A new article has been added at Newspaper Abstracts > United States > Ohio > Clark http://www.newspaperabstracts.com/index.php?action=displaycat&catid=2563 Also visit our new sister site: http://www.Genealogy101.com Direct link to article: http://www.newspaperabstracts.com/link.php?id=42096 Submitted by: barbara-dave Article Title: Washington Post Article Date: March 2 1913 Article Description: Ohio Murder Page A9 Article Text: Washington Post March 2, 1913 Ohio Murder Page A9 Springfield, Ohio, Mar. 1. - The case of Dr. Arthur H. SMITH, prominent physician and former society favorite, charged with the first-degree murder of his first wife, Florence Cavileer SMITH, will be called Wednesday. It promises to rank with the RICHESON case and the HYDE sensation. The central point of dispute now is for an analysis of the organs of the dead woman by a neutral expert in the presence of representatives of both the state and the defense. Experts for the state show the presence of deadly cyanide. So far the defense has lost every skirmish, including the motion for a change of venue on the ground that the 70,000 people of Clark county are so prejudiced against the defendant that a fair trial is impossible. There seems to be a disposition on the part of the new judge, Francis M. HAGAN, to try the case at once. SMITH has paled under his imprisonment and has lost some flesh. The pitiful sight of his aged invalid mother visiting the jail to see her only son is witnessed frequently here. She is accompanied by SMITH's second wife, whom he married six months after the sudden and tragic death of his first. When Florence Cavileer SMITH died suddenly March 18, 1912, the community was shocked, for she was said to have been in excellent health. No suspicion was aroused until Dr. SMITH, October 1, married Miss Mabel MERCHANT at her former home in Newton, Mass. Miss MERCHANT for several years was a nurse in the local hospital, and she was called in many cases by Dr. SMITH. They were intimate friends before the first Mrs. SMITH died. October 16 the county officials ordered an examination into the cause of the death of Mrs. Florence Cavileer SMITH, and the body was exhumed. Dr. COONS, pathologist, reported that death was not caused by organic heart trouble, as stated by her husband, and also stated in the death certificate. A chemical analysis of the stomach is said to have revealed unmistakable traces of cyanide. ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ OH-Old-News ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ NewspaperAbstracts.com - Finding our ancestors in the news! TM http://www.NewspaperAbstracts.com