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<v Speaker 1>Paul Buler got Calm, Grand Rapids, Michigan, September nineteenth, nineteen

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<v Speaker 1>thirty three.

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<v Speaker 2>Corner H. C. Wolfe and police detectives yesterday started an

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<v Speaker 2>investigation into the death of thirteen year old Gerald van Gilder,

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<v Speaker 2>son of mister and Missus William van Gilder, two oh

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<v Speaker 2>five Hall Street, Southwest, who died four o'clock Monday morning.

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<v Speaker 2>The boy became ill Sunday evening and may have died

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<v Speaker 2>of towmain poisoning, although police were investigating a report that

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<v Speaker 2>two boyfriends now in juvenile home had given him liquor

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<v Speaker 2>to drink which may have contained poison. The lad together

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<v Speaker 2>with other boys of the neighborhood, went to the airfare

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<v Speaker 2>on Sunday, but returned home in the afternoon, and Van

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<v Speaker 2>Gilder accompanied two boys to a garage where they dissembled

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<v Speaker 2>a bicycle said by police to have been stolen. The

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<v Speaker 2>two boys in juvenile home because of the stolen bicycle

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<v Speaker 2>told police that Van Gilder became ill while with them

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<v Speaker 2>and went home. They denied they had seen him eat

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<v Speaker 2>or drink anything. The parents told coroner wolf that they

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<v Speaker 2>called the city physician's office at eleven pm Sunday and

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<v Speaker 2>asked for a doctor. They said they called again at

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<v Speaker 2>eleven thirty and at midnight, and several other times before

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<v Speaker 2>the boy died, but that a city doctor did not

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<v Speaker 2>arrive until after the boy had died. On each call

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<v Speaker 2>after the first, they were told that a doctor was

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<v Speaker 2>on the way, they said. Doctor Paul W. Kiniskern, City Physician,

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<v Speaker 2>reported last night that an investigation in his office revealed

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<v Speaker 2>the information that no call for a physician was received

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<v Speaker 2>from the Van Gilder residence until about four am, and

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<v Speaker 2>that a doctor was sent on the call within a

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<v Speaker 2>half an hour. Doctor Kinniskern said that he was informed

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<v Speaker 2>that an ambulance was dispatched also within a half hour,

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<v Speaker 2>and that the boy died in the ambulance en route

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<v Speaker 2>to the hospital. Sergeant Ray McBride of the third Police

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<v Speaker 2>Precinct station said last night he did not recall exactly

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<v Speaker 2>what time the first call was made for a doctor

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<v Speaker 2>at the Van Gilder residence, but said he believed it

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<v Speaker 2>was about three o'clock, although it might have been a

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<v Speaker 2>half hour earlier or a half hour later. Sergeant McBride

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<v Speaker 2>said he personally placed one call to the City Physician's

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<v Speaker 2>office and was informed a doctor is on the way.

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<v Speaker 2>At least three calls were made, the police sergeant said

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<v Speaker 2>before an ambulance was called about four o'clock. The ambulance crew,

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<v Speaker 2>Sergeant McBride said he understood reported that the child child

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<v Speaker 2>was dead on their arrival. Coroner Wolfe said he had

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<v Speaker 2>not completed his investigation either as to the time the

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<v Speaker 2>calls were placed or as to the cause of death.

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<v Speaker 2>Tests are being made at the Blodgett Memorial Hospital laboratory

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<v Speaker 2>to determine the cause of death. A post mortem, doctor

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<v Speaker 2>Wolfe said, revealed a disorder of the finest glands and

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<v Speaker 2>an enlarged spleen and liver. Besides the parents, the boy

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<v Speaker 2>leaves two sisters and three brothers. Crime Historian presents Unsolved,

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<v Speaker 2>a special edition of Yesterday's News exploring one of history's

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<v Speaker 2>most baffling murder mysteries. Episode three hundred and sixty details

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<v Speaker 2>one of the most chaotic cases I've yet to come across.

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<v Speaker 2>The investigation left a lot of unanswered questions, and the

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<v Speaker 2>prosecution seems motivated by political pressure and retaliation rather than evidence.

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<v Speaker 2>Was this youngster murdered by his father or one of

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<v Speaker 2>his playmates? I'm of mixed opinion. Let me know what

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<v Speaker 2>you think. I'm true crime historian Richard O. Jones, and

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<v Speaker 2>for your puzzlement and indignation, I give you allegations of

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<v Speaker 2>arsenic ice cream. The father stood trial September twenty first,

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<v Speaker 2>nineteen thirty three. Mystery surrounding the death early Monday morning

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<v Speaker 2>of thirteen year old Gerald van Gilder deepened yesterday with

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<v Speaker 2>the report that traces of the arsenic had be found

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<v Speaker 2>in the intestinal track of the lad, which was examined

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<v Speaker 2>yesterday following a post mortem by Coroner Wolf on Monday afternoon.

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<v Speaker 2>Authorities last night were reticent to discuss the case. They

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<v Speaker 2>said they awaited results of further tests before giving an

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<v Speaker 2>opinion upon the probable amount of the poison present. The

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<v Speaker 2>lad died shortly after four o'clock Monday morning, following an

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<v Speaker 2>illness which became apparent on Sunday afternoon with some other boys.

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<v Speaker 2>Young Van Gilder had gone to the airport for the

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<v Speaker 2>air show Sunday afternoon, but returned early with two of them,

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<v Speaker 2>and they started to take a part a bicycle. While

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<v Speaker 2>so engaged, he became ill. The boy's father told Coroner

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<v Speaker 2>Wolf that he they made several unsuccessful attempts to get

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<v Speaker 2>a physician from the city Physician's office, and that when

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<v Speaker 2>a police ambulance arrived at four fifty five am on

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<v Speaker 2>Monday to take the lad to the hospital, he was dead.

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<v Speaker 2>Acting at the request of Coroner wolf Inspector Frank O'Malley,

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<v Speaker 2>chief of detectives, yesterday assigned two detectives to the case

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<v Speaker 2>as they started their investigation at once. The officers started

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<v Speaker 2>a check up to determine, if possible, how the lad

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<v Speaker 2>got the arsenic. Because of the funeral services yesterday, the

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<v Speaker 2>family was not disturbed, but will be asked to assist

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<v Speaker 2>in the investigation. The two lads with whom the youngster

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<v Speaker 2>was in company on Sunday afternoon were questioned further by

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<v Speaker 2>Inspector O'Malley yesterday. When they were first questioned on Monday afternoon,

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<v Speaker 2>when Coroner Wolfe reported to Inspector O'Malley that he had

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<v Speaker 2>received a report that the boy had been given several

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<v Speaker 2>drinks of liquor, the boys denied that they had given

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<v Speaker 2>the Van Glider boy anything to drink or eat. Yesterday,

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<v Speaker 2>O'Malley questioned them again concerning the illness which overtook the

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<v Speaker 2>boy while he was in their company. One of them

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<v Speaker 2>said Van Glider told him, when questioned about the probable

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<v Speaker 2>cause of his illness, that he had taken some medicine,

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<v Speaker 2>and he gathered from that the lad blamed the medicine

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<v Speaker 2>for his nausea. It was understood yesterday that the detectives

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<v Speaker 2>would visit the city physician's office this morning in an

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<v Speaker 2>effort to determine whether or not any medicine given to

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<v Speaker 2>the family of late contained arsenic September twenty eighth, nineteen

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<v Speaker 2>thirty three, William van Gilder, forty one, former police officer,

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<v Speaker 2>was taken into custody yesterday afternoon for questioning into the

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<v Speaker 2>death of his son, Gerald, thirteen, who died at the

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<v Speaker 2>family residence the morning of September eighteenth from arsenic poisoning.

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<v Speaker 2>According to pathologists, Van Gilder was questioned during the afternoon

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<v Speaker 2>and again last night, but did not throw any light

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<v Speaker 2>on how the boy might have got the poison. The

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<v Speaker 2>questioning lasted until early this morning, but throughout it van

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<v Speaker 2>Gilder disclaimed any theory as to how the youth got

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<v Speaker 2>the poison. Van Gilder persisted in his claim that he

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<v Speaker 2>made several futile attempts to summon a city physician to

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<v Speaker 2>care for the boy throughout the evening of September seventeenth

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<v Speaker 2>and morning of September eighteenth, in spite of office records

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<v Speaker 2>at City Hall showing the first call for aid was

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<v Speaker 2>received at four a m. About the time the youth died.

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<v Speaker 2>Officials said they would resume their inquiry today. Van Gilder

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<v Speaker 2>was arrested after police received the detail ailed report of

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<v Speaker 2>doctor William M. Jerman, pathologist at Blodget Hospital, which disclosed

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<v Speaker 2>that there was enough arsenic in the youth's intestinal tract

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<v Speaker 2>to kill two men, and there seemed to be no

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<v Speaker 2>doubt but that the boy died of arsenic poisoning. Doctor

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<v Speaker 2>Jerman said arsenic usually acts within thirty minutes, but that

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<v Speaker 2>a large amount causes extreme nausea, which may have thrown

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<v Speaker 2>off part of the dose. The boy became violently ill

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<v Speaker 2>the evening of September seventeenth and died early the morning

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<v Speaker 2>of September eighteenth. The father said he called for a

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<v Speaker 2>city physician through the third Ward police station before midnight,

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<v Speaker 2>but Sergeant Ray McBride, who came on duty at eleven pm,

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<v Speaker 2>said he believed the call came about four am Monday.

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<v Speaker 2>Another officer in the Hall Street station until three am

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<v Speaker 2>said no call was made while he was there. Records

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<v Speaker 2>at the City the Physician's office showed the call was

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<v Speaker 2>received at four a m. And that in all three

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<v Speaker 2>calls were made at brief intervals. The father said at

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<v Speaker 2>least six calls were made and complained the day of

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<v Speaker 2>the boy's death that the physician had been dilatory. In

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<v Speaker 2>responding coroner Harmon C. Wolfe said the date for an

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<v Speaker 2>inquest will be set after prosecuting attorney bartle J Jockman

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<v Speaker 2>returns from a vacation on Monday. Van Yolder was a

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<v Speaker 2>member of the Grand Rapids Police Force from March nineteen

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<v Speaker 2>twenty seven to January ninth, nineteen twenty eight. According to

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<v Speaker 2>his record card in the police department files, he was

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<v Speaker 2>dismissed from service, but present police executives said that they

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<v Speaker 2>had been under the impression that he resigned. He was

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<v Speaker 2>born in Shipsiwana, Indiana, June eighteenth, eighteen ninety two. His

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<v Speaker 2>occupation prior to joining the police force was given as laborer.

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<v Speaker 2>September twenty ninth, nineteen thirty three, police last night decided

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<v Speaker 2>to hold William van Gilder, former Grand Rapids and Muskegan policeman,

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<v Speaker 2>in a solid headquarters until Monday, when the evidence that

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<v Speaker 2>they have collected will be presented to Prosecutor Jockman, now

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<v Speaker 2>out of the city. The boy's mother was questioned yesterday

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<v Speaker 2>for the first time by police. Her story regarding the

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<v Speaker 2>boy's death was about the same as that of her husband.

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<v Speaker 2>Mister van Gilder insists he has no idea how his

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<v Speaker 2>son obtained the poison and remains ready to answer all

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<v Speaker 2>questions asked him. He apparently has been unperturbed by this

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<v Speaker 2>series of questionings until the prosecutor returns. Inspector O'Malley proposed

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<v Speaker 2>to question others, including relatives of the Van Gilders. Mister

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<v Speaker 2>van Gelder, it became known yesterday, was employed much of

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<v Speaker 2>the summer on a farm near Rockford. October fourth, nineteen

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<v Speaker 2>thirty three. Prosecutor Jockman last night, after hearing a verdict

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<v Speaker 2>of the coroner's jury that Gerald van Gilder, thirteen died

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<v Speaker 2>from arsenic poisoning, was undecided as to his future course.

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<v Speaker 2>The prosecutor said he would consider the testimony this morning

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<v Speaker 2>again and decide whether or not he would ask for

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<v Speaker 2>a warrant charging anyone with the boy's death. William Van Gilder,

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<v Speaker 2>forty one, former policeman and the father of the boy,

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<v Speaker 2>has been held for several days by police during investigation

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<v Speaker 2>of the boy's death. He testified yesterday at the coroner's inquest.

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<v Speaker 2>Last evening, the prosecutor said, quote, I'm going over the

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<v Speaker 2>evidence of the inquest tomorrow morning and confer with Inspector

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<v Speaker 2>O'Malley and Detectives Taylor and Smith before determining what I

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<v Speaker 2>shall do in regard to placing responsibility for the boy's death. Unquote.

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<v Speaker 2>The coroner's jury met at nine o'clock yesterday morning, heard

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<v Speaker 2>fifteen witnesses, and came in with its report shortly before

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<v Speaker 2>four o'clock. Prosecutor Johnkman questioned the witnesses for the state,

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<v Speaker 2>while Attorney John A. DeJong represented Van Gilder. While numerous

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<v Speaker 2>witnesses were called, Van Gilder himself was on the witness

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<v Speaker 2>stand about two hours. He related events preceding the death.

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<v Speaker 2>He explained to the jury that he froze some ice

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<v Speaker 2>cream late in the afternoon of Sunday, September seventeenth, and

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<v Speaker 2>that when the family sat down to eat the ice cream,

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<v Speaker 2>that Gerald was not at home but was playing in

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<v Speaker 2>the neighborhood and did not come in until after the

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<v Speaker 2>family had finished the ice cream. He reported that Gerald

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<v Speaker 2>asked if he might take the residue and the dishes,

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<v Speaker 2>put it in the freezer and freeze it over. He

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<v Speaker 2>testified that he assisted the boy breaking ice to pack

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<v Speaker 2>the freezer for this operation. On questioning by Prosecutor Johnckman,

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<v Speaker 2>he denied that there was any of the ice cream

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<v Speaker 2>batter not used originally and that any leftover batter was

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<v Speaker 2>frozen for Gerald. Other witnesses indicated that this was the case,

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<v Speaker 2>but both Van Gilder and his wife, when she was

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<v Speaker 2>on the stand, testified this was not true. Van Gilder

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<v Speaker 2>explained that after eating the ice cream, that Gerald assisted

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<v Speaker 2>him with the dishes and then went out to play.

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<v Speaker 2>That he returned some time after nauseated, and upon becoming

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<v Speaker 2>more ill, was put to bed. He insisted that he

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<v Speaker 2>went out at eleven o'clock and placed his first telephone

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<v Speaker 2>call for the doctor, and that he placed number of

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<v Speaker 2>calls from the Hall Street police station. He related that

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<v Speaker 2>after he had finished with the dishes, that he started

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<v Speaker 2>out for the corner of Hall Street and Division Avenue

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<v Speaker 2>for the purpose of purchasing some cigarettes, and that when

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<v Speaker 2>he arrived at the store it was full of people,

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<v Speaker 2>and he walked on down to the Stockton drug Store

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<v Speaker 2>at Division Avenue in Franklin Street. Asked if he met

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<v Speaker 2>anyone on his walk whom he knew or with whom

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<v Speaker 2>he talked, he said he did not. At this point

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<v Speaker 2>he was excused from the stand and other witnesses were called.

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<v Speaker 2>Miss Mattie Frickard of Division Avenue South, told the jury

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<v Speaker 2>that she met Van Gilder, whom she knew, in front

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<v Speaker 2>of the store at Franklin and Division, on the Sunday

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<v Speaker 2>night in question, and that she had a talk with him.

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<v Speaker 2>The conversation, which was general at the start, took an

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<v Speaker 2>intimate turn, she said, when Van Gilder began to discuss

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<v Speaker 2>with her his family affairs and told her that he

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<v Speaker 2>was having some trouble at home. Miss Frickert said that

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<v Speaker 2>mister Van Gelder told her that Missus van Gelder had

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<v Speaker 2>said he might come home some night and find them

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<v Speaker 2>all laid out. Roland Hallie, general agent for the John

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<v Speaker 2>Hancock Life Insurance Company, testified that a policy for two

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<v Speaker 2>hundred and eighty dollars was taken out on the life

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<v Speaker 2>of Gerald van Gelder by his parents on August thirtieth

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<v Speaker 2>of this year, and that he believed the policy was

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<v Speaker 2>placed in the hands of the family. About a week later,

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<v Speaker 2>missus Ida Vanderheldt told how Van Glider had called her

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<v Speaker 2>to the house at about four o'clock because Gerald was

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<v Speaker 2>very ill, and how she went to the Hall Street

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<v Speaker 2>station and called for the doctor. She said Van Gilder

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<v Speaker 2>had told her he had placed calls for a doctor

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<v Speaker 2>with the City Physician's Office at eleven and eleven thirty pm,

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<v Speaker 2>midnight and two and three am. Downey night clerk at

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<v Speaker 2>the City Hall said her record showed that calls had

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<v Speaker 2>been received at four, four fifteen and four forty am.

