one of history's
Speaker 2: most baffling murder mysteries. Episode three hundred and sixty details
Speaker 2: one of the most chaotic cases I've yet to come across.
Speaker 2: The investigation left a lot of unanswered questions, and the
Speaker 2: prosecution seems motivated by political pressure and retaliation rather than evidence.
Speaker 2: Was this youngster murdered by his father or one of
Speaker 2: his playmates? I'm of mixed opinion. Let me know what
Speaker 2: you think. I'm true crime historian Richard O. Jones, and
Speaker 2: for your puzzlement and indignation, I give you allegations of
Speaker 2: arsenic ice cream. The father stood trial September twenty first,
Speaker 2: nineteen thirty three. Mystery surrounding the death early Monday morning
Speaker 2: of thirteen year old Gerald van Gilder deepened yesterday with
Speaker 2: the report that traces of the arsenic had be found
Speaker 2: in the intestinal track of the lad, which was examined
Speaker 2: yesterday following a post mortem by Coroner Wolf on Monday afternoon.
Speaker 2: Authorities last night were reticent to discuss the case. They
Speaker 2: said they awaited results of further tests before giving an
Speaker 2: opinion upon the probable amount of the poison present. The
Speaker 2: lad died shortly after four o'clock Monday morning, following an
Speaker 2: illness which became apparent on Sunday afternoon with some other boys.
Speaker 2: Young Van Gilder had gone to the airport for the
Speaker 2: air show Sunday afternoon, but returned early with two of them,
Speaker 2: and they started to take a part a bicycle. While
Speaker 2: so engaged, he became ill. The boy's father told Coroner
Speaker 2: Wolf that he they made several unsuccessful attempts to get
Speaker 2: a physician from the city Physician's office, and that when
Speaker 2: a police ambulance arrived at four fifty five am on
Speaker 2: Monday to take the lad to the hospital, he was dead.
Speaker 2: Acting at the request of Coroner wolf Inspector Frank O'Malley,
Speaker 2: chief of detectives, yesterday assigned two detectives to the case
Speaker 2: as they started their investigation at once. The officers started
Speaker 2: a check up to determine, if possible, how the lad
Speaker 2: got the arsenic. Because of the funeral services yesterday, the
Speaker 2: family was not disturbed, but will be asked to assist
Speaker 2: in the investigation. The two lads with whom the youngster
Speaker 2: was in company on Sunday afternoon were questioned further by
Speaker 2: Inspector O'Malley yesterday. When they were first questioned on Monday afternoon,
Speaker 2: when Coroner Wolfe reported to Inspector O'Malley that he had
Speaker 2: received a report that the boy had been given several
Speaker 2: drinks of liquor, the boys denied that they had given
Speaker 2: the Van Glider boy anything to drink or eat. Yesterday,
Speaker 2: O'Malley questioned them again concerning the illness which overtook the
Speaker 2: boy while he was in their company. One of them
Speaker 2: said Van Glider told him, when questioned about the probable
Speaker 2: cause of his illness, that he had taken some medicine,
Speaker 2: and he gathered from that the lad blamed the medicine
Speaker 2: for his nausea. It was understood yesterday that the detectives
Speaker 2: would visit the city physician's office this morning in an
Speaker 2: effort to determine whether or not any medicine given to
Speaker 2: the family of late contained arsenic September twenty eighth, nineteen
Speaker 2: thirty three, William van Gilder, forty one, former police officer,
Speaker 2: was taken into custody yesterday afternoon for questioning into the
Speaker 2: death of his son, Gerald, thirteen, who died at the
Speaker 2: family residence the morning of September eighteenth from arsenic poisoning.
Speaker 2: According to pathologists, Van Gilder was questioned during the afternoon
Speaker 2: and again last night, but did not throw any light
Speaker 2: on how the boy might have got the poison. The
Speaker 2: questioning lasted until early this morning, but throughout it van
Speaker 2: Gilder disclaimed any theory as to how the youth got
Speaker 2: the poison. Van Gilder persisted in his claim that he
Speaker 2: made several futile attempts to summon a city physician to
Speaker 2: care for the boy throughout the evening of September seventeenth
Speaker 2: and morning of September eighteenth, in spite of office records
Speaker 2: at City Hall showing the first call for aid was
Speaker 2: received at four a m. About the time the youth died.
Speaker 2: Officials said they would resume their inquiry today. Van Gilder
Speaker 2: was arrested after police received the detail ailed report of
Speaker 2: doctor William M. Jerman, pathologist at Blodget Hospital, which disclosed
Speaker 2: that there was enough arsenic in the youth's intestinal tract
Speaker 2: to kill two men, and there seemed to be no
Speaker 2: doubt but that the boy died of arsenic poisoning. Doctor
Speaker 2: Jerman said arsenic usually acts within thirty minutes, but that
Speaker 2: a large amount causes extreme nausea, which may have thrown
Speaker 2: off part of the dose. The boy became violently ill
Speaker 2: the evening of September seventeenth and died early the morning
Speaker 2: of September eighteenth. The father said he called for a
Speaker 2: city physician through the third Ward police station before midnight,
Speaker 2: but Sergeant Ray McBride, who came on duty at eleven pm,
Speaker 2: said he believed the call came about four am Monday.
Speaker 2: Another officer in the Hall Street station until three am
Speaker 2: said no call was made while he was there. Records
Speaker 2: at the City the Physician's office showed the call was
Speaker 2: received at four a m. And that in all three
Speaker 2: calls were made at brief intervals. The father said at
Speaker 2: least six calls were made and complained the day of
Speaker 2: the boy's death that the physician had been dilatory. In
Speaker 2: responding coroner Harmon C. Wolfe said the date for an
Speaker 2: inquest will be set after prosecuting attorney bartle J Jockman
Speaker 2: returns from a vacation on Monday. Van Yolder was a
Speaker 2: member of the Grand Rapids Police Force from March nineteen
Speaker 2: twenty seven to January ninth, nineteen twenty eight. According to
Speaker 2: his record card in the police department files, he was
Speaker 2: dismissed from service, but present police executives said that they
Speaker 2: had been under the impression that he resigned. He was
Speaker 2: born in Shipsiwana, Indiana, June eighteenth, eighteen ninety two. His
Speaker 2: occupation prior to joining the police force was given as laborer.
Speaker 2: September twenty ninth, nineteen thirty three, police last night decided
Speaker 2: to hold William van Gilder, former Grand Rapids and Muskegan policeman,
Speaker 2: in a solid headquarters until Monday, when the evidence that
Speaker 2: they have collected will be presented to Prosecutor Jockman, now
Speaker 2: out of the city. The boy's mother was questioned yesterday
Speaker 2: for the first time by police. Her story regarding the
Speaker 2: boy's death was about the same as that of her husband.
Speaker 2: Mister van Gilder insists he has no idea how his
Speaker 2: son obtained the poison and remains ready to answer all
Speaker 2: questions asked him. He apparently has been unperturbed by this
Speaker 2: series of questionings until the prosecutor returns. Inspector O'Malley proposed
Speaker 2: to question others, including relatives of the Van Gilders. Mister
Speaker 2: van Gelder, it became known yesterday, was employed much of
Speaker 2: the summer on a farm near Rockford. October fourth, nineteen
Speaker 2: thirty three. Prosecutor Jockman last night, after hearing a verdict
Speaker 2: of the coroner's jury that Gerald van Gilder, thirteen died
Speaker 2: from arsenic poisoning, was undecided as to his future course.
Speaker 2: The prosecutor said he would consider the testimony this morning
Speaker 2: again and decide whether or not he would ask for
Speaker 2: a warrant charging anyone with the boy's death. William Van Gilder,
Speaker 2: forty one, former policeman and the father of the boy,
Speaker 2: has been held for several days by police during investigation
Speaker 2: of the boy's death. He testified yesterday at the coroner's inquest.
Speaker 2: Last evening, the prosecutor said, quote, I'm going over the
Speaker 2: evidence of the inquest tomorrow morning and confer with Inspector
Speaker 2: O'Malley and Detectives Taylor and Smith before determining what I
Speaker 2: shall do in regard to placing responsibility for the boy's death. Unquote.
Speaker 2: The coroner's jury met at nine o'clock yesterday morning, heard
Speaker 2: fifteen witnesses, and came in with its report shortly before
Speaker 2: four o'clock. Prosecutor Johnkman questioned the witnesses for the state,
Speaker 2: while Attorney John A. DeJong represented Van Gilder. While numerous
Speaker 2: witnesses were called, Van Gilder himself was on the witness
Speaker 2: stand about two hours. He related events preceding the death.
Speaker 2: He explained to the jury that he froze some ice
Speaker 2: cream late in the afternoon of Sunday, September seventeenth, and
Speaker 2: that when the family sat down to eat the ice cream,
Speaker 2: that Gerald was not at home but was playing in
Speaker 2: the neighborhood and did not come in until after the
Speaker 2: family had finished the ice cream. He reported that Gerald
Speaker 2: asked if he might take the residue and the dishes,
Speaker 2: put it in the freezer and freeze it over. He
Speaker 2: testified that he assisted the boy breaking ice to pack
Speaker 2: the freezer for this operation. On questioning by Prosecutor Johnckman,
Speaker 2: he denied that there was any of the ice cream
Speaker 2: batter not used originally and that any leftover batter was
Speaker 2: frozen for Gerald. Other witnesses indicated that this was the case,
Speaker 2: but both Van Gilder and his wife, when she was
Speaker 2: on the stand, testified this was not true. Van Gilder
Speaker 2: explained that after eating the ice cream, that Gerald assisted
Speaker 2: him with the dishes and then went out to play.
