The Sun.
London, England, 1863-12-25 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, FRIDAY EVENING, DECEMBER 25, 1863

THE GUILDFORD MURDER.

HOME CIRCUIT.—KINGSTON, Dec. 24.

CROWN COURT.
(Before Mr. Baron Pigott.)
The learned Judge had appointed this morning to
take the case of murder, which will be found to be
rather a remarkable illustration of the importance
of the science of medical jurisprudence, especially
as applied to the discovery of the precise cause of
the death of persons who have died by violence. On
this account the attention of Professor Taylor had
beta directed to the case by the direction of the
Secretary of State, and he was in attendance to be
examined as a witness. The great difficulty of the
case, as a-problem of medical jurisprudence, was that
there were appearances both of strangulation and
poison by strychnine, and the latter of course might
have resulted from suicide, whereas the former
-would hardly be consistent with that view ; and
there were two theories suggested by the prosecu-
tion and the prisoner's counsel, added a third—the
one being that the prisoner and the deceased had
agreed to take poison and destroy themselves to-
gether; the second being that he had pretended to
enter into such a plan, designing to murder the
woman ; the third, that she had poisoned herself
without his co-operation.
The prisoner, a soldier, named Joseph Mahaig,
was placed at the bar, indicted for the murder of a
young woman named Elizabeth Waterer.
The case, which is very painful, as well as remark-
able, occurred at Guildford, and has lately been nar-
rated in our columns in our intelligence from that
place, on the occasion of the coroner's inquest.
The prisoner and the deceased were both young
people. He was a sergeant, and a man of pre-
viously good character ; she was a girl, also appa-
rently of a respectable character, and had formed a
strong attachment to him, and there seemed every
reason to suppose that he had seduced her. His
regiment had been ordered to India, and she was
very anxious that he should marry her, and had
written to him to beg of him to do so a few days
before the fatal event. They then met, and took
lodgings on Tuesday, Nov. 3, at a public-house in
Guildford, where they occupied one room. On that
day she was proved to have purchased a packet of
Batty's Vermin Powder, a small packet of which
contains a grain of strychnine. They retired to
rest on the Tuesday night, both quite well. On the
Wednesday morning, when the landlady to';k up
breakfast, the man took it in, and the landlady saw
the woman lying on the bed, apparently asleep.
When she took away the things the woman re-
maimed in the same position, not speaking, and
apparently asleep, the prisoner accounting for it by
saying that she had been unwell. No noise nor
bound of quarrel nor of struggle had been heard.
She was never seen alive after that, but the next
day the prisoner was seen and asked for a razor,
which he obtained. On Friday, Nov. 6, neither of
them appearing, and the door being closed, it was
broken open and the young woman was found lying
on the bed quite dead, and the prisoner also lying
with wounds on his throat, which had been healed.
In the pocket of the man was found a paper which
had contained Batty's Vermin Powder. The body
of the young woman was in a state of incipient de-
composition, and a local surgeon called in came to
the conclusion that her death had been caused by
violence_ The body, he said, was lying on the back
on the bed, '° as if laid there, the limbs very placid."
There was a pillow on the face. tie observed a
rope in the room, with two or three long
hairs upon it, which he thought the hairs
of a woman. He saw marks upon the
neck. There were no appearances of escaped
or coagulated blood, which would have been
generally expected to be found in cases of strangu-
lation. The tongue was protruded and swollen.
The lungs were collapsed, and on each side in the
cavity of the chest there was bloody serum. The
vessels of the heart contained no clot or coagulated
blood (which was expected generally in cases where
death took place slowly, and especially in cases of
strangulation), and the heart itself was firmly con-
tracted, which was usual in cases of sudden death,
and, as far as it went, tended to show that death
had not been caused by strangulation. He was led
