The trial of Prof. John W. Webster, indicted for the murder of Dr. George Parkman, at the Medical college (North Grove street) on the 23d of November, 1849 : Supreme judicial court, before Chief Justice Shaw, and Associate Justices Wilde, Dewey, and Metcalf. Counsel for the government, Attorney General J.H. Clifford, and George Bemis, esq. Counsel for the defence, Hon. Pliny Merrick, and E.D. Sohier, esq. / Reported for Boston journal.
- Webster, John White, 1793-1850
- Date:
- 1850
Licence: Public Domain Mark
Credit: The trial of Prof. John W. Webster, indicted for the murder of Dr. George Parkman, at the Medical college (North Grove street) on the 23d of November, 1849 : Supreme judicial court, before Chief Justice Shaw, and Associate Justices Wilde, Dewey, and Metcalf. Counsel for the government, Attorney General J.H. Clifford, and George Bemis, esq. Counsel for the defence, Hon. Pliny Merrick, and E.D. Sohier, esq. / Reported for Boston journal. Source: Wellcome Collection.
Provider: This material has been provided by the Francis A. Countway Library of Medicine, through the Medical Heritage Library. The original may be consulted at the Francis A. Countway Library of Medicine, Harvard Medical School.
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![tlie head from the trunk. I have used a saw to divide tlie bead from the trunk. 1 did not s^ce auvtliiag lliCoa^i^;e■lt ■with the idea tliat the parts beloJised to one and the saiue person. .My duties extend to a)] parts of the system. ] suppose the person luid passed tlie middle aji;e of life.— Kothino- struck me as re.irards tlie form,—my eye was struck witli the quantity of hair upon the hsck; Iliad never seen such a quantity of liair before; it extended from the shoulder blade half way down the back. Fi oiu a stab, the quantity of blood that would How, would de- pend upon circumstances. Blood would flow if a stab had been given immediately after death. If aperson were struck and stabbed, and the blood should eifuse internal- ly, it could be easily removed it the body was opened. In post mortem txaminations the medical man is not of necessity troubled with an outward flow of blood. I ex- amined certain spots found on the side of the stairway leading from the upper to the lower laboratory, not the .spots on the floor or on the upper stairs. I satisfled my- self from positive evidence that they were not blood; they ■were tobacco spots. These spots have no relerence to the spots higher up. I suppose I discovered what was nitrate of copper. I was told so by the chemists. I made no ex- amination of them myself 'I he experiment 1 made was to determine whether nitrate of copper would destroy the blood globules. Under the microscope the blood shows a great many globules. I placed blood under the microscope and added to it a solution of nitrate of copper. The ac- tion was not immediate; in a lew hours, however, the blood discs had disappeared. I should say that nitrate oi copper would destroy all evidence of blood discs. There are chemical means to detect the presence of blood where it exists in large quantities. I have not applied nitrate of copper with blood to hard pine. There v, iis no other pat t of the building where anything like blood was found. A pair of slippers and a pair of pantaloons were brought to me (witness identified slippers). One of the slippers had no blood upon it. I have satis- fied myself that the spots on the slipper which I examined are blood. [Witness identified the pantaloons marked ■with the name of Dr. Webster.] From microscopic evidence, I should say that the spots upon the pantaloons were blood. The impression which 1 had was that the drops of blood did not fall Irom any great height—three feet, say. If they had fallen from t.iiat height the drops would have had an elongated form. The drops are on the left leg on the outside; the slipper ■which has the blood is the right one. There are spots on the pantaloons which I should think are not blood. I should think that the blood came laterally, and from no great height. Other spots on the pantaloons look some like acid spots; they may be Venitian red. [Che box of bones found in the furnace was placed be- fore Dr. VS'yman. By means of a diagram and a cata- logue which he had made of the bones, he explained at length to the Court and jury the character and proper position of the bones in the system. Several fragments he assigned to the head, several to the face, and several to the lower jaw. The model of Dr. Parkmau's lovverjaw as ta- ken by Dr. Keep, was compared with the fragments which I>r. VVyman supposed to belong to the jaw ot Dr. Fark- luan, and there was traced a strong resemblance between them by the witness. The formation oi Dr. I'arkman's lower jaw, as shown in Dr. Keep's model, was peculiar in the opinion of the witness. There were Ifagments of the vertebrai of the neck—of the tip of the elbow—of the fin- gers—ot the right leg below the knee. The witness was satisfied that the fragments belonged to the right tibia; there were also fragments of the heel, instep and toe. All tlie fragments put together form parts of a head, neck, arms, hand, fingers, right leg and foot.] Examination rKSumed.—There was no duplicate of any bone found. The fragments all belong to missing portions of the body. I cannot say the bones all belong to one body, but tiiat there was no duplicate of the same bone.—■ There are three double teeth on each side—there will be sixteen teeth in each jaw. The eight teeth on each side of the median line, generally correspond with each other. I applied the nitrate of copper to determine if it would destroy blood; the color of the blood was soon discharged, and a blueish tint was the result. There were indications that frau men ts had been broken before they were subjected to the action of fire. [Witness pointed out a fragment of one of the bones of the head, as one which he supposed iad been so fractured.! I do not consider the reasons 1 have a.ssigned lor such a supposition, any thing more than as presumptive evidence. Ihey cannot be positive. A bone bro.ken before or after death, woiLd present the same general appeaiance of liacture alter it was calcined. Cross Ijiiiamination. The bone supposed to be broken is less calcined than the others; violence in poking the stove may have broken it and caused it to assume the ap- pearance which leads me to itifer that it was broken. I consider nitrate of copper quite effectual to remove stains of blood—not more effectual than water, unless the acid should destroy the wood itself. 