Speaker 2: That he returned some time after nauseated, and upon becoming
Speaker 2: more ill, was put to bed. He insisted that he
Speaker 2: went out at eleven o'clock and placed his first telephone
Speaker 2: call for the doctor, and that he placed number of
Speaker 2: calls from the Hall Street police station. He related that
Speaker 2: after he had finished with the dishes, that he started
Speaker 2: out for the corner of Hall Street and Division Avenue
Speaker 2: for the purpose of purchasing some cigarettes, and that when
Speaker 2: he arrived at the store it was full of people,
Speaker 2: and he walked on down to the Stockton drug Store
Speaker 2: at Division Avenue in Franklin Street. Asked if he met
Speaker 2: anyone on his walk whom he knew or with whom
Speaker 2: he talked, he said he did not. At this point
Speaker 2: he was excused from the stand and other witnesses were called.
Speaker 2: Miss Mattie Frickard of Division Avenue South, told the jury
Speaker 2: that she met Van Gilder, whom she knew, in front
Speaker 2: of the store at Franklin and Division, on the Sunday
Speaker 2: night in question, and that she had a talk with him.
Speaker 2: The conversation, which was general at the start, took an
Speaker 2: intimate turn, she said, when Van Gilder began to discuss
Speaker 2: with her his family affairs and told her that he
Speaker 2: was having some trouble at home. Miss Frickert said that
Speaker 2: mister Van Gelder told her that Missus van Gelder had
Speaker 2: said he might come home some night and find them
Speaker 2: all laid out. Roland Hallie, general agent for the John
Speaker 2: Hancock Life Insurance Company, testified that a policy for two
Speaker 2: hundred and eighty dollars was taken out on the life
Speaker 2: of Gerald van Gelder by his parents on August thirtieth
Speaker 2: of this year, and that he believed the policy was
Speaker 2: placed in the hands of the family. About a week later,
Speaker 2: missus Ida Vanderheldt told how Van Glider had called her
Speaker 2: to the house at about four o'clock because Gerald was
Speaker 2: very ill, and how she went to the Hall Street
Speaker 2: station and called for the doctor. She said Van Gilder
Speaker 2: had told her he had placed calls for a doctor
Speaker 2: with the City Physician's Office at eleven and eleven thirty pm,
Speaker 2: midnight and two and three am. Downey night clerk at
Speaker 2: the City Hall said her record showed that calls had
Speaker 2: been received at four, four fifteen and four forty am.
Speaker 2: On the last call, she said she was instructed to
Speaker 2: ask headquarters to send an ambulance, which she did. Sergeant
Speaker 2: Ray McBride, on duty at the Hall Street station from
Speaker 2: eleven forty five pm September seventeenth until eight am September eighteenth,
Speaker 2: said he first saw Van Gilder about three o'clock on
Speaker 2: Monday morning, and that at that time he placed a
Speaker 2: call at the City Physician's Office He said the father
Speaker 2: came back in about half an hour and he again
Speaker 2: called the doctor's office, but that Van Gilder did the talking.
Speaker 2: He reported that Van Gilder did not come back again,
Speaker 2: but that Missus Vanderhelt came in a little later and
Speaker 2: placed two calls. Doctor William Jerman, pathologist at blodge At Hospital,
Speaker 2: testified he found sufficient arsenic in Gerald's body to easily
Speaker 2: produce death. Asked if he had any arsenic in the house,
Speaker 2: Van Gilder said he did not. He said he did
Speaker 2: not know what arsenic looked like, but admitted to Prosecutor
Speaker 2: Jnckman that he did know what arsenic of lead was
Speaker 2: and had used it on a farm near Rockford this
Speaker 2: summer where he was working. October fifth, nineteen thirty three,
Speaker 2: William Van Gilder waived examination when he appeared before Judge
Speaker 2: Frank A. Hess And Police Court charged with the murder
Speaker 2: of his son Gerald. The warrant was read to Van
Speaker 2: Gilder by prosecuting attorney Bartel Yonkman, who then explained carefully
Speaker 2: to Van Gilder just what steps he could take in
Speaker 2: police court. Van Gilder said he would waive examination. It
Speaker 2: as understood he had been instructed to do this by
Speaker 2: Attorney John DeJong. Van Gilder was removed late yesterday afternoon
Speaker 2: from his cell at Police Headquarters, where he had spent
Speaker 2: just seven days, to the County Jail to await his
Speaker 2: appearance before Judge Thatius B. Taylor in Superior Court. Just
Speaker 2: when the case will be heard was not immediately decided.
Speaker 2: The father showed no emotion as the warrant was read
Speaker 2: to him. He stood before the bench next to Prosecutor
Speaker 2: Jockman and listened intently to the reading of the document.
Speaker 2: The warrant is in twofold form. One of the charges,
Speaker 2: first degree murder, is supplemented by account alleging murder languishing.
Speaker 2: This count was made necessary because Van Gilder is charged
Speaker 2: with administering arsenic to the boy on Sunday, September seventeenth,
Speaker 2: and the death did not occur until the following day.
Speaker 2: Prosecutor Jockman prepared the warrant yesterday man warning after he
Speaker 2: had carefully reviewed the evidence gathered by the police department
Speaker 2: and offered at the coroner's inquest. When the jury fixed
Speaker 2: death by arsenic poisoning but did not place responsibility for the.
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Speaker 2: November seventh, nineteen thirty three, ten year old Dwayne van Gilder,
Speaker 2: whose father, William Van Gilder, yesterday went on trial in
Speaker 2: Superior Court on a charge of murder, proved a surprise
Speaker 2: witness when placed on the stand by prosecutor Jonkman. The parent,
Speaker 2: it is alleged, placed arsenic poisoning and ice cream given
Speaker 2: Gerald on Sunday afternoon, September seventeenth. The cream eaten by Gerald,
Speaker 2: the father had told officers, was made by refreezing the
Speaker 2: leavings from the dishes of other members of the family.
Speaker 2: Gerald not having been present when the family was served.
Speaker 2: The father was said to have denied that there was
Speaker 2: any batter left from which the first batch of ice
Speaker 2: cream was made. Dwayne was asked by the prosecutor who
Speaker 2: mixed up the ice cream? My mother did? The boy answered,
Speaker 2: was there any left? After everyone was served, answer no question.
Speaker 2: What was that was left in the cake pan was
Speaker 2: used to mix up the ice cream? The prosecutor asked,
Speaker 2: it was cake frosting. The boy responded, question, are you sure?
Speaker 2: Answer yes, my mother told me so. Dwayne is a
Speaker 2: pupil in the four to one grade of Buchanan School,
Speaker 2: and the prosecutor asked, when I called on you that
Speaker 2: day at Buchanan School, I asked you what was in
Speaker 2: the dish? What did you tell me? The boy dropped
Speaker 2: his head and did not reply. Finally, Judge Taylor, who
Speaker 2: was hearing the case, took up the questioning and urged
Speaker 2: the boy to answer. I said it was some of
Speaker 2: the stuff for the ice cream. Dwayne then told the prosecutor.
Speaker 2: But when I got home and I told my mother,
Speaker 2: she said it was cake frosting. Question. You knew it
Speaker 2: was not cake frosting. But was the stuff that ice
Speaker 2: cream was made of? Because you had looked into the
Speaker 2: dish and had seen it, didn't you? Dwayne answered yes.
Speaker 2: A previous witness had said that the original dish set
Speaker 2: aside for Gerald, had apparently disappeared, and that the father
Speaker 2: had insinuated that Dwayne might have eaten it. This the
Speaker 2: boy denied. Later, mister Jockman drew from the boy the
Speaker 2: statement that the family had no frosted cake that day.
Speaker 2: He said, we had cupcakes, but there wasn't any frosting
Speaker 2: on them. Question, was the stuff in the pan chocolate color?
Speaker 2: The answer yes, question, and you had had chocolate ice
Speaker 2: cream that afternoon, hadn't you? Yes, the boy replied. Attorney J. W. Lindsay,
Speaker 2: for the defense, sought to make the boy admit that
Speaker 2: the family had layer cake that afternoon as well as cupcakes,
Speaker 2: but the boy said that there was no layer cake
Speaker 2: served while he was in the house. He went outdoors
Speaker 2: to play immediately after eating the ice cream, he said.
Speaker 2: Prior to the boy Dwayne taking the stand, Missus EVAs Seely,
Speaker 2: sister in law of Van Gelder, told of visiting the
Speaker 2: van Gelder home that Sunday afternoon and of having been
Speaker 2: served ice cream, stating that Missus van Gilder had become
Speaker 2: ill after eating but a few mouthfuls and had vomited it.
Speaker 2: They were served ice cream and cakes. She testified, stated
Speaker 2: the ice cream had been frozen and served by Van Gilder.
Speaker 2: All of the family except Gerald were present and ate
Speaker 2: the ice cream. She testified that Gerald came in and
Speaker 2: asked where his dish could be found. Missus van Gilder
Speaker 2: told him it was on the dining room table, but
Speaker 2: he had complained he could not find it. She quoted
Speaker 2: the father as saying, I'll bet that damned little snot
Speaker 2: of a Dwayne ate it. Gerald went into the kitchen,
Speaker 2: and as they sat in the front room, she heard
Speaker 2: the ice cream freezer turning, she testified. Later Van Gilder
Speaker 2: returned with the cup he had taken from a cupboard
Speaker 2: and drew some water from a faucet. He inquired what
Speaker 2: was in the pan and was told by Missus van
Speaker 2: Gilder it was the ice cream batter, whereupon she dumped
Speaker 2: the water into the sink. In addition to the dish
Speaker 2: of ice cream set aside by Missus van Gelder, Missus
Speaker 2: seely was not sure that the baby had eaten any
Speaker 2: She did not notice what became of it from her observations,
Speaker 2: She testified on cross examination, mister Van Gilder and Gerald
Speaker 2: got along like any father and son. Naturally would Van
Speaker 2: Gilder called poker face by Assistant Prosecutor Bolt during questioning
Speaker 2: at the time of his arrest. For the first time
Speaker 2: during the trial, Le displayed emotion during the testimony of
Speaker 2: missus Ida Vanderhyde, a neighbor of two fifteen Hall Street, Southwest,
Speaker 2: who told of being summoned to the Van Gilder home
Speaker 2: about four a m. On the morning of September eighteenth
Speaker 2: by Van Gilder himself. The woman said she hurriedly dressed
Speaker 2: and went to the Van Gelder home, where she found
Speaker 2: mister and missus Van Gilder with Gerald very ill on
Speaker 2: a cot in their dining room. As she told of
Speaker 2: going to the third Precinct Police station at Hall Street
Speaker 2: and Ionia Avenue, about two blocks distant, to phone the
Speaker 2: city Physician's office for a doctor, Van Gelder wept and
Speaker 2: applied a handkerchief to his eyes. Later he regained his composure.
