Schley-Sumter-Lee County GaArchives News.....MAUD CHILDERS ON TRIAL IN AMERICUS December 15, 1911 ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/ga/gafiles.htm ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Harris Hill http://www.genrecords.net/emailregistry/vols/00011.html#0002514 August 29, 2007, 8:06 am The Schley County News December 15, 1911 MAUD CHILDERS ON TRIAL IN AMERICUS Greatest Interest Shown In Any Case Since the Famous Hinkle Trial. In the trial of Maude Childers, for wife murder, which began in Americus Monday, one hundred and sixty talisman were drawn before a jury of twelve men could be selected to try the case. Present with Childers through the trial, besides his attorneys were his brothers, Zack and Lee Childers and his father, W.W. Childers. About 3 o'clock the first witness was called and during the afternoon eleven witnesses testified. During the examination of Mr. W.A. Rembert, it was brought out that Childers bought about 54 grains of strychnine on July 4th, last, but that the buying of the strychnine was not an unusual occurrence, and that Childers was in the habit of buying drugs at Rembert's drug store. It was shown by Mrs. Kennedy, that she and Mrs. Childers were good friends, that they had chatted on the veranda the night prior the latter's death, and that Mr. and Mrs. Childers were thoroughly congenial and happy as man and wife. The testimony of Robert Kennedy, the son, related mainly to his having left the house where the death occurred at 8 o'clock in the morning, having returned about 11:30 o'clock on the same morning in time to see Mrs. Childers mix the fatal dose as he stood in the doorway of her dining room watching her. His testimony was incoherent and even the prosecuting attorney had difficulty in drawing out any connected story of his subsequent departure from Smithville for Carrollton and his arrest there by Sheriff Smith, of Lee county. In strong contrast to his demeanor at the former hearings, Kennedy's show of temper upon cross examination was very noticeable. Tuesday, twenty-three witnesses, including the defendant, were placed upon the stand. Three witnesses for the state were heard after the defendant read his statement. The feature of the day's testimony was the effort of the prosecution to prove a tangible motive for the crime in the existence of an insurance policy on the life of Mrs. Childers, which, however was effectively refuted by the introduction of testimony by the defense to show that though an application for a joint policy on the life of Mr. and Mrs. Childers had been filed by Childers, the application had been refused. Further than this futile effort, no motive could be shown by the prosecution, as every effort to show that Mr. and Mrs. Childers were not happily married failed completely. The lack of sufficient motive marked the second trial almost as strongly as it did the first. Solicitor General Williams opened the argument for the prosecution late Tuesday afternoon. As a preface to the reading of his statement to the jury and the court, Childers said that the type written statement he was about to read was in substance the same statement that he had made at the first trial. After the initial declaration of his innocence of the crime charged against him, the defendant recited the circumstances leading up to his marriage to Miss Etta Richardson in March of the present year, asserting that he that he and his wife had been devoted to each other, claimed that he had bought poison at the instance of his wife to poison a dog, but upon her insistence the poison had been destroyed and that he had been greatly surprised and deeply grieved at his wife's death, as any man would naturally be. Mr. R.J. Richardson, father of the dead woman, stated that he had consented to the marriage of his daughter to Childers several months before it occurred, and that he believed that they were both happily married. Arguments were completed about noon Wednesday, and after the charge of Judge Littlejohn, the jury retired to make up their verdict. As we go to press, it appears that this case will be a mistrial. File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/ga/schley/newspapers/maudchil2676nw.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.poppet.org/gafiles/ File size: 4.5 Kb