The Express.
London, England, 1857-12-26 00:00:00

ME idGLESIGIM POISONING CASH

GLASGOW CIRCUIT COURT.
(Brien the Lard Jogles Clerk.)

THE PRISONER POUND GUILTY:

OF DEATH.

THIRD DAT.-THORSDAY.

The court met this morning at nine o'clock.

Frederick Penney, Professor of Chemistry in the Aflame-
den Univedity, was examined by Mr. Clark, The reports
of the analysis had eatidled him of the pretence of prussic
acid. "I am aware," he added, "It his been said by Orfila
that prosaic add may be produced by decomposition alone,
bat I don't concur in that view. Special investigations bays
boa sods to decide the point, but the results, without ex-
ception, have been negatived. Moreover, we would be fre-
quently meeting with pram& add in our =dyad of animal
substation after death, if this 'peculation had any foundation."

This dead the clue for the crown. There was no evidence
for the defence.

Mr. Henke than soldromed the jury for the Crown. All
the evidence came to or point, and it all pointed le the
prisoner. The deceased, Agnes Montgomery, was palmed
by some prom Who was in her oosapayf The pri-
soner. She wee poisoned by some or in the pommies of
wrote add. The prisoner was In pommies of %smile
told, which be hod purchased. She yea prowl by are
ono who locked her in. The prisoner locked her IA She
was palmed mil fall to the ground, In the perm* of
some oat The prisoner was present. Who lifted bee to
her seat ? The pawner was the only perm moist who
could have done that. Therefore, be said, the panel woe
guilty of the murder of Agnes Montgomery, and he naked
them for • verdiol of guilty accordingly.
Mr. Moncrieff, for the defence. mid the first part of the
car to which he would address himself was, whether Arm
Montgomery died of police I' The jury moat be ended
whether the charge by the crown was proved. HS did ant
even think suicide was excluded, and there have beta may
instances of muds in which the objections by the arra
counsel had all existed. Some natural cause raid aim ap-
art for the death. The theory kr the crown is supported
by medical evidence entirely ; but he thought they would
have min the fawn la the address on that subject. Thane
wee en exclusion of suicide, apoplexy, or epilepsy. But the
' mere absence of congestion of the lash did not prove that
apoplexy had not happened. There wars many cart of
death which were utterly unintelligible to medical me; sad
might it not happen that In this cam it might have Ira
one of them ? He was of opinion that mimic acid wax act
11 the muse of death. The length of attack wan not
only beyond that of any average case, but at the
extreme length of the average of the Wiest,
In the chemical testa there was failure. Fortunately (or the
prisoner there were two different independent gentlemen em-
ployed. Tho WA inlays condoct the diet analysis about the
same time as Dr. Madegan. They find, but may be mis-
taken, that ramie acid is la the etconsch by the three testa.
Dr. Madman is oily able to lad it by or—and that the
most delicate. To early ae pey, tree two cirri-
manta should not dilr en pr. Then4sa the sir time,
Dr. Markman, a mark the, Sala prank add la the
!puma by the sulpha? font; lint a month before this Dr.
wicinkr oould sat Sad it. They should have ford It
more seedy than ha but did net, sea was • mcatk earlier
He found it although a math kr. Bare ears in • theory
of Orfila, that prude aid le generated be the body eater
death, ar it may be be the materlals rod as a SW. A.
‘,ll thought Ordlia's gamy was In this case
—that it wee {rested ta the apisendialag
tlllO mang Me ralyrs. Again so far far ;hie
ors bear re wart motives could be excluded, tt wen
entre* ressery that they arid be proven. Not cashed
been shown by the Crown. 'The pawner had always been
on the best of terms with dermal. It wee said that the
primate had prude acid; and the prisoner apparently mad
some disguise In pang it. He lowha was getting a dai-
mons thing, which required some stratagem, but he could
have got it for any innoceet purpose with just se mock
aecrecy. He might wiah to am what It was like after the
conversation about it, but it requires la be proven clearly
that he got it for au evil pmpesw Tam it is mid he kart a
good opportunity to admWidr the ,poisca • bat that wee sot
all; he mint be proved to bar aborigine al It. He was in the
room and certain monads went bred, but he (Mr. IL) did
not think that these had any barker the ema Clear
and law both rid they beard the MA sad ere caii)ook the
door and go away, but arks, of them arected the sera
with any harm done be say hums bit But se Huy
afterwards found Ares wee is it • warbir that they now
ere up a theory that the miaow did her harm f There Is
no
proof that the primmer bolt the key, sod they had as
rowan, except sa sale eansiries, ens mama tbs. be did ;
it le perketly parr that the deaseed lad held the deer.
But the bey le bead oar a err or near err the pet-
Kiser kiad to pan. It is said by the mews that be was men
to do it ; bat if he wished to comma the key a .H, why did
he not rather throw it into the bum, over whir he
had to per and where It earl haw bra are
securely hid Ae to the anyplace Mat the
phial ford Y the walk at the book pees re
" the" ph 1, Mat was most ant*, kr ars seas mm would
have =let phial thin, gild. aTton isesaleata
afar wait a deed as
that la beck prima be err& • tge eridts, a
lisle agreed dal those Ere pat dews r airs of guilt.
It wee aim said Mr cam the Era of Agnes Moatremary
be rag lie bead. sail his cralemana shearal when it was
arra of. 13Aiae int re, k the meddea cry
stead
km. Bea
denied in lMe sar kd, was savoy for the s
rs, strange that he was not suspected at
e. sad that he ebould pan from hie Bagisehri bride,
twelve doe Aar, with the beet of fringe, en Me bat of
arra This was ell that the pommies made of this put
of the re • sad he (Yr. IL) could only soy Mat it was •
very allikeiradeeka en whkh to build up a cl=6:l
be bsid raeohnka alit the jury moat be
of evorythar bear proved as 'Matey as possible, end,
atlas that were are, the basalt of any doubt must be gives
to the prisoner. He asked at thefr hands a verdict of not
proven.
After the jury had smear of redreelueent sad returned
into court,
.