Speaker 2: On cross examination by Tourney Lindsey, she described how the
Speaker 2: boy's father was apparently doing all he could to care
Speaker 2: for the youngster, applying coal packs to his head and
Speaker 2: otherwise attempting to alleviate his sol The woman was asked,
Speaker 2: did you talk to Gerald? She answered not at first,
Speaker 2: but after I had been there about half an hour,
Speaker 2: I asked him how he felt, and he said, oh,
Speaker 2: my stomach in my back. Much of the testimony hinged
Speaker 2: on what time Van Guilder placed his first call for
Speaker 2: medical assistance, and during the testimony of miss ethel Downey,
Speaker 2: night clerk at City Hall, who received the calls, Attorney
Speaker 2: Lindsey charged that he knew all about the little politics
Speaker 2: entering into the case. Miss Downey testified that she received
Speaker 2: her first call in the case at four a m.
Speaker 2: From Sergeant Ray McBride of the Hall Street station. She
Speaker 2: immediately called doctor Eggleston of the City Physicians staff, and
Speaker 2: he informed her that he would begin getting ready, adding
Speaker 2: that if any more calls came in to let him know.
Speaker 2: She had informed the physician that Sergeant McBride said the
Speaker 2: Van Gilders were much excited over the boy's condition. Testimony
Speaker 2: of doctor William Jerman, pathologist of Blodgett Memorial Hospital, was
Speaker 2: to the effect that examination had disclosed sufficient quantity of
Speaker 2: white arsenic in Gerald's organs to cause death. White arsenic
Speaker 2: an oxide has the appearance of powdered sugar, has no
Speaker 2: taste peculiar to itself, and is not easily detected when
Speaker 2: placed in food. He testified. Robert Caine salesman for the
Speaker 2: John Hancock Life Insurance Company related that he had visited
Speaker 2: the Van Gilder home in August in response to a
Speaker 2: request from Van Gilder, who informed he wanted to reinstate
Speaker 2: some policies on his wife and five children which had lapsed.
Speaker 2: Cain informed him it would be cheaper for him to
Speaker 2: take out new policies, which he did. The largest policy
Speaker 2: was for five hundred dollars on the life of missus
Speaker 2: Van Gilder. That on Gerald was two hundred and eighty dollars.
Speaker 2: The total premiums paid was ninety nine cents a week.
Speaker 2: The policies were delivered either August twenty sixth or twenty eight,
Speaker 2: he said. Van Gilder informed him that through unfortunate circumstances
Speaker 2: he had been forced to drop the original policies. He
Speaker 2: had lately been employed, but had been injured and was
Speaker 2: receiving compensation and would be able to keep up the
Speaker 2: weekly payments, Cain said Van Gilder told him. Van Gelder
Speaker 2: told reporters he fractured his wrist while working on South
Speaker 2: Division widening. The family has been on the city welfare
Speaker 2: rolls off and on since nineteen twenty seven. Frank O'Malley,
Speaker 2: chief of Detectives of Grand Rapids Police Department, gave the
Speaker 2: first testimony, which tended to reveal conflicting statements made by
Speaker 2: Van Gilder after the boy's death. Van Gilder, he testified,
Speaker 2: originally told him i under questioning, that he had placed
Speaker 2: his first call for the city physician at about two
Speaker 2: thirty or two forty that Monday morning. Later, he said
Speaker 2: Van Gilder had told him it was about midnight Saturday night.
Speaker 2: Still later, in the presence of Superintendent Kincaid, the father
Speaker 2: placed the time at about eleven o'clock Sunday night. O'Malley testified.
Speaker 2: Another alleged discrepancy in the parent statement was that he
Speaker 2: at first told the officers he had made the first
Speaker 2: call in the office of a nearby creamery, and later
Speaker 2: said it was at the Hall Street police station that
Speaker 2: he had made the call. Attorney Lindsey succeeded in drawing
Speaker 2: from the state's witness at the morning session the fact
Speaker 2: that Van Gilder had displayed grief over the death of
Speaker 2: the boy that he insisted upon a good funeral the
Speaker 2: cost to be defrayed from the two hundred and eighty
Speaker 2: dollars life insurance policy carried upon the lad's life rather
Speaker 2: than have an eighteen dollars city indigence funer, and that
Speaker 2: he had expressed a desire to have a post mortem
Speaker 2: examination performed upon the body. These witnesses also testified either
Speaker 2: that Van Gilder had remarked about the alleged failure of
Speaker 2: the city physician's officer to respond promptly to his calls,
Speaker 2: or that he had complained of this alleged tardiness. Police
Speaker 2: officers Ralph Randall and John Murphy of the ambulance crew,
Speaker 2: told of Van Gilder meeting them when they answered the
Speaker 2: call for the ambulance, and, showing evidence of having been weeping,
Speaker 2: said it's two late boys. The boy is dead. Both
Speaker 2: testified that the father had told them there was a
Speaker 2: tent in the rear of the house where the kids
Speaker 2: had been playing. Officer Randall quoted Van Gilder in saying
Speaker 2: that the boy probably ate something in the tent. November eighth,
Speaker 2: thirty three, Goodie, Goodie Gander, I'm glad he's dead. That
Speaker 2: was the reaction of one of thirteen year old Gerald
Speaker 2: Van Gilder's playmates when eight year old Betty Page told
Speaker 2: Henry Miatas eleven the Van Glider boy had succumbed to poison.
Speaker 2: Betty declared from the witness stand in Superior Court yesterday
Speaker 2: afternoon after she accused Miadas of putting white and red
Speaker 2: stuff on half of muskmelon and giving it to Gerald.
Speaker 2: Betty's testimony featured yesterday's session of the murder trial of
Speaker 2: William van Gilder, father of Gerald, who is charged with
Speaker 2: having caused his son's death by administering arsenic to the youngster.
Speaker 2: The testimony apparently reflected the ramblings of a juvenile mind
Speaker 2: or efforts to school the child witness. Her naive replies
Speaker 2: under examine ationation, and her indifference to dates and places
Speaker 2: caused even jurors and defense attorneys to smile broadly. Betty
Speaker 2: was the first witness for the defense, which began its
Speaker 2: inning after Judge Taylor denied its renewed motion to dismiss
Speaker 2: the case and to order a directed verdict of not
Speaker 2: guilty for the respondent. Bob Haired and comfortable in the
Speaker 2: witness chair, the blonde little girl swung her legs contentedly,
Speaker 2: seeming to gather courage and confidence as she gazed into
Speaker 2: friendly faces. The fact that her testimony was greatly at
Speaker 2: variance with facts in the case appeared to bother her
Speaker 2: not at all. Before she began her testimony, Judge Taylor
Speaker 2: queried her as to whether she could distinguish between a
Speaker 2: lie and the truth, and she nodded her head affirmatively.
Speaker 2: She said her family and the Meotis family were neighbors
Speaker 2: of the Van Gliders. Then she began a weird recital,
Speaker 2: insisting during the telling, however, that all the events she
Speaker 2: pictured occurred last Sunday. Neither judge nor prosecutor could shake
Speaker 2: her memory on that score. The Van Gilder boy died
Speaker 2: Sunday night, September eighteenth, nearly two months ago. Betty told
Speaker 2: court and jury that young Van Gilder, Myotis, and some
Speaker 2: other boys were taking a couple of bicycles apart, and
Speaker 2: that Myotis got mad at Van Gilder and went into
Speaker 2: his house with another boy. Peeking through a kitchen window
Speaker 2: of the Myota's home, Betty said she saw Myotis cut
Speaker 2: a musk melon in a half, sprinkle one of the
Speaker 2: halves with a white powder, and then with some red powder.
Speaker 2: Coming outside, he told her he was going to give
Speaker 2: the melon to Gerald, but cautioned her not to tell
Speaker 2: Gerald it was poisoned. Betty then saw Gerald take and
Speaker 2: cut the the half melon, she testified, although she said
Speaker 2: to him, I wouldn't need to if I were you,
Speaker 2: it's poisoned. Betty also testified she had heard my otis
Speaker 2: swear at Gerald and threaten I'll get you yet. Prosecutor
Speaker 2: Jonkman asked the diminutive witness kindly, Betty, do you ever
Speaker 2: have dreams? No, she replied, shaking her head. Are you
Speaker 2: sure you're telling the truth? Betty nodded yes. Question do
Speaker 2: you know what day of the week this is? This
Speaker 2: question floored Betty. After a brief hesitation, she nodded negatively.
Speaker 2: The prosecutor queried, to whom did you tell this story before?
Speaker 2: Answer to the man in the office? Question anybody else?
