The Sun.
London, England, 1855-12-18 00:00:00

SUPPOSED MURDER OF A SPORTING

GENTLEMAN BY A SURGEON.

Mr. John Parsons Cook, a sportirg gentleman, aged
28 years, residing at Lutterworth (Leicestershire), was
;he owner of a horse named Polestar, which wou two of
the stakes at the Shrewsbury races on the 13th and 14th
ult. Whilst at Shrewsbury, after the race, Mr. Cook
was taken suddenly ill. He was subsequently removed
to Rugeley, where he had been staying before the races,
and where he died in five days after his return. Suspi-
cions as to the cause of his death arose, and a post mor•
tern examination was made. Portions of the intestines
were sent to Dr. Taylor, and on Wednesday last a coro-
ner's jury heard the evidence of the surgeons who were
present at the post mortem examination. Dr. Taylor,
however, was unable to attend, and the inquiry was ad-
journed.
On Friday the jury re-assembled, and from the evi-
dence then heard, it appeared that the deceased, irnma.
diacely before the fatal illness, had been in the company
of Mr. W. Palmer, surgeon, of Rugeley, and that the
latter had given pills, broth, &c., to the deceased, which
caused him to vomit excessively.
Dr. Taylor said—" My belief is that he died from
tetanus, and that tetanus was caused by medicine given
to him shortly before his death." He proceeded to say
that all the symptoms tended to show that a dose of
strychnine bad been administered. Taking into account
the whole of the symptoms, he had not the slightest
hesitation in saying that the deceased bad died from the
effects of strychnine contained in the pills which ap-
peared to have been given the deceased by Mr. Palmer.
[About this stage of the inquiry Mr. Palmer was seat
for, but the reply was that he was confined to his bed.]
It was then proved that Mr. Palmer had purchased 6
grains of strychnine from a chemist; that on the even-
ing after the race Mr. Palmer had pressed the deceased
to drink something out of a glass, purporting to begrog,
which caused the deceased to exclaim, "There's some-
thing in it—it burns my throat awfully l"—or words to
that effect ' • that he soon afterwards became sink, and
expressed the belief that he had been "dosed."
On Saturday fresh witnesses were examined, showing
that various betting and bill transactions had passed be-
tween Mr. Palmer and the deceased; and that after the
death the deceased's betting book was missed.
The carotin- on summing up mentioned that Mr.
Bamford, who was present at the death, was of opinion
that the deceased died of apoplexy, but that Mr. Har-
land, another surgeon, thought otherwise.
The jury then retired, and, after an absence of six or
seven minutes, they returned, when
The Coroner said—Gentlemen, are you all agreed
The Foreman—We are.

The Coroner—What is your verdict ?
The Foreman—We find that the deceased died of
poison, wilfully administered to him by William Palmer.
The Coroner immediately made out his warrant for
the committal of Mr. Palmer to the county gaol at Staf-
ford, for trial at the March Assizes, for the Wilful Mur-
der of Mr. Cook. Mr. J. H. Hatton, the Chief Con-
stable, forthwith proceeded to Mr. Palmer's house and
arrested him. Mr. Palmer, who had been in custody 0
the sheriff's officers for several days, under a civil pro-
cess, was in bed, and, being apparently in ill-health, the
Chief Constable obtained the advice of Mr. Monktorts
surgeon, who, after examining Mr. Palmer, gave a cer•
tiflcate tliat it would not be safe to remove him that
night. The police-officers were then stationed in hie
bedroom to guard the accused, and a strict examination
of every article in the room was made. The house of
the accused was surrounded with a large crowd of per-
sons till nearly midnight, in the expectation of seeing
him brought out and conveyed to gaol.
MONDAY MORNING, Two o'CLooir.
The accused, Mr. W. Palmer, was too ill to be re-
moved from his house yesterday ; his health had, how-
ever, somewhat improved, and it is probable that he will
be conveyed to Stafford Gaol to-day.
Owing to some circumstances which transpired yester-
day morning—(the particulars of which, for obvious rea-
sons—says a Safford pap(r—vve are not at liberty at
present to give)—it was deemed advisable to obtain a
search warrant, which was placed in the hands of Mr.
Superintendent Bergen and a police-constable, and a
thorough search of the accused's house was made.
The proceedings connected with the above inquiry
have naturally led the minds of many persons to revert
to the cases of several individuals, some of them relatives
of Mr. Palmer, who had died somewhat suddenly and
under circumstances of grave suspicion, the accused
having effected largo assurances on their lives, and in
one or two instances not very long previously to their
decease. An investiaation is now taking place with
respect to some of these os.ses, and it is very probable
that the bodies of one or more persons, relatives of the
deceased, will be exhumed, in order that a chemical
analysation may be made of the intestines.

A SEASONABLE REQUEST.—The treasurer of Sermon
lane Ragge,l Schools, Islington (Mr. Worth), has set on
foot a penny sub•eription. in order to provide the poor
iLil :it t;;;1,
that. klIWArt, solBeriber3
as the high price of provisions will necessarily atlect the
amount eo collected.