Untitled Page 8

DSJ:RLW -- 2

On the doctor's report that the death was due to
strychnine, we employed the ablest physician we found
available, Dr. Waterhouse, a graduate of Columbia.
On investigation of the symptoms, Dr. Waterhouse declared
that they did not tally in any degree with the rigors of
muscle produced by strychnine. In taking the emetics,
Mrs. Stanford sat or stood by the washstand, with no dis-
tortion whatever. Dr. Waterhouse's diagnosis was a form
of Angina Pectoris, due, he thought most probably, to a
rupture of the coronary artery. The heart was carefully
preserved and sent to Dr. William Ophuls and a committee
of surgeons of the Cooper Medical College staff who re-
ported the rupture of the coronary, as expected by Dr.
Waterhouse.

Meanwhile the carbonate of soda was sent to the
Government analyst at Honolulu for examination. He re-
ported that it contained a small amount of strychnine.
It was also stated that a trace of strychnine was found
in the stomach. I did not see these analyses, but they
were thus reported to me. Not long after, this chemist
was dismissed from the Government service for fraudulent
analyses.

Mr. Hopkins and I found Miss Berner held incommuni-
cado in the Moana Hotel by the police authorities of
Honolulu. The detectives gave her a rigid examination
and declared her absolutely innocent of any evil. Mr.
Hopkins and I cross-questioned her independently reaching
the same unquestionable conclusion. This was before we
had received the report form Dr. Waterhouse. There re-
mained then no room for doubt that Mrs. Stanford died a
natural death, probably hastened by undue exertion and
incautious eating. But the physician reported death
from strychnine poisoning. His motives can only be
inferred from his actions.

Mrs. Stanford had left San Francisco for Honolulu
three weeks before - about February 5 - on account of
an incident at her San Francisco residence. One morning
she took a glass of Poland Water, a frequent custom on
her part. Later in the day, she poured out another
glass which she found intensely bitter. She drank but
little, and was given a series of emetics by Miss Berner.
There were no ill effects. The contents of the bottle
were analyzed by a competent chemist who found a large
quantity of strychnine in the water. I met Mrs. Stanford