Speaker 2: Answer the lady who brought me down here. Hearing of
Speaker 2: another defense witness, Leo Heinzelman, fifteen of eleven forty nine
Speaker 2: Walnut Avenue, closed yesterday's testimony. He evidently was placed on
Speaker 2: the stand in order to establish at young Van Gilder
Speaker 2: was well and happy. About four pm on the day
Speaker 2: of his death, He said he rode his wheel to
Speaker 2: the Van Gilder home, arriving there at that hour, and
Speaker 2: saw Van Gilder and a couple of other boys working
Speaker 2: on a bicycle. He left soon afterward. Eleven witnesses for
Speaker 2: the state were presented yesterday morning, including four members of
Speaker 2: the Veterans Democratic League, who testified that instead of insisting,
Speaker 2: he placed his first call for a member of the
Speaker 2: City physician staff at eleven o'clock the night Gerald was dying.
Speaker 2: Van Gilder declared at a meeting of the League the
Speaker 2: following Friday that he first called at six or seven pm.
Speaker 2: Defense Attorney Lindsay sought to develop through the League members
Speaker 2: that the questioning of the purported failure of the city
Speaker 2: to give medical service was a political issue. Witnesses who
Speaker 2: deny this were doctor Earl Reynolds, Charles E. Messner, William Haysman,
Speaker 2: and Claude Sherman. All stated Van Gilder said he called
Speaker 2: City Hall between six and seven pm. They said. Van
Speaker 2: Gilder joined the organization on the Friday following his son's
Speaker 2: death and complained of the service given by the City
Speaker 2: Physician's office. A resolution was presented instructing Commander Reynolds to
Speaker 2: take up the question with the State Welfare Department and
Speaker 2: the Governor's office, but this was amended, giving authority to
Speaker 2: doctor Reynolds to confer with the Superintendent of Police, R. D. Stropaul.
Speaker 2: A reporter called by the prosecution, referred to a conversation
Speaker 2: he had with Van Gilder four days following his son's death,
Speaker 2: when he said Van Gilder declared that his son had
Speaker 2: frozen the ice cream in which the state alleges the
Speaker 2: boy was given arsenic. Then Missus van Gilder reminded her
Speaker 2: husband that the respondent had frozen the ice cream, and
Speaker 2: then Van Gildt admitted that he helped the boy. Stroe
Speaker 2: Paul added that the father told him he had heard
Speaker 2: rumors that Gerald had been playing with the Myotis boy,
Speaker 2: that Myotis and another companion had stolen two bicycles from
Speaker 2: the airport, and that Gerald had been threatened by the
Speaker 2: boys because he was aware of the theft. Van Gilder
Speaker 2: told the reporter the latter said that the Myotis boy
Speaker 2: had told Gerald he would fix him, and then gave
Speaker 2: Gerald half a musk melon to eat, and that Gerald
Speaker 2: ate his portion while the Myotis Boy didn't. The Myotis
Speaker 2: Boy on the stand admitted having stolen the bicycles with
Speaker 2: a companion, but denied statements attributed to Van Gilder about
Speaker 2: the melon. He said he neither had nor saw melon
Speaker 2: on the day of Gerald's death. Pressing for dismissal of
Speaker 2: the case and a directed verdict for his client, Attorney
Speaker 2: Lindsay declared that the state had been unable to present
Speaker 2: evidence of a particle of guilt on Van Gilder's part.
Speaker 2: He termed the proceedings all piffle, declaring that should the
Speaker 2: jury bring in a conviction, it would never stand up
Speaker 2: in the higher courts. His associate, attorney, Leland D. Phelps,
Speaker 2: asserted that the prosecution of Van Gilder was merely in
Speaker 2: retaliation for complaints made against the conduct of the City
Speaker 2: Physician's office. In opposing the defense motion, prosecutor Junkman declared
Speaker 2: that although the prosecution did not have an open and
Speaker 2: shut case, there were circumstances in the Van Gilder Boy's
Speaker 2: murder that tended to incriminate the father. The only missing
Speaker 2: link is the prosecutor's case, he added, quote is that
Speaker 2: we cannot prove where the poison was purchased. Unquote. November eleventh,
Speaker 2: nineteen thirty three, William Van Glider broke down on the
Speaker 2: witness stand in Superior Court yesterday afternoon, shortly after he
Speaker 2: had been called by counsel to testify in his own defense.
Speaker 2: It was while Van Glider was relating how the boy
Speaker 2: had died in his arms after futile phone calls for
Speaker 2: a city doctor that the father sobbed, choked, and answered
Speaker 2: questions in a husky voice. He had testified that he
Speaker 2: and a neighbor, missus Anne Vanderhyde, had made several phone
Speaker 2: calls to the city Physician's office from the third Precinct
Speaker 2: police station, but had been unable to procure medical services
Speaker 2: for his boy, who was growing worse hourly. Quote. I
Speaker 2: had just given Gerald a large glass of peppermint water,
Speaker 2: which previously had seemed to relieve him, and asked him
Speaker 2: how he felt. He replied weakly better, and then laid
Speaker 2: back in my arms and passed away, the father told
Speaker 2: the jury. Van Glider went into lengthy explanations carefully phrased
Speaker 2: on his direct examination by attorneys Leland D. Phelps and J. W. Lindsay.
Speaker 2: Later he was severely grilled by prosecuting attorney Bartle J.
Speaker 2: Johnkman on cross examination, the state's attorney shooting questions which
Speaker 2: left the witness withered. At the close of the day,
Speaker 2: Van Gilder appeared to avoid the eyes of his questioners,
Speaker 2: gazing either at members of the jury or at spectators
Speaker 2: who jammed the chamber. He was still on the stand
Speaker 2: when the day's session ended. The witness maintained on direct
Speaker 2: examination that his first call to the city Physician's office
Speaker 2: was made about Sunday midnight. His son died at four
Speaker 2: forty o'clock the following morning. Previous witnesses have testified Van
Speaker 2: Glider told them the calls were made between six and
Speaker 2: seven pm, eleven PM, eleven thirty pm, one thirty am,
Speaker 2: and at about three am. After giving his version of
Speaker 2: events leading to the boy's death, Van Glider denied that
Speaker 2: he had met missus Loreen Frickert that evening, as she
Speaker 2: has testified, but that their last meeting had been on
Speaker 2: the night of August twenty six, just before the doctor arrived,
Speaker 2: an ambulance and an undertaker came. Van Gilder testified among
Speaker 2: neighbors in the house after Gerald's death was a Missus
Speaker 2: Marguerite Holly. There was some discussion as to whether the
Speaker 2: boy could have eaten something that caused his death, and
Speaker 2: Missus Holly said that she had heard that my son
Speaker 2: and some of his playmates had eaten muskmelon in a
Speaker 2: tent that had been erected in the rear of the
Speaker 2: Myotis house, one of our neighbors. The tent had been
Speaker 2: taken down, but the ambulance driver got a flashlight from
Speaker 2: the car and we went over the ground where the
Speaker 2: ten had stood and found muskmelon and watermelon rinds. After
Speaker 2: relating that one of the two clocks in his dining
Speaker 2: room had stopped soon after his son's death and that
Speaker 2: he might have confused his statements as to the hours
Speaker 2: of telephone calls to the city Physician's office by glancing
Speaker 2: at one time piece instead of the other, Van Glider
Speaker 2: told how Coroner Wolf and city detectives had visited his home,
Speaker 2: questioned him about his boy's death, took him to police headquarters,
Speaker 2: where he was again questioned and booked for investigation, and
Speaker 2: then locked him in a cell. When he was taken
Speaker 2: to the cell block, he said Detective Anning Taylor pushed
Speaker 2: him past a cell containing a mattress to one that
Speaker 2: had a plank, put him in, and with the plank,
Speaker 2: he quoted Taylor as telling the turnkey, maybe he'll be
Speaker 2: ready to talk in the morning, completing van Glider's Completing
Speaker 2: van Glider's direct examination, Attorney Lindsey asked him if there
Speaker 2: was any reason why he should have taken his son's life,
Speaker 2: and the witness replied vehemently. No. Prosecutor Junkman endeavored to
Speaker 2: trip Van Glider on the statements he had made regarding
Speaker 2: the time of his phone calls and events leading to
Speaker 2: his son's death, but he made little progress along that line.
Speaker 2: He brought from the witness, however, the information that his
Speaker 2: son was deaf in both ears. Van Glider had stated
Speaker 2: Gerald was the last of the family to eat ice
Speaker 2: cream on the day he died. He described how the
Speaker 2: boy who had been playing outside romped into the house,
Speaker 2: saw the used ice cream plates and asked where his
Speaker 2: share was. The father said he told him he would
Speaker 2: find it on the kitchen table. Now, question the prosecutor.
Speaker 2: You said your son was death. How could he have
Speaker 2: heard what you said when you told him where to
Speaker 2: find the ice cream. Van Glider explained Gerald had been
Speaker 2: attending lip reading classes for some time. The prosecutor, pointing
Speaker 2: a finger at the witness, then demanded Van Glider tell
Speaker 2: him why, as a former member of the police department
Speaker 2: and reading in the newspapers about the finding of arsenic
Speaker 2: in his son's body, he has studiously avoided contact with
Speaker 2: the police department. The witness replied, quote, I never had
Speaker 2: thought Gerald died from arsenic and my experience as a
Speaker 2: policeman has taught me not to meddle with police affairs.