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<v Speaker 2>On the last call, she said she was instructed to

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<v Speaker 2>ask headquarters to send an ambulance, which she did. Sergeant

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<v Speaker 2>Ray McBride, on duty at the Hall Street station from

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<v Speaker 2>eleven forty five pm September seventeenth until eight am September eighteenth,

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<v Speaker 2>said he first saw Van Gilder about three o'clock on

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<v Speaker 2>Monday morning, and that at that time he placed a

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<v Speaker 2>call at the City Physician's Office He said the father

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<v Speaker 2>came back in about half an hour and he again

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<v Speaker 2>called the doctor's office, but that Van Gilder did the talking.

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<v Speaker 2>He reported that Van Gilder did not come back again,

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<v Speaker 2>but that Missus Vanderhelt came in a little later and

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<v Speaker 2>placed two calls. Doctor William Jerman, pathologist at blodge At Hospital,

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<v Speaker 2>testified he found sufficient arsenic in Gerald's body to easily

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<v Speaker 2>produce death. Asked if he had any arsenic in the house,

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<v Speaker 2>Van Gilder said he did not. He said he did

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<v Speaker 2>not know what arsenic looked like, but admitted to Prosecutor

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<v Speaker 2>Jnckman that he did know what arsenic of lead was

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00:18:19.160 --> 00:18:21.720
<v Speaker 2>and had used it on a farm near Rockford this

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<v Speaker 2>summer where he was working. October fifth, nineteen thirty three,

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<v Speaker 2>William Van Gilder waived examination when he appeared before Judge

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<v Speaker 2>Frank A. Hess And Police Court charged with the murder

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<v Speaker 2>of his son Gerald. The warrant was read to Van

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<v Speaker 2>Gilder by prosecuting attorney Bartel Yonkman, who then explained carefully

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<v Speaker 2>to Van Gilder just what steps he could take in

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<v Speaker 2>police court. Van Gilder said he would waive examination. It

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<v Speaker 2>as understood he had been instructed to do this by

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<v Speaker 2>Attorney John DeJong. Van Gilder was removed late yesterday afternoon

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<v Speaker 2>from his cell at Police Headquarters, where he had spent

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<v Speaker 2>just seven days, to the County Jail to await his

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<v Speaker 2>appearance before Judge Thatius B. Taylor in Superior Court. Just

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<v Speaker 2>when the case will be heard was not immediately decided.

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<v Speaker 2>The father showed no emotion as the warrant was read

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<v Speaker 2>to him. He stood before the bench next to Prosecutor

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<v Speaker 2>Jockman and listened intently to the reading of the document.

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<v Speaker 2>The warrant is in twofold form. One of the charges,

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<v Speaker 2>first degree murder, is supplemented by account alleging murder languishing.

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<v Speaker 2>This count was made necessary because Van Gilder is charged

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<v Speaker 2>with administering arsenic to the boy on Sunday, September seventeenth,

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<v Speaker 2>and the death did not occur until the following day.

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<v Speaker 2>Prosecutor Jockman prepared the warrant yesterday man warning after he

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<v Speaker 2>had carefully reviewed the evidence gathered by the police department

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<v Speaker 2>and offered at the coroner's inquest. When the jury fixed

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<v Speaker 2>death by arsenic poisoning but did not place responsibility for the.

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<v Speaker 3>Act to avoid future commercial interruptions, visit us at www

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<v Speaker 3>dot patreon dot com slash true Crime Historian. For as

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00:20:41.559 --> 00:20:44.160
<v Speaker 3>little as a dollar a week, you can enjoy full

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00:20:44.279 --> 00:20:49.559
<v Speaker 3>access to the true crime Historian Dusty Vault, exclusive episodes,

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00:20:49.640 --> 00:20:55.559
<v Speaker 3>and whatever personal services you require. That's www dot patreon

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00:20:55.720 --> 00:20:58.799
<v Speaker 3>dot com slash true Crime Historian.

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<v Speaker 2>November seventh, nineteen thirty three, ten year old Dwayne van Gilder,

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<v Speaker 2>whose father, William Van Gilder, yesterday went on trial in

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00:21:15.480 --> 00:21:19.319
<v Speaker 2>Superior Court on a charge of murder, proved a surprise

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<v Speaker 2>witness when placed on the stand by prosecutor Jonkman. The parent,

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<v Speaker 2>it is alleged, placed arsenic poisoning and ice cream given

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<v Speaker 2>Gerald on Sunday afternoon, September seventeenth. The cream eaten by Gerald,

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00:21:35.079 --> 00:21:39.039
<v Speaker 2>the father had told officers, was made by refreezing the

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00:21:39.119 --> 00:21:41.920
<v Speaker 2>leavings from the dishes of other members of the family.

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<v Speaker 2>Gerald not having been present when the family was served.

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<v Speaker 2>The father was said to have denied that there was

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<v Speaker 2>any batter left from which the first batch of ice

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00:21:51.960 --> 00:21:57.079
<v Speaker 2>cream was made. Dwayne was asked by the prosecutor who

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<v Speaker 2>mixed up the ice cream? My mother did? The boy answered,

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<v Speaker 2>was there any left? After everyone was served, answer no question.

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<v Speaker 2>What was that was left in the cake pan was

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<v Speaker 2>used to mix up the ice cream? The prosecutor asked,

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00:22:15.240 --> 00:22:19.960
<v Speaker 2>it was cake frosting. The boy responded, question, are you sure?

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<v Speaker 2>Answer yes, my mother told me so. Dwayne is a

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00:22:25.079 --> 00:22:27.839
<v Speaker 2>pupil in the four to one grade of Buchanan School,

305
00:22:28.279 --> 00:22:32.119
<v Speaker 2>and the prosecutor asked, when I called on you that

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00:22:32.200 --> 00:22:34.559
<v Speaker 2>day at Buchanan School, I asked you what was in

307
00:22:34.599 --> 00:22:38.319
<v Speaker 2>the dish? What did you tell me? The boy dropped

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00:22:38.319 --> 00:22:42.759
<v Speaker 2>his head and did not reply. Finally, Judge Taylor, who

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00:22:42.799 --> 00:22:46.079
<v Speaker 2>was hearing the case, took up the questioning and urged

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00:22:46.119 --> 00:22:48.759
<v Speaker 2>the boy to answer. I said it was some of

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00:22:48.799 --> 00:22:52.359
<v Speaker 2>the stuff for the ice cream. Dwayne then told the prosecutor.

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<v Speaker 2>But when I got home and I told my mother,

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<v Speaker 2>she said it was cake frosting. Question. You knew it

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00:22:59.440 --> 00:23:02.160
<v Speaker 2>was not cake frosting. But was the stuff that ice

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00:23:02.200 --> 00:23:04.720
<v Speaker 2>cream was made of? Because you had looked into the

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00:23:04.759 --> 00:23:09.559
<v Speaker 2>dish and had seen it, didn't you? Dwayne answered yes.

317
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<v Speaker 2>A previous witness had said that the original dish set

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<v Speaker 2>aside for Gerald, had apparently disappeared, and that the father

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00:23:19.079 --> 00:23:22.880
<v Speaker 2>had insinuated that Dwayne might have eaten it. This the

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00:23:22.920 --> 00:23:27.200
<v Speaker 2>boy denied. Later, mister Jockman drew from the boy the

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<v Speaker 2>statement that the family had no frosted cake that day.

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<v Speaker 2>He said, we had cupcakes, but there wasn't any frosting

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<v Speaker 2>on them. Question, was the stuff in the pan chocolate color?

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<v Speaker 2>The answer yes, question, and you had had chocolate ice

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00:23:47.079 --> 00:23:54.519
<v Speaker 2>cream that afternoon, hadn't you? Yes, the boy replied. Attorney J. W. Lindsay,

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00:23:54.599 --> 00:23:57.400
<v Speaker 2>for the defense, sought to make the boy admit that

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<v Speaker 2>the family had layer cake that afternoon as well as cupcakes,

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00:24:02.319 --> 00:24:04.680
<v Speaker 2>but the boy said that there was no layer cake

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00:24:04.799 --> 00:24:08.119
<v Speaker 2>served while he was in the house. He went outdoors

330
00:24:08.160 --> 00:24:11.200
<v Speaker 2>to play immediately after eating the ice cream, he said.

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<v Speaker 2>Prior to the boy Dwayne taking the stand, Missus EVAs Seely,

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00:24:18.000 --> 00:24:21.160
<v Speaker 2>sister in law of Van Gelder, told of visiting the

333
00:24:21.240 --> 00:24:24.559
<v Speaker 2>van Gelder home that Sunday afternoon and of having been

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00:24:24.599 --> 00:24:28.200
<v Speaker 2>served ice cream, stating that Missus van Gilder had become

335
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<v Speaker 2>ill after eating but a few mouthfuls and had vomited it.

336
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<v Speaker 2>They were served ice cream and cakes. She testified, stated

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<v Speaker 2>the ice cream had been frozen and served by Van Gilder.

338
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<v Speaker 2>All of the family except Gerald were present and ate

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00:24:43.720 --> 00:24:48.000
<v Speaker 2>the ice cream. She testified that Gerald came in and

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00:24:48.079 --> 00:24:51.759
<v Speaker 2>asked where his dish could be found. Missus van Gilder

341
00:24:51.799 --> 00:24:54.440
<v Speaker 2>told him it was on the dining room table, but

342
00:24:54.519 --> 00:24:58.200
<v Speaker 2>he had complained he could not find it. She quoted

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<v Speaker 2>the father as saying, I'll bet that damned little snot

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00:25:01.680 --> 00:25:04.759
<v Speaker 2>of a Dwayne ate it. Gerald went into the kitchen,

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<v Speaker 2>and as they sat in the front room, she heard

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00:25:07.480 --> 00:25:12.279
<v Speaker 2>the ice cream freezer turning, she testified. Later Van Gilder

347
00:25:12.359 --> 00:25:14.920
<v Speaker 2>returned with the cup he had taken from a cupboard

348
00:25:15.359 --> 00:25:18.720
<v Speaker 2>and drew some water from a faucet. He inquired what

349
00:25:18.920 --> 00:25:21.839
<v Speaker 2>was in the pan and was told by Missus van

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<v Speaker 2>Gilder it was the ice cream batter, whereupon she dumped

351
00:25:26.000 --> 00:25:29.480
<v Speaker 2>the water into the sink. In addition to the dish

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<v Speaker 2>of ice cream set aside by Missus van Gelder, Missus

353
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<v Speaker 2>seely was not sure that the baby had eaten any

354
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<v Speaker 2>She did not notice what became of it from her observations,

355
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<v Speaker 2>She testified on cross examination, mister Van Gilder and Gerald

356
00:25:45.920 --> 00:25:50.039
<v Speaker 2>got along like any father and son. Naturally would Van

357
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<v Speaker 2>Gilder called poker face by Assistant Prosecutor Bolt during questioning

358
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<v Speaker 2>at the time of his arrest. For the first time

359
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<v Speaker 2>during the trial, Le displayed emotion during the testimony of

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<v Speaker 2>missus Ida Vanderhyde, a neighbor of two fifteen Hall Street, Southwest,

361
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<v Speaker 2>who told of being summoned to the Van Gilder home

362
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<v Speaker 2>about four a m. On the morning of September eighteenth

363
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<v Speaker 2>by Van Gilder himself. The woman said she hurriedly dressed

364
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<v Speaker 2>and went to the Van Gelder home, where she found

365
00:26:22.240 --> 00:26:25.559
<v Speaker 2>mister and missus Van Gilder with Gerald very ill on

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00:26:25.640 --> 00:26:29.000
<v Speaker 2>a cot in their dining room. As she told of

367
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<v Speaker 2>going to the third Precinct Police station at Hall Street

368
00:26:32.319 --> 00:26:36.319
<v Speaker 2>and Ionia Avenue, about two blocks distant, to phone the

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00:26:36.359 --> 00:26:40.559
<v Speaker 2>city Physician's office for a doctor, Van Gelder wept and

370
00:26:40.640 --> 00:26:45.799
<v Speaker 2>applied a handkerchief to his eyes. Later he regained his composure.

371
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<v Speaker 2>On cross examination by Tourney Lindsey, she described how the

372
00:26:51.039 --> 00:26:53.839
<v Speaker 2>boy's father was apparently doing all he could to care

373
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<v Speaker 2>for the youngster, applying coal packs to his head and

374
00:26:57.720 --> 00:27:02.640
<v Speaker 2>otherwise attempting to alleviate his sol The woman was asked,

375
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<v Speaker 2>did you talk to Gerald? She answered not at first,

376
00:27:07.000 --> 00:27:08.920
<v Speaker 2>but after I had been there about half an hour,

377
00:27:09.319 --> 00:27:12.000
<v Speaker 2>I asked him how he felt, and he said, oh,

378
00:27:12.079 --> 00:27:15.680
<v Speaker 2>my stomach in my back. Much of the testimony hinged

379
00:27:15.759 --> 00:27:18.559
<v Speaker 2>on what time Van Guilder placed his first call for

380
00:27:18.720 --> 00:27:23.680
<v Speaker 2>medical assistance, and during the testimony of miss ethel Downey,

381
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<v Speaker 2>night clerk at City Hall, who received the calls, Attorney

382
00:27:27.799 --> 00:27:31.279
<v Speaker 2>Lindsey charged that he knew all about the little politics

383
00:27:31.400 --> 00:27:36.160
<v Speaker 2>entering into the case. Miss Downey testified that she received

384
00:27:36.160 --> 00:27:38.319
<v Speaker 2>her first call in the case at four a m.

385
00:27:38.519 --> 00:27:42.519
<v Speaker 2>From Sergeant Ray McBride of the Hall Street station. She

386
00:27:42.559 --> 00:27:46.720
<v Speaker 2>immediately called doctor Eggleston of the City Physicians staff, and

387
00:27:46.799 --> 00:27:50.480
<v Speaker 2>he informed her that he would begin getting ready, adding

388
00:27:50.519 --> 00:27:52.839
<v Speaker 2>that if any more calls came in to let him know.

389
00:27:53.799 --> 00:27:57.000
<v Speaker 2>She had informed the physician that Sergeant McBride said the

390
00:27:57.079 --> 00:28:01.720
<v Speaker 2>Van Gilders were much excited over the boy's condition. Testimony

391
00:28:01.759 --> 00:28:07.079
<v Speaker 2>of doctor William Jerman, pathologist of Blodgett Memorial Hospital, was

392
00:28:07.119 --> 00:28:10.799
<v Speaker 2>to the effect that examination had disclosed sufficient quantity of

393
00:28:10.839 --> 00:28:16.319
<v Speaker 2>white arsenic in Gerald's organs to cause death. White arsenic

394
00:28:16.519 --> 00:28:20.880
<v Speaker 2>an oxide has the appearance of powdered sugar, has no

395
00:28:21.039 --> 00:28:24.720
<v Speaker 2>taste peculiar to itself, and is not easily detected when

396
00:28:24.720 --> 00:28:30.440
<v Speaker 2>placed in food. He testified. Robert Caine salesman for the

397
00:28:30.519 --> 00:28:34.519
<v Speaker 2>John Hancock Life Insurance Company related that he had visited

398
00:28:34.559 --> 00:28:37.880
<v Speaker 2>the Van Gilder home in August in response to a

399
00:28:38.000 --> 00:28:41.599
<v Speaker 2>request from Van Gilder, who informed he wanted to reinstate

400
00:28:41.640 --> 00:28:45.119
<v Speaker 2>some policies on his wife and five children which had lapsed.

401
00:28:46.720 --> 00:28:49.119
<v Speaker 2>Cain informed him it would be cheaper for him to

402
00:28:49.160 --> 00:28:53.319
<v Speaker 2>take out new policies, which he did. The largest policy

403
00:28:53.440 --> 00:28:55.920
<v Speaker 2>was for five hundred dollars on the life of missus

404
00:28:56.039 --> 00:29:00.079
<v Speaker 2>Van Gilder. That on Gerald was two hundred and eighty dollars.

405
00:29:00.720 --> 00:29:04.000
<v Speaker 2>The total premiums paid was ninety nine cents a week.

406
00:29:04.920 --> 00:29:08.839
<v Speaker 2>The policies were delivered either August twenty sixth or twenty eight,

407
00:29:09.240 --> 00:29:15.119
<v Speaker 2>he said. Van Gilder informed him that through unfortunate circumstances

408
00:29:15.480 --> 00:29:19.640
<v Speaker 2>he had been forced to drop the original policies. He

409
00:29:19.680 --> 00:29:23.079
<v Speaker 2>had lately been employed, but had been injured and was

410
00:29:23.160 --> 00:29:26.400
<v Speaker 2>receiving compensation and would be able to keep up the

411
00:29:26.440 --> 00:29:31.759
<v Speaker 2>weekly payments, Cain said Van Gilder told him. Van Gelder

412
00:29:31.880 --> 00:29:35.680
<v Speaker 2>told reporters he fractured his wrist while working on South

413
00:29:35.759 --> 00:29:39.759
<v Speaker 2>Division widening. The family has been on the city welfare

414
00:29:39.880 --> 00:29:45.039
<v Speaker 2>rolls off and on since nineteen twenty seven. Frank O'Malley,

415
00:29:45.160 --> 00:29:49.079
<v Speaker 2>chief of Detectives of Grand Rapids Police Department, gave the

416
00:29:49.119 --> 00:29:53.519
<v Speaker 2>first testimony, which tended to reveal conflicting statements made by

417
00:29:53.599 --> 00:29:58.359
<v Speaker 2>Van Gilder after the boy's death. Van Gilder, he testified,

418
00:29:58.960 --> 00:30:01.720
<v Speaker 2>originally told him i under questioning, that he had placed

419
00:30:01.720 --> 00:30:04.799
<v Speaker 2>his first call for the city physician at about two

420
00:30:04.839 --> 00:30:09.240
<v Speaker 2>thirty or two forty that Monday morning. Later, he said

421
00:30:09.359 --> 00:30:12.680
<v Speaker 2>Van Gilder had told him it was about midnight Saturday night.

