Public Invited to Rerun
Of Historic Murder Trial
By M. D. Drysdale

One of Vermont's earliest and most famous murder trials will be back in the historic Chelsea courtroom tomorrow (Friday) at 2 p.m.

The trial of Rebecca Peake for murder in December of 1835 was a statewide sensation. Not only were murders rare in the state, but an in-the family murder allegedly committed by a woman was downright titillating and scandalous.

The trial, conviction and suicide of Rebecca Peake has already been memorialized in an award-winning play, "Self Evidence," by Maura Campbell, formerly of Randolph. Tomorrow it will be the focus of a historical reënactment put on by the Vermont Judicial Historical Society and masterminded by Montpelier Atty. Paul Gillies, who founded the Society.

The public is cordially invited to a spectacle that should transport the audience back to the social and legal mores of 170 years ago.

The reason that the trial can be reënacted is that the transcript still exists word-for-word. Gillies reprise will include the closing arguments of both attorneys.

A panel of modern-day jurors will be chosen from the audience. They will deliberate in public after the closing arguments are made and a fresh verdict will be announced.

"This will really open up the law of the 1830s and show where we've come to today," Gillies said.

Local lawyer Gerry Tarrant will take up Peake's defense while another local attorney, Daniel Richardson will play the prosecutor. Sitting Orange County Superior Court Judge Patricia Zimmerman will oversee the proceedings.

"The society is working to recover and celebrate the history of the judicial system in the state," explained Gillies. "It's mostly for fun on Friday - it is a murder by poison case, but it was a long time ago, so nobody's feelings are going to get hurt."

Peake's case was a true 19th century murder mystery with jealousy at its roots. The victim was Peake's stepson Ephraim, whom she was accused of poisoning with arsenic over a land and inheritance dispute.

Gillies said the facts stacked up against Peake, including a trip to the store to purchase arsenic and the fact that she avoided several meals that made her family, particularly Ephraim, sick. A white powder sprinkled over hash was reportedly the start of the poisoning, according to Peake's accusers.

"She evidently confessed to a lot of people," Gillies said. "But her confessions did vary widely and at least one was heard by a woman hiding under a bed."

The original cast of characters included very well-known men of the times. One of the defense attorneys, Lucious Peck, eventually served in Congress for four years and was U. S. District Attorney. The other, William Upham, eventually served in the U. S. Senate for 10 years.

Prosecuting attorney was the Randolph lawyer Edmund Weston (Weston Street?). He was assisted by William Hebard (Hebard Hill?). The judge, Charles K. Williams, was on the Supreme Court at the time and would become governor.

Campbell's play, "Self-Evidence" suggests that Rebecca may have been innocent. Her story, she says, was "the desperate tale of an old woman forced to live out her last years with a stepson who despised her."

In real life, Rebecca was found guilty, but she escaped her punishment. While the apparatus of death was being set up, she took opium in her cell in the Chelsea jail and died before the hangman's noose was tied.