to infer from the appearances that strychnine, not
strangulation, was the cause of death. He tested
for strychnine, in conjunction with another local
surgeon, and they thought they had discovered
strychnine. Their examination, however, was cut
short, in order to submit the matter to Professor
Taylor, and from farther examination with him he
came to the conclusion that this was a mistake, and
that there was no strychnine, and that strychnine
was not the cause of death, but strangulation,though
at the same time strychnine might have been
taken. The conclusion of strangulation was
grounded on the peculiar moist appearance of the
ht ad and upper part of neck, dryer appearance of the
chest, and the marks upon the neck (as if constrict-
ing force had been used, whereby the return of the
blood from the upper to the lower parts had been
retarded), and the enormously distended state of
the head (which, however, was partly owing to de-
composition) and the absence of blood. He thought,
for these reasons, that strangulation was the cause
of death, and not strychnine. The surgeon, in cross-
'lamination, said he had formed the suspicion of
,Tt!tgulation before he saw the rope, and he
the
tever been of opinion that strychnine was
as. 050 of death, although at one time he thought
it had
bten taken, Its physiological appear-
ances •
INht be present, though it had not
caused death. H
death had been He could not positively say that
pi:ien. caused by strangulation, but such
was his 0
the east-,
heat• There were greater difficulties in
war, only give an opinion. The
opearances
not inconsistent with poison, but
were more
eonbit
with strangulation. The
other local surgeont
aiNtr. Sells, spoke more posi-
tively'. He said the
whole of the face and under
the chin was black, and a
dark
breadth of skin
round the neck was of a
the surface of the Corpse generally
rase colour, whereas
only part tr,lces of dEcompotitifor
They
hwhitte, with
they bad discovered traces of iltr_e,
n. houganyeonn but not
satisfactorily, and had come
e usion as to
reisea. There were certain marks
roundcor,e4l,outiirthe neck
outside, and also, on dissection,
heagamarks
under the skin, and the vessels of
found full of congested blood which had been
there
e
during life. From all these, appearances he
"tat the conclusion that the deceased had been
strangled, and he at that time and ever Sint,
ha
attributed death to strangulation, No blood,hov,
ever, was found in the heart, which was not usenl
in cases of strangulation, nor did he know how it
unid be accounted for, unless the deceased had also
been subject during life to the effects of a poison
acting on the spinal nerves and muscles—as strych-
nine; and if Batty's powder had been taken it
would have effected the action of the heart, even if
it had not caused death. He had, however, never
known a case of strangulation combined with
poison. There was extravasated blood in certain
lines round the neck, and there was a remarkable
fulness of blood in the head and face; There could
hardly be more extravasated blood then there was.
Such were the appearances presented, and such the
opinion formed by the local medical men. Certain
letters were found in the room, one of which
;ncin the a omen's handwriting, and some of
7tl' h purported to be written by the woman, but,
iappeared, were really written by the prisrner in
a simulated hand, and expressed an intention on her
pwahritctho
w a committhe
isticide. But in one of these letters,
prisoner's, he stated that, having left
the room, he found
round her neck
Which her on his return with a rope
they both took he said he took off, and that
poison; a '
taken
and that she afterwards died
in his arms. There however, it will be seen,
no evidence of his hiving
indeed, no positive eviden7l3l:tih_s her after
haenhcladt,heforer
no traces of it were found
even
r after a post
mortem ex4mination ; and „
the surgeons who had
seen the body (which Dr. Taylor had not) were both
of opinion that the death was caused by
strangula-
tion, and not by poison. The letters, which were
several of them partly destroyed by fire, and had
several blanks in them, were as follow :--One of
them only—the first—was in the writing of the
woman, and was dated the 3d of November, the day
on which she bought the poison. It was to her
mother. Then there was one by the prisoner, and
purported to be by the deceased to her mother,

