MURDER OF MISS WHEELER

Otago Witness, Issue 2928, 27 April 1910, Page 25

MURDER OF MISS WHEELER

NEW YORK, April 19. A jury has been empanelled for the trial of WolteT, who .is charged with the murder of Ruth Wheeler. The public excitement over the case equals that of the Thaw scandal. During his opening, counsel for the prosecution stated that it would be proved that strangulation and incineration were not the only injuries inflicted on the girl's body. April 20. A sensation was caused in court during 'the trial of Wolter for the murder of Huth Wheeler. The doctoT who made the post mortem examination has scientific proof that the burning contributed to the girl's death. His microscope showed that the girl had been assaulted. The doctor produced in court her clenched right hand clutching a mass of burnt hair not her own. This, he said, ■was proof of the terrible nature of the struggle. April 23. • The trial of Wolter on the charge of murdering Miss Ruth Wheeler has been concluded. In the course of his evidence Wolter swore that he had never seen Miss Wheeler, ar.d said her name had beern given to him by a friend in connection with a school of shorthand. The jury found Wolter guilty of murder of the first degree. The prisoner went sound asleep during the jury's two hours' deliberation, and was unmoved when sentence was passed. He will be electrocuted on April 27. Wolter's arrest, trial, and sentence constitute a record for New York in point of time.