Juries and Expert Evidence

Abstract

In Albany County, New York, in 1853, John Hendrickson was accused of poisoning his wife, Maria, with aconitine, also known as wolfbane.1 The circumstantial evidence was pretty damning.Their marriage was very rocky and Maria was planning to return to live with her mother.Hendrickson had numerous liaisons with other women and had seriously assaulted one of them.Witnesses testified to his unsavory character.In hindsight, the earlier death of their infant son appeared suspicious.Albany druggists tentatively identified the defendant as a purchaser of aconitine and testified that he had inquired about prussic acid, another poison.Other evidence contradicted Hendrickson's claim that he woke in the middle of the night to find Maria dead.The circumstantial evidence, however, was probably insufficient to convict, and a medical expert for the prosecution provided key evidence.James H. Salisbury was only twenty-©2001

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