422
00:30:13.319 --> 00:30:17.599
<v Speaker 2>Still later, in the presence of Superintendent Kincaid, the father

423
00:30:17.720 --> 00:30:22.400
<v Speaker 2>placed the time at about eleven o'clock Sunday night. O'Malley testified.

424
00:30:23.920 --> 00:30:27.720
<v Speaker 2>Another alleged discrepancy in the parent statement was that he

425
00:30:27.799 --> 00:30:30.319
<v Speaker 2>at first told the officers he had made the first

426
00:30:30.359 --> 00:30:33.720
<v Speaker 2>call in the office of a nearby creamery, and later

427
00:30:33.880 --> 00:30:36.599
<v Speaker 2>said it was at the Hall Street police station that

428
00:30:36.640 --> 00:30:41.559
<v Speaker 2>he had made the call. Attorney Lindsey succeeded in drawing

429
00:30:41.599 --> 00:30:44.279
<v Speaker 2>from the state's witness at the morning session the fact

430
00:30:44.279 --> 00:30:46.960
<v Speaker 2>that Van Gilder had displayed grief over the death of

431
00:30:47.000 --> 00:30:50.519
<v Speaker 2>the boy that he insisted upon a good funeral the

432
00:30:50.640 --> 00:30:52.960
<v Speaker 2>cost to be defrayed from the two hundred and eighty

433
00:30:52.960 --> 00:30:57.160
<v Speaker 2>dollars life insurance policy carried upon the lad's life rather

434
00:30:57.240 --> 00:31:01.039
<v Speaker 2>than have an eighteen dollars city indigence funer, and that

435
00:31:01.079 --> 00:31:03.839
<v Speaker 2>he had expressed a desire to have a post mortem

436
00:31:03.880 --> 00:31:10.559
<v Speaker 2>examination performed upon the body. These witnesses also testified either

437
00:31:10.640 --> 00:31:14.119
<v Speaker 2>that Van Gilder had remarked about the alleged failure of

438
00:31:14.160 --> 00:31:17.799
<v Speaker 2>the city physician's officer to respond promptly to his calls,

439
00:31:18.480 --> 00:31:23.200
<v Speaker 2>or that he had complained of this alleged tardiness. Police

440
00:31:23.240 --> 00:31:26.960
<v Speaker 2>officers Ralph Randall and John Murphy of the ambulance crew,

441
00:31:28.200 --> 00:31:30.799
<v Speaker 2>told of Van Gilder meeting them when they answered the

442
00:31:30.880 --> 00:31:35.160
<v Speaker 2>call for the ambulance, and, showing evidence of having been weeping,

443
00:31:36.039 --> 00:31:41.279
<v Speaker 2>said it's two late boys. The boy is dead. Both

444
00:31:41.400 --> 00:31:43.960
<v Speaker 2>testified that the father had told them there was a

445
00:31:44.000 --> 00:31:46.119
<v Speaker 2>tent in the rear of the house where the kids

446
00:31:46.119 --> 00:31:50.559
<v Speaker 2>had been playing. Officer Randall quoted Van Gilder in saying

447
00:31:50.599 --> 00:32:00.000
<v Speaker 2>that the boy probably ate something in the tent. November eighth,

448
00:32:00.279 --> 00:32:07.680
<v Speaker 2>thirty three, Goodie, Goodie Gander, I'm glad he's dead. That

449
00:32:08.039 --> 00:32:10.920
<v Speaker 2>was the reaction of one of thirteen year old Gerald

450
00:32:11.000 --> 00:32:14.880
<v Speaker 2>Van Gilder's playmates when eight year old Betty Page told

451
00:32:14.920 --> 00:32:20.039
<v Speaker 2>Henry Miatas eleven the Van Glider boy had succumbed to poison.

452
00:32:20.759 --> 00:32:24.519
<v Speaker 2>Betty declared from the witness stand in Superior Court yesterday

453
00:32:24.559 --> 00:32:29.160
<v Speaker 2>afternoon after she accused Miadas of putting white and red

454
00:32:29.200 --> 00:32:33.559
<v Speaker 2>stuff on half of muskmelon and giving it to Gerald.

455
00:32:35.000 --> 00:32:39.519
<v Speaker 2>Betty's testimony featured yesterday's session of the murder trial of

456
00:32:39.640 --> 00:32:43.440
<v Speaker 2>William van Gilder, father of Gerald, who is charged with

457
00:32:43.559 --> 00:32:47.920
<v Speaker 2>having caused his son's death by administering arsenic to the youngster.

458
00:32:48.920 --> 00:32:53.359
<v Speaker 2>The testimony apparently reflected the ramblings of a juvenile mind

459
00:32:53.880 --> 00:32:59.079
<v Speaker 2>or efforts to school the child witness. Her naive replies

460
00:32:59.200 --> 00:33:03.480
<v Speaker 2>under examine ationation, and her indifference to dates and places

461
00:33:03.920 --> 00:33:09.160
<v Speaker 2>caused even jurors and defense attorneys to smile broadly. Betty

462
00:33:09.359 --> 00:33:12.640
<v Speaker 2>was the first witness for the defense, which began its

463
00:33:12.640 --> 00:33:16.799
<v Speaker 2>inning after Judge Taylor denied its renewed motion to dismiss

464
00:33:16.839 --> 00:33:20.119
<v Speaker 2>the case and to order a directed verdict of not

465
00:33:20.319 --> 00:33:24.960
<v Speaker 2>guilty for the respondent. Bob Haired and comfortable in the

466
00:33:24.960 --> 00:33:29.079
<v Speaker 2>witness chair, the blonde little girl swung her legs contentedly,

467
00:33:29.640 --> 00:33:33.400
<v Speaker 2>seeming to gather courage and confidence as she gazed into

468
00:33:33.440 --> 00:33:37.920
<v Speaker 2>friendly faces. The fact that her testimony was greatly at

469
00:33:38.000 --> 00:33:41.279
<v Speaker 2>variance with facts in the case appeared to bother her

470
00:33:41.440 --> 00:33:46.759
<v Speaker 2>not at all. Before she began her testimony, Judge Taylor

471
00:33:46.839 --> 00:33:49.720
<v Speaker 2>queried her as to whether she could distinguish between a

472
00:33:49.799 --> 00:33:53.400
<v Speaker 2>lie and the truth, and she nodded her head affirmatively.

473
00:33:54.279 --> 00:33:58.000
<v Speaker 2>She said her family and the Meotis family were neighbors

474
00:33:58.039 --> 00:34:02.079
<v Speaker 2>of the Van Gliders. Then she began a weird recital,

475
00:34:02.559 --> 00:34:06.119
<v Speaker 2>insisting during the telling, however, that all the events she

476
00:34:06.319 --> 00:34:12.320
<v Speaker 2>pictured occurred last Sunday. Neither judge nor prosecutor could shake

477
00:34:12.400 --> 00:34:16.320
<v Speaker 2>her memory on that score. The Van Gilder boy died

478
00:34:16.440 --> 00:34:23.119
<v Speaker 2>Sunday night, September eighteenth, nearly two months ago. Betty told

479
00:34:23.199 --> 00:34:26.880
<v Speaker 2>court and jury that young Van Gilder, Myotis, and some

480
00:34:27.000 --> 00:34:30.920
<v Speaker 2>other boys were taking a couple of bicycles apart, and

481
00:34:30.960 --> 00:34:34.239
<v Speaker 2>that Myotis got mad at Van Gilder and went into

482
00:34:34.280 --> 00:34:38.639
<v Speaker 2>his house with another boy. Peeking through a kitchen window

483
00:34:38.679 --> 00:34:42.519
<v Speaker 2>of the Myota's home, Betty said she saw Myotis cut

484
00:34:42.519 --> 00:34:45.039
<v Speaker 2>a musk melon in a half, sprinkle one of the

485
00:34:45.079 --> 00:34:48.760
<v Speaker 2>halves with a white powder, and then with some red powder.

486
00:34:49.639 --> 00:34:52.000
<v Speaker 2>Coming outside, he told her he was going to give

487
00:34:52.039 --> 00:34:55.039
<v Speaker 2>the melon to Gerald, but cautioned her not to tell

488
00:34:55.159 --> 00:34:59.519
<v Speaker 2>Gerald it was poisoned. Betty then saw Gerald take and

489
00:34:59.639 --> 00:35:03.639
<v Speaker 2>cut the the half melon, she testified, although she said

490
00:35:03.679 --> 00:35:06.000
<v Speaker 2>to him, I wouldn't need to if I were you,

491
00:35:06.079 --> 00:35:11.360
<v Speaker 2>it's poisoned. Betty also testified she had heard my otis

492
00:35:11.360 --> 00:35:16.079
<v Speaker 2>swear at Gerald and threaten I'll get you yet. Prosecutor

493
00:35:16.159 --> 00:35:20.440
<v Speaker 2>Jonkman asked the diminutive witness kindly, Betty, do you ever

494
00:35:20.519 --> 00:35:25.079
<v Speaker 2>have dreams? No, she replied, shaking her head. Are you

495
00:35:25.199 --> 00:35:30.079
<v Speaker 2>sure you're telling the truth? Betty nodded yes. Question do

496
00:35:30.119 --> 00:35:32.800
<v Speaker 2>you know what day of the week this is? This

497
00:35:32.920 --> 00:35:37.800
<v Speaker 2>question floored Betty. After a brief hesitation, she nodded negatively.

498
00:35:38.320 --> 00:35:42.440
<v Speaker 2>The prosecutor queried, to whom did you tell this story before?

499
00:35:43.320 --> 00:35:47.800
<v Speaker 2>Answer to the man in the office? Question anybody else?

500
00:35:48.719 --> 00:35:52.719
<v Speaker 2>Answer the lady who brought me down here. Hearing of

501
00:35:52.760 --> 00:35:58.000
<v Speaker 2>another defense witness, Leo Heinzelman, fifteen of eleven forty nine

502
00:35:58.039 --> 00:36:03.880
<v Speaker 2>Walnut Avenue, closed yesterday's testimony. He evidently was placed on

503
00:36:03.920 --> 00:36:06.920
<v Speaker 2>the stand in order to establish at young Van Gilder

504
00:36:07.440 --> 00:36:10.280
<v Speaker 2>was well and happy. About four pm on the day

505
00:36:10.320 --> 00:36:13.840
<v Speaker 2>of his death, He said he rode his wheel to

506
00:36:13.880 --> 00:36:17.519
<v Speaker 2>the Van Gilder home, arriving there at that hour, and

507
00:36:17.599 --> 00:36:20.159
<v Speaker 2>saw Van Gilder and a couple of other boys working

508
00:36:20.199 --> 00:36:25.840
<v Speaker 2>on a bicycle. He left soon afterward. Eleven witnesses for

509
00:36:25.960 --> 00:36:30.119
<v Speaker 2>the state were presented yesterday morning, including four members of

510
00:36:30.159 --> 00:36:34.400
<v Speaker 2>the Veterans Democratic League, who testified that instead of insisting,

511
00:36:34.440 --> 00:36:36.599
<v Speaker 2>he placed his first call for a member of the

512
00:36:36.639 --> 00:36:40.719
<v Speaker 2>City physician staff at eleven o'clock the night Gerald was dying.

513
00:36:40.960 --> 00:36:43.360
<v Speaker 2>Van Gilder declared at a meeting of the League the

514
00:36:43.400 --> 00:36:47.440
<v Speaker 2>following Friday that he first called at six or seven pm.

515
00:36:48.159 --> 00:36:51.920
<v Speaker 2>Defense Attorney Lindsay sought to develop through the League members

516
00:36:52.280 --> 00:36:55.119
<v Speaker 2>that the questioning of the purported failure of the city

517
00:36:55.159 --> 00:36:59.559
<v Speaker 2>to give medical service was a political issue. Witnesses who

518
00:36:59.599 --> 00:37:05.199
<v Speaker 2>deny this were doctor Earl Reynolds, Charles E. Messner, William Haysman,

519
00:37:05.320 --> 00:37:09.320
<v Speaker 2>and Claude Sherman. All stated Van Gilder said he called

520
00:37:09.360 --> 00:37:13.599
<v Speaker 2>City Hall between six and seven pm. They said. Van

521
00:37:13.719 --> 00:37:17.519
<v Speaker 2>Gilder joined the organization on the Friday following his son's

522
00:37:17.559 --> 00:37:20.480
<v Speaker 2>death and complained of the service given by the City

523
00:37:20.519 --> 00:37:25.760
<v Speaker 2>Physician's office. A resolution was presented instructing Commander Reynolds to

524
00:37:25.840 --> 00:37:28.840
<v Speaker 2>take up the question with the State Welfare Department and

525
00:37:28.920 --> 00:37:32.360
<v Speaker 2>the Governor's office, but this was amended, giving authority to

526
00:37:32.400 --> 00:37:38.519
<v Speaker 2>doctor Reynolds to confer with the Superintendent of Police, R. D. Stropaul.

527
00:37:39.039 --> 00:37:42.880
<v Speaker 2>A reporter called by the prosecution, referred to a conversation

528
00:37:43.000 --> 00:37:46.320
<v Speaker 2>he had with Van Gilder four days following his son's death,

529
00:37:46.440 --> 00:37:48.920
<v Speaker 2>when he said Van Gilder declared that his son had

530
00:37:48.920 --> 00:37:52.039
<v Speaker 2>frozen the ice cream in which the state alleges the

531
00:37:52.079 --> 00:37:55.880
<v Speaker 2>boy was given arsenic. Then Missus van Gilder reminded her

532
00:37:55.960 --> 00:37:59.039
<v Speaker 2>husband that the respondent had frozen the ice cream, and

533
00:37:59.079 --> 00:38:03.199
<v Speaker 2>then Van Gildt admitted that he helped the boy. Stroe

534
00:38:03.199 --> 00:38:05.679
<v Speaker 2>Paul added that the father told him he had heard

535
00:38:05.760 --> 00:38:09.320
<v Speaker 2>rumors that Gerald had been playing with the Myotis boy,

536
00:38:10.000 --> 00:38:13.719
<v Speaker 2>that Myotis and another companion had stolen two bicycles from

537
00:38:13.760 --> 00:38:17.000
<v Speaker 2>the airport, and that Gerald had been threatened by the

538
00:38:17.039 --> 00:38:20.199
<v Speaker 2>boys because he was aware of the theft. Van Gilder

539
00:38:20.320 --> 00:38:23.960
<v Speaker 2>told the reporter the latter said that the Myotis boy

540
00:38:24.039 --> 00:38:27.159
<v Speaker 2>had told Gerald he would fix him, and then gave

541
00:38:27.280 --> 00:38:30.280
<v Speaker 2>Gerald half a musk melon to eat, and that Gerald

542
00:38:30.440 --> 00:38:36.000
<v Speaker 2>ate his portion while the Myotis Boy didn't. The Myotis

543
00:38:36.079 --> 00:38:39.840
<v Speaker 2>Boy on the stand admitted having stolen the bicycles with

544
00:38:39.880 --> 00:38:43.920
<v Speaker 2>a companion, but denied statements attributed to Van Gilder about

545
00:38:43.960 --> 00:38:47.480
<v Speaker 2>the melon. He said he neither had nor saw melon

546
00:38:47.639 --> 00:38:52.559
<v Speaker 2>on the day of Gerald's death. Pressing for dismissal of

547
00:38:52.599 --> 00:38:56.199
<v Speaker 2>the case and a directed verdict for his client, Attorney

548
00:38:56.199 --> 00:38:59.119
<v Speaker 2>Lindsay declared that the state had been unable to present

549
00:38:59.239 --> 00:39:02.480
<v Speaker 2>evidence of a particle of guilt on Van Gilder's part.

