The Express.
London, England, 1851-03-07 00:00:00

ASSIZE INTELLIGENCE.

HOME CIECUIT.-CHELMSFORD, MARCH 6.

(sown silo -moose Lost, Cher herpes C,israst.t.
THE PoI.,),:INGS AT CLAVEItINO.
Sarah Chrthaoll, 41, widow, was indicted for the capital
offence of feloniously administering to Richard Chesham,
her husteind, a quantity of arsenic, with intent to murder
lam.
Thin ease created a good deal of interest on account of the
terrible celebrity gained by the prisoner, and the re-
putation she had of being a professed poisoner. She was
tried in 1847 at these assizes upon a charge of poisoning
two of her children, hut although the evidence was most
cogent, and left very little doubt of her guilt, she obtained
a verdict of acquittal upon that occasion. She has since
then been implicated in another charge of poisoning, when
she again escaped justice and in 1819, a woman, named
I May, who was convicted of poisoning her husband, and who
was executed for that offence, admitted after her conviction
that she had been instigated by the prisoner to the con-
mission of the dreadful act for which she suffered.
Mr. Bodkin and Mr. Clark conducted the prosecution.
The prisoner had no counsel, but one of the gentlemen
of the bar, at the request of the court, put such question, to
the witnesses as she suggested to be material, but which I
elicited nothing of the least importance.
Sarah Chesham deposed that she was the mother of the
deceased, auil at the time of his death she occupied part et
the same cottage with him and the prisoner at Clavering, In
this county. She then proceeded to make the following
statement. I remember my son being very ill in the winter
of 1849. lie was first taken about that time, and he con-
tinued ill until the following May, and he died in that
month. I was in the house with him shortly before his
death. lle was nut able to feed himself for several days
before he died, and the prisoner used to feed him with milk
thickened with Hour or rice. I saw the prisoner give her
husband something on the day before he died, hut I do not
know what it was. The prisoner did not like anybody but
herself to feed him, and she always did so.
The deposition of Mr. Willing, who was at the time re-
lieving officer of the union, of which Clavering is a portion,
and who has since died, was then put in and read. It was
to the eff, et that the prisoner applied to him for an order
for the doctor for her husband, and he gave her one, and he
subsequently repeatedly visited the deceased at his cottage.
He always complained of pain in the chest, of continual
vomiting, and also that his body was swollen, and that
[his bowels were constantly out of order, and that he always
Mt sick. Upon one occasion he showed him his body,
I which appeared swollen to nearly double its or-
dinary Pile, and his arms and legs appeared like
those of a skeleton. The prisoner pulled down the
bed clothes to let him see her husband, and while
he was looking at him, she exclaimed, " Poor thing, be
will not be a trouble to any one long." She also told him
that the deceased was continually vomiting, and that if he
got better fur a day or two, he always relapsed again, and
became worse than before.

Mr. Ilawkes said—l am the medical officer to the Saffron
Walden Union, and, by direction of the relieving officer, I
attended upon the deceased during his illness. I first saw
him about the 11th of February, and he complained of di,-
tension of the bowels and violent pain in the abdomen and
sickness, and all these symptoms continued for a period of 1
~ix weeks,when he was somewhat better. The symptoms in-
termitted constantly, and sometimes they returned with
greater' and sometimes with less violence. The case was
1 of such a nature, that I could not form any satisfactory
i opinion as to the nature of the disease, or its cause. Ail
' the symptoms, however,were such as would be the result of
1 the administration of small doses of some irritant poison.
The deceased also exhibited symptoms of a disease of the
lungs, arid they continued until his death. A short
time before the death of her husband, I told the prisoner
that the nature of his disease was quite obscure,
and that I thought she had better have further
advice, but she declined, and said she was quite satisfied
with me. About this time I had talacd in the
1 village of the necessity of having a post-mortem examina-
tion of the body in case death should ensue, and the pri-
soner came to me in a very angry manner and said that she
, had been given to understand that I intended to cut her
. husband's body open. I told her I hoped there would be
' nu occasion for it, and that her husband would get well.
1 had ',cut medicine to the prisoner and to her sun, but none
of it contained arsenic or any preparation of arsenic. The
symptoms 1 have mentioned continued until the death of the 1
deceased took place. I made a post-mortem examination of
the body and ascertained that the immediate cause of death
was disease of the lungs. I afterwards removed the
stomach and the intestines and their contents, and they
were carefully scaled up and subsequently submitted to Dr.
Taylor for arialyzation.
superintendent Clarke, re-called—On the Nth May I
' searched the prisoner's house. It contained three roam
on the ground floor, in one of which the deceased
died. The prisoner was at home at the time. I
first searched the room in which the family lived,
and in a kneading trough that was in it, I found
a quantity of rice. Before this I had taken posses-
sion of some bottles and other thinr. The prisoner mails
no objection to my doing so. I found the rice in a bag
' and when the prisoner saw me take it up, she 112 ill ihil
" hoped I was not going to take that away, as it was her
, father's, and she had used some of it for her husband : and
she added, that if I took it away, she hoped I would tell
, her father of it. I told her not tointerfere with me and I
should take away just what I thought proper. 'two or
, three timia after this she repeated that she hoped! should
not take the rice away. I kept the bag and the nee in my
case until the 30th Way, and I then delivered it to Dr.
Taylor in the same Mate it was is when I took it from the
proser's house.