The other letters were all by the prisoner, and
one was dated on the 4th of November—that is, the
Wednesday, the day on which the landlady :aw the
woman lying apparently asleep. There were two let-
ters by the prisoner, written after his ap ehension :
(No. 1.)
Copy of part of letter found in prisoner's pocket of
trousers when searched, and supposed to have
been written by the deceased, Elizabeth Waterer,
to prisoner :

Down Race, Guildford, Oct. 31.

My Dear,—ln answer to your very kind and ever most
welcome letter which I have received this morning I take
this most favourable opportunity of sending you these few
lines to let you know that I am in good health, as these few
lines leaves me in at present, tru,ting these few lines will
find you in the enjoyment of the same. Dear Joseph you say
in yours.... (this part destroyed) ....with you. Nothing
would give me more pleasure than to come with you, but
we had better get married first, and then go. My time will
be up to leave on the 22d of the month, and you say you are
going on the 26th of the month. My dear, you say you will
come and see me as you come from London, we live on the
road for Aldershot, so you could come and see me. I think
we would be better married than single, and I would like to
go abroad very.... Dear Joseph, you....if the time .... and
let me.

(No. 5.)
Copy of a letter found on a table in the room at the
Coacbmakers' Arms, where the deceased Eliza.
beth Waterer and the prisoner were found on the
morning of Friday, the 6th of November last :
envelope addressed to Mrs. Catherine Mahaig,
Rathfreland, County Down, Ireland.
C. Guildford, Surrey, 31 ! 10 '63.
Dear Mother,—I take this most favourable opportunity
of sending you these few lines to let you know I am in good
health at present, trusting to find you in the same. Dear
mother, I thought of having the pleasure of sending you a
letter from my brother John, but I have not received any
answer as yet from him. I was intended of going on fur-
lough in this month, but circumstances at present will not
allow at present. I may let you know that there is rather
a serious accident happened to me within this last few days.
I was going out to India, but there was a young woman
that I was keeping company with and she could not come
along, so I was think in my time I have seen enough of
the world, and I am sorry to intimate to you as a mother
that ray time will be short, I think, in this world, so I
hope, if we do not meet in this world, that we will have
the pleasure of meeting in the world to come, where I hope
our souls will be at rest and glorify Him above.
Dear mother, I am sorry to have to intimate this letter to
you, but, as a child to a parent, I think I am justified in
sending you this, although to the heart I am sorry in doing
so, although in some of the world's career you might hear
of my name mentioned as regards this, but it is through
nothing of dishonour, and yet when I am gone there will, I
make no doubt, a good many regret the death of me as a
non-commissioned officer; with the regret I freely bid you
all adieu, my sister May, brother William in the kindest
manner. I must conclude, trusting the Most High will
pardon wherein I have done wrong, not that I have done
anything I am ashamed of, but this young woman I had
the unfortunate of bringing to this state, and on records, if
there should be anything that should blame her, I hope if
you don't some one will contradict the saying.
"Good evening. May God of his infinite mercies bless,
guide, and direct you all is the wishes of your ever loving
son until death parts, which I know is near.
" JOSEPH YONKIN MAHAIG,
"late of her Majesty's 103 d Regiment."
(No. 4.)

Copy of a letter, partly burnt, found on a table in
the same room at the Coachmakers' Arms. Ad-
dress on envelope :
"To all concerned. This night,
" Guildford, 4th Nov., 18G3.

"So now dear Elizabeth she lies by my side, may the
Lord have mercy upon our souls, that she loved did
the same. .... I hope our bodies
3 this morning the draught she did take, although I partook
of it, was not quite safe ; in 20 minutes after she did then ex-
pire, and I was left weeping, sure, in her cold arms. She said
Are you coming ?' as we both drank together. I hope we will
meet in the next world together, but in place of cold that
she did me give was something ....do breath, I hope there's
no blame .... although she cold, her spirit is near. I have
watched and caressed, sure, all this day long ; but now
dear Elizabeth is fit for the day, and shortly now after we
both soon will part, if with that little article I can take my
life.

To all concerned;
JOSEPH MAHAIG, Sergeant 103 d Regiment,
Aldershott.
(No. 2.)
Copy of a letter found in the same room, addressed,
Mrs. Waterer, at Head ley, near Epsom, Surrey :
Guildford, Surrey 3 1, 10 I 'G3.

Dear Mother,-1 think it rather strange in you not an-
swering my last letter which I sent to )ou. I think it very
unkind in you not doing so, but in a short time you will
sent to me the last farewell, as I intend of going from here
wish that young man called J. Yonkin Mahaig, of the 103 d
Regiment, Aldershot. But, dear mother, I am sorry
to intimate to you that I think my time will be very short
in this world, as him, I must confess to you as a mother I
am very much attached, I blush when I intimate this to
you, but, as a mother, you must know what youth is, and I
have made my mind up, rather than part with him,
that I will partake of something deadly draught, as 1 know
that he would willing die with me ; but for a moment do not
blame him with this, as you will, I dare say, in the news of
the Times, hear of both of our names. Very likely he will
get the blame of this, but 1 hope as regards my delleration,
you will contradict it. Dear mother, I now kindly bid you
all farewell, and as we will not meet in this world, I hope
we will in the world to come. My boxes is at Guildford
Station Railway, two in number. If you will come there
you can have them. There is also a dress at that place, I
left behind in drawers in the store-room, and you can ask
the cook for it, as she knows about it. I must conclude at
present. Good evening.

