Wilson v. State

• Decision Date: 25 October 1899
• Citation: 53 S.W. 122
• Parties: WILSON v. STATE.
• Court: Texas Court of Criminal Appeals

53 S.W. 122

WILSON v. STATE.

Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas.

October 25, 1899.

Appeal from district court, Delta county; L. L. Wood, Special Judge.

Thomas Wilson was convicted of murder in the second degree, and he appeals. Reversed.

Robt. A. John, Asst. Atty. Gen., for the State.

HENDERSON, J.

Appellant was convicted of murder in the second degree, and prosecutes this appeal.

The indictment charges murder in two counts. The first alleges the administration to deceased, Minnie Wilson, of fluid extract of ergot and oil of tansy, and other poisonous medicines, which caused her death; and the second charges appellant with the murder of the said Minnie Wilson by inserting into her womb some hard instrument, which cannot be better described by the grand jurors. The conviction is general, and may be applied to either count which the evidence sustains. The important question to be determined is, does the proof show with certainty that a conviction under either count can be sustained? It is elementary that in every case of felonious homicide, before a conviction can be sustained, the corpus delicti must be proved,—that is, (1) that the death of the deceased was caused by some criminal agency; (2) that defendant is the criminal agent. Looking to the testimony with reference to the first question, there is evidence tending to show that deceased, who was the daughter of appellant, was enceinte, and was several months gone in pregnancy, and that this condition had been produced by one Wood or her father. The proof further tends to show: That defendant knew of this condition of his daughter. That on or about the 8th of November appellant procured ergot and tansy (a half ounce of each), and administered the same to deceased from that time on up to shortly before her death, but in what doses is not developed in the testimony. He told several persons that his daughter was troubled with a cessation of her menses. He made no concealment either as to the procurement of the medicine or as to the complaint of deceased. He called in one Dr. Wall on the 8th of November to attend his daughter, who at that time prescribed potassium and aloes for her, to be taken three times a day. He was again summoned to see her on the night of the 14th of November, but, not being able to go, sent her some morphine and chloroform. He went to see her the next morning. After remaining, conversing with defendant about an hour, deceased came into the house. She was better, but the doctor made no examination of her. The next day he was called again to see her, and then found her in a very critical condition. On examination, he found her pregnant, and the uterus considerably dilated, and miscarriage threatened. He then told defendant she was pregnant, who asked him if he could not be mistaken. The doctor then examined her again, and told him he was not mistaken. Defendant then asked him if he had suspected it before, to which he replied he had not. Defendant remarked that he had begun to suspect it himself. Deceased appeared to be suffering greatly, and defendant asked him if she did not need some more chloroform, and he told him to give her a small dose. Defendant then told him he had sent to Commerce and got some oil of tansy and ergot, and had been giving it to her. He got the medicine he had gotten at Commerce, and it was nearly all out of the bottle; and the doctor told defendant that he had been giving it to her too fast, and defendant said that it had not done her much good, and that he had given her a double dose. The doctor then gave her a dose of laudanum and ergot, and left her some to take. He remained about a half hour after giving her the medicine, and she got quiet and went to sleep, and he then left. On cross-examination this witness stated that when he went to the house on the 15th he prescribed hot hip baths and a warm-water enema for deceased, and, for the purpose of administering the enema, he let appellant have a female syringe; that he left ergot and laudanum to be given deceased in case she flooded; that he did not know until Wednesday, the 16th, that deceased was pregnant, and that he did not know whether her condition was natural or artificial; that he had no knowledge that deceased did miscarry. He stated that hot hip baths and warm-water enema would be dangerous to use on one pregnant; that he did not know deceased was pregnant when he recommended same for her use; that he had treated her merely on defendant's statement as to her condition at that time. It was shown by the evidence that defendant, with his two daughters, Minnie (the deceased) and Manila, lived by themselves in the farm house, and during part of the time one Wood and his daughter lived with them; that defendant appeared to be very kind and affectionate towards his two daughters. By one witness it was shown that after the deceased's death, in a conversation with defendant, he stated that, if Dr. Wall had done as he told him, that his daughter would not have died. A number of witnesses saw deceased during her last sickness, but no witness appears to have been present at her death, and we are not informed as to the immediate circumstances attending the same. It was shown by witnesses who came to the house after the death of the deceased that some blood was on the bed, but how much we are not informed. Some time after the death of the deceased, Drs. Bennett and Harrison were employed by the sheriff of Delta county to make a post mortem examination of the body of Minnie Wilson; and about three or four months after she died her body was exhumed, and they took out the uterus, and found it considerably enlarged, and the base of it punctured. It was six or seven inches long. They also found a portion of the membranes and disintegrated blood in the uterus, and the uterus was soft and flabby. Dr. Bennett stated: That, in his opinion, the puncture was made by introducing through the vagina and into the uterus some hard substance or instrument. That death would result from a puncture like the one found in the uterus. If inflammation set up from such a puncture, the person would probably live three days. If hemorrhage took place, death would result almost immediately; that is, as soon as a person could bleed to death. He further stated that, in his opinion, from an examination of...