The Sun.
London, England, 1863-11-13 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, FRIDAY EVENING, NOVEMBER, 121 1862.

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THE TRIPLE MURDER IN A CAB,

CORONERS' INQUEST.-THIS DAY.

This morning, Mr. W. Carter, coroner for East Surrey,
held an inquest at the Rose and Thistle Tavern, Warner-
road, Camberwell, on the body of Samuel William Hunt,
the husband and father of the female and two children who
were found dead in a cab, under the territle circumstances
already so generally known.
Mr. Hubert Wood, solicitor, attended to watch the pro-
ceedings on the part of the relations of the deceased, and
Inspector Tanner, of the detective force,
was present by
direction of the Commissioners of Police.
The Jury having been sworn,
The Coroner said they assembled that morning to in-
quire into the causes attending the death of William Samuel
Hunt, and the questions they would have to consider was,
first, whether the deceased died from his own hand, the
condition of his mind at the time, and whether he sould be
considered in such a state as to be responsible for his own
actions.

The jury having viewed the body, retuned to the inquest
room. The following witnesses were ealiedand examined :7

Inspector Molloy, of the E division, said—Shortly after
10 o'clock on Monday night, in company
with Inspector
Smith, I went to Ann's Cottage, Warner-road, Camber-
well. We saw no light when we arrived, and then Inspec-
tor Smith knocked at the door. Not receiving an answer
he knocked again.
Coroner—Before he knocked the second time was any-
thing heard within the house ?

Witness—No, sir ; but immediately after I heard a noise
in the passage. It was a sort of coughing, and as of a
parson moving about in the dark. I called Inspector
Smith's attention to it, and then he gave a loud knock, and
immediately a person inside called out, " Who's there ?" I
said, " Open the door, if you please ; we want to speak to
you." I heard the chain of the door removed, and the door
was opened. There was no light; but I saw a man in his
shirt. He said, " Who are you.—tae police ; what do you
want and he immediately made towards the stairs. I
said " Stop , where are you going ?" He replied, " For a
light " Inspector Smith said " I've a light," and he turned
on his lamp, saying to the deceased "Where do yon want
to go." To which he replied " Upstairs to my bedroom."
Coroner—ls the person you have seen dead the same
man.