Speaker 2: I considered the police competent and fit to make the
Speaker 2: investigation into my son's death without my interference. Mister Johnson shouted,
Speaker 2: isn't it true that you knew the cause of Gerald's
Speaker 2: death and that when you read of the finding of
Speaker 2: arsenic in his body, it wasn't news to you, and
Speaker 2: that you were afraid of the police to the extent
Speaker 2: that you didn't seek the assistance of two detectives when
Speaker 2: you encountered them on the street near your home. Van
Speaker 2: glide or protest that that's not the case. One reason
Speaker 2: I didn't ask police, aid, was that my wife was
Speaker 2: sick and I couldn't leave her. The other is that
Speaker 2: as a former policeman, I didn't care to meddle in
Speaker 2: their affairs. Betty Page, eight years old, who told the
Speaker 2: jury Tuesday she had peeped through a window on the
Speaker 2: Myota's home and saw Henry put white and red powder
Speaker 2: on half a musk melon and given it to Gerald,
Speaker 2: and then saw Gerald eat it later on informing Henry
Speaker 2: of the other boy's death, whereupon Henry expressed elation. Was
Speaker 2: placed on the witness stand again yesterday by prosecution and
Speaker 2: subjected to additional cross examination, during which she repudiated her
Speaker 2: previous testimony. It was set she had been taken to
Speaker 2: the Miyota's home yesterday morning, where it was ascertained she
Speaker 2: was not tall enough to have looked through the Myotis window.
Speaker 2: Attorney Lindsey placed on the stand Miss Dorothy huzinga stenographer
Speaker 2: in his law office, who testified she had charge of
Speaker 2: Betty Tuesday, but that she had heard nobody tell Betty
Speaker 2: how to testify. A deposition taken from missus Clydis Page
Speaker 2: at her bedside was read into the record. It stated
Speaker 2: Missus Page, mother of Betty, had heard Henry Miotis say
Speaker 2: while he was taking a bicycle apart with some other boys.
Speaker 2: I'll get you yet, but the witness said she did
Speaker 2: not know to whom the statement was directed. Missus Sylvia
Speaker 2: van Glider, Gerald's mother denied on the witness stand yesterday
Speaker 2: several statements attributed to her by police officers and other
Speaker 2: prosecution witnesses and related events in connection with her son's
Speaker 2: death substantially as they were recounted later by her husband.
Speaker 2: It is probable that the case will be given to
Speaker 2: the jury sometime this afternoon. The prosecution announced that it
Speaker 2: desired to call several more witnesses and there will be
Speaker 2: some rebuttal testimony. It was indicated November tenth, nineteen thirty three,
Speaker 2: after deliberating five hours and ten minutes, the Superior Court
Speaker 2: jury considering the case of William van Gilder was sent
Speaker 2: to the Row Hotel at ten fifty o'clock last night
Speaker 2: by Judge Taylor. The jury had indicated in a message
Speaker 2: to the court that an agreement seemed impossible, and accordingly
Speaker 2: its members were escorted to the jury box. More than
Speaker 2: one hundred persons were sitting in the courtroom, and many
Speaker 2: of them skipped their evening meal to be on hand
Speaker 2: when the jury reported. Judge Taylor asked as the jury
Speaker 2: reached a verdict, replied, Foreman William lean House, your honor,
Speaker 2: the jury is deadlocked, and all I want to know
Speaker 2: is if you have reached a verdict. The judge repeated, No,
Speaker 2: said mister lean House, said Judge Taylor, Well, you men
Speaker 2: have been on the job about fourteen hours and i'd
Speaker 2: call it a full day's work. I should like to
Speaker 2: give you more time to consider this case, so you
Speaker 2: will retire to the jury room to await officers who
Speaker 2: will escort you to your sleeping quarters. It is unnecessary
Speaker 2: for me to caution you not to permit communication with you,
Speaker 2: and you will not communicate with others until this case
Speaker 2: has been decided. It was reported that a majority of
Speaker 2: the jury was in favor of the acquittal of Van Gilder,
Speaker 2: with two or three members standing out for conviction until
Speaker 2: the number simmered only one or two who continued to
Speaker 2: reject the pleas of other jurymen that the body agree
Speaker 2: on an acquittal verdict. During the long hours the jury
Speaker 2: was in session, Van Gilder paced the ante room of
Speaker 2: the Superior Court Clerk's office. He appeared visibly nervous From
Speaker 2: time to time he chatted with his wife seated nearby.
Speaker 2: Some friends sought occasionally to cheer him, but he seemed
Speaker 2: downcast and moody. Van Gilder sobbed into his handkerchief, and
Speaker 2: his forehead was wet with perspiration. During Judge Taylor's charge
Speaker 2: to the jury, which was of a character to lend
Speaker 2: a measure of encouragement to the accused man, Judge Taylor
Speaker 2: reviewed the four days testimony at some length, pointing out,
Speaker 2: among other things, that the state had produced no evidence
Speaker 2: that Van Gilder was beneficiary under a two hundred and
Speaker 2: eighty dollars policy taken out on his son's life, or
Speaker 2: that the money was to go to the father in
Speaker 2: the event of the son's death. He told the jury
Speaker 2: that the case revolved on circumstantial evidence, and advised them
Speaker 2: of the legal value of that kind of evidence. He
Speaker 2: reminded that a premeditated murder, such as involving the administering
Speaker 2: of arsenic or other poison, was, under the statute, a
Speaker 2: first degree murder case, and that the jury in the
Speaker 2: case of Van Gilder would have to be satisfied within
Speaker 2: reasonable doubt that Van Gilder had administered arsenic to his
Speaker 2: son before it could decide on a conviction. In their
Speaker 2: closing arguments, Prosecutor Junkman and Attorney Lindsey exchanged the usual
Speaker 2: verbal bouquets, the prosecutor declaring at the time that quote,
Speaker 2: never have I tried a case when there was so
Speaker 2: much fixed testimony unquote, and Lindsey retorting that's what he
Speaker 2: always says in cases in which I appear. Lindsey added,
Speaker 2: I'd hate to have the sort of low mind the
Speaker 2: prosecutor possess is so low that he would prosecute this
Speaker 2: case further after all the PIFL evidence he has heard.
Speaker 2: Lindsay charged that cheap politics was at the bottom of
Speaker 2: the prosecution because Van Glider and his friends had attacked
Speaker 2: the conduct of the City Physicians Department. November eleventh, nineteen
Speaker 2: thirty three, Unable to agree upon a verdict after twenty
Speaker 2: four hours of deliberation, the Superior Court jury which heard
Speaker 2: the trial of William van Gilder late yesterday was discharged
Speaker 2: by Judge Statius H. Taylor. The jury, it was learned
Speaker 2: authoritatively last night, stood hung at nine to three for acquittal.
Speaker 2: It has been hung at this point ever since Thursday evening.
Speaker 2: No amount of persuasion could change the opinion of the
Speaker 2: descending jurors, was learned, even after certain testimony had been
Speaker 2: reread to the jury by the court stenographer noon yesterday
Speaker 2: and the judge had restated the four cardinal points for
Speaker 2: the jury to decide. Prosecutor bartle j Jonkman will confer
Speaker 2: today with Judge Taylor and Police Superintendent Kincaid regarding the
Speaker 2: disposition of the case. Judge Taylor had announced early yesterday
Speaker 2: afternoon that should the jury not be in agreement by
Speaker 2: six o'clock, he would dismiss it and consider a disagreement
Speaker 2: entered consequently. When that hour arrived, the jury was summoned
Speaker 2: to the courtroom. As the packed room was hushed in suspense,
Speaker 2: Clerk Jacob Vanderwadd inquired, gentlemen of the jury, have you
Speaker 2: agreed upon the verdict? If so, let your foreman arise.
Speaker 2: We have not responded the foreman. Judge Taylor then stated,
Speaker 2: mister foreman, and gentlemen of the jury, you have deliberated
Speaker 2: practically twenty four hours, either alone or together. Is it
Speaker 2: the opinion of the foreman that you could not reach
Speaker 2: a verdict, even though further time for deliberation be permitted.
Speaker 2: Mister lean House answered, I do not believe it is possible.
Speaker 2: It is very much to be regretted. The court then
Speaker 2: stated that you cannot reach an agreement. You have endeavored
Speaker 2: honestly and conscientiously and sincerely to arrive at a verdict.
Speaker 2: But if you feel that you cannot do so, of course,
Speaker 2: it is not the province nor the desire of the
Speaker 2: court to cause you to be compelled to continue further deliberation,
Speaker 2: which no doubt have become somewhat burdensome to you, to
Speaker 2: say the least. Mister Foreman, as you say, it is
Speaker 2: not possible, even though you have deliberated so since this
Speaker 2: time yesterday, to arrive at a verdict. The Court accepts
Speaker 2: your statement and the jury is hereby discharged from further
Speaker 2: consideration of this case. Van Gilder, who sat at the
Speaker 2: table with his wife and mother, apparently under a deep strain,
Speaker 2: cupped his chin in his hands and appeared momentarily depressed
Speaker 2: at the result. He had expressed confidence throughout the day
Speaker 2: to friends and acquaintances that the jury ultimately would return
Speaker 2: a verdict of acquittal, with his mother holding him by
Speaker 2: the arms. However, He soon regained his composure and converse
Speaker 2: calmly with Attorney J. W. Lindsay, his counsel, over the
Speaker 2: prospect of emotion for dismissal being entered in court next Monday.
Speaker 2: He thanked his counsel for his efforts and was soon
Speaker 2: surrounded by relatives and friends. Before being returned to his cell,
Speaker 2: Mister Lindsey stated that a motion would be made to
Speaker 2: have the case dropped. Hopes for an early verdict ran
Speaker 2: high at noon when the jury, through Foreman lean House,
Speaker 2: informed the court at noon that some of the members
Speaker 2: desired a reading of the testimony of several young playmates
Speaker 2: of the dead boy, bearing upon whether he had appeared
Speaker 2: ill on the fatal day earlier in the day than
Speaker 2: the ice cream which was alleged to have contained arsenic However,
Speaker 2: these hopes vanished as hour after hour the jury continued
Speaker 2: its deliberations.
