Jim Kershner’s this day in history

From our archives, 100 years ago

A doctor who treated Della Olds right after she was arrested for shooting her husband, Dr. W.H. Olds, testified that he found a four-inch hunk of hair torn from her scalp, along with many other “marks of physical violence.”

Meanwhile, a different doctor, Dr. W.W. Harrington, took the stand to refute prosecution claims that he was the mysterious “Billy,” the man Della Olds supposedly planned to marry after she got rid of her elderly husband.

For one thing, Dr. Harrington said his name was not Billy at all, but Walter Webster Harrington. For another thing, Dr. Harrington said his dealings with Della were entirely medical and never personal or social. He said he had been treating her for more than a year for a nervous condition and for headaches.

Dr. Harrington also refuted prosecution claims that he gave rides to Della Olds in his six-cylinder automobile. He said he had never owned a six-cylinder auto and wouldn’t know how to handle one.

He denied ever giving Della any jewelry. When asked if he had ever proposed marriage to her, Dr. Harrington said, “I should say not.”

Also on this date

(From the Associated Press)

1865: Four people were hanged for conspiring with John Wilkes Booth to assassinate President Abraham Lincoln.