People v. Place

• Decision Date: 10 January 1899
• Citation: 157 N.Y. 584,52 N.E. 576
• Parties: PEOPLE v. PLACE.
• Court: New York Court of Appeals Court of Appeals

157 N.Y. 584

52 N.E. 576

PEOPLE

v.PLACE.

Court of Appeals of New York.

Jan. 10, 1899.

Appeal from Kings county court.

Martha Place was convicted of murder in the first degree, and she appeals. Affirmed.

On March 18, 1898, the defendant was indicted for the crime of murder in the first degree. It was alleged in the indictment that she deliberately, with premeditation, and from a deliberate design to effect the death of Ida Place, smothered and asphyxiated her, by forcibly placing, pressing, and holding over against and upon the head, face, mouth, and nose of Ida Place, so that she was unable to breathe and inhale air, certain bedclothing, bedquilts, pillows, and other articles, by reason and in consequence of which the said Ida Place, of such smothering and asphyxiating, died in the borough of Brooklyn on February 7, 1898. To this indictment the defendant pleaded not guilty, and the issue thus joined was brought on to trial before the county court of Kings county, and resulted in a verdict of murder in the first degree. Thereupon a judgment of conviction was entered, and the defendant was sentenced to the punishment of death, in the manner and at the place prescribed by law. From the conviction, sentence, and judgment the defendant appealed to this court.

Robert Van Iderstine, for appellant.

Robert H. Elder, for the People.

MARTIN, J.

In the month of August, 1893, the defendant became the housekeeper of William W. Place. At that time the family of Mr. Place consisted of himself and his daughter, Ida, who was about 14 years of age. Three months afterwards the defendant and Place were married. Anterior to the marriage the relations between the defendant and Ida were pleasant, and continued so until about a year afterwards. From that time, however, until the homicide, their relations were unfriendly, and quarrels frequently occurred. Dissensions also arose between the defendant and her husband, growing out of the disagreement between his wife and daughter. On one occasion, when her husband unexpectedly returned to his house after starting for his place of business, he found the defendant chasing Ida around the rooms, and when he remonstrated with her she said: ‘You better keep her out of my way, or I will do her up.’ Upon another occasion she said to him: ‘You had better keep her out of my sight. I have warned her. Let her beware.’ Their relations finally became so unpleasant that, during a portion of the time before the homicide, Ida was boarded by her father away from their home. On Saturday morning, February 5, 1898, the defendant asked her husband for her monthly allowance of $20, which he refused, and a quarrel ensued. Upon the next day she again asked for it, and he again refused. In the morning of Monday, which was the day of the homicide, just before her husband left for his place of business, the defendant said to him: ‘I want my money. I am going down town.’ To which he replied: ‘I shall not give you that money. I have said to you plainly what I mean, and I intend to stand by it this time.’ To this she answered: ‘If you don't give it to me, I will make it cost you ten times more.’ He then spoke to his daughter, and kissed her good-by. He bade his wife good-by, but did not kiss her. As he passed her in going from the house, she said something which he did not understand. Shortly after he left, the defendant went into the back parlor, where Ida was sitting; and a conversation occurred as to family difficulties, during which Ida declared her intention to go away and not return. The defendant asked her if her father gave her money that morning, to which she replied, ‘None of your business.’ The defendant then remarked, ‘When he gives you money, he won't give me any,’ to which Ida answered, ‘That is nothing to you,’ and picked up a cigarette box and threw it at the defendant, who then ‘went for her.’ Ida again declared her intention to leave and not return, and then went up stairs. A few minutes later the servant of the family, who was in the back yard, heard a loud scream, which sounded like a woman's. She went into the kitchen, then into the hall, and opened the door to the stairway, when she heard sounds like doors being locked and some one screaming on the top floor. It stopped while she was listening, and she paid no further attention to it. After this Ida was never seen alive, unless by the defendant. This occurrence took place at about a quarter after 8 o'clock. At nearly 9 o'clock the defendant called the servant to her room on the top floor, told her she was going to give up the house, and that she would have to leave. She then paid her her wages, and five dollars in addition, as she had given her no notice of her discharge. Later she asked the servant to get an expressman to take her trunk to the station, to buy her postage stamps, and to go to the bank and get her bank book. The servant obtained the stamps and bank book, and took them to the defendant, who was then in her room. She also procured an expressman to take the defendant's trunk to the station or ferry. Although the servant expressed a desire to remain another day, to do the washing and ironing, the defendant requested her to leave the house before Mr. Place came home; saying that she did not want her to remain, because when he came he might ask her questions. At about 12 o'clock she requested the servant to buy her a ticket for New Brunswick, which she did; leaving the house for that purpose at about half-past 12. She first told her she was going on the 3:15 train, but afterwards that she was going at another time. Her instructions to the servant were that, if any one rang the bell and asked for Ida, to say she had gone down town; and persons who called at the house in the afternoon were not admitted. The servant did not see Ida after Mr. Place left the house in the morning. She went from the house at about 5 o'clock in the afternoon, leaving the defendant there alone. The defendant told her that she was going to leave Mr. Place, because he had hurt her, and she could not stand it. During the afternoon the defendant wrote Mrs. McArran, ‘I will make you a present of my rubber plant and bicycle.’ That letter was received at half-past three, and Mrs. McArran soon after called at the house. She rang the bell twice, but no one came to the door. She then went to an adjoining house, rang the bell, and while waiting there the defendant's servant came out. When she saw her she went to the basement, and then asked to see Mrs. Place. Afterwards the latter came from the kitchen to the dining room, where Mrs. McArran was standing, and said she would see her in a moment; that they were hurrying to get away before Mr. Place came home. Mrs. McArran then said, ‘I received your letter, and came up to see what was the trouble.’ To this the defendant replied, ‘We had more trouble this morning, and I am going to leave him this time for good,’ and added that she wanted Mrs. McArran to have her bicycle. She finally said she was going to New Brunswick, and, when Ida was asked for, she replied, ‘He is boarding Ida out, and she hasn't been in to-day.’ Mrs. McArran then took the wheel and left the house, having seen no one except the servant and the defendant. During the afternoon, when the bell rang, the defendant told the servant not to go to the door.