Speaker 1: Enjoy ad free listening at the safe House. Dubba Dubba
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Speaker 2: December nineteenth, nineteen thirty three. Miss Dorothy Stanton, a twenty
Speaker 2: year old country girl, yesterday in Superior Court charged William
Speaker 2: van Gilder forty one, father of five children, with being
Speaker 2: the father of her unborn child. Van Gilder, a former
Speaker 2: Grand Rapids policeman, is on trial for the second time
Speaker 2: on the charge of having murdered his thirteen year old son,
Speaker 2: Gerald through administering white arsenic poisoning. The boy died September eighteenth.
Speaker 2: The jury in the first trial disagreed and the second
Speaker 2: trial was commenced yesterday morning. The young woman, who lives
Speaker 2: with her widowed mother near Edgerton, a village near Rockford,
Speaker 2: told of her romance with Van Gelder, begun in October
Speaker 2: nineteen thirty two in a dance hall at nine forty
Speaker 2: nine South Division Avenue. The testimony is regarded as highly
Speaker 2: significant by the prosecution, and the witness was subjected to
Speaker 2: a severe cross examination by Attorney J. W. Lindsay, Council
Speaker 2: for the respondent. Lindsey previously had entered a blanket objection
Speaker 2: to the entire testimony of the woman on the ground
Speaker 2: that it was prejudicial and incompetent. Under direct questioning by
Speaker 2: Prosecutor Bartle J. Johnkman, miss Stanton testified that after her
Speaker 2: first meeting with Van Gelder, she met him several times
Speaker 2: at the dance hall, and that on about October fifteenth,
Speaker 2: shortly after they had first met, she moved back to
Speaker 2: the country. She had been living here previously. Then. Van
Speaker 2: Gilder worked for her stepfather on their farm. They went
Speaker 2: to various places together, she testified, but at that time
Speaker 2: were always accompanied by her parents. Van Gilder, she testified,
Speaker 2: had told her he was living with his mother and
Speaker 2: he was having domestic difficulties, and that he had applied
Speaker 2: for a divorce. That was about the middle of October,
Speaker 2: she said. Quote. He said that there were money matters
Speaker 2: of some sort that had to be straightened out, but
Speaker 2: that he thought he just as good as had a divorce.
Speaker 2: He said he had about one thousand, one hundred and
Speaker 2: forty dollars in a bank in Grand Rapids, but it
Speaker 2: seemed as if Missus van Gilder and her lawyers had
Speaker 2: it tied up, and he wanted to get his half
Speaker 2: of it. Unquote. Question did he propose marriage to you? Answer?
Speaker 2: He did in December of that year. Question how did
Speaker 2: you answer this proposal? Answer? I said that if I
Speaker 2: could stay home with my folks, my answer would be yes.
Speaker 2: I didn't want to leave my mother. Question your mother
Speaker 2: is a widow? Answer, she is now. My stepfather is
Speaker 2: since dead. Miss Stanton stated that Van Gilder went to
Speaker 2: work for her parents cutting wood, but received no pay
Speaker 2: other than his room and board. In so far as
Speaker 2: she knew, her stepfather had wanted him to work the
Speaker 2: farm on shares, but she did not know what Van
Speaker 2: Gilder's answered to this proposition was. Question did he ever
Speaker 2: ask you again to marry him? Answer yes several times.
Speaker 2: At a later date, she testified, Van Gilder spoke of
Speaker 2: having appeared in court and been given the custody of Gerald. Quote,
Speaker 2: he said he was going to keep Gerald at his
Speaker 2: mother's house. He didn't say anything about the custody of
Speaker 2: the other children. Question did van Gilder go out to
Speaker 2: your farm often to visit you? Answer? Just two or
Speaker 2: three days a week. When she came to Grand Rapids,
Speaker 2: they would usually meet in camp House Square, she testified.
Speaker 2: Miss Stanton asserted that it was not until she had
Speaker 2: read in the newspapers of the murder charge that she
Speaker 2: learned definitely that Van Gilder had not been living with
Speaker 2: his mother as he had told her. She had surmised
Speaker 2: that he was not telling the truth. However, Questioned concerning
Speaker 2: her alleged intimacy with Van Gilder, she testified that this
Speaker 2: intimacy had begun before he had told her he had
Speaker 2: obtained a divorce. Question who is the father of your child?
Speaker 2: Answer William van Gilder. She said she had told Van
Speaker 2: Gilder of her condition and he had advised her to
Speaker 2: take medical treatment. On the day of the State Convention
Speaker 2: American Legion Parade last August, she related she met Van
Speaker 2: Gilder again in Campause Square and he told her to
Speaker 2: go to a local jewelry store to look at some
Speaker 2: wedding rings. Attorney Lindsey and Cross, examining it, sought to
Speaker 2: bring out that the acquaintance of the two had been
Speaker 2: the result of advances made by the young woman. Question,
Speaker 2: when you first saw Van Gelder at the dance hall,
Speaker 2: you liked his looks and wanted to get acquainted with him,
Speaker 2: didn't you. The young woman sought to evade the question,
Speaker 2: but Attorney Lindsey persisted, you took a fancy to him
Speaker 2: the first time you saw him, didn't you, Yes, was
Speaker 2: the answer. The attorney tried to bring out that the
Speaker 2: young woman had endeavored to pick Van Gilder as a
Speaker 2: partner in a robber's two step, but was unsuccessful. Van Gelder,
Speaker 2: she said, just asked her to dance, and that was
Speaker 2: how they became acquainted. The attorney forced the witness to
Speaker 2: admit that later Van Gelder's wife had been pointed out
Speaker 2: to her, and that on other occasions when she had
Speaker 2: visited the dance hall she had seen Missus van Gilder.
Speaker 2: At a still later date, she admitted she learned that
Speaker 2: vanvan Gilder was the father of three children, and eventually
Speaker 2: she found out that he had five youngsters. Lindsey questioned,
Speaker 2: you took a fancy to him at the first time
Speaker 2: he saw him, and you had a fancy for him
Speaker 2: all the time, didn't you. And you still liked him
Speaker 2: after you knew he had a wife. The young woman
Speaker 2: would not admit that at that time she was in
Speaker 2: love with Van Gelder, but said she liked him Likewise,
Speaker 2: she admitted that it was upon her invitation that Van
Speaker 2: Gilder first visited her at the farm. Quote he asked
Speaker 2: me if there was good hunting around there, and he
Speaker 2: came up hunting unquote. Later arrangements were made for him
Speaker 2: to return and cut the wood. The defense sprang a
Speaker 2: surprise earlier in the afternoon, when Attorney Lindsay closely questioned
Speaker 2: doctor William Jerman, pathologist at Blogged Hospital, who had examined
Speaker 2: the contents of the dead boy's organs and had described
Speaker 2: arsenic poisoning as the cause of death. Various technical questions
Speaker 2: were hurled at the witness on cross examination, with Attorney
Speaker 2: Lindsey seeking to cause the expert to admit that other
Speaker 2: poisons might have caused death. At one point, Attorney Lindsey
Speaker 2: provided doctor Jerman with pencil and paper and had him
Speaker 2: calculate that one and one half hundred milligram of arsenic
Speaker 2: poisoning to which the expert had referred was less than
Speaker 2: the amount than can be put on the point of
Speaker 2: a needle. However, while doctor Jerman admitted that vomiting and
Speaker 2: other symptoms displayed by Gerald before death might have followed
Speaker 2: tomain or other kinds of poisoning, he insisted later in
Speaker 2: answer to a question by Fred N. Searle, assistant prosecutor,
Speaker 2: that he was quote absolutely certain that he had found
Speaker 2: enough arsenic to have caused death unquote. At the first trial,
Speaker 2: doctor German was subjected to but perfunctory cross examination. The
Speaker 2: prosecutor's opening statement, in which he said he would attempt
Speaker 2: to show that Van Gilder had planned to kill his
Speaker 2: wife as well as one of his children in order
Speaker 2: that he might marry Miss Stanton, was vigorously objected to
Speaker 2: by Attorney Lindsay, but was admitted by Judge Taylor over
Speaker 2: his objections. December twentieth, nineteen thirty three, Yesterday afternoon's testimony
Speaker 2: was concluded with the reading by Jarrett Bwist, court reporter,
Speaker 2: of the transcript of the testimony given by Van Gilder
Speaker 2: at the inquest conducted last September. In this testimony, Van
Speaker 2: Gilder told of having used arsenate of lead for spraying
Speaker 2: potatoes on the farm near Rockford upon which he had
Speaker 2: worked last summer. The Van Gilder boy's death was ascribed
Speaker 2: to arsenic poisoning, and the father's charged with having administered
Speaker 2: it an ice cream eaten by the child. Van Gelder
Speaker 2: broke down for the first time during the present trial
Speaker 2: when Buist read the respondent's own account of the final
Speaker 2: sufferings of the boy, with his face buried in his handkerchief.
Speaker 2: He shook with sobs and was comforted by his aged mother,
Speaker 2: who placed her arm around his shoulder. Later, Van Gilder
Speaker 2: regained his composure. Miss Lorraine Frickert, who upon several past
Speaker 2: occasions had insisted that she conversed with Van Gilder at
Speaker 2: South Division Avenue in Franklin Street, on the evening of
Speaker 2: September seventeenth, repeated this assertion yesterday afternoon. She declared, as
Speaker 2: upon previous occasions, that the respondent had told her he
Speaker 2: was having domestic difficulties, and that Missus van Gelder had
Speaker 2: told him that sometime he would come home and find
Speaker 2: herself and the children laid out. Van Gelder, she repeated,
Speaker 2: told her he didn't care for his wife, but loved
Speaker 2: his child. The respondent has repeatedly denied that he engaged
Speaker 2: in such a conversation with Missus Frickett, but the woman's
Speaker 2: six year old daughter, Kathleen corroborated her mother's statement. She
Speaker 2: said she saw her parent in conversation with Van Gilder,
Speaker 2: and that he had given her a penny. Missus Kate
Speaker 2: Myotis of two seventeen Hall Street, neighbor of the Van Gilders,
Speaker 2: told of a tent in her yard in which the
Speaker 2: boys of the neighborhood had been playing, but which had
Speaker 2: been taken down on Saturday night, September sixteenth. It was
Speaker 2: in this tent that Van Gilder told police that he
Speaker 2: believed Gerald might have eaten something which caused his illness.
