William Stepson Credit 21By the time of Stepson’s death, scientists had devised numerous
tools to detect poison in a corpse. A sample of tissue could be
extracted from the body and tested for the presence of an array of
toxic substances—from strychnine to arsenic. Yet in much of the
country these forensic methods were applied even less
consistently than fingerprint and ballistic techniques. In 1928, a
survey by the National Research Council concluded that the
coroner in most counties of the United States was an “untrained
and unskilled individual” and had “a small staff of mediocre
ability, and with inadequate equipment.” In places like Osage
County, where there was no coroner trained in forensics and no
crime laboratory, poisoning was a perfect way to commit murder.
Poisons were abundantly available in products found on the