Tr Laird Judos-Owl' posseitil to ern sp. He mid
Ordirse of the jery, tire fa ertsady ass girt peculiarity
in this are—Wet the dewy* of to. tree of tar dee Is
I lot-
Mimi by siiiitert amps of slaisatedai pure arid
is two behiduaS I wet tyre proprod to bra separatei
the ernes If I had bra neoired to der by die aura
hr tho prisoner, bet ao objections were Mrs. Isr bow-
rat, bon the way in which Mr. licerkeles wargai
kb era, that it eta most advantageous for the lemsr
allow to.. to go together, thus trying to throwpe distweell
as the trivet charge by treating lightly those which wen
bus so. It b a mar sorter fact oonsactr with this car that
• tire error the prisoner tends for presto acid,
without say asearty or pretext for using it. W.
sour ander the evidence in coontetion with the
menhir, M the Am instance; and then, if that it re
tosehree, the Saw two charges will wear a eery Mart
aspect. Than hem Mee a great deal of theory in this are—
both madloa, sad IS to ths motive of the ; hut blow-
lug your obliged's r ye. do, you will feel that ell yes bow
to do with an to. sera] feels. It is neither arms of
motive nor any diaries of medical testimony that you bar
to do with. It is with facts alone. When the facts are
proved, your relict must te in accordance with, and
guided by them, and by no notions shout the improbability
of any odesen or arra of motive. This latter is always •
dangerous field for man to enter Into. Man knows not the
depravity or malignity in the human heart, and number, of
criminals would recaps because one cannot understand what
led them to the commission of their crime. The
Lord Justice-Clark then proceeded to comment on
the evidence at coividerahlo length, pointing out the
trier salient point. to the jury. What become of the
writ acid purchased by the primmer I' For what ;tumor
ins It bought—how was it need—and what became of the
phial f They had the fact, if they thought it proved, of
prussic acid being found in the stomach. On the 23rd be
meads for more prattle add. [Hors his lordship referred to
the charges of attempting to poison the Meson/ No
doubt it was rid,—What wen the motive to this eithw
he nor they could penetrate into the human heart. It was
extraordinary this man, having got a second quantity
of perm acid, should be ford tampering with the life and
health of other people by administenng it to the ?dross—
for that the poison wen In that pint bottle he held to be
proved bevond the potability of doubt. That second phial
we. not left in the hors Of course, it could easily be
thrown on the reed en a dark night. As to the mu-
- " of

11;s, it wig t have been the result of a strange desire or
morbid heling to be powdered of power over the life of other.
—which had been known to influence many people convicted
of poisoning, and the couclu•ion to which they arrived at es
to his having administered the poison was not to be affected
by the rirounuttaace that they were unable to account for
such a thing. There was nothing to render the oommieron
of this crinahighl7 improbable. on account of the previous
character onto prisoner, but what they bad to deal with woe
the facts of the car. It was a matter of great satisfaction to
him in a ems of this sort that it had been investigated and
=with such skill d diligence, and that the chain of
an
brought forward bad bcen so complete, notwlth-
rending the information had not been given for a long pe-
red OW the cracurrenos. He loft the cue with the utmoat
sesihoto la the handsel the jury, believing that whatever
Fmk they came to would be the nearor approximation to
whet woe true, and perfectly satisfactory to the ends of
*dim
The jury then refired, and, after an absence of ten mi-
nute., returned with a verdict unanimously finding the
LiKeiGuilty of Mer ea Murder charged in the Bret count of
lai rletatiat. _ _

Ths Lint Jsetirmillerit then addressed the primmer, lm-
pier's( Id= to mead the remainder of his time In st-
emless indeed his poorltlnn at the foot of the scaffold.
Hs thew seemed the black cep, and sentenced the prier/nee
Is be at the public piece of execution in Paisley,
ea
Thesy, the 14th January. His lordship, In passing
essimes. @Reared mneh affected.
The primer, who received the sentence without emotion,
was thew removed. During the day he maintained the mine
/bad leek which be had exhibited en the two prim:one days
of dm kW, Ism at the moment the jury retired to con-
sider their medial, what a slight wpm movemeet was