Speaker 2: Henry Myotis and Martin Schultz, twelve and eleven years old, respectively,
Speaker 2: were questioned regarding the happenings of the Sunday afternoon when
Speaker 2: they were playing with Gerald van Gilder. They told of
Speaker 2: him having become nauseated while at play. A clash between
Speaker 2: Prosecutor John Kunkman and Attorney Lindsay Defense council enlivened the proceedings.
Speaker 2: The Schultz lad contradicted himself as to whether Gerald became
Speaker 2: ill before he went into the house to eat ice
Speaker 2: cream and cake or afterwards, and the attorneys each charged
Speaker 2: that the other was intimidating the boy. The argument was
Speaker 2: climax when Prosecutor Johnkman threatened to put Attorney Lindsey on
Speaker 2: the stand, then the latter accepted the challenge. Judge Statius B. Taylor, however,
Speaker 2: ruled such a procedure unnecessary, first showing by the prosecution
Speaker 2: that Van Gilder at any time had possessed any arsenic
Speaker 2: was made in the morning session when John C. Kirk
Speaker 2: of Rockford related that he had seen the respondent with
Speaker 2: a preparation containing arsenic in September nineteen thirty two, in
Speaker 2: which he used for killing cockroaches and ants in the
Speaker 2: home on Cass Avenue Southeast where the Van Gilders were
Speaker 2: then living. See Kirk testified that Van Gelder had told
Speaker 2: him at the time quote it was arsenic mixed with
Speaker 2: something else. Questioned by prosecutor Junkman, did you ever hear
Speaker 2: Van Gelder mention arsenic at any other times? Answer? Yes,
Speaker 2: Sometimes if things were not working right, he'd say, oh, arsenic.
Speaker 2: The witness testified that Van Gelder sprinkled the arsenic around
Speaker 2: the mop boards at the house. Tourney Lindsey asked the
Speaker 2: witness on cross examination, did you ever use any cockroach powder? Answer?
Speaker 2: No question, just let him run around. The witness laughed,
Speaker 2: and so did the audience in the courtroom. The freezing,
Speaker 2: serving and consumption of the chocolate ice cream at the
Speaker 2: Van Guelder home on Hall Street on the afternoon of Sunday,
Speaker 2: September seventeenth was related in detail once more by missus
Speaker 2: Eva seely of Galewood van gilt sister in law, and
Speaker 2: herself the mother of nine children. The state charges Van
Speaker 2: Gelder put poison in the ice cream December twenty one,
Speaker 2: nineteen thirty three, with his liberty for the balance of
Speaker 2: his life possibly at stake. William Van Gelder, forty one
Speaker 2: and a former patrolman, took the stand in his own
Speaker 2: defense in Superior Court yesterday afternoon. He is charged with
Speaker 2: murdering his thirteen year old son, Gerald, who died of
Speaker 2: arsenic poisoning early on the morning of September eighteenth at
Speaker 2: their home at two oh five Hall Street, Southwest. The
Speaker 2: prosecution contends that Van Gilder also sought to take the
Speaker 2: life of his wife, Sylvia thirty six. Van Gelder emphatically
Speaker 2: denied both charges after testifying unhesitatingly to the events immediately
Speaker 2: prior to and subsequent to the boy's death under questioning
Speaker 2: of Attorney J. W. Lindsay. The respondent was in the
Speaker 2: midst of what promised to be a withering cross examination
Speaker 2: at the hands of Prosecutor Jonkman at a German time.
Speaker 2: The prosecutor is expected to delve into the relations of
Speaker 2: Van Gilder with twenty year old Dorothy Stanton of Edgerton.
Speaker 2: The young woman has testified that Van Gilder was the
Speaker 2: father of her unborn child, and the prosecution contends that
Speaker 2: this provided the motive for Van Gilder to endeavor to
Speaker 2: kill his wife. Van Gilder's testimony was substantially the same
Speaker 2: as given at the previous trial, which resulted in a
Speaker 2: disagreement by the jury. Twice during his testimony he broke
Speaker 2: down and wept. The first occasion was when he described
Speaker 2: how the sick boy had stumbled and fallen during the
Speaker 2: night and the father had picked him up. The second
Speaker 2: was when he told how the boy had slumped back
Speaker 2: and died in his arms after he had given him
Speaker 2: a drink of peppermint water. Van Gelder repeated that he
Speaker 2: personally had made four attempts to summon a physician from
Speaker 2: the city Physician's office beginning around midnight, and that missus
Speaker 2: Ida Vanderhyde, a neighbor, had made two more attempts. The
Speaker 2: boy died before medical assistance arrived, and the prosecution is
Speaker 2: sought by several witnesses to show that no aid was
Speaker 2: summoned until after three a m efforts had been made
Speaker 2: by the defense to show that there had existed an
Speaker 2: epidemic of food poisoning in the neighborhood of the Van
Speaker 2: Gelder home, and the respondent testified yesterday that the boy,
Speaker 2: upon occasion, had retrieved fruits from garbage cans in the
Speaker 2: rear of the grocery stores at Madison Square. The family
Speaker 2: was being given relief by the city Welfare Department, and
Speaker 2: Van Gilder, in response to a question by Attorney Lindsey,
Speaker 2: stated that they didn't get too much to eat. Question
Speaker 2: by Lindsey, have you ever given Gerald any poison? Answer?
Speaker 2: I never have. Question have you ever placed out any
Speaker 2: poison for the boy and his mother? Answer no, Sir,
Speaker 2: I did not. Question if he was poisoned? Had you
Speaker 2: any way to learn where he got the poison? Answer
Speaker 2: no question. Did you know at the time that he
Speaker 2: was poisoned? Answer no question. Were you trying to make
Speaker 2: any money out of the life insurance on the boy?
Speaker 2: Answer no question. Did you have any reason in the
Speaker 2: world why you should cause the death of your son?
Speaker 2: Answer none? Whatever question? Or the death of your wife?
Speaker 2: Answer no question. Do you know anything about white arsenic
Speaker 2: Have you ever used any did you ever purchase to
Speaker 2: all of these questions, the answer was no question. Did
Speaker 2: you put any white arsenic in the ice cream or
Speaker 2: on the dishes in your home? Answer? I did not.
Speaker 2: Previously Van Gilder told how he had made a chum
Speaker 2: of Gerald, his oldest boy. He took the lad on
Speaker 2: fishing trips with him, and together they were two would
Speaker 2: collect junk to sell. On Saturday night, before the lad
Speaker 2: was taken ill, the father said he had taken him
Speaker 2: to a beino game. Missus van Gelder, earlier in the
Speaker 2: day testified in her husband's behalf, relating that she herself
Speaker 2: had scooped out the ice cream that was served. She
Speaker 2: stated that she became ill after eating a few bites
Speaker 2: of the ice cream served her, but explained that she
Speaker 2: had been suffering from nausea and headaches for two days previous.
Speaker 2: She set aside her dish of ice cream, and later
Speaker 2: Gerald came into the house and ate her ice cream
Speaker 2: as well as his own, she testified. Missus van Gilder
Speaker 2: admitted she had learned that her husband had been going
Speaker 2: out with Dorothy Stanton, but she had not heard that
Speaker 2: he had proposed marriage to the young woman or that
Speaker 2: he planned to divorce her. Maynard Wageman thirteen repeated his
Speaker 2: story to the effect that Henry Myotis eleven, had told
Speaker 2: him while both were at the juvenile home that the
Speaker 2: latter had killed a kid, but the officers were blaming
Speaker 2: it on the kid's dad. The Myotis lad lived near
Speaker 2: the Van Gilder home. A deposition of Missus Cleata, page
Speaker 2: of two twenty three Hall Street contained the statement that
Speaker 2: on the day Gerald was taken ill, she had heard
Speaker 2: the Miotis lad, who was playing with Gerald, say I'll
Speaker 2: get you yet. Young Miotis testified Tuesday denied boasting that
Speaker 2: he had killed Gerald. Six offenses had been charged against
Speaker 2: the Myotis boy in juvenile court. Miss Dorothy Newton test
Speaker 2: that six offenses have been charged against the Miotis Boy
Speaker 2: and juvenile court, ranging from turning in a false alarm
Speaker 2: to thefts. December twenty second, nineteen thirty three. Testimony in
Speaker 2: the Van Gilder case was concluded shortly afternoon yesterday, and
Speaker 2: final arguments by prosecutor Bartle J. Johnckman and Attorney J. W. Lindsay,
Speaker 2: representing the respondent, were begun. The latter had not concluded
Speaker 2: when court adjourned. He will wind up his plea this morning,
Speaker 2: and following rebuttal, the jury of nine men and three
Speaker 2: women will be charged by Judge Thatius B. Taylor. Prosecutor Jonkman,
Speaker 2: in his plea to the jury stressed the fact that
Speaker 2: it was not incumbent upon the state to show how
Speaker 2: Van Gilder obtained the arsenic he is alleged to have used,
Speaker 2: or how he administered it. It was alleged he placed
Speaker 2: it in the ice cream which the boy ate the
Speaker 2: evening before his death. The prosecutor made the point also
Speaker 2: that even should the poison have been placed in the
Speaker 2: ice cream for another person, Van Gilder would be guilty
Speaker 2: of murder as the result of the boy's death. The
Speaker 2: prosecutor contended the arsenate could have been administered either in
Speaker 2: powdered form or in solution. Mister Jockman simplified his opening statement,
Speaker 2: in which he charged that the motive behind the alleged
Speaker 2: crime was Van Gilder's desire to do away with his
Speaker 2: wife in order that he might be free to marry
Speaker 2: Miss Dorothy Stanton of Edgerton. The young woman twenty years old,
Speaker 2: testified that Van Gilder is the father of her unborn child.
