Seven years after the murder of Michael Colton, his wife and accused murderer, Anna Colton, was found and arrested in Helena, Montana. He was allegedly murdered around May 24, 1897, an important point in my assessment of the evidence. To recap my previous post, Michael was found in their apartment at 216 W. Washington, shot twice and then bludgeoned with a hatchet. Suspicion was immediately cast on his wife -- that she had shot and killed him in this busy apartment building. (First story here)
When Anna was tried, the most interesting testimony was that of Dr. George R. Smith, who testified that his examination of the body showed Michael was shot just above the eye and that there were powder burns and singeing of the eyebrows. A second gunshot wound was behind the ear, ranging down and forward. The skull had multiple fractures and was generally crushed at the back. The shot above the eye suggests that this was a struggle at close range, and the shot above the ear must have been inflicted after Michael was felled by the first shot.
An important point was not raised or noted in the Pantagraph, but I would note that the Colton's apartment was not entered for three days after witnesses saw Anna Colton leave Bloomington on the train. No allegations of foul smells coming from the apartment were made, either. The physician who examined the body made no mention of putrefaction of the body after lying on the floor for three days, raising the question when did the murder occur?? No testimony was given as to the time of death. In late May the weather would not have been so cold as to retard decomposition of a body. A good defense could have been made on the basis of forensic science, but apparently this was not considered.
Also interesting was the testimony of another "ear" witness for the defense who was not identified in the Pantagraph. This witness pointed out that gunshots were frequently heard in the apartment building because there was a shooting gallery near by.
Anna's defense was that she was completely innocent and that while she did travel away from the city, she was accompanied by her husband to the train. A temporary separation was planned because of ill-feeling between Anna, who was Protestant, and the Colton family, which was Catholic. The couple was greatly troubled by the bickering of the family over this difference. Anna went to Nebraska to be with her family, and after ten days was indirectly informed of her husband's murder and the suspicions raised against her. She continued her life, using a false name and eventually remarrying and moving to Helena, Montana.
The jury deliberated for two days and returned with no verdict. They reported being deadlocked at 8 in favor of acquittal. Apparently the testimony of the child witness was a stumbling block for the jury, as well as testimony from the father of Michael Colton that Anna had threatened to kill him. Anna Colton took all proceedings very stoically, and had no reaction to the finding of the jury or the suggestions that the State did not intend to bring the matter to trial again.
When Annie Colton returned to Bloomington in police custody, the Pantagraph reported that she did not at all resemble the aggressive, unruly woman described to reporters in 1897. She was not a large, mannish woman, but an attractive woman of usual proportions. She was always calm and ladylike in her interactions with the press and the court and was a model prisoner while in the Bloomington jail awaiting her trial.