People v. Gerndt

The defendant in this case was convicted of murder in the first degree, the charge being that he poisoned'his wife, Bertha; Dean Gerndt, by giving her arsenic. The deceased and her foster mother, Alice Dean, had lived in Benton Harbor for many years. The defendant, Arthur O. Gerndt, in former years had resided in the city of Chicago. His second wife died in December, 1923. He met Bertha Dean in October, 1926, a courtship followed and they were married June 15, 1927. After their wedding trip which lasted about six days they returned to Benton Harbor and resided in the home which Mrs. Gerndt…