Report of the trial of Prof. John W. Webster : indicted for the murder of Dr. George Parkman, before the Supreme judicial court of Massachusetts, holden at Boston, on Tuesday, March 19, 1850 / Phonographic report, by Dr. James W. Stone.
- Webster, John White, 1793-1850, defendant.
- Date:
- 1850
Licence: Public Domain Mark
Credit: Report of the trial of Prof. John W. Webster : indicted for the murder of Dr. George Parkman, before the Supreme judicial court of Massachusetts, holden at Boston, on Tuesday, March 19, 1850 / Phonographic report, by Dr. James W. Stone. Source: Wellcome Collection.
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![1] addition to what I have already stated as found in the laboratory, there was found, in a remote corner of that laboratory, in a place where it had been noticed but had not been examined, (had been noticed so early as the Tuesday previous by one witness, who will state the circumstances under which he observed it,) there was found a tea-chest, containing, imbedded in a quantity of tan, and covered with minerals, the thorax or entire trunk of a human body, the left thigh, from the hip to the knee, and a hunting-knife, of a peculiar character, and around the bone of the thigh, a piece of twine or mar- lie, which will be produced —a specimen of which will be produced here, with other specimens found in his laboratory. These parts were subjected to the examination of competent medical and scientific men. ‘They were put in apposition, —I speak now of the parts found in the privy and in the tea-chest, independent of the bones found in the furnace, — they were put in apposition, and found to resemble, in every particular, the body of Dr. Parkman, or such portion of the body as these parts corresponded ‘to; and, in no single particular, dissimilar to the body of Dr. Parkman. There were missing from this human body, when placed in apposi- tion, the head, the arms, hands of course, both feet, and the right leg from the knee to the ankle. The evidence will probably satisfy you, Gentlemen, that they they belonged to a person about the age of Dr. Parkman. He was about 60 years of age. The evidence will also show that the form was peculiar, as his was peculiar. It will be tes- tified to you by the witnesses, that the height, 5 feet 104 inches, cor- responded precisely to the height of Dr. Parkman, taking, as the wit- nesses will explain to you, the average length for these missing parts — the head from the neck, and the foot from the ankle. It is not necessary for me to detain you by details. The witnesses will explain to you how they reach this result, to which they come, — that the height of the person to whom these parts belong was 8 feet 104 inches. And we shall show you, by the passport of Dr. Park- man, that he was of precisely that height. ‘The evidence will also prove that he was of a peculiar form and shape, and that this body was also of that peculiar form and shape; that the hair indicated something similar, and in no respect dissimilar, to that of Dr. Park- man. But then, Gentlemen, we shall put into this case evidence which, upon this point, I shall leave you to judge of, and to take the proper estimate upon. For] am not here to comment upon it, but merely to state to you a general outline of what itis. Of the bones found in this furnace, not a fragment was found which duplicates any one found in the vault or the tea-chest, but every particle of bone belonged to some part of a human body not found in that vault and tea-chest ; showing that unless by a miracle they agreed, the bones found in the furnace, the parts found in the tea-chest, and the parts found in the vault, all constituted portions of one human body. The Sheriff. Silence in the gallery! Silence! Mr. Clifford. There will also, Gentlemen, be some evidence which will perhaps indicate to your minds a probability at least, if not a conviction, that some of the bones found in the furnace were frae- tured before they had ever been subjected to the action of fire — the bones of the cranium, (of the head.) I say that there may be some evi-](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b20443614_0019.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