The defendant's husband returned home about half past 6 p. m. As he entered the hallway he hung his coat and hat upon the rack, and started towards the back parlor, when he heard a noise at the head of the stairs, and saw the defendant coming down. As he stood there he almost immediately received a blow upon his head from a hatchet or ax in her hands, and soon received a second blow upon the side of his head. He cried out, and made an effort to reach the front door. While passing along the hallway he received a third blow upon his hand. He reached the door, cried ‘Murder!’ when some one came to his assistance, and he was taken to a neighbor's house, and from there to a hospital. Thereupon several persons entered the house. Upon going to the third story, they found Ida in her room, lying dead upon her bed. Her face was partially downward, with the head towards the foot of the bed. There was no clothing upon it, except a sheet and pillow, which were under her head or body. The other bedclothing lay in a pile upon the floor between the foot of the bed and the wall of the room. The body lay straight, one arm under the head, and the cheek resting upon the arm. No wounds were found upon the throat, or any portion of the head or body, except a small spot which was discovered upon the temple when the scalp was removed. This was not observable from the outside. Blood was oozing from her mouth, and there was a little upon the pillow or bedclothes. The body was cold and rigid, and the eyes discolored. The skin was redder than was natural, although not blistered. The eyes were burned so that the pupils were of a bluish color, and there was some discoloration around the mouth and the right side of the cheek. One of the chairs in the room was broken. The defendant was in the front room, lying upon the floor, with bedclothes over her head, and the gas was escaping into the room from two burners which she had torn down. When subsequently asked why she had turned on the gas, she replied that she wanted to kill herself; that she wanted to die. When found, she seemed unconscious, and was carried into the parior below. The officers who discovered her attempted artificial respiration, and continued their efforts until the ambulance surgeon arrived and took charge of her. Upon a subsequent examination no external marks of violence was found upon the body of the decedent, except her face was congested, livid, puffed, swollen, and her eyes were partially open, the cornea protruding slightly, and there were crystals in the outer portion. Her lips were puffed and swollen, and there was considerable froth and...