Speaker 2: Attorney Lindsey attacked the prosecutor's theories of how the poison
Speaker 2: could have been placed in the ice cream, maintaining that
Speaker 2: it would have been impossible for Van Gilder to have
Speaker 2: placed it there and powdered for him and can tending
Speaker 2: that white arsenic can be dissolved but to the extent
Speaker 2: of ten percent, and that in hot water. He also
Speaker 2: made much of the fact that the cream was dished
Speaker 2: up by Missus van Gilder herself, in the presence of
Speaker 2: her sister, Missus Eva Seely of Galewood, and three of
Speaker 2: the Van Gilder children. Mister Lindsey is expected to touch
Speaker 2: upon the respondent's relations with miss Stanton this morning. Van
Speaker 2: Gilder twice fell back on his constitutional right to refuse
Speaker 2: to answer questions of the prosecutor under cross examination at
Speaker 2: the morning session, but in the first instance he was
Speaker 2: instructed by his counsel to answer. Prosecutor Jockman had been
Speaker 2: endeavoring to cause the respondent to admit that his answers
Speaker 2: yesterday differed in various respects from those given at the
Speaker 2: coroner's inquest. Quote, I've had more time while I was
Speaker 2: incarcerated in the county jail to think things over and
Speaker 2: refresh my memory. Unquote, Van Gilder explained, question, isn't it
Speaker 2: true that you had a copy of your previous testimony
Speaker 2: in jail with you? I couldn't say, Van Gilder began,
Speaker 2: but caught himself and replied, I must exercise my constitutional
Speaker 2: right and refuse to answer that question. After Lindsey advised
Speaker 2: his client that there was no reason why he shouldn't answer,
Speaker 2: and Judge Taylor agreed that the question was not incriminating,
Speaker 2: whereupon Van Gilder answered, I did have. The prosecutor sought
Speaker 2: to have the man admit that he had penciled in
Speaker 2: different answers to questions in the transcript of the testimony,
Speaker 2: but Van Gilder replied that any changes he had made
Speaker 2: because his refreshed recollection. Later, Van Gilder was questioned relative
Speaker 2: to the relations with Missus Dorothy Stanton, a twenty year
Speaker 2: old Edgerton girl who had testified that Van Gilder was
Speaker 2: the father of her unborn child. The prosecutor asked, were
Speaker 2: you intimate with Dorothy Stanton? Answer? I wished to exercise
Speaker 2: my constitutional right to refuse to answer. That question, the
Speaker 2: court sustained his objection. Still later, after he had testified
Speaker 2: that he had gone on two fishing trips with miss
Speaker 2: Stanton and mister and Missus Armstrong of Rockford, the prosecutor
Speaker 2: asked the Armstrongs are fine people. Aren't they answer yes? Question?
Speaker 2: Dorothy Stanton is a fine girl. Isn't she answer? I
Speaker 2: don't care to answer that question. Van Gilder made blanket
Speaker 2: denials that he had ever loved the young Edgerton woman,
Speaker 2: or that he had proposed to her and had told
Speaker 2: various people he was divorcing his wife and intending to
Speaker 2: marry Miss Stanton. The girl had testified that upon one occasion,
Speaker 2: Van Gilder had asked her to visit a jewelry store
Speaker 2: to look at rings, but the responded and asserted it
Speaker 2: was the young woman who suggested the trip to the store, quote,
Speaker 2: there was one ring in the window that she admired
Speaker 2: very much, but I told her I couldn't afford to
Speaker 2: buy it for anybody. Questioned relative to two previous arrests,
Speaker 2: Van Gilder said that in nineteen thirty one, he stole
Speaker 2: an armful of wood when his family was without fuel
Speaker 2: and was convicted of larceny. On another occasion in nineteen
Speaker 2: thirty three, he said a friend had borrowed his car
Speaker 2: in Muskegon and had broken into a building and stole
Speaker 2: some oil. The man later drove the car back to
Speaker 2: Van Gilder's home with the oil still in the car,
Speaker 2: and Van Gilder was convicted of receiving stolen goods. He
Speaker 2: denied having knowledge of the other parties indiscretions. Several witnesses
Speaker 2: testified to Van Gilder's good reputation in his neighborhood. December
Speaker 2: twenty third, nineteen thirty three, William van Gilder did not
Speaker 2: cause the death of his thirteen year old son Gerald
Speaker 2: on September eighteen. It required but an hour and a
Speaker 2: half for a Superior court jury to reach this verdict
Speaker 2: yesterday afternoon, and the second trial of the forty one
Speaker 2: year old World War veteran and former Grand Rapids policeman.
Speaker 2: The first trial of the respondent had resulted in a disagreement,
Speaker 2: with the jury locked at nine to three for acquittal
Speaker 2: for nearly twenty four hours. Yesterday's verdict came after a
Speaker 2: trial lasting four days. The respondent under added tension due
Speaker 2: to a delay of several minutes after learning that the
Speaker 2: jury had arrived at a verdict. Until he heard what
Speaker 2: the verdict was, broke down and with head buried on
Speaker 2: the table, wept uncontrollably for several minutes. The delay had
Speaker 2: been occasioned in summoning Superior MUG Taylor, who heard the case,
Speaker 2: as well as Prosecutor Jnkman and Attorney J. W. Lindsay,
Speaker 2: chief of defense counsel, to the courtroom. The acquitted man
Speaker 2: was cheered not only by the crowd in the courtroom,
Speaker 2: but also by his aged mother and his wife, Sylvia,
Speaker 2: and after regaining his composure, thanked the members of the jury.
Speaker 2: The jury was composed of nine men and three women.
Speaker 2: Van Gilder, finally freed of the charge which has hung
Speaker 2: over his head since last September, soon left the building
Speaker 2: and planned to enjoy Christmas with his family. The case
Speaker 2: had been given to the jury by Judge Taylor at
Speaker 2: noon after the court had completed his charge. The court
Speaker 2: listed four elements in the case, advising the jurors that
Speaker 2: they must find the respondent guilty of each element or
Speaker 2: bring in a verdict of not guilty. The elements were
Speaker 2: one that Gerald van Gilder is dead and came to
Speaker 2: his death by means of a deadly poison known as arsenic.
Speaker 2: Two that the respondent William van Gilder attempted to administer
Speaker 2: such poison to his wife, Sylvia van Gelder, but that
Speaker 2: by mischance it was given to the deceased Gerald van
Speaker 2: Gelder in his lifetime. Three that this respondent so attempted
Speaker 2: to administer such poison to his wife, Sylvia van Gilder,
Speaker 2: wilfully and with the intent upon his part to deprive her,
Speaker 2: said Sylvia van Guilder of her life. Four That the
Speaker 2: said Gerald van Gilder died as a result of taking
Speaker 2: by him of such poison, or in other words, that
Speaker 2: such poison so attempted to be administered to Sylvia van
Speaker 2: Gilder by this respondent was taken by Gerald van Gelder,
Speaker 2: and that he did not die from any other cause.
Speaker 2: Following luncheon, the jury began its deliberation, and at three
Speaker 2: o'clock signaled it had reached a verdict. Clinton J. Johnson
Speaker 2: of Bradford Street, Northeast had been selected as foreman, and
Speaker 2: in response to the usual questions of Clerk Jacob Vanderwall
Speaker 2: announced the not guilty verdict. It was learned following the
Speaker 2: verdict that the jury had been unanimous in declining to
Speaker 2: accept the judgment of doctor William Jerman pathologists at Blogged
Speaker 2: Hospital that death of the boy had been due to
Speaker 2: arsenic poisoning. Attorney Lindsay had vigorously attacked the expert's testimony
Speaker 2: and sought to show that the symptoms displayed by the
Speaker 2: boy could have been caused by tomain or other poisoning. Epilogue,
Speaker 2: January fourth, nineteen thirty four. Chief of Detectives Frank O'Malley
Speaker 2: today will present in juvenile court the purported written confession
Speaker 2: of Henry Miotis, eleven, who O'Malley said confessed to him
Speaker 2: that he pushed Edward Runesburg, seven into the waters of
Speaker 2: Grand River Canal in July nineteen thirty two, causing him
Speaker 2: to drown. O'Malley said, young Myotis first told his story
Speaker 2: to missus George Reed, matron of the juvenile detention home
Speaker 2: where the boy had been held since November on suspicion
Speaker 2: of stealing a bicycle. He quoted the boy as saying
Speaker 2: that he pushed Rudesberg into the water because he wanted
Speaker 2: his seat on the bank to fish. Young Rudesberg's body
Speaker 2: was recovered the day after the drowning. Myotis was sentenced
Speaker 2: to the Boy's Vocational School in Lansing to remain there
Speaker 2: until he turned seventeen years old. That was allegations of
Speaker 2: arsenic ice cream. The father stood trial. Called from the
Speaker 2: historic pages of the Grand Rapids Herald and other newspapers
Speaker 2: of the era, with special thanks to the librarian at
Speaker 2: the Grand Rapids Library who gave me access to her
Speaker 2: big drawer of murder. If you've got a great historic
Speaker 2: murder in your hometown that I've yet to cover, let
Speaker 2: me know and I'll get it on my list and
Speaker 2: maybe even come to your town to investigate. True crime.
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Speaker 2: crime historian Richard O. Jones, signing off for now.