Fossett v. Fossett
| Decision Date | 02 November 1951 |
| Docket Number | 7006,Nos. 7005,s. 7005 |
| Parties | FOSSETT v. FOSSETT (two cases). |
| Court | Missouri Court of Appeals |
Lincoln, Lincoln, Haseltine & Forehand, H. T. Lincoln and Wallace N. Springer, Jr., all of Springfield, for appellant-respondent, Ruth Fossett.
Luther W. Adamson, Kansas City, for respondent-appellant, Hal. D. Fossett.
This is a cross-appeal from a divorce action tried in the circuit court of Lawrence County, Missouri. It was tried upon an amended petition, answer and cross-bill and reply. After a lengthy trial, the trial court dismissed the amended petition and cross-bill, giving neither party a divorce.
The amended petition alleged indignities. Briefly, they were that defendant was quarrelsome, jealous, gossipy, continually stirring up trouble between friends, relatives and business acquaintances and repeating slanderous rumors, to the great humiliation of plaintiff. That she was dominating and bossy toward the plaintiff in his business, that she deliberately disrupted the cordial relationship between plaintiff and their son, an only child; that she, and her son, acting under her instructions, secretly removed and confiscated large sums of money and personal property belonging to the plaintiff; that defendant on many occasions while in a rage and anger has assaulted this plaintiff, at times with a revolver, forced him to flee, and at another time assaulted him with a knife. That she secretly and designedly administered drugs to plaintiff in his food and that he became ill because of such action; that she constantly and falsely accused him of acts of immorality and that she manufactured and circulated stories that plaintiff had accused her of immoral acts with a number of local men. That for weeks and months she went from place to place spreading stories that plaintiff was mentally ill and immoral and that on the 4th day of March, 1950, pursuant to a criminal conspiracy between herself and others, she administered drugs to plaintiff, rendered him unconscious, transported him to St. Louis and illegally confined him from March 4th until the 13th day of May; and thereafter by a false, fraudulent and abortive action in court, attempted to destroy the plaintiff by having him declared insane.
To these charges an answer was filed denying all of them except defendant admitted having the plaintiff taken to St. Louis for hospitalization and this she did because she, in good faith, believed that plaintiff was in need of medical care and hospitalization and that he was dangerously ill and must be confined, not only for his own safety but for the safety of others and that she only began the incompetency proceeding after plaintiff had refused to submit to hospitalization; that these acts were done upon the advice of counsel and of doctors, she believing that plaintiff's actions were caused by his illness, and that 'plaintiff did need hospitalization for his own protection and for the protection of others.'
The cross-bill after alleging the marriage and separation, asks for a divorce upon the following grounds: 'That plaintiff grew cold and indifferent; that plaintiff was extremely quarrelsome; that plaintiff became violently jealous without cause of defendant; that on numerous occasions he assaulted this defendant; that on numerous occasions falsely accused this defendant of associating with other men; that he attempted to interfere with defendant's job as postmaster and threatened on numerous occasions to have her dismissed from said position; that on numerous occasions plaintiff threatened to kill this defendant and did assault defendant with deadly weapons; that on numerous occasions plaintiff falsely accused defendant of taking large sums of money from plaintiff; that on numerous occasions plaintiff falsely accused this defendant of criminal acts against plaintiff; that plaintiff has accused this defendant of being insane; that plaintiff has falsely accused this defendant of stirring up trouble, making unwise investments, breaking up a father and son relationship between plaintiff and Max Fossett; that said treatment grew steadily worse until defendant could not longer live with plaintiff and separated from him on account thereof.'
The reply denied the above quoted matters.