1 have made no exptri- muiits as to the power of otlier substances to destroy blood. J siiould think muriatic acid a better article to take out blood. I do not know whether nitric acid is a common article in laboratories. The proportion of blood is estimated to be one-fifth of the-weight of the body—25 pounds have been obtained from one person. Post mor- tem examinations of chest and abdomen have been con- liucled without any evidence ot b'ood—exatninations of other parts would be likely to be attended with blood. I found no evidence of blood on any other articles than such as I enumerated in my direct examination. I had the bricks removed, but found no evidence that blood had trickled between them. I saw a hole between the ribs; I did not examine it particularly; my own im- pression is that it was not made with a knife. The sepa- ration of the parts of the body was done in such a way as to indicate a knowledge of anatomy. The thigh bones were separated with a tolerable degree of skill. If the blood had fallen from a height of three feet.and struck on the pantaloons of a person standing, it w'ouid have as- sumed an elongated form. The spots are somewhat elon- gated in some cases; in others they are quite round. Af- ter a few hours blood assumes a darkish brown tinge, and does not alter change color, even though it should remain for years. All the spots which I exam'ined had this color. I could, by means of a microscope, disthiguish human blood from that of some animals, but not all. The blood of the higher orders corresponds in tlie size of the discs. Dr. O. W. Holmes, called and sworn.—i am Parkman Professor of Anatomy and Physiology in the iVIedicai School. The opening of the school must have taken place on the first Wednesday in November. I saw Dr. I'ark- man on that occasion. I observed his upper teeth were very white and long. I am Dean of the Medical Fac- ulty. Dr. Webster lectures to the medical class four times a week during the course, on the subject of chemistry. His rooms form an entirely independent establishment from all the rest of the Professors I have never known any occasion for the use of subjects in hia department. Prof. Webster's lectures are from 12 to 1—my own from 1 to 2, P. M. I saw a part of the remains once tor a short time—Tuesday after their discovery. I exam- ined them not as an expert. They exhibited anatomical knowledge on the pait of the person who had dissected them. Dr. Wynian remarked to me the mode of the sep- aration of the sternum, and I observed that the person knew how to cut. I can only confirm the general statement which has been made—which is, that there was no botch- ing about the business. I observed that chemical applica- tions had been made to the remains,—a discoloration which I was told and readily believe, was the eflect of a caustic substance. I noticed considerable development of hair about the shoulder blades. I was familiar with Dr. Parkman, and discovered nothing dissimilar to him in the remains. Whether the elfusion of blood would be external or inter- nal would depend upon the character of the wound. If the external and internal cut should correspond, blood would probably flow outwardly. A stab tietween the sixth and seventh ribs might cause a little external bleed- ing. I recollect the day of Dr. Parkman's disappearance. My lecture commenced at the usual hour. My room is over Prof. Webster's room. I was never disturbed by a noise from Prof. Webster's room. 1 have been in my room • very often when Prof. Webster lectured. I have never heard chemical explosions in his room when I have been in mine. The Professor's room and mine differ in form. The seats upon the floor of my room are elevated one above another. I have occupied my room about three years; there have been regular chemical courses every year. Cross Examined.—I could not tell whether the eftusion of blood would be externally except by knowing the di- rection which the kniie followed. Other circumstances would affect the bleeding. In the case of the stab be- tween the 6fh and 7th ribs, I think the bleeding would be most internally, though some would take place external- ly_. I never remember hearing the students applaud Prof. Webster when I was in my own room—I have heard such applause when in the Demonstrator's room, on the same floor as my own. A part of the skin discolored was cov- ered with hair. I cannot say that I saw anything indi- cating fire, but what i saw I thought might be the eflTect of caustic. I perceived no odor of fire about the body. Direct resumed.—From a mortal blow on the head no blood would necessarily be eflused. WiiLiAJi B. Eatox, called and sworn.—I am a police officer. Was present when the thorax was taken from the tea chest. 'J'he tea chest was taken from the closet into the room. I went to the chest—the body was turned over upon the back. The body was taken out covered with tan—it was turned over. I saw a hole in the chest, and remarked it at once. I said it was about the size of a knile which had been found. Oos.s Examined.—It was not the knife which has been ex- hibited to the Court, but a jack-knife which I opened. I put my fingers on to the wound. I saw the hole in the chest as soon as the body was turned over. I am certain the wound was on the left side. I did not measure the wound except by putting my fingers to it. Nothing more had been done to the body except to turn it over, and take it out of the box and brush a little tan oil, which I did with my hand. Some half a dozen persons were present. At the time I saw it I can say that no person did auythinj; to the body except myself. I did not know that anything; was in the bo.x until it was turned over. I thought that](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b21083629_0021.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
