The Press.
London, England, 1855-12-15 00:00:00

1190

house on the Ist of June, and remained till Mrs.
Wooler died. It would hence appear that the pri-
soner had no desire to conceal the real condition of
his wife; and the dates are further important as mark-
ing that the fatal malady of Mrs. Wooler commenced
before the above ladies arrived. Both assisted in
giving Mrs. Wooler the medicines prescribed, and
Miss Wooler testified that she never observed any-
thing but perfect kindness between her uncle and
aunt.

Some letters of the prisoner, written to friends and
relatives between the 29th of May and the 16th of
June, were read to show that he had given false
reports of his wife's illness. On the 16th of June he
wrote to her brother, Mr. Bucknell (the prosecutor in
the case), that his wife was fast sinking, and that it was
only on the Bth he had ascertained that her disease
was in the upper lung. The only discrepancy between
this account and the fact is that Dr. Hazlewood says
he announced that he did not consider the disease
of the upper lung to be dangerous. As to the in-
creasing illness and positive danger of Mrs. Wooler
there could be no dispute, and the prisoner received
no hint from the medical men that the disorder was
other than natural.

On the 17th of June the doctors changed their
treatment, and administered antidotes, continuing to
do so daily; so that, on the supposition that the small
doses of arsenic continued to be secretly administered,
the poison and the antidote were given together. As
the patient grew worse, the symptoms of arsenic were
more strikingly developed. Tingling of the hands
is one sure symptom of the presence of arsenic. Her
medical attendants, however, did not ask her if she
felt this sensation, but, while Dr. Jackson and Dr.
Hazlewood were in consultation on the 23rd of June,
the prisoner came in to them and mentioned that
his wife felt tingling of the hands, and asked what it
could mean. Dr. Hazlewood went back to the patient,
and she then said that she had felt it for some days,
and had asked her husband to mention it, but that
be had forgotten to do so ; but it is certain that she
might at any time have mentioned this symptom
herself, and if the prisoner had any motive for con-
cealing it why did he volunteer the information on
the 23rd?

A nephew of Mrs. Wooler, Mr. Bucknell (the son
of the prosecutor in this case), was a pupil of Sir
John Fife, and, at the prisoner's request, Dr. Hazle-
wood wrote a statement of his patient's case to Mr.
Bucknell to be laid before Sir John Fife for his
opinion, but Dr. Hazlewood omitted to mention the
tingling of the hands, for the reason, as he says, that
had he done so it would have been to state that Mrs.
Wooler was suffering from arsenical poison. This
important symptom was therefore omitted, and with-
out it the symptoms might all be referable to " high
inflammation of the mucous membrane of the ali-
mentary canal." Dr. Hazlewood states that the
omission was his individual act, as he conceived that
to announce the suspicions of himself and Dr. Jack-
son would not save the life of the patient, while if
they came to her knowledge the shock might hasten
her death. The poisoning process was therefore suf-
fered to go on unchecked till the patient, on the
morning of the 27th of June, breathed her last.

Some prejudice was excited against the prisoner
by reports that he had shown indifference during his
wife's illness, and at her death. It was shown, how-
ever, that he had sat up with her till twelve o'clock
on the night of the 26th, that he had risen at three
o'clock on the morning of the 27th, and that then, as
previously, he had spent much time by her bedside,
reading the Scriptures to her, and praying. On the
morning of her death, the prisoner expressed much
anxiety for the arrival of the medical men, and ran out
to meet Mr. Henzell, entreating him to make haste,
as his wife was dying. After the death, Miss Buck-
nen entreated him to leave the room and to go in
the garden to refresh himself. The prisoner went
down stairs with Mr. Henzell, and while there a bell
was heard ringing violently, and the prisoner asked
Mr. Henzell to go in the garden, where bees were being
hived, as the sight might amuse him. They watched
the bees together for some time, and took some turns
round the garden. The prisoner did not then seem
much distressed, but on previous occasions he had
often been noticed in tears.
Other circumstances of suspicion were stated
against the prisoner, as that one day when he was
absent his wife improved. Dr. Jackson stated :

On the 17th of June I administered an antidote. It was
iron. I thought she rather improved, and grew stronger.
There was quinine also. On the day prisoner went to
Auckland I administered another antidote. It was ammo-
nia and citrate of iron and water. The purginga were
reduced from sixteen to three times; the pulse was reduced
thirty beats in a minute. Her pulse became fuller ; her
countenance looked better.
But Dr. Jackson, from the moment he suspected
poison, seems to have been prepared to find circum-
stances point to the guilt of the prisoner.
Milt was not until two days after the death that the
doctors announced their suspicions to the prisoner.
On the 29th of June a letter came from Dr. Jackson,
declaring his suspicions of poison, on which the pri.