The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1856-01-22 00:00:00

RUGELEY POISONING CASE.

Tzt4 •
11104 Nnest upon the death of Walter Palmer, the brother,
74 remains have been chemically analysed by Drs. Taylor
mtope„ea, was resumed on Monday last, before the same
auci jury. •
Rhu attiltincipal witness was Mr. H. Day, surgeon, of Stafford,
,410f.ended deceased at the request of his brother from the
114 6,3"413-, till his death, on the 16th of August. His disease
IklaTee,PPc'sed to be chronic inflammation of the lungs, with
`aat of the liver and kidneys ; but the cause of his
Ok
‘'q 41vas
set down as apoplexy, produced by the incurably
epeli
habits of the deceased. The only suspicious eircum-
'N 4, that he one morning remarked, " The pills you
t :last night, doctor, were twisters On being asked
diveM: 8, the patient replied, " Those his brother William
Vz bin." The latter denied that he had given any
e4l
bat that prescribed ; and it was concluded that the
S,,lttiyiia4 dreamed of the pills in his drunken sleep. He
tfr dlank, despite the doctor's warning, a quart of gin
Nrf 4otelauaY, and three pints at night. When on the sober
04 er Witness said, he drank at least half a bottle. He
hi;ige abbe sofa, and without indications of poison.
,%11 ',l4r3r was resumed on Tuesday. The most important
V4lO "a' given by Professor Taylor, who said that the
)t,ksed as drawn from an examination of the body of the
h:he delvere, first, with the exception of the liver, the viscera
tiosetilareeased presented no appearance of disease ; secondly,
r:eti kit"an ent of the liver was not such as to account for
death ; thirdly that no mineral or vegetable
15,4" th;,?ald be detected in a' ny part of the body ; fourthly,
4tit fo;ep'as nothing in the appearance of the viscera to ac-
'444 death ; fifthly, in the absence of distinct evidence of
t 0 a and • Dl_ duration of the illness of deceased, we. are not
4h se `,'),:e an opinion as to the cause of death, whether
,ivelq Poison. Dr. flees concurs in those conclusions,
i/1 re drawn up and signed on the 4th January last. I
itil4l Ore° heard the evidence given by witnesses as to the
the
443 ‘'t be deceased, and my opinion is, assuming nothing
or taken by him an hour before he died, that the
hosalg.,_2,B death was apoplexy, arising from excessive
lilt(' the 's3'. Mr. Dean : The symptoms of apoplexy are
th do as those of narcotic poison. After, a latise of
h nths, all trace of narcotic poison would have
s;eas or of prussic acid either. Prussic acid would
fortnight after death. Dr. Monckton, who had
9easer,...the body, could form no other opinion than that
evr,faied of a fit apoplexy. The habits of deceased as
thl for R„``a,nee would be quite sufficient to my mind to ac-
its'oeni4 a ftal termination. ByThere is
itAN of
only
Pa.tible in the symptoms I have described with
O'et3 nale acid.
takl booiTlitional evidence of importance was that. of
t4ll4l,MritA,l3 at the Grand Junction Hotel, Stafford, which
waded by the landlord. Myers said :—I knew Walter
'alt its brother WIT r"-re- I remember the time
I'litetiltoetf.her'el'alraer died.' 1.-w'o"'d'a.y's.before he died, William
ca take came two bottles wrapped up in paper, and told
an.tre of them, and not to expose them to the air.
tbeqr fetched them away again the same day. He
1)qj1( kidtlj hack again in about an hour. The next day,
t e of the day, he asked me for them again. I
i
CqtDqkY h°,w,tl tq the 'stables to him. He took one bottle
iE had INrel,l‘4 and opened it, took a small one out of his
fb.rorrl " a little fluid from the small phial into the bottle
Itahlasfigi e tornolet, and then from the large into the small, filling
'44'41, canithe small one away with him. Mr. Lloyd,
allay Ree lett the el
asrtaebrl eb
loct
htlesle
with
d Ie

to the Junction Inn again at Bight. He told me to put the
bottles into the conveyance in which he was going home, and
I did. William Palmer came to the inn next day and said,
"My brother is dead—l have seen the last of him." -
At the close of the day the foreman said it was the opinion
of his brother jurors that, in consequence of the turn the
case had taken since Dr. Taylor was examined, they wished
the case to be adjourned for further evidence ; and that Dr.
Taylor, Dr. Day, and Mr. Pratt, the solicitor in whose hands
the deed of assignment to William Palmer of the life assur-
ance of £13,000 granted to Walter Palmer was supposed to
be placed, should be summoned to give evidence on a future
day.
The coroner at once assented, and the inquiry was adjourned
to Wednesday (to-morrow), when it is understood that Mr.
Pratt will be examined in connexion with the insurance
transactions he had with Palmer, which, it is believed, will
unravel some startling proceedings.

BIRTHS, MARRIAGES, and DEATHS.