With my best respects to all inquiring friends, it any,
may God of His infinite mercies bless, guide, and direct you
all, is the wish of your ever loving and affectionate daughter,
ELIZABETH WATERER.
[This letter is supposed to have been virittoa by
the prisoner in a disguised hand.]

- (No. 3.)
Copy of a letter found found in the same room, ad-
dressed to Sergeant-Major William Ireland, 3d
Regiment, Camp, Aldershott.
Guildford, Nov. 3, 1863.
" Sir,—l presume in sending you these few lines, as I
know you were always a good friend of mine, I send this
to you cs a farewell, and I hope you will accept the same
from me, as I am about to have my departure from this
world, and I hope you do take care of yourself as regards
company, as I may say that it has brought me to this now;
but no blame to them that is along with me. Sir, I con-
cude at present with my best respects to all the sergeants of
the regiment.

JOSEPH MAIIAIQ, Sergeant.
I have written to my mother; my nuclei I will forward
o her. Good evening.

Copy of a letter, marked F, written by prisoner in
the presence of Police-Constable Marshall, in the
hospital of the Guildford Union, Nov. 26, 1863.
I do not know what to write what the may ask upon.
Shall I put this date, 26th of this month. Where am I
going after that ?

I may let you know that we both partook of the poison
at the same time, but the poison that I took that she gave
me was got in another shop. It was blue colour. In about
half-an-hour she was dead. I think it was on the night of
the 3d we both said, as she would not leave me, th4t we
!hould die together. She died in my arms during the even-
Z. When I went down stairs to the foot of the steps for
The she had a rope cord on her neck when I came up.
A, at night we both took the poison in some gin, about
,„„theZe both sent, at least left, a letter for both our
Dear fri:athe table. I do not wish for any one to see this.
with her, e, I do not care. I wish to God I had a went
Upon these f JOSEPH MA.nlic.
acts
it is manifest that there were three
which whi, 8
might be adopted—that the prisoner
and the dtceua
attempted to commit suicide
together, in view,whicia`l
of course, it would be in law
a case of murder ; 01.
piatiewaitt_the prisoner pretended to
enter into such a
billaeeirl really intending only
that she should die, and
rov-
ing insufficient, aiding her
dettaps,the poison ph by strangulation
or lastly, that the woman committed
her u c e by poi-
son, and that the prison, find
dead, tried to
kill himself through anguish. _
that theory
‘-it course, on the
theory that death was caused by etra„,.u,a.. then
the latter view was not tenable. And
1 tion then
Q the theory of
death by poison was consistent with
or
the first.
Mr. Lilley, in stating the case for the prosecution,
did not distinctly and definitively adopt Either the
theory of a real or simulated scheme of suicide, point_
ing cut to the jury that there were facts consistent
with either, and that, in point of law, even though
the prisoner ieally meant to commit suicide with the
deceased, he would be equally guilty of her murder.
But he observed that the fact that the prisoner had
written letters in which he simulated her handwrit-
ing, evidently with the view of making it appear
that she intended to commit suicide, seemed to indi-
cate an intention on his pert thus to disguise her
murder under the appearance of suicide. And there
were, he said, passages in the letters which seemed
to point tothe conclusion that he had seduced the poor
girl, that she had pressed him to marry her, and that
he had designed to murder her in order to get rid of
her, d
an
then
cast upon her the shame and guilt of

suicide. The theory of strangulation, if it could be
upheld, would, of coarse, establish this view ; but
the learned counsel intimated that he was aware
that the eminent professor whom he should call as
a witness, Dr. Taylor, would negative that theory,
Of that, however, the jury would have to judge,
and, though it might affect the moral guilt of the
prisoner, it would not affect his legal guilt.
Mr. Lilley and Mr. H. W. Sharp conducted the
case for the prosecution. The prisoner had not
retained counsel. Mr. Oppenheim, at the request
of the learned Judge, watched the case on his
behalf.

