168. Direct examination of Margaret Weaver Horton, People v. Waite.
169. Cross-examination of Margaret Weaver Horton, People v. Waite.
170. Sun (New York), May 25, 1916.
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171. At the time, flypaper contained arsenic. In the infamous Maybrick murder trial of 1889, Florence Maybrick, accused of poisoning her husband, testified that she obtained arsenic by soaking flypaper in water, although she claimed she wanted the poison for cosmetic use. She was convicted and sentenced to death but was released in 1904 and became a sensation on the lecture tour. It is probable that Waite knew about the Maybrick case, which made headlines across the United States.
172. Sun (New York), May 26, 1916.
173. New York Herald, May 26, 1916.
174. Direct examination of Arthur Warren Waite, People v. Waite.
175. Cross-examination of Arthur Warren Waite, People v. Waite.
176. Ibid.
177. Direct examination of Catherine A. Peck, People v. Waite.
178. It is unclear when Waite began to plot the downfall of the Peck family. Waite testified to plotting the murders as early as 1914, when he returned from South Africa. Dr. Karpas’s testimony indicates he planned the murders in the interval between his engagement and his nuptials on September 9, 1915. If Waite told Dr. Karpas the truth about his plot, then he planned to kill Clara all along and most likely would have made an attempt when she returned to New York. In an article in the British pulp the Thriller, Phyllis Lewis states that Waite had already begun his attempt on Clara’s life, and a blood test, taken after Waite’s arrest, revealed the presence of typhus. This timeline, and Waite’s testimony, also suggests that his attempts to murder Catherine Peck may have served a secondary purpose; he likely used her to experiment with various substances before he set his grand scheme in motion.
179. Direct examination of Dr. Morris J. Karpas, People v. Waite.
180. Ibid.
181. Cross-examination of Dr. Morris J. Karpas, People v. Waite.
182. Direct examination of Dr. Alan Ross Dieffendorf, People v. Waite.
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183. Direct examination of Dr. Ely Smith Jelliffe, People v. Waite.
184. Closing argument of Walter Rogers Deuel, People v. Waite.
185. Closing argument of George Brothers, People v. Waite.
186. Justice Shearn’s instructions to the jury, People v. Waite.
187. Evening Telegram (New York), May 27, 1916.
188. New York Herald, May 28, 1916. Newspapers compared Waite’s trial to those of six other infamous criminals: Harry K. Thaw (nineteen days), Roland Burnham Molineux (twenty-one days), Carlyle Harris (fourteen days), Albert T. Patrick (forty-six days), Robert Buchanan (thirty-seven days) and Charles Becker (first trial, sixteen days; second trial, fourteen days).
189. Robert Rohde, “Peddling Poems from the Death House,” New York Tribune, June 11, 1916.
190. Evening Telegram (New York), May 27, 1916; Sun (New York), May 28, 1916.
191. New York Tribune, May 28, 1916.
192. Sun (New York), May 28, 1916.
193. Evening Telegram (New York), May 27, 1916.
194. New York Herald, May 28, 1916.
195. New York Tribune, May 28, 1916.
196. Ibid.
197. Ibid.
198. These precautions led to a false rumor that Waite had attempted to kill himself on the morning of May 28.
199. Evening Telegram (New York), May 29, 1916.
200. Ibid., May 28, 1916.
201. Sentencing, People v. Waite.
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202. Rohde, “Peddling Poems from the Death House.”
203. Evening Telegram (New York), June 1, 1916.
204. Ibid.
205. Daybook (Chicago), June 3, 1916.
206. Sun (New York), June 12, 1916; Phyllis Lewis, “The Case of Arthur Warren Waite, the Death Dealing Doctor, Pt. 2.” Thriller vol. 1, no. 45 (December 14, 1929), 1142–44. The disposition of Arthur’s jailhouse poetry remains unknown. A few appeared in the Sun (June 12, 1916) and the New York Times (June 11, 1916). One piece did appear in a 1929 feature about the case in the British tabloid the Thriller.
207. Rohde, “Peddling Poems from the Death House.”
208. New York Times, July 26, 1916. On July 25, 1916, Waite cut himself, prompting yet another wave of suicide rumors. Osborne subsequently addressed the press: “The scratch is infinitesimal. It was not even serious enough for hospital treatment. Waite is passionately fond of attracting attention to himself, and this, I believe, was the motive for his act.”
