23. Only Public Pressure Finally Forced the Authorities to Act
Reverend Pettit arranged a hurried funeral for his wife, after which her remains were swiftly sent to her hometown for burial. Between that and the adulterous affair with Elma Whitehead, suspicions sprouted that Hattie Pettit had been poisoned. Public pressure worked in the Gilded Age just like it does today, and eventually, the authorities had to act. In November, 1889, Mrs. Pettit’s remains were ordered to be exhumed and examined. Laboratory results revealed large amounts of strychnine in her body. Prosecutors immediately sent agents to arrest Pettit in Ohio. In the meantime, one of his fellow Freemasons and Methodist clergymen got Elma to tell him of her adulterous affair. He also got her to reveal that she had agreed to marry William Pettit three weeks before his wife’s passing.
However, Elma denied that she had played any role in Hattie’s demise. Within days, the Methodist clergyman testified before a grand jury about all that Elma had told him. In January, 1890, Elma pled the Fifth Amendment against self-incrimination and refused to answer grand jury questions. She specifically objected to the question: “State whether there was any talk or understanding of marriage, some time, had between you and said Pettit: said talk or agreement occurring prior to the 17th day of July, 1889“. She also refused to answer the question: “State whether or not there was any understanding or agreement between William F. Pettit and you as to marriage, after the 17th day of July, 1889“.