550
00:39:03.159 --> 00:39:07.159
<v Speaker 2>He termed the proceedings all piffle, declaring that should the

551
00:39:07.239 --> 00:39:10.199
<v Speaker 2>jury bring in a conviction, it would never stand up

552
00:39:10.239 --> 00:39:15.559
<v Speaker 2>in the higher courts. His associate, attorney, Leland D. Phelps,

553
00:39:15.719 --> 00:39:18.840
<v Speaker 2>asserted that the prosecution of Van Gilder was merely in

554
00:39:18.880 --> 00:39:22.760
<v Speaker 2>retaliation for complaints made against the conduct of the City

555
00:39:22.800 --> 00:39:29.239
<v Speaker 2>Physician's office. In opposing the defense motion, prosecutor Junkman declared

556
00:39:29.280 --> 00:39:32.000
<v Speaker 2>that although the prosecution did not have an open and

557
00:39:32.039 --> 00:39:35.599
<v Speaker 2>shut case, there were circumstances in the Van Gilder Boy's

558
00:39:35.719 --> 00:39:39.760
<v Speaker 2>murder that tended to incriminate the father. The only missing

559
00:39:39.800 --> 00:39:43.679
<v Speaker 2>link is the prosecutor's case, he added, quote is that

560
00:39:43.760 --> 00:39:53.079
<v Speaker 2>we cannot prove where the poison was purchased. Unquote. November eleventh,

561
00:39:53.440 --> 00:40:00.280
<v Speaker 2>nineteen thirty three, William Van Glider broke down on the

562
00:40:00.320 --> 00:40:05.280
<v Speaker 2>witness stand in Superior Court yesterday afternoon, shortly after he

563
00:40:05.320 --> 00:40:08.840
<v Speaker 2>had been called by counsel to testify in his own defense.

564
00:40:10.320 --> 00:40:13.199
<v Speaker 2>It was while Van Glider was relating how the boy

565
00:40:13.320 --> 00:40:16.840
<v Speaker 2>had died in his arms after futile phone calls for

566
00:40:16.880 --> 00:40:21.639
<v Speaker 2>a city doctor that the father sobbed, choked, and answered

567
00:40:21.719 --> 00:40:26.199
<v Speaker 2>questions in a husky voice. He had testified that he

568
00:40:26.400 --> 00:40:34.159
<v Speaker 2>and a neighbor, missus Anne Vanderhyde, had made several phone

569
00:40:34.199 --> 00:40:37.840
<v Speaker 2>calls to the city Physician's office from the third Precinct

570
00:40:37.840 --> 00:40:42.360
<v Speaker 2>police station, but had been unable to procure medical services

571
00:40:42.400 --> 00:40:49.960
<v Speaker 2>for his boy, who was growing worse hourly. Quote. I

572
00:40:49.960 --> 00:40:53.000
<v Speaker 2>had just given Gerald a large glass of peppermint water,

573
00:40:53.360 --> 00:40:56.920
<v Speaker 2>which previously had seemed to relieve him, and asked him

574
00:40:56.920 --> 00:41:01.599
<v Speaker 2>how he felt. He replied weakly better, and then laid

575
00:41:01.639 --> 00:41:05.320
<v Speaker 2>back in my arms and passed away, the father told

576
00:41:05.360 --> 00:41:12.039
<v Speaker 2>the jury. Van Glider went into lengthy explanations carefully phrased

577
00:41:13.840 --> 00:41:19.360
<v Speaker 2>on his direct examination by attorneys Leland D. Phelps and J. W. Lindsay.

578
00:41:22.480 --> 00:41:26.639
<v Speaker 2>Later he was severely grilled by prosecuting attorney Bartle J.

579
00:41:26.920 --> 00:41:32.360
<v Speaker 2>Johnkman on cross examination, the state's attorney shooting questions which

580
00:41:32.440 --> 00:41:35.079
<v Speaker 2>left the witness withered. At the close of the day,

581
00:41:36.639 --> 00:41:40.039
<v Speaker 2>Van Gilder appeared to avoid the eyes of his questioners,

582
00:41:40.440 --> 00:41:44.000
<v Speaker 2>gazing either at members of the jury or at spectators

583
00:41:44.000 --> 00:41:47.599
<v Speaker 2>who jammed the chamber. He was still on the stand

584
00:41:47.679 --> 00:41:53.199
<v Speaker 2>when the day's session ended. The witness maintained on direct

585
00:41:53.199 --> 00:41:56.960
<v Speaker 2>examination that his first call to the city Physician's office

586
00:41:57.280 --> 00:42:00.920
<v Speaker 2>was made about Sunday midnight. His son died at four

587
00:42:01.079 --> 00:42:05.960
<v Speaker 2>forty o'clock the following morning. Previous witnesses have testified Van

588
00:42:06.000 --> 00:42:08.440
<v Speaker 2>Glider told them the calls were made between six and

589
00:42:08.519 --> 00:42:12.760
<v Speaker 2>seven pm, eleven PM, eleven thirty pm, one thirty am,

590
00:42:12.840 --> 00:42:16.719
<v Speaker 2>and at about three am. After giving his version of

591
00:42:16.760 --> 00:42:20.519
<v Speaker 2>events leading to the boy's death, Van Glider denied that

592
00:42:20.599 --> 00:42:23.800
<v Speaker 2>he had met missus Loreen Frickert that evening, as she

593
00:42:23.840 --> 00:42:26.960
<v Speaker 2>has testified, but that their last meeting had been on

594
00:42:27.000 --> 00:42:32.920
<v Speaker 2>the night of August twenty six, just before the doctor arrived,

595
00:42:32.960 --> 00:42:38.840
<v Speaker 2>an ambulance and an undertaker came. Van Gilder testified among

596
00:42:38.920 --> 00:42:41.960
<v Speaker 2>neighbors in the house after Gerald's death was a Missus

597
00:42:42.000 --> 00:42:45.400
<v Speaker 2>Marguerite Holly. There was some discussion as to whether the

598
00:42:45.400 --> 00:42:48.400
<v Speaker 2>boy could have eaten something that caused his death, and

599
00:42:48.440 --> 00:42:51.199
<v Speaker 2>Missus Holly said that she had heard that my son

600
00:42:51.320 --> 00:42:54.039
<v Speaker 2>and some of his playmates had eaten muskmelon in a

601
00:42:54.119 --> 00:42:56.400
<v Speaker 2>tent that had been erected in the rear of the

602
00:42:56.480 --> 00:43:00.239
<v Speaker 2>Myotis house, one of our neighbors. The tent had been

603
00:43:00.239 --> 00:43:03.599
<v Speaker 2>taken down, but the ambulance driver got a flashlight from

604
00:43:03.639 --> 00:43:05.639
<v Speaker 2>the car and we went over the ground where the

605
00:43:05.679 --> 00:43:11.559
<v Speaker 2>ten had stood and found muskmelon and watermelon rinds. After

606
00:43:11.599 --> 00:43:14.199
<v Speaker 2>relating that one of the two clocks in his dining

607
00:43:14.280 --> 00:43:18.039
<v Speaker 2>room had stopped soon after his son's death and that

608
00:43:18.119 --> 00:43:21.039
<v Speaker 2>he might have confused his statements as to the hours

609
00:43:21.039 --> 00:43:25.000
<v Speaker 2>of telephone calls to the city Physician's office by glancing

610
00:43:25.039 --> 00:43:28.880
<v Speaker 2>at one time piece instead of the other, Van Glider

611
00:43:28.960 --> 00:43:33.480
<v Speaker 2>told how Coroner Wolf and city detectives had visited his home,

612
00:43:34.000 --> 00:43:38.280
<v Speaker 2>questioned him about his boy's death, took him to police headquarters,

613
00:43:38.320 --> 00:43:41.920
<v Speaker 2>where he was again questioned and booked for investigation, and

614
00:43:42.000 --> 00:43:45.000
<v Speaker 2>then locked him in a cell. When he was taken

615
00:43:45.039 --> 00:43:48.679
<v Speaker 2>to the cell block, he said Detective Anning Taylor pushed

616
00:43:48.719 --> 00:43:51.719
<v Speaker 2>him past a cell containing a mattress to one that

617
00:43:51.800 --> 00:43:54.960
<v Speaker 2>had a plank, put him in, and with the plank,

618
00:43:55.119 --> 00:43:58.440
<v Speaker 2>he quoted Taylor as telling the turnkey, maybe he'll be

619
00:43:58.480 --> 00:44:06.719
<v Speaker 2>ready to talk in the morning, completing van Glider's Completing

620
00:44:06.800 --> 00:44:11.280
<v Speaker 2>van Glider's direct examination, Attorney Lindsey asked him if there

621
00:44:11.320 --> 00:44:13.840
<v Speaker 2>was any reason why he should have taken his son's life,

622
00:44:14.360 --> 00:44:21.239
<v Speaker 2>and the witness replied vehemently. No. Prosecutor Junkman endeavored to

623
00:44:21.280 --> 00:44:24.039
<v Speaker 2>trip Van Glider on the statements he had made regarding

624
00:44:24.079 --> 00:44:26.920
<v Speaker 2>the time of his phone calls and events leading to

625
00:44:27.000 --> 00:44:31.880
<v Speaker 2>his son's death, but he made little progress along that line.

626
00:44:31.960 --> 00:44:34.800
<v Speaker 2>He brought from the witness, however, the information that his

627
00:44:34.920 --> 00:44:40.079
<v Speaker 2>son was deaf in both ears. Van Glider had stated

628
00:44:40.199 --> 00:44:42.920
<v Speaker 2>Gerald was the last of the family to eat ice

629
00:44:42.960 --> 00:44:46.320
<v Speaker 2>cream on the day he died. He described how the

630
00:44:46.360 --> 00:44:49.800
<v Speaker 2>boy who had been playing outside romped into the house,

631
00:44:50.280 --> 00:44:53.000
<v Speaker 2>saw the used ice cream plates and asked where his

632
00:44:53.079 --> 00:44:56.159
<v Speaker 2>share was. The father said he told him he would

633
00:44:56.159 --> 00:45:00.960
<v Speaker 2>find it on the kitchen table. Now, question the prosecutor.

634
00:45:01.280 --> 00:45:04.079
<v Speaker 2>You said your son was death. How could he have

635
00:45:04.119 --> 00:45:05.960
<v Speaker 2>heard what you said when you told him where to

636
00:45:06.000 --> 00:45:11.519
<v Speaker 2>find the ice cream. Van Glider explained Gerald had been

637
00:45:11.559 --> 00:45:17.719
<v Speaker 2>attending lip reading classes for some time. The prosecutor, pointing

638
00:45:17.719 --> 00:45:21.159
<v Speaker 2>a finger at the witness, then demanded Van Glider tell

639
00:45:21.199 --> 00:45:23.840
<v Speaker 2>him why, as a former member of the police department

640
00:45:24.119 --> 00:45:27.119
<v Speaker 2>and reading in the newspapers about the finding of arsenic

641
00:45:27.159 --> 00:45:31.159
<v Speaker 2>in his son's body, he has studiously avoided contact with

642
00:45:31.280 --> 00:45:36.079
<v Speaker 2>the police department. The witness replied, quote, I never had

643
00:45:36.119 --> 00:45:39.400
<v Speaker 2>thought Gerald died from arsenic and my experience as a

644
00:45:39.440 --> 00:45:42.639
<v Speaker 2>policeman has taught me not to meddle with police affairs.

645
00:45:43.199 --> 00:45:46.320
<v Speaker 2>I considered the police competent and fit to make the

646
00:45:46.400 --> 00:45:52.800
<v Speaker 2>investigation into my son's death without my interference. Mister Johnson shouted,

647
00:45:53.239 --> 00:45:56.360
<v Speaker 2>isn't it true that you knew the cause of Gerald's

648
00:45:56.400 --> 00:45:58.679
<v Speaker 2>death and that when you read of the finding of

649
00:45:58.800 --> 00:46:02.039
<v Speaker 2>arsenic in his body, it wasn't news to you, and

650
00:46:02.079 --> 00:46:04.679
<v Speaker 2>that you were afraid of the police to the extent

651
00:46:04.880 --> 00:46:08.039
<v Speaker 2>that you didn't seek the assistance of two detectives when

652
00:46:08.079 --> 00:46:12.159
<v Speaker 2>you encountered them on the street near your home. Van

653
00:46:12.199 --> 00:46:15.639
<v Speaker 2>glide or protest that that's not the case. One reason

654
00:46:15.679 --> 00:46:18.119
<v Speaker 2>I didn't ask police, aid, was that my wife was

655
00:46:18.159 --> 00:46:20.920
<v Speaker 2>sick and I couldn't leave her. The other is that

656
00:46:21.039 --> 00:46:24.079
<v Speaker 2>as a former policeman, I didn't care to meddle in

657
00:46:24.159 --> 00:46:29.559
<v Speaker 2>their affairs. Betty Page, eight years old, who told the

658
00:46:29.639 --> 00:46:32.440
<v Speaker 2>jury Tuesday she had peeped through a window on the

659
00:46:32.480 --> 00:46:35.719
<v Speaker 2>Myota's home and saw Henry put white and red powder

660
00:46:35.800 --> 00:46:38.719
<v Speaker 2>on half a musk melon and given it to Gerald,

661
00:46:38.800 --> 00:46:43.119
<v Speaker 2>and then saw Gerald eat it later on informing Henry

662
00:46:43.159 --> 00:46:48.280
<v Speaker 2>of the other boy's death, whereupon Henry expressed elation. Was

663
00:46:48.320 --> 00:46:52.280
<v Speaker 2>placed on the witness stand again yesterday by prosecution and

664
00:46:52.360 --> 00:46:57.360
<v Speaker 2>subjected to additional cross examination, during which she repudiated her

665
00:46:57.400 --> 00:47:01.000
<v Speaker 2>previous testimony. It was set she had been taken to

666
00:47:01.039 --> 00:47:04.800
<v Speaker 2>the Miyota's home yesterday morning, where it was ascertained she

667
00:47:05.000 --> 00:47:08.320
<v Speaker 2>was not tall enough to have looked through the Myotis window.

668
00:47:09.440 --> 00:47:17.400
<v Speaker 2>Attorney Lindsey placed on the stand Miss Dorothy huzinga stenographer

669
00:47:17.440 --> 00:47:21.360
<v Speaker 2>in his law office, who testified she had charge of

670
00:47:21.360 --> 00:47:25.760
<v Speaker 2>Betty Tuesday, but that she had heard nobody tell Betty

671
00:47:25.800 --> 00:47:31.599
<v Speaker 2>how to testify. A deposition taken from missus Clydis Page

672
00:47:31.599 --> 00:47:35.239
<v Speaker 2>at her bedside was read into the record. It stated

673
00:47:35.280 --> 00:47:39.559
<v Speaker 2>Missus Page, mother of Betty, had heard Henry Miotis say

674
00:47:39.599 --> 00:47:42.599
<v Speaker 2>while he was taking a bicycle apart with some other boys.

675
00:47:43.159 --> 00:47:46.280
<v Speaker 2>I'll get you yet, but the witness said she did

676
00:47:46.320 --> 00:47:51.079
<v Speaker 2>not know to whom the statement was directed. Missus Sylvia

677
00:47:51.199 --> 00:47:55.800
<v Speaker 2>van Glider, Gerald's mother denied on the witness stand yesterday

678
00:47:55.960 --> 00:47:59.840
<v Speaker 2>several statements attributed to her by police officers and other

679
00:48:00.079 --> 00:48:04.440
<v Speaker 2>prosecution witnesses and related events in connection with her son's

680
00:48:04.480 --> 00:48:08.559
<v Speaker 2>death substantially as they were recounted later by her husband.

