The Kiehl Poisoning Case.
The Kiehl Poisoning Case.

"LOCAL BRIEFS."

    The Kiehl Poisoning Case.--On Saturday morning in the courtroom a hearing was had under a writ of habeus corpus, sued out by the attorneys of Mrs. Catharine Zell and W. H. Wyncoop, esq., charged with the poisoning of Mrs. Kiehl, an aged lady of eighty years. The case of Mrs. Zell was first heard, Mrs. Rebecca Reed being the principal witness. The testimony of this lady was to the effect that she was at the house of the deceased on the 29th of May, the night previous to her sickness; that in the morning she went to market, returning to the house of the deceased between eight and nine o'clock; that at the request of the deceased she prepared breakfast, the two eating together; that after drinking the coffee the witness became deathly sick and going out into the garden she passed through an opening in the fence into the lane, where she vomited severely; on returning to the house she found the old lady very sick and vomiting; that the deceased insisted on the witness going upstairs to bed; that the witness desired to send for a physician, but the deceased objected, saying that in a little time they would be better; that she remained at the house of the deceased until about three o'clock in the afternoon, when she went home, still feeling very sick and continued so until the next morning; that before she left the deceased, she informed the witness that the coffee had been prepared by Mrs. Zell, who lived within four or five doors of the residence of the deceased.
    David Smith, the coroner, testified that he had the remains of [the] deceased woman exhumed about five days after her burial, and a post mortem examination made; that portions of her body had been put into two jars by the physician, which were carefully sealed, and placed in his care, and after a lapse of some days given to W. F. Horn, druggist and chemist, of this place.
    Mr. Horn was called to the stand and testified that after a chemical analysis of the contents of the jars had been made, arsenic was found. To a question of Judge Herman as to whether traces of arsenic were found in the jars, Mr. Horn replied: "Not only traces, but arsenic itself." Two tin coffee pots, taken from the residence of the deceased some days after her death, were examined by Mr. Horn, who testified that he found arsenic in the crevices of the same.
    Joseph Kutz, a grandson of the deceased, testified that he was present when the body was taken up, and that he identified the remains as those of his grandmother. The body was interred in the Carlisle Springs graveyard.
    Dr. S. B. Kieffer testified that he made the post mortem; that the body was far advanced in decomposition, except the liver, stomach and bowels. That he removed portions of the stomach and intestines and placing them in two clean glass jars gave them into the care of Coroner Smith. The doctor gave it as his opinion that violence had been endured, and that the immediate cause of death was by poison. The case of Mrs. Zell rested here and the judge remanded her back to prison.
    The hearing in the case of Squire Wyncoop was not gone into, an agreement being had between counsel that he be admitted to bail, the prosecution alleging that it would perhaps be inimical to their side of the case to divulge or make public certain facts at this time. The court then directed W. H. Wyncoop to give security in the sum of five thousand dollars for his appearance at the November term of court. From present appearances this will prove a most remarkable case of poisoning. That most foul murder has been committed from the evidence already adduced there can be no doubt. The mystery which now seems to enshroud this case will, however, render the task of the prosecution exceedingly difficult. Geo. S. Emig, and E. W. Biddle appeared for the commonwealth; T. & J. Cornman, and W. J. Shearer for defense.


Source:

Unknown, "Local Briefs, The Kiehl Poisoning Case," Valley Sentinel, Carlisle, Pa., Friday, 26 September 1879, page 5, col. 4.

Created April 28, 2004; Revised April 28, 2004
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