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The Death of a Mayor 55 he knew that if he died, his wife would be arrested. He said himself that he was surprised she would try to kill him because he thought they were getting along fine (and further said so in his letter to Minnie’s mother), so he wasn’t holding any grudges against her for which he would seek posthumous revenge by overdosing himself and letting her be hanged for it. Who was this doctor, then, who had given the defense so much ammunition ? Charles scott had “graduated” in 1870 from something called the eclectic medical College of Pennsylvania, a fraudulent diploma mill run by a “Dr.” Buchanan.²¹ Buchanan was indicted for his fake diplomas, and scott said he himself had to go before a board and pass further examinations because his degree meant nothing. supposedly, he passed with flying colors. However, he later taught anatomy at another substandard school—the Kansas City Hospital medical College, founded in 1882. And, while he later testified that he specialized in “diseases of the mind and the nervous system,” his card said nothing of the sort. instead, it seems that Dr. scott was a urologist. Why would a man suffering stomach and groin pains, looking for a doctor in a strange city, enter the office of a urinary specialist unless he knew his specific problem? Thus, if James Walkup really did consult Dr. Scott for anything, it would have been for those kidney stones, which would explain how the doctor could pick him out of the photo lineup—assuming he didn’t have any “help” with the identification from Attorney Scott. As for the arsenic story, that could have been a collaboration between the two scotts or the result of the doctor’s desire to make himself a player in this most famous case. Bill Greer noticed that many doctors, both local and from out of the area, tried to cash in on the Walkup sensation. He blamed the other reporters for encouraging them by giving them so much ink, but, of course, Dr. scott’s testimony—whether true or not—would be a linchpin for the defense. scott would not be the last surprise witness unearthed by minnie’s team.²² The Autopsy The autopsy results, as expected, showed the cause of death to be a lethal dose of arsenic.²³ once the Dr. scott interview came out, the examining physicians looked for signs of chronic arsenic usage, but found none. There are clear indications that point to an arsenic eater, and not one of Emporia 56 those could be detected in the victim’s organs. All the signs were of recent ingestion. For example, the fatty condition of the liver, most likely caused by the arsenic, could only have been effected by recent dosages. Long-term usage would have made the liver hard, not fatty. And, because of the rumors, the doctors looked for indications that he had syphilis, as well, and found no signs of any stage of that disease. Dr. scott had said that Walkup told him he was taking mercury, presumably for syphilis, but no traces of that were found, either. it was never stated, however, whether there were any traces of gonorrhea, which Walkup was said to have had as recently as may 1885. A surprise find, probably unnoticed by Walkup, was that one lung showed an incipient state of tuberculosis. it would have been many years down the road, however, before that would have amounted to anything. Judge Houston Scorned Judge William T. Houston arrived on August 27 and immediately wanted to take over the case for his godchild.24 minnie’s brother-in-law, edward Findlay, had arrived a couple of days before that, and Houston enlisted him in the hunt for evidence. The two would travel to Topeka, Lawrence, Kansas City, and other of James Walkup’s haunts to see what they could dig up. in an interview with the Winfield Courier, Judge Houston admitted to being completely puzzled by the case. He had talked to minnie, and she had told him she was innocent. He was inclined to believe this, knowing her as he did since she was a child, but he also said that strong evidence could sway him the other way. if she had done this, he told the reporter, she would lie to him about it. maybe they could somehow show that Walkup took the poison accidentally or got it from someone else.25 A telling point here...

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