681
00:48:09.639 --> 00:48:11.920
<v Speaker 2>It is probable that the case will be given to

682
00:48:11.960 --> 00:48:16.719
<v Speaker 2>the jury sometime this afternoon. The prosecution announced that it

683
00:48:16.800 --> 00:48:20.079
<v Speaker 2>desired to call several more witnesses and there will be

684
00:48:20.119 --> 00:48:31.440
<v Speaker 2>some rebuttal testimony. It was indicated November tenth, nineteen thirty three,

685
00:48:31.599 --> 00:48:35.920
<v Speaker 2>after deliberating five hours and ten minutes, the Superior Court

686
00:48:36.000 --> 00:48:39.800
<v Speaker 2>jury considering the case of William van Gilder was sent

687
00:48:39.880 --> 00:48:43.199
<v Speaker 2>to the Row Hotel at ten fifty o'clock last night

688
00:48:43.280 --> 00:48:47.920
<v Speaker 2>by Judge Taylor. The jury had indicated in a message

689
00:48:47.960 --> 00:48:52.199
<v Speaker 2>to the court that an agreement seemed impossible, and accordingly

690
00:48:52.599 --> 00:48:56.320
<v Speaker 2>its members were escorted to the jury box. More than

691
00:48:56.360 --> 00:48:59.599
<v Speaker 2>one hundred persons were sitting in the courtroom, and many

692
00:48:59.639 --> 00:49:02.360
<v Speaker 2>of them skipped their evening meal to be on hand

693
00:49:02.440 --> 00:49:07.519
<v Speaker 2>when the jury reported. Judge Taylor asked as the jury

694
00:49:07.559 --> 00:49:12.679
<v Speaker 2>reached a verdict, replied, Foreman William lean House, your honor,

695
00:49:12.760 --> 00:49:15.280
<v Speaker 2>the jury is deadlocked, and all I want to know

696
00:49:15.480 --> 00:49:19.199
<v Speaker 2>is if you have reached a verdict. The judge repeated, No,

697
00:49:19.760 --> 00:49:24.199
<v Speaker 2>said mister lean House, said Judge Taylor, Well, you men

698
00:49:24.280 --> 00:49:27.079
<v Speaker 2>have been on the job about fourteen hours and i'd

699
00:49:27.119 --> 00:49:30.000
<v Speaker 2>call it a full day's work. I should like to

700
00:49:30.000 --> 00:49:32.719
<v Speaker 2>give you more time to consider this case, so you

701
00:49:32.760 --> 00:49:36.159
<v Speaker 2>will retire to the jury room to await officers who

702
00:49:36.199 --> 00:49:40.159
<v Speaker 2>will escort you to your sleeping quarters. It is unnecessary

703
00:49:40.199 --> 00:49:43.599
<v Speaker 2>for me to caution you not to permit communication with you,

704
00:49:43.760 --> 00:49:46.800
<v Speaker 2>and you will not communicate with others until this case

705
00:49:46.840 --> 00:49:51.239
<v Speaker 2>has been decided. It was reported that a majority of

706
00:49:51.280 --> 00:49:54.360
<v Speaker 2>the jury was in favor of the acquittal of Van Gilder,

707
00:49:55.159 --> 00:49:58.920
<v Speaker 2>with two or three members standing out for conviction until

708
00:49:59.000 --> 00:50:02.360
<v Speaker 2>the number simmered only one or two who continued to

709
00:50:02.440 --> 00:50:05.920
<v Speaker 2>reject the pleas of other jurymen that the body agree

710
00:50:06.079 --> 00:50:09.960
<v Speaker 2>on an acquittal verdict. During the long hours the jury

711
00:50:10.079 --> 00:50:13.079
<v Speaker 2>was in session, Van Gilder paced the ante room of

712
00:50:13.159 --> 00:50:18.039
<v Speaker 2>the Superior Court Clerk's office. He appeared visibly nervous From

713
00:50:18.079 --> 00:50:21.400
<v Speaker 2>time to time he chatted with his wife seated nearby.

714
00:50:22.320 --> 00:50:25.920
<v Speaker 2>Some friends sought occasionally to cheer him, but he seemed

715
00:50:26.039 --> 00:50:31.519
<v Speaker 2>downcast and moody. Van Gilder sobbed into his handkerchief, and

716
00:50:31.599 --> 00:50:36.199
<v Speaker 2>his forehead was wet with perspiration. During Judge Taylor's charge

717
00:50:36.280 --> 00:50:39.119
<v Speaker 2>to the jury, which was of a character to lend

718
00:50:39.159 --> 00:50:44.400
<v Speaker 2>a measure of encouragement to the accused man, Judge Taylor

719
00:50:44.480 --> 00:50:48.559
<v Speaker 2>reviewed the four days testimony at some length, pointing out,

720
00:50:48.559 --> 00:50:51.920
<v Speaker 2>among other things, that the state had produced no evidence

721
00:50:52.000 --> 00:50:55.159
<v Speaker 2>that Van Gilder was beneficiary under a two hundred and

722
00:50:55.159 --> 00:50:58.639
<v Speaker 2>eighty dollars policy taken out on his son's life, or

723
00:50:58.679 --> 00:51:00.760
<v Speaker 2>that the money was to go to the father in

724
00:51:00.840 --> 00:51:04.159
<v Speaker 2>the event of the son's death. He told the jury

725
00:51:04.199 --> 00:51:08.280
<v Speaker 2>that the case revolved on circumstantial evidence, and advised them

726
00:51:08.360 --> 00:51:11.639
<v Speaker 2>of the legal value of that kind of evidence. He

727
00:51:11.760 --> 00:51:16.559
<v Speaker 2>reminded that a premeditated murder, such as involving the administering

728
00:51:16.639 --> 00:51:20.440
<v Speaker 2>of arsenic or other poison, was, under the statute, a

729
00:51:20.480 --> 00:51:23.559
<v Speaker 2>first degree murder case, and that the jury in the

730
00:51:23.599 --> 00:51:26.719
<v Speaker 2>case of Van Gilder would have to be satisfied within

731
00:51:26.840 --> 00:51:30.400
<v Speaker 2>reasonable doubt that Van Gilder had administered arsenic to his

732
00:51:30.519 --> 00:51:34.559
<v Speaker 2>son before it could decide on a conviction. In their

733
00:51:34.599 --> 00:51:40.119
<v Speaker 2>closing arguments, Prosecutor Junkman and Attorney Lindsey exchanged the usual

734
00:51:40.280 --> 00:51:45.039
<v Speaker 2>verbal bouquets, the prosecutor declaring at the time that quote,

735
00:51:45.400 --> 00:51:47.440
<v Speaker 2>never have I tried a case when there was so

736
00:51:47.559 --> 00:51:52.239
<v Speaker 2>much fixed testimony unquote, and Lindsey retorting that's what he

737
00:51:52.320 --> 00:51:56.639
<v Speaker 2>always says in cases in which I appear. Lindsey added,

738
00:51:56.920 --> 00:51:58.960
<v Speaker 2>I'd hate to have the sort of low mind the

739
00:51:59.000 --> 00:52:02.679
<v Speaker 2>prosecutor possess is so low that he would prosecute this

740
00:52:02.840 --> 00:52:06.280
<v Speaker 2>case further after all the PIFL evidence he has heard.

741
00:52:07.840 --> 00:52:11.039
<v Speaker 2>Lindsay charged that cheap politics was at the bottom of

742
00:52:11.079 --> 00:52:15.119
<v Speaker 2>the prosecution because Van Glider and his friends had attacked

743
00:52:15.159 --> 00:52:24.119
<v Speaker 2>the conduct of the City Physicians Department. November eleventh, nineteen

744
00:52:24.280 --> 00:52:30.239
<v Speaker 2>thirty three, Unable to agree upon a verdict after twenty

745
00:52:30.239 --> 00:52:35.000
<v Speaker 2>four hours of deliberation, the Superior Court jury which heard

746
00:52:35.039 --> 00:52:39.800
<v Speaker 2>the trial of William van Gilder late yesterday was discharged

747
00:52:39.840 --> 00:52:44.679
<v Speaker 2>by Judge Statius H. Taylor. The jury, it was learned

748
00:52:44.719 --> 00:52:49.840
<v Speaker 2>authoritatively last night, stood hung at nine to three for acquittal.

749
00:52:50.920 --> 00:52:54.400
<v Speaker 2>It has been hung at this point ever since Thursday evening.

750
00:52:55.440 --> 00:52:58.599
<v Speaker 2>No amount of persuasion could change the opinion of the

751
00:52:58.639 --> 00:53:03.400
<v Speaker 2>descending jurors, was learned, even after certain testimony had been

752
00:53:03.440 --> 00:53:07.559
<v Speaker 2>reread to the jury by the court stenographer noon yesterday

753
00:53:08.679 --> 00:53:12.039
<v Speaker 2>and the judge had restated the four cardinal points for

754
00:53:12.119 --> 00:53:17.679
<v Speaker 2>the jury to decide. Prosecutor bartle j Jonkman will confer

755
00:53:17.760 --> 00:53:22.360
<v Speaker 2>today with Judge Taylor and Police Superintendent Kincaid regarding the

756
00:53:22.400 --> 00:53:27.639
<v Speaker 2>disposition of the case. Judge Taylor had announced early yesterday

757
00:53:27.719 --> 00:53:31.000
<v Speaker 2>afternoon that should the jury not be in agreement by

758
00:53:31.039 --> 00:53:35.159
<v Speaker 2>six o'clock, he would dismiss it and consider a disagreement

759
00:53:35.320 --> 00:53:40.519
<v Speaker 2>entered consequently. When that hour arrived, the jury was summoned

760
00:53:40.519 --> 00:53:46.199
<v Speaker 2>to the courtroom. As the packed room was hushed in suspense,

761
00:53:47.280 --> 00:53:51.679
<v Speaker 2>Clerk Jacob Vanderwadd inquired, gentlemen of the jury, have you

762
00:53:51.760 --> 00:53:57.000
<v Speaker 2>agreed upon the verdict? If so, let your foreman arise.

763
00:53:59.239 --> 00:54:04.480
<v Speaker 2>We have not responded the foreman. Judge Taylor then stated,

764
00:54:04.920 --> 00:54:08.360
<v Speaker 2>mister foreman, and gentlemen of the jury, you have deliberated

765
00:54:08.440 --> 00:54:13.320
<v Speaker 2>practically twenty four hours, either alone or together. Is it

766
00:54:13.400 --> 00:54:15.519
<v Speaker 2>the opinion of the foreman that you could not reach

767
00:54:15.559 --> 00:54:19.239
<v Speaker 2>a verdict, even though further time for deliberation be permitted.

768
00:54:21.239 --> 00:54:25.159
<v Speaker 2>Mister lean House answered, I do not believe it is possible.

769
00:54:27.320 --> 00:54:30.119
<v Speaker 2>It is very much to be regretted. The court then

770
00:54:30.199 --> 00:54:34.199
<v Speaker 2>stated that you cannot reach an agreement. You have endeavored

771
00:54:34.239 --> 00:54:39.199
<v Speaker 2>honestly and conscientiously and sincerely to arrive at a verdict.

772
00:54:39.920 --> 00:54:43.239
<v Speaker 2>But if you feel that you cannot do so, of course,

773
00:54:43.280 --> 00:54:45.559
<v Speaker 2>it is not the province nor the desire of the

774
00:54:45.599 --> 00:54:49.400
<v Speaker 2>court to cause you to be compelled to continue further deliberation,

775
00:54:49.920 --> 00:54:52.880
<v Speaker 2>which no doubt have become somewhat burdensome to you, to

776
00:54:52.960 --> 00:54:56.920
<v Speaker 2>say the least. Mister Foreman, as you say, it is

777
00:54:56.960 --> 00:55:00.360
<v Speaker 2>not possible, even though you have deliberated so since this

778
00:55:00.519 --> 00:55:05.239
<v Speaker 2>time yesterday, to arrive at a verdict. The Court accepts

779
00:55:05.280 --> 00:55:09.119
<v Speaker 2>your statement and the jury is hereby discharged from further

780
00:55:09.159 --> 00:55:14.000
<v Speaker 2>consideration of this case. Van Gilder, who sat at the

781
00:55:14.079 --> 00:55:18.119
<v Speaker 2>table with his wife and mother, apparently under a deep strain,

782
00:55:19.039 --> 00:55:22.800
<v Speaker 2>cupped his chin in his hands and appeared momentarily depressed

783
00:55:22.800 --> 00:55:27.199
<v Speaker 2>at the result. He had expressed confidence throughout the day

784
00:55:27.280 --> 00:55:31.440
<v Speaker 2>to friends and acquaintances that the jury ultimately would return

785
00:55:31.480 --> 00:55:36.639
<v Speaker 2>a verdict of acquittal, with his mother holding him by

786
00:55:36.679 --> 00:55:41.079
<v Speaker 2>the arms. However, He soon regained his composure and converse

787
00:55:41.199 --> 00:55:45.880
<v Speaker 2>calmly with Attorney J. W. Lindsay, his counsel, over the

788
00:55:45.920 --> 00:55:50.039
<v Speaker 2>prospect of emotion for dismissal being entered in court next Monday.

789
00:55:51.320 --> 00:55:54.440
<v Speaker 2>He thanked his counsel for his efforts and was soon

790
00:55:54.519 --> 00:55:58.559
<v Speaker 2>surrounded by relatives and friends. Before being returned to his cell,

791
00:56:00.079 --> 00:56:02.920
<v Speaker 2>Mister Lindsey stated that a motion would be made to

792
00:56:02.960 --> 00:56:07.599
<v Speaker 2>have the case dropped. Hopes for an early verdict ran

793
00:56:07.760 --> 00:56:11.199
<v Speaker 2>high at noon when the jury, through Foreman lean House,

794
00:56:11.760 --> 00:56:14.239
<v Speaker 2>informed the court at noon that some of the members

795
00:56:14.280 --> 00:56:17.599
<v Speaker 2>desired a reading of the testimony of several young playmates

796
00:56:17.639 --> 00:56:20.599
<v Speaker 2>of the dead boy, bearing upon whether he had appeared

797
00:56:20.639 --> 00:56:23.400
<v Speaker 2>ill on the fatal day earlier in the day than

798
00:56:23.440 --> 00:56:28.440
<v Speaker 2>the ice cream which was alleged to have contained arsenic However,

799
00:56:28.719 --> 00:56:33.599
<v Speaker 2>these hopes vanished as hour after hour the jury continued

800
00:56:33.599 --> 00:56:49.119
<v Speaker 2>its deliberations.

801
00:56:55.440 --> 00:56:59.559
<v Speaker 1>Enjoy ad free listening at the safe House. Dubba Dubba

802
00:56:59.599 --> 00:57:05.159
<v Speaker 1>Dubba dot Patreon dot com, slash True Crime Historian.

803
00:57:09.320 --> 00:57:16.920
<v Speaker 2>December nineteenth, nineteen thirty three. Miss Dorothy Stanton, a twenty

804
00:57:17.000 --> 00:57:22.320
<v Speaker 2>year old country girl, yesterday in Superior Court charged William

805
00:57:22.400 --> 00:57:27.119
<v Speaker 2>van Gilder forty one, father of five children, with being

806
00:57:27.159 --> 00:57:32.639
<v Speaker 2>the father of her unborn child. Van Gilder, a former

807
00:57:32.719 --> 00:57:36.760
<v Speaker 2>Grand Rapids policeman, is on trial for the second time

808
00:57:36.880 --> 00:57:39.760
<v Speaker 2>on the charge of having murdered his thirteen year old son,

809
00:57:39.920 --> 00:57:46.400
<v Speaker 2>Gerald through administering white arsenic poisoning. The boy died September eighteenth.

810
00:57:46.880 --> 00:57:50.519
<v Speaker 2>The jury in the first trial disagreed and the second

811
00:57:50.519 --> 00:57:55.719
<v Speaker 2>trial was commenced yesterday morning. The young woman, who lives

812
00:57:55.719 --> 00:57:59.599
<v Speaker 2>with her widowed mother near Edgerton, a village near Rockford,

813
00:58:00.239 --> 00:58:04.199
<v Speaker 2>told of her romance with Van Gelder, begun in October

814
00:58:04.360 --> 00:58:08.039
<v Speaker 2>nineteen thirty two in a dance hall at nine forty

815
00:58:08.119 --> 00:58:13.119
<v Speaker 2>nine South Division Avenue. The testimony is regarded as highly

816
00:58:13.159 --> 00:58:17.079
<v Speaker 2>significant by the prosecution, and the witness was subjected to

817
00:58:17.079 --> 00:58:21.719
<v Speaker 2>a severe cross examination by Attorney J. W. Lindsay, Council

818
00:58:21.840 --> 00:58:26.880
<v Speaker 2>for the respondent. Lindsey previously had entered a blanket objection

819
00:58:27.039 --> 00:58:30.280
<v Speaker 2>to the entire testimony of the woman on the ground

820
00:58:30.599 --> 00:58:35.800
<v Speaker 2>that it was prejudicial and incompetent. Under direct questioning by

821
00:58:35.800 --> 00:58:40.679
<v Speaker 2>Prosecutor Bartle J. Johnkman, miss Stanton testified that after her

822
00:58:40.719 --> 00:58:44.400
<v Speaker 2>first meeting with Van Gelder, she met him several times

823
00:58:44.440 --> 00:58:47.760
<v Speaker 2>at the dance hall, and that on about October fifteenth,

824
00:58:48.239 --> 00:58:51.519
<v Speaker 2>shortly after they had first met, she moved back to

825
00:58:51.599 --> 00:58:56.880
<v Speaker 2>the country. She had been living here previously. Then. Van

826
00:58:56.960 --> 00:59:01.039
<v Speaker 2>Gilder worked for her stepfather on their farm. They went

827
00:59:01.119 --> 00:59:05.320
<v Speaker 2>to various places together, she testified, but at that time

828
00:59:05.480 --> 00:59:10.920
<v Speaker 2>were always accompanied by her parents. Van Gilder, she testified,

829
00:59:11.440 --> 00:59:13.679
<v Speaker 2>had told her he was living with his mother and

830
00:59:13.719 --> 00:59:17.320
<v Speaker 2>he was having domestic difficulties, and that he had applied

831
00:59:17.360 --> 00:59:21.039
<v Speaker 2>for a divorce. That was about the middle of October,

832
00:59:21.119 --> 00:59:24.320
<v Speaker 2>she said. Quote. He said that there were money matters

833
00:59:24.320 --> 00:59:26.920
<v Speaker 2>of some sort that had to be straightened out, but

834
00:59:27.000 --> 00:59:29.320
<v Speaker 2>that he thought he just as good as had a divorce.

