Dr. Ernest C. Martin was convicted in murder in the abortion death of 42-year-old Anna Bilinski, and was sentenced to 15 years in the penitentiary. The abortion had been perpetrated on August 10, 1937. The indictment was not handed down until over two years later, November 10, 1939.
John's Story
Anna's husband, John Bilinski, testified in the trial. He did not speak English fluently and sometimes did not seem to understand the questions or instructions.
He said that Anna did not have a period in April or May of 1937. On about July 15 or 16, he said, he went to Dr. Martin's office and told him that Anna was pregnant, that she was no longer a young woman, and they already had five children. He asked Martin what he could do to remedy the situation. He testified that Dr. Martin told him, "I will give you a prescription to the druggist for a certain kind of capsules." John said that he filled the prescription and Anna took the capsules but they did not have the desired effect.
On August 10, John said, he went to Martin's office to report the lack of success. He said that Martin told him to bring Anna to him that afternoon and he would "open her womb."
John said that he and Anna went to Dr. Martin's office at about 4 pm. Martin put some instruments in a sterilizer and told John not to watch. Martin reportedly took a tool about 10 or 12 inches long, round, about 3/8 inch thick, and resembling scissors or clippers, and put it into Anna's body. John said that Martin also wiped out Anna's body with gauze. He then asked Anna to sign a slip of paper but when she was unable to do so, John signed it. Afterwards they discussed the price. Martin said that he wanted $35. John said he gave Martin $20 and told him, "If my wife be healthy I will give you the rest of this."
John said that Martin took a quart bottle of Seagram's 7 whiskey from a drawer and filled two glasses. He gave one of them to John and said, "Let's have a drink to the murder." John's eyes flowed with tears as he drank with the doctor.
John said he took Anna home. She prepared supper for the family, then went to bed at about 6:00.
In the morning, John said, he noticed a lot of blood in the bed. Anna continued to bleed vaginally so John phoned Dr. Martin, who came to the house at around 11:00 that morning. He examined Anna and said, "That's the way it should be. Don't be worried." John said that Martin gave him a prescription which he filled and gave to Anna.
Anna passed the fetus, which John put into a quart jar which he filled with alcohol.
On August 12, John called Martin again to say that Anna was still bleeding. Martin came to the house, examined Anna, and left some pills for her.
John said that Martin came back to the home on the 13th, 14th, 15th, and 16th to attend to Anna. On the 16th he treated Anna with an injection into her arm.
From then on, John said, he called Martin two or three times a day. At some point on August 20, John said, Martin packed Anna's uterus with gauze and cotton.
On Friday, August 20, John said, Dr. Martin summoned Dr. Warren Blim to consult with him. John said that Dr. Blim removed the packing from Anna's uterus, along with a quantity of clotted blood.
John said that at about 5:00 that evening Anna grabbed him around the neck, kissed him, and said, "I got to die."
John said that it wasn't until Sunday, August 22, that Dr. Martin finally called an ambulance for Anna. She died before it arrived.
Dr. Warren Blim's Involvement
Dr. Warren Blim and John gave similar testimony about his treatment of Anna.
Blim said that on August 20, Dr. Martin asked him to consult about a woman having a miscarriage. He found Anna to be bleeding vaginally. He massaged Anna's uterus through her abdomen, which enabled her to pass a clot. This reduced the bleeding. He instructed Dr. Martin to administer an intramuscular ergotrate injection to further control the bleeding. He did not believe that Anna was in critical condition and left her in Martin's care.
Dr. Martin's Version of Events
Martin's story was that Anna had been a patient of his for about eight years when, in mid-July of 1937, John had consulted him about Anna. Martin had prescribed something to treat symptoms of menopause. He next saw John on the 8th or 10th of August. He said that John told him that Anna was still suffering aches and pains, so he instructed John to bring Anna to his office.
They arrived between 3 and 5 pm, Martin said. He did a routine examination including a bi-manual pelvic exam. He said that Anna had a crooked uterus and her cervix was widely dilated. He said he hadn't known if she was about to miscarry -- which seems an odd assertion if she was pregnant and her cervix was widely dilated. Surely she'd have been in the middle of a miscarriage if that had been the case.
Martin said that Anna called him the next day so he went to her home to see her. Martin said that Anna told him she'd begun menstruating, and that John told him Anna had passed a baby. Martin said that he took the baby with him and left some pills and instructions for the couple to call him if Anna felt worse.
A day or two later, he said, Anna reported coughing, chest pains, and a headache along with continued menstrual bleeding. He left a prescription.
Martin said that he had called Dr. Blim in for a consult, and Blim had massaged Anna's abdomen, helping her to expel a clot. He said that Blim recommended elevating the foot of the bed and administering an ergotrate injection.
Martin said that he returned the next day and found Anna's condition to be satisfactory, with no further bleeding.
Martin said that on the day of Anna's death he had gone to a neighbor's house to call an ambulance. It arrived accompanied by a Chicago Heights police squad car. John had not complained to the police at that time that anybody had perpetrated an abortion on his wife.
Martin said that he had filled out a death certificate attributing Anna's death to "influenza and bronchial pneumonia."
He denied requesting a $35 fee, dilating Anna's uterus, or asking the husband or wife to sign a paper.
A Delayed Autopsy
Dr. Jerry J. Kearns performed the autopsy, which for some reason did not take place until November 3, 1939. John was first called in to identify his wife's body as it lay in a white metal casket. The autopsy found uterine infection and recent pregnancy. Dr. Kearns concluded that Anna had died from septicemia or blood poisoning from an infection affecting only the uterus. The cervix was dilated, most likely by an instrument.
The fetus John had put in the bottle had been of about 2 1/2 months gestation.
Between the condition of Anna's body, and the fetus in the bottle, authorities concluded that Anna had indeed died from a septic abortion, and Martin was convicted of murder by abortion. His attorney appealed his conviction on this and multiple other issues, but the court upheld the conviction.
Watch Exhumed Two Years Later on YouTube.
Source:
No comments:
Post a Comment