209. Daily Standard Union (Brooklyn, NY), October 17, 1916.
210. State of Michigan Department of State, County of Kent, Certificate of Death for Warren Winfield Waite, March 23, 1917, No. 501.
211. New York Times, May 24, 1917.
212. A good eyewitness account of Becker’s execution can be found in the July 30, 1915 New York Times.
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213. Syracuse Daily Journal, May 24, 1917.
214. Ibid.
215. Ibid.
216. Ibid., May 25, 1917. The prison chaplain, Dr. A.N. Peterson, was present during this exchange and later recounted the conversation for reporters.
217. Evening Telegram (New York), May 25, 1917. News accounts differ slightly regarding this exchange, but the gist of Waite’s statement is consistent. Also see the Sun (New York), May 25, 1917.
218. New York Times, May 24, 1917.
219. Syracuse Daily Journal, May 25, 1917.
220. New York Times, May 24, 1917.
221. Syracuse Daily Journal, May 24, 1917.
222. Day Book (Chicago), May 29, 1916, noon edition.
223. Direct examination of Dr. Morris J. Karpas, People v. Waite.
224. Lawrence G. Blochman, “Murder on Riverside Drive: The True Mystery I Wish I’d Created.” Blochman’s article appeared in many newspapers, including the Milwaukee Sentinel, June 8, 1952.
225. New York Times, April 25, 1933.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
DOCUMENTS
The People of the State of New York vs. Arthur Warren Waite. Calendar Number 19307, Indictment Number 109983, filed March 31, 1916. New York City Municipal Archives.
The People of the State of New York vs. Arthur Warren Waite. New York Supreme Court trial transcript, Trial #3241, May 22, 1916, Stenographer No. 2679, Reels 400–01, Crime in New York 1850–1950, Special Collections, Lloyd Sealy Library, John Jay College of Criminal Justice, The City University of New York.
Sing Sing Correctional Facility Records Group B0147. Admission registers for prisoners to be executed, 1891–1946, entry for Arthur Warren Waite, prisoner No. 67281, New York State Archives, Albany, New York.
Sing Sing Correctional Facility Records Group B1244. Log of actions relating to inmates scheduled for execution, 1915–1967, entry for Arthur Warren Waite, prisoner No. 67281, New York State Archives, Albany, New York.
NEWSPAPERS
Daily Standard Union (Brooklyn, NY)
Day Book (Chicago)
Evening Telegram (New York)
Evening World (New York)
Grand Rapids Herald
Grand Rapids News
Grand Rapids Press
Kingston (New York) Daily Freeman
Milwaukee Sentinel
New York Dramatic Mirror
New York Herald
New York Times
New York Tribune
Sun (New York)
Syracuse (New York) Daily Journal
BOOKS AND MAGAZINES
Directory of Directors in the City of New York. New York: Directory of Directors Company, 1915.
Doyle, Arthur Conan. “The Boscombe Valley Mystery.” The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes. New York: Harper & Brothers, 1892.
Hughes, Rupert. The Complete Detective: Being the Life and Strange and Exciting Cases of Raymond Schindler, Master Detective. New York: Sheridan House, 1950.
L
ewis, Phyllis. “The Case of Arthur Warren Waite, the Death Dealing Doctor, Pt. 1.” Pts. 1–4, Thriller 1, no. 42 (November 23, 1929): 1069–72; no. 43 (November 30, 1929): 1094–96; no. 44 (December 7, 1929): 1117–20; no. 45 (December 14, 1929): 1142–44.
Silbar, Howard. “Michigan’s Poisoning Maniac.” Detective Files (March 1978): 22–25, 43–45.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Tobin T. Buhk is a freelance author specializing in true crime. To research his first book, Cause of Death (Prometheus Books, 2007), he volunteered in a county morgue, watching as his co-author, Kent County chief medical examiner Dr. Stephen D. Cohle, unraveled puzzling forensic mysteries. A second collaboration with Dr. Cohle resulted in Skeletons in the Closet (Prometheus, 2008). Buhk’s love of history and fascination with true crime led to True Crime Michigan (Stackpole Books, 2011), True Crime in the Civil War (Stackpole, 2012), The Shocking Case of Helmuth Schmidt (The History Press, 2013) and Michigan’s Strychnine Saint (The History Press, 2014).
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Poisoning the Pecks of Grand Rapids Page 19