835
00:59:30.079 --> 00:59:32.400
<v Speaker 2>He said he had about one thousand, one hundred and

836
00:59:32.480 --> 00:59:35.639
<v Speaker 2>forty dollars in a bank in Grand Rapids, but it

837
00:59:35.639 --> 00:59:38.440
<v Speaker 2>seemed as if Missus van Gilder and her lawyers had

838
00:59:38.440 --> 00:59:41.039
<v Speaker 2>it tied up, and he wanted to get his half

839
00:59:41.119 --> 00:59:46.760
<v Speaker 2>of it. Unquote. Question did he propose marriage to you? Answer?

840
00:59:47.320 --> 00:59:51.599
<v Speaker 2>He did in December of that year. Question how did

841
00:59:51.639 --> 00:59:55.840
<v Speaker 2>you answer this proposal? Answer? I said that if I

842
00:59:55.880 --> 00:59:58.480
<v Speaker 2>could stay home with my folks, my answer would be yes.

843
00:59:58.920 --> 01:00:02.159
<v Speaker 2>I didn't want to leave my mother. Question your mother

844
01:00:02.280 --> 01:00:06.599
<v Speaker 2>is a widow? Answer, she is now. My stepfather is

845
01:00:06.639 --> 01:00:10.639
<v Speaker 2>since dead. Miss Stanton stated that Van Gilder went to

846
01:00:10.679 --> 01:00:13.760
<v Speaker 2>work for her parents cutting wood, but received no pay

847
01:00:14.079 --> 01:00:16.760
<v Speaker 2>other than his room and board. In so far as

848
01:00:16.840 --> 01:00:20.239
<v Speaker 2>she knew, her stepfather had wanted him to work the

849
01:00:20.280 --> 01:00:23.239
<v Speaker 2>farm on shares, but she did not know what Van

850
01:00:23.280 --> 01:00:28.079
<v Speaker 2>Gilder's answered to this proposition was. Question did he ever

851
01:00:28.119 --> 01:00:32.599
<v Speaker 2>ask you again to marry him? Answer yes several times.

852
01:00:33.320 --> 01:00:36.920
<v Speaker 2>At a later date, she testified, Van Gilder spoke of

853
01:00:37.000 --> 01:00:41.880
<v Speaker 2>having appeared in court and been given the custody of Gerald. Quote,

854
01:00:42.440 --> 01:00:44.239
<v Speaker 2>he said he was going to keep Gerald at his

855
01:00:44.320 --> 01:00:47.639
<v Speaker 2>mother's house. He didn't say anything about the custody of

856
01:00:47.679 --> 01:00:51.599
<v Speaker 2>the other children. Question did van Gilder go out to

857
01:00:51.639 --> 01:00:55.840
<v Speaker 2>your farm often to visit you? Answer? Just two or

858
01:00:55.840 --> 01:00:59.679
<v Speaker 2>three days a week. When she came to Grand Rapids,

859
01:00:59.800 --> 01:01:03.000
<v Speaker 2>they would usually meet in camp House Square, she testified.

860
01:01:04.039 --> 01:01:06.440
<v Speaker 2>Miss Stanton asserted that it was not until she had

861
01:01:06.480 --> 01:01:09.280
<v Speaker 2>read in the newspapers of the murder charge that she

862
01:01:09.400 --> 01:01:12.199
<v Speaker 2>learned definitely that Van Gilder had not been living with

863
01:01:12.280 --> 01:01:15.639
<v Speaker 2>his mother as he had told her. She had surmised

864
01:01:15.639 --> 01:01:19.480
<v Speaker 2>that he was not telling the truth. However, Questioned concerning

865
01:01:19.519 --> 01:01:23.280
<v Speaker 2>her alleged intimacy with Van Gilder, she testified that this

866
01:01:23.360 --> 01:01:26.320
<v Speaker 2>intimacy had begun before he had told her he had

867
01:01:26.360 --> 01:01:31.599
<v Speaker 2>obtained a divorce. Question who is the father of your child?

868
01:01:32.480 --> 01:01:37.880
<v Speaker 2>Answer William van Gilder. She said she had told Van

869
01:01:37.960 --> 01:01:41.559
<v Speaker 2>Gilder of her condition and he had advised her to

870
01:01:41.599 --> 01:01:45.480
<v Speaker 2>take medical treatment. On the day of the State Convention

871
01:01:45.599 --> 01:01:49.920
<v Speaker 2>American Legion Parade last August, she related she met Van

872
01:01:50.000 --> 01:01:53.559
<v Speaker 2>Gilder again in Campause Square and he told her to

873
01:01:53.599 --> 01:01:55.840
<v Speaker 2>go to a local jewelry store to look at some

874
01:01:55.880 --> 01:02:01.199
<v Speaker 2>wedding rings. Attorney Lindsey and Cross, examining it, sought to

875
01:02:01.199 --> 01:02:03.400
<v Speaker 2>bring out that the acquaintance of the two had been

876
01:02:03.400 --> 01:02:08.559
<v Speaker 2>the result of advances made by the young woman. Question,

877
01:02:09.239 --> 01:02:11.760
<v Speaker 2>when you first saw Van Gelder at the dance hall,

878
01:02:11.960 --> 01:02:14.519
<v Speaker 2>you liked his looks and wanted to get acquainted with him,

879
01:02:14.519 --> 01:02:18.519
<v Speaker 2>didn't you. The young woman sought to evade the question,

880
01:02:19.199 --> 01:02:23.000
<v Speaker 2>but Attorney Lindsey persisted, you took a fancy to him

881
01:02:23.039 --> 01:02:26.800
<v Speaker 2>the first time you saw him, didn't you, Yes, was

882
01:02:26.880 --> 01:02:30.159
<v Speaker 2>the answer. The attorney tried to bring out that the

883
01:02:30.239 --> 01:02:32.880
<v Speaker 2>young woman had endeavored to pick Van Gilder as a

884
01:02:32.920 --> 01:02:38.199
<v Speaker 2>partner in a robber's two step, but was unsuccessful. Van Gelder,

885
01:02:38.280 --> 01:02:41.719
<v Speaker 2>she said, just asked her to dance, and that was

886
01:02:41.760 --> 01:02:46.119
<v Speaker 2>how they became acquainted. The attorney forced the witness to

887
01:02:46.199 --> 01:02:49.679
<v Speaker 2>admit that later Van Gelder's wife had been pointed out

888
01:02:49.719 --> 01:02:52.360
<v Speaker 2>to her, and that on other occasions when she had

889
01:02:52.440 --> 01:02:55.840
<v Speaker 2>visited the dance hall she had seen Missus van Gilder.

890
01:02:56.880 --> 01:02:59.719
<v Speaker 2>At a still later date, she admitted she learned that

891
01:02:59.800 --> 01:03:03.159
<v Speaker 2>vanvan Gilder was the father of three children, and eventually

892
01:03:03.320 --> 01:03:07.880
<v Speaker 2>she found out that he had five youngsters. Lindsey questioned,

893
01:03:08.320 --> 01:03:10.320
<v Speaker 2>you took a fancy to him at the first time

894
01:03:10.360 --> 01:03:12.440
<v Speaker 2>he saw him, and you had a fancy for him

895
01:03:12.480 --> 01:03:14.920
<v Speaker 2>all the time, didn't you. And you still liked him

896
01:03:14.960 --> 01:03:18.280
<v Speaker 2>after you knew he had a wife. The young woman

897
01:03:18.320 --> 01:03:20.559
<v Speaker 2>would not admit that at that time she was in

898
01:03:20.559 --> 01:03:24.920
<v Speaker 2>love with Van Gelder, but said she liked him Likewise,

899
01:03:25.239 --> 01:03:28.519
<v Speaker 2>she admitted that it was upon her invitation that Van

900
01:03:28.599 --> 01:03:33.719
<v Speaker 2>Gilder first visited her at the farm. Quote he asked

901
01:03:33.719 --> 01:03:36.079
<v Speaker 2>me if there was good hunting around there, and he

902
01:03:36.159 --> 01:03:41.079
<v Speaker 2>came up hunting unquote. Later arrangements were made for him

903
01:03:41.119 --> 01:03:45.880
<v Speaker 2>to return and cut the wood. The defense sprang a

904
01:03:46.000 --> 01:03:50.519
<v Speaker 2>surprise earlier in the afternoon, when Attorney Lindsay closely questioned

905
01:03:50.559 --> 01:03:55.679
<v Speaker 2>doctor William Jerman, pathologist at Blogged Hospital, who had examined

906
01:03:55.719 --> 01:03:59.119
<v Speaker 2>the contents of the dead boy's organs and had described

907
01:03:59.280 --> 01:04:04.559
<v Speaker 2>arsenic poisoning as the cause of death. Various technical questions

908
01:04:04.559 --> 01:04:08.079
<v Speaker 2>were hurled at the witness on cross examination, with Attorney

909
01:04:08.119 --> 01:04:11.320
<v Speaker 2>Lindsey seeking to cause the expert to admit that other

910
01:04:11.400 --> 01:04:15.360
<v Speaker 2>poisons might have caused death. At one point, Attorney Lindsey

911
01:04:15.400 --> 01:04:18.679
<v Speaker 2>provided doctor Jerman with pencil and paper and had him

912
01:04:18.719 --> 01:04:22.800
<v Speaker 2>calculate that one and one half hundred milligram of arsenic

913
01:04:22.840 --> 01:04:26.320
<v Speaker 2>poisoning to which the expert had referred was less than

914
01:04:26.360 --> 01:04:28.480
<v Speaker 2>the amount than can be put on the point of

915
01:04:28.519 --> 01:04:34.119
<v Speaker 2>a needle. However, while doctor Jerman admitted that vomiting and

916
01:04:34.199 --> 01:04:38.239
<v Speaker 2>other symptoms displayed by Gerald before death might have followed

917
01:04:38.280 --> 01:04:41.960
<v Speaker 2>tomain or other kinds of poisoning, he insisted later in

918
01:04:42.039 --> 01:04:46.199
<v Speaker 2>answer to a question by Fred N. Searle, assistant prosecutor,

919
01:04:46.679 --> 01:04:49.920
<v Speaker 2>that he was quote absolutely certain that he had found

920
01:04:50.039 --> 01:04:55.559
<v Speaker 2>enough arsenic to have caused death unquote. At the first trial,

921
01:04:55.639 --> 01:05:01.960
<v Speaker 2>doctor German was subjected to but perfunctory cross examination. The

922
01:05:02.000 --> 01:05:05.559
<v Speaker 2>prosecutor's opening statement, in which he said he would attempt

923
01:05:05.559 --> 01:05:08.000
<v Speaker 2>to show that Van Gilder had planned to kill his

924
01:05:08.039 --> 01:05:11.239
<v Speaker 2>wife as well as one of his children in order

925
01:05:11.320 --> 01:05:14.960
<v Speaker 2>that he might marry Miss Stanton, was vigorously objected to

926
01:05:15.000 --> 01:05:18.599
<v Speaker 2>by Attorney Lindsay, but was admitted by Judge Taylor over

927
01:05:18.639 --> 01:05:30.880
<v Speaker 2>his objections. December twentieth, nineteen thirty three, Yesterday afternoon's testimony

928
01:05:31.039 --> 01:05:34.599
<v Speaker 2>was concluded with the reading by Jarrett Bwist, court reporter,

929
01:05:35.119 --> 01:05:38.159
<v Speaker 2>of the transcript of the testimony given by Van Gilder

930
01:05:38.199 --> 01:05:42.679
<v Speaker 2>at the inquest conducted last September. In this testimony, Van

931
01:05:42.760 --> 01:05:46.320
<v Speaker 2>Gilder told of having used arsenate of lead for spraying

932
01:05:46.360 --> 01:05:49.639
<v Speaker 2>potatoes on the farm near Rockford upon which he had

933
01:05:49.719 --> 01:05:54.079
<v Speaker 2>worked last summer. The Van Gilder boy's death was ascribed

934
01:05:54.119 --> 01:05:58.199
<v Speaker 2>to arsenic poisoning, and the father's charged with having administered

935
01:05:58.199 --> 01:06:01.760
<v Speaker 2>it an ice cream eaten by the child. Van Gelder

936
01:06:01.800 --> 01:06:04.519
<v Speaker 2>broke down for the first time during the present trial

937
01:06:04.920 --> 01:06:08.480
<v Speaker 2>when Buist read the respondent's own account of the final

938
01:06:08.519 --> 01:06:13.199
<v Speaker 2>sufferings of the boy, with his face buried in his handkerchief.

939
01:06:13.400 --> 01:06:17.000
<v Speaker 2>He shook with sobs and was comforted by his aged mother,

940
01:06:17.400 --> 01:06:21.639
<v Speaker 2>who placed her arm around his shoulder. Later, Van Gilder

941
01:06:21.719 --> 01:06:27.840
<v Speaker 2>regained his composure. Miss Lorraine Frickert, who upon several past

942
01:06:27.880 --> 01:06:31.519
<v Speaker 2>occasions had insisted that she conversed with Van Gilder at

943
01:06:31.559 --> 01:06:34.719
<v Speaker 2>South Division Avenue in Franklin Street, on the evening of

944
01:06:34.760 --> 01:06:41.119
<v Speaker 2>September seventeenth, repeated this assertion yesterday afternoon. She declared, as

945
01:06:41.199 --> 01:06:44.599
<v Speaker 2>upon previous occasions, that the respondent had told her he

946
01:06:44.679 --> 01:06:48.440
<v Speaker 2>was having domestic difficulties, and that Missus van Gelder had

947
01:06:48.480 --> 01:06:51.280
<v Speaker 2>told him that sometime he would come home and find

948
01:06:51.320 --> 01:06:56.280
<v Speaker 2>herself and the children laid out. Van Gelder, she repeated,

949
01:06:56.719 --> 01:06:59.599
<v Speaker 2>told her he didn't care for his wife, but loved

950
01:06:59.599 --> 01:07:04.599
<v Speaker 2>his child. The respondent has repeatedly denied that he engaged

951
01:07:04.599 --> 01:07:07.920
<v Speaker 2>in such a conversation with Missus Frickett, but the woman's

952
01:07:07.920 --> 01:07:12.599
<v Speaker 2>six year old daughter, Kathleen corroborated her mother's statement. She

953
01:07:12.679 --> 01:07:15.800
<v Speaker 2>said she saw her parent in conversation with Van Gilder,

954
01:07:16.079 --> 01:07:19.119
<v Speaker 2>and that he had given her a penny. Missus Kate

955
01:07:19.199 --> 01:07:23.679
<v Speaker 2>Myotis of two seventeen Hall Street, neighbor of the Van Gilders,

956
01:07:24.199 --> 01:07:26.360
<v Speaker 2>told of a tent in her yard in which the

957
01:07:26.400 --> 01:07:29.199
<v Speaker 2>boys of the neighborhood had been playing, but which had

958
01:07:29.239 --> 01:07:33.360
<v Speaker 2>been taken down on Saturday night, September sixteenth. It was

959
01:07:33.400 --> 01:07:36.679
<v Speaker 2>in this tent that Van Gilder told police that he

960
01:07:36.760 --> 01:07:40.639
<v Speaker 2>believed Gerald might have eaten something which caused his illness.

961
01:07:41.280 --> 01:07:46.000
<v Speaker 2>Henry Myotis and Martin Schultz, twelve and eleven years old, respectively,

962
01:07:46.480 --> 01:07:49.880
<v Speaker 2>were questioned regarding the happenings of the Sunday afternoon when

963
01:07:49.920 --> 01:07:53.719
<v Speaker 2>they were playing with Gerald van Gilder. They told of

964
01:07:53.800 --> 01:07:59.119
<v Speaker 2>him having become nauseated while at play. A clash between

965
01:07:59.159 --> 01:08:05.000
<v Speaker 2>Prosecutor John Kunkman and Attorney Lindsay Defense council enlivened the proceedings.

966
01:08:06.039 --> 01:08:10.000
<v Speaker 2>The Schultz lad contradicted himself as to whether Gerald became

967
01:08:10.079 --> 01:08:12.159
<v Speaker 2>ill before he went into the house to eat ice

968
01:08:12.199 --> 01:08:16.159
<v Speaker 2>cream and cake or afterwards, and the attorneys each charged

969
01:08:16.199 --> 01:08:19.680
<v Speaker 2>that the other was intimidating the boy. The argument was

970
01:08:19.720 --> 01:08:24.000
<v Speaker 2>climax when Prosecutor Johnkman threatened to put Attorney Lindsey on

971
01:08:24.039 --> 01:08:29.880
<v Speaker 2>the stand, then the latter accepted the challenge. Judge Statius B. Taylor, however,

972
01:08:30.199 --> 01:08:36.880
<v Speaker 2>ruled such a procedure unnecessary, first showing by the prosecution

973
01:08:37.079 --> 01:08:40.319
<v Speaker 2>that Van Gilder at any time had possessed any arsenic

974
01:08:40.800 --> 01:08:44.119
<v Speaker 2>was made in the morning session when John C. Kirk

975
01:08:44.159 --> 01:08:47.319
<v Speaker 2>of Rockford related that he had seen the respondent with

976
01:08:47.399 --> 01:08:52.079
<v Speaker 2>a preparation containing arsenic in September nineteen thirty two, in

977
01:08:52.159 --> 01:08:55.079
<v Speaker 2>which he used for killing cockroaches and ants in the

978
01:08:55.119 --> 01:08:59.039
<v Speaker 2>home on Cass Avenue Southeast where the Van Gilders were

979
01:08:59.079 --> 01:09:03.359
<v Speaker 2>then living. See Kirk testified that Van Gelder had told

980
01:09:03.439 --> 01:09:06.520
<v Speaker 2>him at the time quote it was arsenic mixed with

981
01:09:06.640 --> 01:09:11.680
<v Speaker 2>something else. Questioned by prosecutor Junkman, did you ever hear

982
01:09:11.800 --> 01:09:16.760
<v Speaker 2>Van Gelder mention arsenic at any other times? Answer? Yes,

983
01:09:17.199 --> 01:09:21.279
<v Speaker 2>Sometimes if things were not working right, he'd say, oh, arsenic.

