According to Davis, Stitt, who at that time was addicted to heroin, had "been beating everybody out of their money" [meaning cheating them, not physically assaulting them] in order to get money to support his habit. Davis believed that one of those people, out for revenge, had given Stitt heroin deliberately laced with something poisonous, possibly battery acid or strychnine, and then Stitt had unknowingly passed the poisoned heroin on to Webster.
Davis asserted that Stitt, who was addicted to heroin, had been stealing money from people to support his addiction. Davis believed that one of those individuals, seeking revenge, had given Stitt heroin laced with a poisonous substance like battery acid or strychnine, and Stitt unknowingly passed it on to Webster.