Mr. Philips, one of the local surgeons, being
examined, and giving evidence to the above effect,
stated that in cases of death by strychnine all traces
of the poison may be eliminated, and not discover-
able in the body. But he thought that the absence
of extravasation of blood was not consistent with
strangulation.
The other local surgeon, Mr. Sells,
spoke, it
will be seen, more positively, but being
pressed by the prisoner's counsel as to whether he
could swear that the death arose from strangula-
tion, he could only say that he had never known a
case of death except from strangulation present such
appearances. Neither of these witnesses, however,
had seen more than two or three cases of strangu-
lation, and neither of them had seen a case of death
by strychnine. He thought that the woman was
under the influence of strychnine when she was
strangled; that strangulation was the actual cause
of death, and that the appearances were not con•
sistent with death by strychnine alone. _ _

Professor Taylor was then examined by Mr.
Sharp. He had, he said, examined those portions
of the body which had been examined by the local
surgeons and also other portions as well. He had
submitted them to chemical analysis, and he had
applied the tests for strychnine, and he discovered
none, nor any trace of it. Ho employed micros-
copical as well as chemieal tests. He had shown
the result to Mr. Philips, the local surgeon, and
requested him to repeat his experiments, putting
strychnine into a portion of the remains in order to
satisfy himself that it could, if present, be de-
tected ; and they both were satisfied that it was not
present except in the portion to which they had
added it. He believed Mr. Philips had been misled
at first by a colour test, which was fallacious. He
had heard the accounts of the post mortem exami-
nation and the appearances presented; and his
opinion was, that the only data for medical judg-
ment were the condition of the heart and lungs.
The appearances of the heart and lungs were quite
consistent with death from strychnine, and not
consistent with death from strangulation, as far as
his observation had extended. Supposing the de-
ceased had taken a quantity of strychnine not auffi-
cient to cause death, and had been strangled, or sup-
posing that she had taken strychnine sufficient to
cause death, but strangulation had been applied
before death, he believed that in neither case, and
in no case, would strychnine present the appear-
ances in the heart and lungs usual in cases of death
by strangulation. Those usual appearances were the
presence of a large quantity of blood in heart and
lungs. This ease in its precise circumstances was
prima impressionis. He had known a case of death
by strangulation, in which prussic acid was taken
(after the rope was round his neck), but there was
no post mortena examination in that case. The
effect of strychnine was great contraction of the
heart and muscles. If there was death from strych li
-
nine, but the dose was small, none of it might be
found after death—that is,if the dose was just suffi-
cient to cause death and no more, but if there was
any residuum or surplus it would be detected.
There was nothing found in the stomach, and that
would be a state favourable to the absorption of
strychnine. He found no powder or flour or soot in
the stomach. His own opinion was that the pro-
bable, and the only probable, cause of death was
poisoning from strychnine, half a grain of which
would destroy an adult in 20 minutes. In a packet
of Batty's powder there was a grain of strychnine,
and if the whole was taken by the woman there
would be a residuum discoverable after death. The
effect of strangulation would certainly be to drive
the blood up into the head, and parts congested
with blood were more prone to decomposition than
others. A cord twisted round the neck would pro-
duce the appearances observed upon the neck. De
composition in this case had been unsually rapid
even fir a case of strangulation. He never, that he
remembered, knew a case of decomposition so rapid
for a death within 48 hours. The appearances
were rather such as would be observed in a case in
which death had taken place several days before.
Decomposition never set in until all rigidity had
ceased ; it was the chemical change which followed
the last action of life in the body. Strychnine
caused paroxysms of rigidity in life, but they did
not continue after death. The tongue might be
found protruded from the mouth in a case of death
from strychnine, supposing decomposition had gone
on a certain time. If the body had not been putre-
fied, protrusion of the tongue would certainly have
shown death by strangulation. He had had very
great experience in cases of death by poison, and
had for 30 years made toxicology his study. And
his opinion was that death might be caused by a
small dose of strychnine, just sufficient to cause
death, without leaving any traces of it discoverable.
He had known cases of persons who had died from
strychnine, i❑ which it could not be discovered.
Two of these were cases of murder. He was clearly
of opinion that strychnine would not present the
usual appearance of a death from strangulation;
and he thought that certain appearances i❑ this
case were inconsistent with death from strangula-

