Part Three of "The Kiser Murder Trial"

The rumors, however, did not stop. Kiser wanted the rumors stopped so badly that he hired a private detective from Cleveland to try to find the source of the mounting gossip. When the private detective reported that all signs seem to point to Kiser’s sister-in-law, Anna Immel, as the main source of the gossip, Kiser was probably not too surprised. Kiser sat down and wrote a long letter to his sister-in-law, but he did not send it. He met with his brother-in-law, Phil Hetrick, on the street soon after he learned of Anna Immel’s involvement in spreading the rumors. Kiser told Hetrick that the rumors have got to stop. He informed him he had hired a detective, and he knew the gossip was coming from Anna. “Phil, this gossip must stop, if it doesn’t I’m afraid we’ll have a fight,” said Kiser. Phil suggested that if Kiser wanted the rumors stopped he could stop them himself by exhuming Martha’s body to examine the body for evidence of poison. Kiser replied that he did not want to do that because he had promised his wife that if she died there would be no autopsy. However, Kiser said that if his daughter, Edna, would agree to an autopsy, he would agree. Anything to stop the rumors.    

     Kiser asked his daughter what she thought about the possibility of an autopsy. She reminded her father that they had made a promise to her mother, and she was bound to keep that promise. Kiser reported back to Hetrick and informed him that they would not give permission for an autopsy. Of course the rumors continued, getting worse all the time.

     The gossip was so intense that the Prosecutor, W.J. Mead, decided he had to exhume the body of Martha Kiser and try to put this thing to rest. He had the body exhumed in early March of 1916, which must have been horrifying to Josh and Edna Kiser. At the time of the exhumation, however, Josh and Edna were unaware of the proceedings. They did not learn of the autopsy until after the fact.

     Prosecutor Mead hired a chemist and bacteriologist, Dr. R.C. Longfellow, to examine various organs to see if there were any traces of poison in the body of Martha Kiser. Dr. Longfellow presented his findings to the grand jury, and Prosecutor Mead interviewed 31 witnesses in front of the grand jury to testify for the case he was building against Josh Kiser. After more than a month of investigation the grand jury had made a decision, and the May 3, 1916 Fremont News had this headline: JOSH R. KISER INDICTED FOR FIRST DEGREE MURDER.