984
01:09:22.199 --> 01:09:25.960
<v Speaker 2>The witness testified that Van Gelder sprinkled the arsenic around

985
01:09:26.000 --> 01:09:29.760
<v Speaker 2>the mop boards at the house. Tourney Lindsey asked the

986
01:09:29.800 --> 01:09:35.399
<v Speaker 2>witness on cross examination, did you ever use any cockroach powder? Answer?

987
01:09:35.720 --> 01:09:40.960
<v Speaker 2>No question, just let him run around. The witness laughed,

988
01:09:41.000 --> 01:09:45.279
<v Speaker 2>and so did the audience in the courtroom. The freezing,

989
01:09:45.479 --> 01:09:48.600
<v Speaker 2>serving and consumption of the chocolate ice cream at the

990
01:09:48.680 --> 01:09:52.319
<v Speaker 2>Van Guelder home on Hall Street on the afternoon of Sunday,

991
01:09:52.359 --> 01:09:57.119
<v Speaker 2>September seventeenth was related in detail once more by missus

992
01:09:57.159 --> 01:10:01.800
<v Speaker 2>Eva seely of Galewood van gilt sister in law, and

993
01:10:01.880 --> 01:10:06.399
<v Speaker 2>herself the mother of nine children. The state charges Van

994
01:10:06.479 --> 01:10:14.840
<v Speaker 2>Gelder put poison in the ice cream December twenty one,

995
01:10:15.079 --> 01:10:20.920
<v Speaker 2>nineteen thirty three, with his liberty for the balance of

996
01:10:20.920 --> 01:10:25.920
<v Speaker 2>his life possibly at stake. William Van Gelder, forty one

997
01:10:25.960 --> 01:10:29.159
<v Speaker 2>and a former patrolman, took the stand in his own

998
01:10:29.199 --> 01:10:34.159
<v Speaker 2>defense in Superior Court yesterday afternoon. He is charged with

999
01:10:34.319 --> 01:10:38.119
<v Speaker 2>murdering his thirteen year old son, Gerald, who died of

1000
01:10:38.239 --> 01:10:42.239
<v Speaker 2>arsenic poisoning early on the morning of September eighteenth at

1001
01:10:42.279 --> 01:10:46.239
<v Speaker 2>their home at two oh five Hall Street, Southwest. The

1002
01:10:46.319 --> 01:10:50.520
<v Speaker 2>prosecution contends that Van Gilder also sought to take the

1003
01:10:50.560 --> 01:10:55.720
<v Speaker 2>life of his wife, Sylvia thirty six. Van Gelder emphatically

1004
01:10:55.760 --> 01:11:01.600
<v Speaker 2>denied both charges after testifying unhesitatingly to the events immediately

1005
01:11:01.640 --> 01:11:05.640
<v Speaker 2>prior to and subsequent to the boy's death under questioning

1006
01:11:05.880 --> 01:11:09.720
<v Speaker 2>of Attorney J. W. Lindsay. The respondent was in the

1007
01:11:09.760 --> 01:11:12.800
<v Speaker 2>midst of what promised to be a withering cross examination

1008
01:11:13.359 --> 01:11:16.840
<v Speaker 2>at the hands of Prosecutor Jonkman at a German time.

1009
01:11:17.960 --> 01:11:21.279
<v Speaker 2>The prosecutor is expected to delve into the relations of

1010
01:11:21.359 --> 01:11:25.359
<v Speaker 2>Van Gilder with twenty year old Dorothy Stanton of Edgerton.

1011
01:11:26.399 --> 01:11:29.319
<v Speaker 2>The young woman has testified that Van Gilder was the

1012
01:11:29.319 --> 01:11:33.640
<v Speaker 2>father of her unborn child, and the prosecution contends that

1013
01:11:33.720 --> 01:11:37.199
<v Speaker 2>this provided the motive for Van Gilder to endeavor to

1014
01:11:37.319 --> 01:11:42.359
<v Speaker 2>kill his wife. Van Gilder's testimony was substantially the same

1015
01:11:42.399 --> 01:11:45.600
<v Speaker 2>as given at the previous trial, which resulted in a

1016
01:11:45.640 --> 01:11:50.279
<v Speaker 2>disagreement by the jury. Twice during his testimony he broke

1017
01:11:50.319 --> 01:11:54.039
<v Speaker 2>down and wept. The first occasion was when he described

1018
01:11:54.039 --> 01:11:57.319
<v Speaker 2>how the sick boy had stumbled and fallen during the

1019
01:11:57.479 --> 01:12:02.239
<v Speaker 2>night and the father had picked him up. The second

1020
01:12:02.359 --> 01:12:04.680
<v Speaker 2>was when he told how the boy had slumped back

1021
01:12:05.000 --> 01:12:07.960
<v Speaker 2>and died in his arms after he had given him

1022
01:12:08.000 --> 01:12:12.800
<v Speaker 2>a drink of peppermint water. Van Gelder repeated that he

1023
01:12:12.880 --> 01:12:16.199
<v Speaker 2>personally had made four attempts to summon a physician from

1024
01:12:16.199 --> 01:12:21.000
<v Speaker 2>the city Physician's office beginning around midnight, and that missus

1025
01:12:21.000 --> 01:12:25.800
<v Speaker 2>Ida Vanderhyde, a neighbor, had made two more attempts. The

1026
01:12:25.840 --> 01:12:30.119
<v Speaker 2>boy died before medical assistance arrived, and the prosecution is

1027
01:12:30.239 --> 01:12:33.600
<v Speaker 2>sought by several witnesses to show that no aid was

1028
01:12:33.600 --> 01:12:37.920
<v Speaker 2>summoned until after three a m efforts had been made

1029
01:12:37.920 --> 01:12:40.680
<v Speaker 2>by the defense to show that there had existed an

1030
01:12:40.680 --> 01:12:44.039
<v Speaker 2>epidemic of food poisoning in the neighborhood of the Van

1031
01:12:44.119 --> 01:12:48.399
<v Speaker 2>Gelder home, and the respondent testified yesterday that the boy,

1032
01:12:48.479 --> 01:12:51.760
<v Speaker 2>upon occasion, had retrieved fruits from garbage cans in the

1033
01:12:51.800 --> 01:12:56.239
<v Speaker 2>rear of the grocery stores at Madison Square. The family

1034
01:12:56.399 --> 01:13:00.159
<v Speaker 2>was being given relief by the city Welfare Department, and

1035
01:13:00.279 --> 01:13:04.039
<v Speaker 2>Van Gilder, in response to a question by Attorney Lindsey,

1036
01:13:04.600 --> 01:13:07.800
<v Speaker 2>stated that they didn't get too much to eat. Question

1037
01:13:08.000 --> 01:13:12.880
<v Speaker 2>by Lindsey, have you ever given Gerald any poison? Answer?

1038
01:13:13.279 --> 01:13:17.079
<v Speaker 2>I never have. Question have you ever placed out any

1039
01:13:17.079 --> 01:13:20.680
<v Speaker 2>poison for the boy and his mother? Answer no, Sir,

1040
01:13:20.720 --> 01:13:24.840
<v Speaker 2>I did not. Question if he was poisoned? Had you

1041
01:13:24.880 --> 01:13:27.880
<v Speaker 2>any way to learn where he got the poison? Answer

1042
01:13:28.119 --> 01:13:31.640
<v Speaker 2>no question. Did you know at the time that he

1043
01:13:31.760 --> 01:13:36.680
<v Speaker 2>was poisoned? Answer no question. Were you trying to make

1044
01:13:36.720 --> 01:13:39.199
<v Speaker 2>any money out of the life insurance on the boy?

1045
01:13:39.760 --> 01:13:44.359
<v Speaker 2>Answer no question. Did you have any reason in the

1046
01:13:44.399 --> 01:13:46.720
<v Speaker 2>world why you should cause the death of your son?

1047
01:13:47.640 --> 01:13:52.359
<v Speaker 2>Answer none? Whatever question? Or the death of your wife?

1048
01:13:52.800 --> 01:13:57.800
<v Speaker 2>Answer no question. Do you know anything about white arsenic

1049
01:13:57.880 --> 01:14:01.439
<v Speaker 2>Have you ever used any did you ever purchase to

1050
01:14:01.479 --> 01:14:05.840
<v Speaker 2>all of these questions, the answer was no question. Did

1051
01:14:05.880 --> 01:14:08.239
<v Speaker 2>you put any white arsenic in the ice cream or

1052
01:14:08.239 --> 01:14:11.560
<v Speaker 2>on the dishes in your home? Answer? I did not.

1053
01:14:13.279 --> 01:14:16.359
<v Speaker 2>Previously Van Gilder told how he had made a chum

1054
01:14:16.439 --> 01:14:19.479
<v Speaker 2>of Gerald, his oldest boy. He took the lad on

1055
01:14:19.560 --> 01:14:22.079
<v Speaker 2>fishing trips with him, and together they were two would

1056
01:14:22.119 --> 01:14:25.840
<v Speaker 2>collect junk to sell. On Saturday night, before the lad

1057
01:14:25.920 --> 01:14:28.520
<v Speaker 2>was taken ill, the father said he had taken him

1058
01:14:28.520 --> 01:14:32.439
<v Speaker 2>to a beino game. Missus van Gelder, earlier in the

1059
01:14:32.520 --> 01:14:37.000
<v Speaker 2>day testified in her husband's behalf, relating that she herself

1060
01:14:37.039 --> 01:14:40.199
<v Speaker 2>had scooped out the ice cream that was served. She

1061
01:14:40.359 --> 01:14:43.239
<v Speaker 2>stated that she became ill after eating a few bites

1062
01:14:43.279 --> 01:14:46.039
<v Speaker 2>of the ice cream served her, but explained that she

1063
01:14:46.079 --> 01:14:49.640
<v Speaker 2>had been suffering from nausea and headaches for two days previous.

1064
01:14:50.720 --> 01:14:53.479
<v Speaker 2>She set aside her dish of ice cream, and later

1065
01:14:53.640 --> 01:14:56.239
<v Speaker 2>Gerald came into the house and ate her ice cream

1066
01:14:56.479 --> 01:15:00.520
<v Speaker 2>as well as his own, she testified. Missus van Gilder

1067
01:15:00.560 --> 01:15:02.960
<v Speaker 2>admitted she had learned that her husband had been going

1068
01:15:03.000 --> 01:15:06.159
<v Speaker 2>out with Dorothy Stanton, but she had not heard that

1069
01:15:06.199 --> 01:15:09.039
<v Speaker 2>he had proposed marriage to the young woman or that

1070
01:15:09.159 --> 01:15:15.279
<v Speaker 2>he planned to divorce her. Maynard Wageman thirteen repeated his

1071
01:15:15.319 --> 01:15:19.479
<v Speaker 2>story to the effect that Henry Myotis eleven, had told

1072
01:15:19.560 --> 01:15:22.319
<v Speaker 2>him while both were at the juvenile home that the

1073
01:15:22.439 --> 01:15:25.600
<v Speaker 2>latter had killed a kid, but the officers were blaming

1074
01:15:25.640 --> 01:15:29.520
<v Speaker 2>it on the kid's dad. The Myotis lad lived near

1075
01:15:29.560 --> 01:15:35.239
<v Speaker 2>the Van Gilder home. A deposition of Missus Cleata, page

1076
01:15:35.279 --> 01:15:38.680
<v Speaker 2>of two twenty three Hall Street contained the statement that

1077
01:15:38.760 --> 01:15:41.720
<v Speaker 2>on the day Gerald was taken ill, she had heard

1078
01:15:41.760 --> 01:15:45.319
<v Speaker 2>the Miotis lad, who was playing with Gerald, say I'll

1079
01:15:45.359 --> 01:15:50.880
<v Speaker 2>get you yet. Young Miotis testified Tuesday denied boasting that

1080
01:15:50.960 --> 01:15:55.520
<v Speaker 2>he had killed Gerald. Six offenses had been charged against

1081
01:15:55.560 --> 01:15:59.880
<v Speaker 2>the Myotis boy in juvenile court. Miss Dorothy Newton test

1082
01:16:00.399 --> 01:16:03.560
<v Speaker 2>that six offenses have been charged against the Miotis Boy

1083
01:16:03.920 --> 01:16:07.600
<v Speaker 2>and juvenile court, ranging from turning in a false alarm

1084
01:16:08.039 --> 01:16:19.000
<v Speaker 2>to thefts. December twenty second, nineteen thirty three. Testimony in

1085
01:16:19.039 --> 01:16:23.720
<v Speaker 2>the Van Gilder case was concluded shortly afternoon yesterday, and

1086
01:16:23.840 --> 01:16:28.880
<v Speaker 2>final arguments by prosecutor Bartle J. Johnckman and Attorney J. W. Lindsay,

1087
01:16:29.359 --> 01:16:34.319
<v Speaker 2>representing the respondent, were begun. The latter had not concluded

1088
01:16:34.359 --> 01:16:39.199
<v Speaker 2>when court adjourned. He will wind up his plea this morning,

1089
01:16:39.279 --> 01:16:42.159
<v Speaker 2>and following rebuttal, the jury of nine men and three

1090
01:16:42.199 --> 01:16:47.720
<v Speaker 2>women will be charged by Judge Thatius B. Taylor. Prosecutor Jonkman,

1091
01:16:48.119 --> 01:16:51.239
<v Speaker 2>in his plea to the jury stressed the fact that

1092
01:16:51.279 --> 01:16:54.199
<v Speaker 2>it was not incumbent upon the state to show how

1093
01:16:54.319 --> 01:16:57.880
<v Speaker 2>Van Gilder obtained the arsenic he is alleged to have used,

1094
01:16:58.359 --> 01:17:01.960
<v Speaker 2>or how he administered it. It was alleged he placed

1095
01:17:02.000 --> 01:17:04.920
<v Speaker 2>it in the ice cream which the boy ate the

1096
01:17:05.000 --> 01:17:09.439
<v Speaker 2>evening before his death. The prosecutor made the point also

1097
01:17:09.640 --> 01:17:11.760
<v Speaker 2>that even should the poison have been placed in the

1098
01:17:11.760 --> 01:17:15.760
<v Speaker 2>ice cream for another person, Van Gilder would be guilty

1099
01:17:15.840 --> 01:17:19.119
<v Speaker 2>of murder as the result of the boy's death. The

1100
01:17:19.159 --> 01:17:22.640
<v Speaker 2>prosecutor contended the arsenate could have been administered either in

1101
01:17:22.720 --> 01:17:28.439
<v Speaker 2>powdered form or in solution. Mister Jockman simplified his opening statement,

1102
01:17:28.720 --> 01:17:31.399
<v Speaker 2>in which he charged that the motive behind the alleged

1103
01:17:31.479 --> 01:17:34.840
<v Speaker 2>crime was Van Gilder's desire to do away with his

1104
01:17:34.920 --> 01:17:37.720
<v Speaker 2>wife in order that he might be free to marry

1105
01:17:37.720 --> 01:17:42.239
<v Speaker 2>Miss Dorothy Stanton of Edgerton. The young woman twenty years old,

1106
01:17:42.720 --> 01:17:47.159
<v Speaker 2>testified that Van Gilder is the father of her unborn child.

