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Criminal Law Keyed to Gershowitz
Commonwealth v. Webster
Citation:
59 Mass. (5 Cush.) 295, 386Facts
The defendant is a professor of chemistry at the medical college attached to the University of Cambridge. He was indicted for the murder of Dr. George Parkman on November 23, 1849. Dr. George Parkman left his home on November 23, 1849, and preceded normally through his day until he was seen about to enter the medical college. He never returned home. A search was conducted until body parts were found in the defendant’s laboratory in the medical college on November 30th. The defendant was arrested the same day. The body parts seemed to be the remains of Dr. Parkman. Dr. Parkman had been requesting payment of notes from the defendant who told Dr. Parkman that if he came to the college on the 23rd he would repay Dr. Parkman. However, the defendant did not have any means to pay. The defendant later confessed to killing Dr. Parkman.
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