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

THE PRESS.

soner summoned to him the three womeu in the
house, Ann Taylor, Miss Lanchester, and Miss Buck-
nell. The account of what took place is thus stated
by Ann Taylor :

He (prisoner) stood a while, and called Miss Lanchester
and Miss Ilucknell (my mistress's sisters and myself into
a room, and read the note to us all. He said, I think,
" Atrocious ! Poison ! Where could it be ? It could not
be in the food, Ann?" I said, " No." He then said,
" Where could it be ?" I said I did not know. I asked where
the medicine bottles were, and he said that 1 had better
luck them up in my box, for I had made the food. I ac-
cordingly got all the bottles I could find and lucked them
in my box.
- - -

An inquest was held on the 30th of June, and
adjourned till the 13th of July, when a verdict was
returned of death by poison, but no person was
accused. At the urgent request of the prisoner,
made at the adjourned inquest, the body of the
deceased was exhumed, and portions of the internal
parts were sent to Dr. Taylor, of Guy's Hospital, and
Dr. Richardson, of Newcastle, to be examined. In
both cases the costs were paid by the prisoner. He
was arrested on the charge of murder soon after the
conclusion of the inquest.

Of the fact that the deceased died from arsenic
slowly administered there can be no doubt. Dr.
Taylor, who was assisted by Dr. Rees, detected
arsenic in all the parts sent to him—in the rectum,
the heart, the liver, the lungs, and the small intes-
tines. From all the portions analysed about a grain
of arsenic was collected ; and the conclurnon of these
eminent men was, that it must have been adminis-
tered at intervals and in small doses. Dr. Richard-
son came to a like conclusion.
Another fact was remarkable. As the stomach
of the deceased would not bear medicines, injections
were ordered. The prisoner had a syringe, but
after a time it became stopped, and some days before
the death the prisoner borrowed a syringe from Dr.
Fothergill, of Darlington. The tube was new.
But on its return, twhen poison was suspected, Dr.
Fothergill cut up the tube and there detected the
presence of arsenic, though none was used in the
manufacture of the instrument. This fact is of the
more significance as it shows that arsenic was
administered almost to the last, and in the very
injections ordered by the medical men as an
antidote.

The medicines were given to the deceased by
various hands, and different persons assisted in
using the syringe. In addition to Miss Lanchester,
a neighbour, Miss Middleton, sometimes came in ;
and these ladies, with Miss Wooler, and Ann
Taylor, were the only persons who attended de-
ceased till within two days of her death, when Miss
Bucknell arrived.
Ann Taylor deposed:—

Myself, Miss Lanchester, and Miss Middleton, admi•
nistered the medicines. My master also did so sometimes
at the first. I have seen him give her medicines frequently
at first. He did so down to a month or five weeks before
her death. He did not during the last month, because he
could not lift her head from her pillow to please her. The
injections began to be administered about a week after Dr.
Jackson came. Master administered them first, and then
I assistei him. This continued till her death. Either I
or Miss Lanchester assisted him. I made the injections
in the kitchen and took them up stairs. He used some•
times to put the laudanum in. I did so too. I prepared
the injection in a basin. He never prepared any himself.
Miss Lanchester deposed :

During the last month of her (Mrs. Wooler's) life I
stayed in the house. I occasionally administered her me-
dicines to her. I twice assisted Ann Taylor in giving her
injections. Mr. Wooler was, I believe, in bed on those
occasions.
Miss Middleton stated:—

She resided at Haughton, half a mile from Burdon.
Was frequently at the prisoner's house during the last
month of deceased's illness. Occasionally gave her medi-
cinec, and had seen Mr. Wooler give them. Was not
present when injections were administered.
Margaret Wooler said
I gave my aunt medicine three times. Was not present
when any injections were given.
The Indian ba. ket of the prisoner, to which fre..
quent reference was made, was kept in the store
closet, and of this closet Mrs. Wooler, while well,
kept the key. When too ill to attend to household
affairs she gave the key to her husband, and he gave
to Ann Taylor the articles she required for the house.
When by direction of the doctors the evacuations
of the deceased were preserved, Ann Taylor took
charge of them, and placed them in the coach house.
On one occasion it was discovered by Mr. Henzell
that the urine sent to him was not from the same
person as on previous occasions. The other urine
contained arsenic, but this portion contained none.
Mr. Htinzell deposed :
On tie next day, the 24th June, I asked Mr. Wooler if
the specimen he last sent was procured from the same
source as the others, as it differed materially. He said it
had, and called Ann Taylor, and asked her if she had sent
the urine to me as he had directed her. She said yea; she
had taken it from the coach•house.

SATURDAY,

One other principal circumstance of suspicion re-
lated to the bottles in the Indian basket. The bottle
containing Fowler's solution of arsenic was nowhere
to be found when inquiry was made for it. The two
policemen who searcned the prisoner's house de-
posed:
George Brown, police-constable :—I went to prisoner's
house on the .1.3t.h of July. He had been appre-
hended the night beore. I saw Ann Taylor take
some bottles out of a box in her bedroom, which she
gave to me. I placed them in the storeroom. When I
first went to the prisoner's house the storeroom was un-
locked. The box containing the bottles was locked. Ann
Taylor had the key. Miss liucknell was staying in the
house.

Anthony Robson, superintendent of police :—1 par.
tially searched the prisoner's house on the 11th of
July. We found an Indian basket, containing bottles of
medicine. I searched for a bottle of Fowler's solution of
arsenic, but did not find it. On Friday, the oth of August,
I received some bottles from Ann Taylor. The search oe.
cupied eight hours, and included the stable and coach•house.
The premises were watched from the 27th of July, when
the prisoner was apprehended. I nowhere about the plus
found doctor's tbroken bottles. The nightsoil also was
examined.

The trial lasted three days. Mr. James in his
opening address made some statements which were
not sustained by evidence. Thus Mr. James asserted
that it was not until after the prisoner had been
repeatedly pressed by Dr. Jackson that he consented
to call in other advice, when it was completely proved
that the prisoner had quarrelled with Dr. Jackson for
not earlier warning him of his wife's danger, and had
expressed his belief that if Dr. Hazlewoud had seen
her earlier she would not have died. The defence of
Mr. Serjeant Wilkins was observable for two cir-
cumstances. He unequivocally admitted that the
deceased bad died from the effects of arsenic, but
yet pointed suspicion at no person. In summing up,
Baron Martin plainly indicated to the jury what
their verdict should be, and, in allusion to the severe
censures passed by Mr. Serjeant Wilkins on the
medical men in allowing the poisoning process to go
on for twenty days after they strongly suspected it,
said that in his opinion " their conduct, as detailed
by (themselves, was reprehensible." At the close of
his address the learned judge used these remarkable
words :

It is for you to say whether you can safely come to the
conclusion that the prisoner administered the arsenic. I
am unable. 1 may observe that, if I were to make a stir•
mine, there is a person upon whom my fancy would rest
rather than upon the prisoner.

The jury retired at a quarter to six o'clock, and
after an absence of ten minutes returned with a ver-
dict of Not Guilty.
The learned Judge said :

The countzy are indebted to you for your great attention,
and I myself feel extremely thankful for the care you have
bestowed. I would have interfered sooner, but thought it
more satisfactory to allow the case to be folly heard.
It is impossible to mistake the person to whom tho
suspicion of the judge points; and the case will
probably shortly come before the public in another
shape.