The record in this case is voluminous, the trial lasted several days and much of the testimony related to the property that had been accumulated by plaintiff and defendant through more than thirty years of married life. During most of this time, plaintiff had been engaged in operating a furniture store and an undertaking establishment in Mt. Vernon, Missouri. Plaintiff testified that during all of their married life, defendant had been jealous, fussy, gossipy and accusatory; that this conduct commenced the second night after their marriage; that she would argue with his partners in the furniture business, accusing them of incompetency and thereby disrupting an otherwise amicable partnership relationship. That she was dictatorial about the conduct of the furniture and undertaking business, even to the point of carrying her personal grudges 'down to the grave diggers'. That plaintiff remonstrated with defendant but to no avail. That in 1932 she took a government position in what was then known as C.W.A., at which time plaintiff and defendant hired a maid (one Lela Rhodes) to take care of their house. This maid stayed with them from 1932 until July, 1949, cooking the meals, doing the housework and since 1932, defendant never did any housework or cooked any meals for the plaintiff; that she refused to tell plaintiff what salary, if any, she was drawing from the government, and did not contribute anything toward payment of household expenses. She was constantly interfering with plaintiff's business, made trips away from their home, telling the friends of plaintiff that he was mentally incompetent.
Plaintiff further testified that defendant would not permit him to listen to radio broadcasts of ball games, football games or prize fights, until he finally took the radio into the garage where he could listen undisturbed. That at one time she came to the store where plaintiff was working, swore at him, screamed at him, pulled her shoe off and bear herself on the head with the heel of it, and pulled out some wisps of her hair because she had heard that he had sold something on time or had been too long on an ambulance trip. She constantly interrogated him about various women.
In 1943 through his efforts, defendant was appointed postmaster at Mt. Vernon, a position she has held continually since that time, and which pays a salary of more than $4,000 per year. After being appointed postmaster, she had never done any work in the undertaking establishment or furniture store because of her government duties and that she did very little work prior to that time. She was continually quarreling with postal employees and gossiping about them to plaintiff to his embarrassment and humiliation. That defendant became very jealous because plaintiff was nice to their daughter-in-law and finally turned her against the plaintiff. After that, defendant tried to separate her son and daughter-in-law. When plaintiff didn't mow the yard, defendant would quarrel at him for not doing so, and when he did mow it, she would quarrel at him and tell him he was not able to do it. During all this time, she was continually using the vilest kind of profanity when talking to him.
She was continually endeavoring to get plaintiff to turn all his money and property over to her and their son, Max Fossett. At frequent intervals, she would leave home and remain away over night, offering no explanation. After she was appointed postmistress, she would not tell the plaintiff what her salary was but informed him that it wasn't any of his business. None of her salary ever went into his accounts. Defendant's personal bills during all these years were paid from plaintiff's store account. Plaintiff further testified that for a period of time, he would become ill after eating meals prepared by defendant and that at one time she tried to get him to take two tablets and upon examination of them, he discovered that they were bichloride of mercury, a deadly poison. Once she threatened to burn the house down. At another time, when he was listening at the radio, she sized a revolver and said 'I'll shoot a hole through you,' while she was pointing the gun at him. The gun was loaded so plaintiff fled the premises, after being called vile and vulgar names.
At several times she had thrown bricks at him. She continually told him he was a sick man and should see a doctor. Plaintiff testified that one night, about July 1948, while he was lying on the bed listening to a radio broadcast of a prize fight, that she came into the room with a butcher knife, nudged him in the side with her knee and with the knife struck at him, cutting two holes in the mattress. She told him she was going to cut his feet off and kill him. One hole was about 16 inches long and the other six inches. The pistol that she had drawn on him, the butcher knife and mattress were introduced in evidence. She told him at the time, she was tired of hearing the radio. In September, 1949, she left the plaintiff and stayed away until the 14th or 15th of December, at which time she came back and they lived together as man and wife until March 4th, 1950.
One night when it was about time to retire, defendant made plaintiff a cup of ovaltine to drink, which had been his habit before going to bed. He couldn't taste anything in it, but immediately upon drinking it, he became unconscious. He later discovered that an opiate had been administered to him in the ovaltine. Later he heard his wife say that this was her first attempt to administer knock out drops to him.
On the 24th or 25th of February, 1950, plaintiff and defendant went to St. Louis. Defendant told him that she was very ill,...
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