Witness—He is. Inspector Smith then preceded de-
ceased upstairs and I followed. Imm,diately we entered
the bedroom deceased sat on the b d and commenced retch-
ing very much and was sick. He did the same on going
upstairs. When he recovered he said, " What do you want
with me." I said " Have you read the account of the mur-
der on Saturday last ?" He replied, Yes, I was reading it
this evening." I said, from information we have had, I
believe your family is not at home. He said, "That's
right; they went to Southampton on Friday." We cau-
tioned the deceased when he first entered the bedroom, and
after I said, "You answer the description," and we must
take you into custody on suspicion of being the murderer.
He said, " How were they dressed ?" Smith said they wore
dark clothing. Deceased replied, "It can't be my family,
for they all wore light dresses when they left here." Find-
ing he continued vomiting, inspector Smith asked him what
he had been taking, He said, " I took a small portion of
gin, before I went to bed, which I found in a bottle." We
then told him he must dress immediately and go with us.
He did so ; and on the way to the station he said he hoped
it was not his family, but he would not be surprised. His
wife led him a wretched life; and the children had told him
some time back that one day when they were out for a walk
with their mother they met a gentleman, who took them
for a ride in a cab; that he was very kind to them, and
much like himself, viz., that he wore a moustache. Imme-
diately on arriving at the station Dr. Puckle was sent for,
and immediately attended. Finding the deceased was get-
ting worse, we sent for Dr. Massey. While Dr. Puckle
was attending him he appeared perfectly sensible. The
vomit was of a lightish colour. When Dr. Puckle came
in he asked him what he had been drinking, and deceased
said some gin, upon which the doctor said .' Havn't you
been taking something else," he said no. Don't you know
me, you attended my wife some time ago. She was lying on a
mattress, we had been moving and had not got the furniture
into the house. Dr. Puckle said he remembered the cir •
cumstance. Deceased then said, " I shall get round
directly, my heart is affected and the excitement has caused
me to be in this way." At this time he was retching
very much. Dr. Puckle attempted to administer an an-
tidote saying, " take this it will do you good," but ac-
cording to my mind there was a disinclination to take
it as it was all spilt. On the second attempt deceased's
head was held back, and the mixture was poured down
his throat. There was a slight force required but not
much. After a short time deceased said, "I'm
dying, let me lie down." He did so, but shortly after
he called out, " I'm better now lift me up, I
lost my eyesight for a short time and could not see, but now
I can see very well." This latter remark was made after
he had been assisted up. He attempted to walk about, but
he staggered very much, and he was placed in a chair,
when be again exclaimed, "I am dying fast." His eyes
closed, his head dropped, and he appeared to be unconscious
f a short time, but all of a sudden he started on his feet
and said, " I want to write something before I die; give me
pen, ink, and paper. I hope I shall live to finish it." He
then wr to the paper I now hand in. It was read as fol-
lows :—" Mr. M'Cullocti, pay to my wife £l2O, nue 17th
September last, and the remainder due to me." Deceased,
after he had done so, said to me " I wish you would take
charge of it, as Mr. M'Culloch owes me 18 months' back
wages. I wish that and the £lO I have in my pocket to be
given to my wife and children, if they are alive." We then
assisted him to a chair, when he requested to be placed on
the ground as he was dying, and hiter he had been there
a short time he again seemed to rally, and said,
" I know how she died she took prussic acid."
I said, " Your wife ? Where did she get it ?" He replied
" I had it in the house—she took it." In a short time after
that he expired in an insensible state, I omitted to state
until the present moment that when Dr. Puckle first saw
deceased he asked what he had been taking, to which he re-
plied, " I think there was something else in the glass. I
believe I have taken aconite." In searching the deceased's
house, there is a cupboard in the bedroom in which I found
12 or 141bs. of soap, cut in pieces, and a small bottle con-
taining a fluid. I handed it to the doctors, who were pre-
sent. The bottle had neither stopper nor cork. I searched
the house carefully to find either, but could not.
Coroner—Have you taken any steps to discover whether
his family went to Southampton ?
Witness—There is no such :street as that to which he
had said they had gone.
Coroner—After you entered the house had he any oppor-
tunity of taking anything ?
Witness—No ; I am certain he did not. When I entered
the room I saw some vomit in the utensil. When he sat
down on the bed he cook it up apparently as if he had been
using it before. The fluid in the bottle looked to me like a
dark kind of oil. I don't know the effluvia of prussic acid,
Coroner—What amount of time was there between the
first and second knock at the door?

Witness—Just sufficient for a person to come to the door.
I should say about a minute and a half elapsed before he
came down. I don't think he had time to take anything
between the interval that elapsed between the knocking
and opening of the door. It was impossible for him to have
seen us before the door was opened, because we took care to
place ourselves in such a position to prevent that. The bed
had been used when we saw it.