1107
01:17:48.279 --> 01:17:52.239
<v Speaker 2>Attorney Lindsey attacked the prosecutor's theories of how the poison

1108
01:17:52.239 --> 01:17:55.159
<v Speaker 2>could have been placed in the ice cream, maintaining that

1109
01:17:55.199 --> 01:17:57.479
<v Speaker 2>it would have been impossible for Van Gilder to have

1110
01:17:57.560 --> 01:18:00.359
<v Speaker 2>placed it there and powdered for him and can tending

1111
01:18:00.399 --> 01:18:03.479
<v Speaker 2>that white arsenic can be dissolved but to the extent

1112
01:18:03.520 --> 01:18:09.520
<v Speaker 2>of ten percent, and that in hot water. He also

1113
01:18:09.560 --> 01:18:11.960
<v Speaker 2>made much of the fact that the cream was dished

1114
01:18:12.039 --> 01:18:15.319
<v Speaker 2>up by Missus van Gilder herself, in the presence of

1115
01:18:15.359 --> 01:18:19.680
<v Speaker 2>her sister, Missus Eva Seely of Galewood, and three of

1116
01:18:19.720 --> 01:18:25.359
<v Speaker 2>the Van Gilder children. Mister Lindsey is expected to touch

1117
01:18:25.439 --> 01:18:30.680
<v Speaker 2>upon the respondent's relations with miss Stanton this morning. Van

1118
01:18:30.760 --> 01:18:34.560
<v Speaker 2>Gilder twice fell back on his constitutional right to refuse

1119
01:18:34.600 --> 01:18:38.800
<v Speaker 2>to answer questions of the prosecutor under cross examination at

1120
01:18:38.800 --> 01:18:42.279
<v Speaker 2>the morning session, but in the first instance he was

1121
01:18:42.319 --> 01:18:47.520
<v Speaker 2>instructed by his counsel to answer. Prosecutor Jockman had been

1122
01:18:47.600 --> 01:18:51.359
<v Speaker 2>endeavoring to cause the respondent to admit that his answers

1123
01:18:51.439 --> 01:18:55.119
<v Speaker 2>yesterday differed in various respects from those given at the

1124
01:18:55.199 --> 01:18:59.800
<v Speaker 2>coroner's inquest. Quote, I've had more time while I was

1125
01:18:59.840 --> 01:19:03.319
<v Speaker 2>incarcerated in the county jail to think things over and

1126
01:19:03.439 --> 01:19:09.439
<v Speaker 2>refresh my memory. Unquote, Van Gilder explained, question, isn't it

1127
01:19:09.479 --> 01:19:12.279
<v Speaker 2>true that you had a copy of your previous testimony

1128
01:19:12.279 --> 01:19:17.000
<v Speaker 2>in jail with you? I couldn't say, Van Gilder began,

1129
01:19:17.319 --> 01:19:21.880
<v Speaker 2>but caught himself and replied, I must exercise my constitutional

1130
01:19:21.960 --> 01:19:26.720
<v Speaker 2>right and refuse to answer that question. After Lindsey advised

1131
01:19:26.720 --> 01:19:29.199
<v Speaker 2>his client that there was no reason why he shouldn't answer,

1132
01:19:29.239 --> 01:19:32.560
<v Speaker 2>and Judge Taylor agreed that the question was not incriminating,

1133
01:19:33.279 --> 01:19:38.680
<v Speaker 2>whereupon Van Gilder answered, I did have. The prosecutor sought

1134
01:19:38.720 --> 01:19:41.680
<v Speaker 2>to have the man admit that he had penciled in

1135
01:19:41.800 --> 01:19:45.640
<v Speaker 2>different answers to questions in the transcript of the testimony,

1136
01:19:46.079 --> 01:19:48.960
<v Speaker 2>but Van Gilder replied that any changes he had made

1137
01:19:49.520 --> 01:19:55.079
<v Speaker 2>because his refreshed recollection. Later, Van Gilder was questioned relative

1138
01:19:55.159 --> 01:19:58.479
<v Speaker 2>to the relations with Missus Dorothy Stanton, a twenty year

1139
01:19:58.520 --> 01:20:02.359
<v Speaker 2>old Edgerton girl who had testified that Van Gilder was

1140
01:20:02.439 --> 01:20:07.920
<v Speaker 2>the father of her unborn child. The prosecutor asked, were

1141
01:20:07.960 --> 01:20:12.920
<v Speaker 2>you intimate with Dorothy Stanton? Answer? I wished to exercise

1142
01:20:13.079 --> 01:20:17.119
<v Speaker 2>my constitutional right to refuse to answer. That question, the

1143
01:20:17.199 --> 01:20:21.800
<v Speaker 2>court sustained his objection. Still later, after he had testified

1144
01:20:21.840 --> 01:20:23.960
<v Speaker 2>that he had gone on two fishing trips with miss

1145
01:20:24.039 --> 01:20:28.199
<v Speaker 2>Stanton and mister and Missus Armstrong of Rockford, the prosecutor

1146
01:20:28.319 --> 01:20:34.079
<v Speaker 2>asked the Armstrongs are fine people. Aren't they answer yes? Question?

1147
01:20:34.359 --> 01:20:38.039
<v Speaker 2>Dorothy Stanton is a fine girl. Isn't she answer? I

1148
01:20:38.039 --> 01:20:41.840
<v Speaker 2>don't care to answer that question. Van Gilder made blanket

1149
01:20:41.880 --> 01:20:44.800
<v Speaker 2>denials that he had ever loved the young Edgerton woman,

1150
01:20:45.199 --> 01:20:47.359
<v Speaker 2>or that he had proposed to her and had told

1151
01:20:47.439 --> 01:20:50.720
<v Speaker 2>various people he was divorcing his wife and intending to

1152
01:20:50.720 --> 01:20:54.920
<v Speaker 2>marry Miss Stanton. The girl had testified that upon one occasion,

1153
01:20:55.399 --> 01:20:58.079
<v Speaker 2>Van Gilder had asked her to visit a jewelry store

1154
01:20:58.119 --> 01:21:01.479
<v Speaker 2>to look at rings, but the responded and asserted it

1155
01:21:01.600 --> 01:21:05.279
<v Speaker 2>was the young woman who suggested the trip to the store, quote,

1156
01:21:05.720 --> 01:21:08.159
<v Speaker 2>there was one ring in the window that she admired

1157
01:21:08.279 --> 01:21:10.920
<v Speaker 2>very much, but I told her I couldn't afford to

1158
01:21:10.960 --> 01:21:15.640
<v Speaker 2>buy it for anybody. Questioned relative to two previous arrests,

1159
01:21:16.159 --> 01:21:19.840
<v Speaker 2>Van Gilder said that in nineteen thirty one, he stole

1160
01:21:19.920 --> 01:21:23.000
<v Speaker 2>an armful of wood when his family was without fuel

1161
01:21:23.279 --> 01:21:27.399
<v Speaker 2>and was convicted of larceny. On another occasion in nineteen

1162
01:21:27.479 --> 01:21:30.439
<v Speaker 2>thirty three, he said a friend had borrowed his car

1163
01:21:30.520 --> 01:21:33.640
<v Speaker 2>in Muskegon and had broken into a building and stole

1164
01:21:33.760 --> 01:21:37.159
<v Speaker 2>some oil. The man later drove the car back to

1165
01:21:37.239 --> 01:21:39.840
<v Speaker 2>Van Gilder's home with the oil still in the car,

1166
01:21:40.279 --> 01:21:44.880
<v Speaker 2>and Van Gilder was convicted of receiving stolen goods. He

1167
01:21:45.000 --> 01:21:50.520
<v Speaker 2>denied having knowledge of the other parties indiscretions. Several witnesses

1168
01:21:50.640 --> 01:21:59.000
<v Speaker 2>testified to Van Gilder's good reputation in his neighborhood. December

1169
01:21:59.039 --> 01:22:05.680
<v Speaker 2>twenty third, nineteen thirty three, William van Gilder did not

1170
01:22:05.840 --> 01:22:08.920
<v Speaker 2>cause the death of his thirteen year old son Gerald

1171
01:22:08.960 --> 01:22:12.960
<v Speaker 2>on September eighteen. It required but an hour and a

1172
01:22:13.039 --> 01:22:16.239
<v Speaker 2>half for a Superior court jury to reach this verdict

1173
01:22:16.359 --> 01:22:20.079
<v Speaker 2>yesterday afternoon, and the second trial of the forty one

1174
01:22:20.159 --> 01:22:24.199
<v Speaker 2>year old World War veteran and former Grand Rapids policeman.

1175
01:22:25.439 --> 01:22:28.920
<v Speaker 2>The first trial of the respondent had resulted in a disagreement,

1176
01:22:29.000 --> 01:22:32.399
<v Speaker 2>with the jury locked at nine to three for acquittal

1177
01:22:32.520 --> 01:22:36.920
<v Speaker 2>for nearly twenty four hours. Yesterday's verdict came after a

1178
01:22:37.000 --> 01:22:42.039
<v Speaker 2>trial lasting four days. The respondent under added tension due

1179
01:22:42.119 --> 01:22:45.039
<v Speaker 2>to a delay of several minutes after learning that the

1180
01:22:45.119 --> 01:22:48.000
<v Speaker 2>jury had arrived at a verdict. Until he heard what

1181
01:22:48.119 --> 01:22:51.640
<v Speaker 2>the verdict was, broke down and with head buried on

1182
01:22:51.720 --> 01:22:57.479
<v Speaker 2>the table, wept uncontrollably for several minutes. The delay had

1183
01:22:57.520 --> 01:23:01.920
<v Speaker 2>been occasioned in summoning Superior MUG Taylor, who heard the case,

1184
01:23:02.399 --> 01:23:06.319
<v Speaker 2>as well as Prosecutor Jnkman and Attorney J. W. Lindsay,

1185
01:23:06.399 --> 01:23:11.000
<v Speaker 2>chief of defense counsel, to the courtroom. The acquitted man

1186
01:23:11.159 --> 01:23:13.720
<v Speaker 2>was cheered not only by the crowd in the courtroom,

1187
01:23:14.119 --> 01:23:17.359
<v Speaker 2>but also by his aged mother and his wife, Sylvia,

1188
01:23:17.800 --> 01:23:21.920
<v Speaker 2>and after regaining his composure, thanked the members of the jury.

1189
01:23:22.600 --> 01:23:25.560
<v Speaker 2>The jury was composed of nine men and three women.

1190
01:23:26.640 --> 01:23:29.800
<v Speaker 2>Van Gilder, finally freed of the charge which has hung

1191
01:23:29.880 --> 01:23:33.319
<v Speaker 2>over his head since last September, soon left the building

1192
01:23:33.359 --> 01:23:37.680
<v Speaker 2>and planned to enjoy Christmas with his family. The case

1193
01:23:37.720 --> 01:23:40.199
<v Speaker 2>had been given to the jury by Judge Taylor at

1194
01:23:40.239 --> 01:23:44.239
<v Speaker 2>noon after the court had completed his charge. The court

1195
01:23:44.319 --> 01:23:47.640
<v Speaker 2>listed four elements in the case, advising the jurors that

1196
01:23:47.720 --> 01:23:50.880
<v Speaker 2>they must find the respondent guilty of each element or

1197
01:23:50.920 --> 01:23:55.640
<v Speaker 2>bring in a verdict of not guilty. The elements were

1198
01:23:55.880 --> 01:23:59.319
<v Speaker 2>one that Gerald van Gilder is dead and came to

1199
01:23:59.359 --> 01:24:02.560
<v Speaker 2>his death by means of a deadly poison known as arsenic.

1200
01:24:03.279 --> 01:24:07.800
<v Speaker 2>Two that the respondent William van Gilder attempted to administer

1201
01:24:07.960 --> 01:24:12.119
<v Speaker 2>such poison to his wife, Sylvia van Gelder, but that

1202
01:24:12.319 --> 01:24:15.319
<v Speaker 2>by mischance it was given to the deceased Gerald van

1203
01:24:15.399 --> 01:24:20.640
<v Speaker 2>Gelder in his lifetime. Three that this respondent so attempted

1204
01:24:20.640 --> 01:24:24.039
<v Speaker 2>to administer such poison to his wife, Sylvia van Gilder,

1205
01:24:24.439 --> 01:24:27.960
<v Speaker 2>wilfully and with the intent upon his part to deprive her,

1206
01:24:28.239 --> 01:24:32.600
<v Speaker 2>said Sylvia van Guilder of her life. Four That the

1207
01:24:32.680 --> 01:24:35.840
<v Speaker 2>said Gerald van Gilder died as a result of taking

1208
01:24:35.880 --> 01:24:38.760
<v Speaker 2>by him of such poison, or in other words, that

1209
01:24:38.800 --> 01:24:42.560
<v Speaker 2>such poison so attempted to be administered to Sylvia van

1210
01:24:42.640 --> 01:24:46.600
<v Speaker 2>Gilder by this respondent was taken by Gerald van Gelder,

1211
01:24:46.880 --> 01:24:49.359
<v Speaker 2>and that he did not die from any other cause.

1212
01:24:50.079 --> 01:24:53.560
<v Speaker 2>Following luncheon, the jury began its deliberation, and at three

1213
01:24:53.560 --> 01:24:58.159
<v Speaker 2>o'clock signaled it had reached a verdict. Clinton J. Johnson

1214
01:24:58.159 --> 01:25:02.159
<v Speaker 2>of Bradford Street, Northeast had been selected as foreman, and

1215
01:25:02.239 --> 01:25:05.880
<v Speaker 2>in response to the usual questions of Clerk Jacob Vanderwall

1216
01:25:06.279 --> 01:25:10.199
<v Speaker 2>announced the not guilty verdict. It was learned following the

1217
01:25:10.319 --> 01:25:13.600
<v Speaker 2>verdict that the jury had been unanimous in declining to

1218
01:25:13.680 --> 01:25:18.279
<v Speaker 2>accept the judgment of doctor William Jerman pathologists at Blogged

1219
01:25:18.359 --> 01:25:21.439
<v Speaker 2>Hospital that death of the boy had been due to

1220
01:25:21.680 --> 01:25:28.439
<v Speaker 2>arsenic poisoning. Attorney Lindsay had vigorously attacked the expert's testimony

1221
01:25:28.560 --> 01:25:31.239
<v Speaker 2>and sought to show that the symptoms displayed by the

1222
01:25:31.279 --> 01:25:42.039
<v Speaker 2>boy could have been caused by tomain or other poisoning. Epilogue,

1223
01:25:42.319 --> 01:25:49.760
<v Speaker 2>January fourth, nineteen thirty four. Chief of Detectives Frank O'Malley

1224
01:25:49.920 --> 01:25:54.319
<v Speaker 2>today will present in juvenile court the purported written confession

1225
01:25:54.399 --> 01:25:59.199
<v Speaker 2>of Henry Miotis, eleven, who O'Malley said confessed to him

1226
01:25:59.239 --> 01:26:03.520
<v Speaker 2>that he pushed Edward Runesburg, seven into the waters of

1227
01:26:03.600 --> 01:26:08.119
<v Speaker 2>Grand River Canal in July nineteen thirty two, causing him

1228
01:26:08.159 --> 01:26:13.119
<v Speaker 2>to drown. O'Malley said, young Myotis first told his story

1229
01:26:13.159 --> 01:26:17.199
<v Speaker 2>to missus George Reed, matron of the juvenile detention home

1230
01:26:17.600 --> 01:26:20.560
<v Speaker 2>where the boy had been held since November on suspicion

1231
01:26:20.560 --> 01:26:24.199
<v Speaker 2>of stealing a bicycle. He quoted the boy as saying

1232
01:26:24.199 --> 01:26:27.560
<v Speaker 2>that he pushed Rudesberg into the water because he wanted

1233
01:26:27.600 --> 01:26:32.520
<v Speaker 2>his seat on the bank to fish. Young Rudesberg's body

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01:26:32.680 --> 01:26:38.399
<v Speaker 2>was recovered the day after the drowning. Myotis was sentenced

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<v Speaker 2>to the Boy's Vocational School in Lansing to remain there

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01:26:42.239 --> 01:27:09.359
<v Speaker 2>until he turned seventeen years old. That was allegations of

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01:27:09.520 --> 01:27:14.159
<v Speaker 2>arsenic ice cream. The father stood trial. Called from the

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01:27:14.279 --> 01:27:18.439
<v Speaker 2>historic pages of the Grand Rapids Herald and other newspapers

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01:27:18.439 --> 01:27:21.920
<v Speaker 2>of the era, with special thanks to the librarian at

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01:27:21.960 --> 01:27:25.520
<v Speaker 2>the Grand Rapids Library who gave me access to her

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01:27:25.560 --> 01:27:28.840
<v Speaker 2>big drawer of murder. If you've got a great historic

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01:27:28.960 --> 01:27:31.880
<v Speaker 2>murder in your hometown that I've yet to cover, let

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01:27:31.880 --> 01:27:34.159
<v Speaker 2>me know and I'll get it on my list and

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01:27:34.279 --> 01:27:38.680
<v Speaker 2>maybe even come to your town to investigate. True crime.

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01:27:38.840 --> 01:27:43.520
<v Speaker 2>Historian is a creation of popular media. Opening theme by

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01:27:43.640 --> 01:27:48.359
<v Speaker 2>Nico Vitessi. Incidental music by Nico Vitessi, Chuck Wiggins and

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01:27:48.479 --> 01:27:53.079
<v Speaker 2>Dave SAMs, some music and sound effects license from podcast

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01:27:53.279 --> 01:27:58.039
<v Speaker 2>music dot Com. Closing theme by Dave SAMs and Rachel Shott.

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01:27:58.319 --> 01:28:03.279
<v Speaker 2>Engineered by David Hish at Third Street Music. Media management

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01:28:03.359 --> 01:28:06.960
<v Speaker 2>by Sean R. Miller Jones, who also creates a new

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01:28:07.000 --> 01:28:11.199
<v Speaker 2>graphic for each new episode using artistic collage and his

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01:28:11.319 --> 01:28:15.880
<v Speaker 2>own fertile imagination and yeah, it's still me. I'm true

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<v Speaker 2>crime historian Richard O. Jones, signing off for now.