Callaway County Courthouse in Fulton, Missouri
Dr. James W. Martin, MD was sworn.
The following questions were asked by counsel for the defense:
1) Could the body of a human being be destroyed by burning in a common fireplace from 10 o’clock pm to 4 o’clock am?
2) What time would be required to destroy or consume the body of a man by a wood fire in an ordinary fireplace?
3) In your opinion, as a ---- or scientific physician, what length of time would be required to destroy or consume the body of a man in an ordinary fireplace?
To any and all of these questions, the state objected, and the court sustained the objection, to which opinion of the court defendant objected and excepted.