Dr. Puckle said, I practice as a surgeon, and reside at
Denmark-hill. Last Monday night I was called to the
station-house, at Camberwell-green, a few minutes after
eleven o'clock. I there found deceased sitting in a chair.
I know him to be a person of the name of Hunt. He was
retching violently at the time. His countenance was pallid,
the eyes
presenting a remarkable appearance—the pupils
very much dilated. I felt his pulse, which was scarcely
perceptible. The action of the heart was extremely
feeble, but, with the exception of the retching, his
breathing was regular. I asked him what ho had
been taking, and he said onlyi some gin. I said you've
taken more than that—what is t ? He replied, " No." I
put my nose to his mouth, but could not detect any parti•
ruler effluvia. The retching was violent and spasmodic,
but he did not complain of any sensation at the cheat. I
thought he had taken a narcotic irritant poison. I at-
tempted to administer sulphate of zinc in water. He ob-
jected to take it. I said, "Come, come, Hunt, you know
me, take h." He allowed Lis mouth to be completely filled,
but he spat it out again. I had with me a second dose of
the emetic, which I took care that he should swallow. Ho
did not appear to have the power to resist. The mixture
passed easily down his throat. After the emetic he vomited
immediately, and then exclaimed, " Oh my heart." I
roused him up to ascertain whether he could stand, but he
staggered across the room, almost knocking his head
against the wall. He did not seem to have the power to
raise his arms. I asked him again what he had taken, ana
he still said only some gin. I asked him fromwhence
he had taken it, and he said from a six ounce
bottle. He appeared to doze for a few minutes,
when he revived, and said he had had such delightful
dreams. I asked him if he had any poison in the house, to
which he said, " I procured some prussic acid some time
ago, intending to destroy myself. I. walked about for nights,
I felt so miserable. But it is not AII the house now. My
wife must have taken it with her when she went into the
country on Friday." Some ono asked him if he had taken
prussic acid. He said, " No, or I should not have been
here now ;" showing his knowledge of the drug. I asked
him if he had any other poison, to which he said he had a
packet of opium. I again asked him what he had taken,
ani he then said, " I may have take n aconite—l think it
was." He lived about a quarter of an hour after making
that observation.; I have never seen a case of poisoning by
aconite, but, from reading, the effects are consistent with
those produced by aconite on the human frame.
I received from an officer a bottle, which I produce. It was
given to me by Malloy. It contained about two drops of a
liquid the colour of sherry. I have tested it, and have come
to the certain conclusion it was aconite. I tasted it, and it
produced a complete deadening of the tongue. Aconite
is
procured from a plant known as monkshood. I have no
doubt about the mixture being acronite ; 1.50 of a grain will
destroy life in certain animals, but, according to the opinion
of Dr. Taylor, ten minims of acronite will produce death in
a human being. I have made a post-mortem examinationi
of
the body in company with Messrs, 11„ Massey an Flower.

The examination was made 42 hours after d eat The body was
well formed. There was extreme rigidity of the muscles.
On opening the head I found the brain healthy, the blood
vessels being fuller than usual. The ventricles contained
very little fluid, and there was no effusion at the base of the
brain. The heart presented a healthy appearance, but the
right side was greatly distended, the left side was con.
tracted, and did not contain any blood. The struc-
ture of the heart and lungs were quite healthy. I
have analysed the contents of the stomach, and
found it to contain aconite in small quantities.
I have no doubt that death was produced from that poison.
I detected it in large quantities in the vomit. Aconite does
not produce immediate prostration. It has not so immediate
an effect as prussic acid.
By Mr. Herbert Wood—l have known the deceased for
some time, but I never noticed anything peculiar in his
manner,

The Coroner said ho thought upon the subject of the
poisonicg it was quite conclusive, and therefore they might
well pass to another branch of the case—viz., the motive or
state of deceased's mind.
The suggestion being assented to

Adolphus Orlando Ritchie was then examined. He said
—I am in the service of Messrs. Butler and MacCullock,
herbalists, druggists, and seedsmen, of Covent-garden-
market. I know the deceased. He was employed by the
firm as traveller and shop assistant. He used to take
samples out when he went his journeys. Last Monday
afternoon he told me to get some things from the ware-
house for him. He was then in the shop serving customers.
He came about half-past one in the afternoon and remained
till half-past seven in the evening. I saw him the whole
of that time. I did not notice anything unusual in his
appearance or conduct. He told me to get him some oil of
juniper, oil, of roses, tincture of aconite, and essential
oil of almonds. None of the bottles produced are not those
that I gave him. All the bottles were labelled except the
aconite. He did not usually require aconite. Two of the
bottles were to be sent out to the Waterloo-road, and the
aconite and oil of almonds were to be called for. I told
him the aconite had no label, and he said he would write
ono and place it on the table We do not keep prussic acid
in a pure state. Any article he required would be supplied
without the least hesitation. He usually asked for what
he required if it was not kept in the shop. This was
the case with the aconite. All the goods are kept under
lock, the warehousemen keeping the key. The aconite
could not have been got without going to the warehouse.
We do not sell essential oils re,ail. Our business in those
articles is chiefly with chemists. The deceased was not at
the shop on Saturday.
Mr. Charles M'Culloch said the deceased was in my ser-
vice. His name was Samuel William Hunt. He had been
in our service about three years as traveller.
We shall continue the report in our next edition.