tion. The appearances consistent with it were— '
livid and bluated conditio❑ of face and neck, con-
gestion in the veins of the neck, but there were no
internal appearance. consistent with death by stran-
gulation,and there) were those external appearances
inconsistent with such a death; the absence of any
deep indentation of the neck, or of laceration of the
skin, or appearances in the muscles, windpipe, and
soft parts below the skin, indicating mechanical in-
jury by pressure, or of effusion of blood under the
parte supposed to be compressed, as to which, how-
ever, Dr. Taylor observed, the two local men dif-
fered. And the appearances of the heart and lungs
were also inconsistent with death by strangulation.
All the appearances on the head and face were, in
his opinion, ascribable to putrefaction, and his
opinion was that death in this case was caused by
strychnine, Being pressed by the counsel for the
prosecution whether strangulation in bed by soft
materials, as pillows, &e., might not be produced
without those appearances which would result from
the use of rougher means, or whether the appear-
ances might not have been erased by decomposition,
he replied in the negative to both questions, and
adhered firmly to his theory of death by strych-
nine. The first effect of strychnine would be vio-
lent paroxysms and convulsions, and struggling, all
of which would render it more difficult to cause
death by strangulation.
Mr. Sells, being recalled, stated that there was a
great deal of extravasated blood in the neck, from
the chin down to the chest.
The letters were put in, and all but one proved
to have been really written by the prisoner.
This was the case for the prosecution.
The prisoner, in answer to the learned Judge,
said he should wish the counsel who had watched
the case on his behalf to address the jury in his
defence.

Mr. Oppenheim accordingly addr?ssed the jury on
his behalf, relying, of course, strongly on the evi-
dence of Dr. Taylor, as showing that death had not
beencaused by strangulation,and that therefore there
had been no active participation by the prisoner in
the death of the deceased, and that all the evidence
and appearances of the case were consistent with
the theory of death by suicide without any participa•
tion by the prisoner whatever in the act. There was
00_
anger. trace
. t
Of a motive for murder; there were no signs
°
The prisoner and the woman seemed to
be on good terms together. It was proved that the
woman purchased poison. He admitted that the law
had been correctly laid down by the counsel for the
prosecution, nod that therefore, if the prisoner was
a party to the act of taking poison by the deceased,
he would be in law guilty of murder. But if the
death were not caused by strangulation, then there
was, he contended, no sufficient evidence of any such
participation by the prisoner in the administration
of poison as would make him a. party to the

act of suicide. The theory of the prosecution,
indeed, leas death by strangulation, and not by
poison. If, therefore, the theory of death by
strangulation was disposed of, then the prisoner
ought not to be convicted. That strychnine had
been taken there could not be, he said, a doubt,
and the jury surely could not convict the prisoner
of murder on the mere opinion of two country
practitioners, opposed to that of so eminent a man
as Dr. Taylor. He could not seriously ask the jury
to entertain the hypothesis of natural death ; but he
contended that everything in the case was consis-
tent with the theory of voluntary suicide, and of an
attempted suicide by the prisoner in a state of de-
spair. As to the letters the learned counsel argued
that they tended to show that neither the prisoner
nor the deceased were in a sound state of mind, and
that they had agreed jointly to take away their own
lives. The natural solution of the case, he suggested,
was that the woman had committed suicide in de-
spair—not because the prisoner could not marry her,
but because he was going to India, and by military
regulation he could not take her with him. In fiction
such events were often represented, and in foreign life
they unhappily occurred; and, supposing that the two
together, in a state of distraction caused by their im-
pending separation, had resolved to destroy them-
selves, hers would not be the guilt of suicide, nor his
that of murder. Had the prisoner completed his own
act of attempted suicide, any jury would have found
it a case of temporary insanity, and such, he con-
tended, should be their verdict now.
The learned Judge then summed up the case, ob-
serving that certainly the circumstances were very
distressing. There could be no doubt that the un-
fortunate woman had met with her death either
from strangulation or poison. But the great ques•
tion was whether the prisoner had any part in
her death. If they were of opinion that it was
caused by the rope and by his act, then their verdict
must, of course, be wilful murder. If they were
of opinion that the death was caused by poi-
son, then they would have to consider whether
she took the poison without any participation
on his part, aiding and abetting her act, and
if they thought she did, then they must
acquit him. But if they were of Opinion that they
agreed together to take poison, and took it together
and she died and he survived, then their verdict
must be wilful murder. He had cut his throat, and
they would have to consider whether it Was part of
a joint agreement to kill themselves, or was a sub-
sequent act without any connection between the
parties, then the circumstances of the case, and
lastly and especially, the medical evidence on which
the case must mainly depend. In the first place
they must consider the letters. The first, dated
Oct. 31, written the day before the parties met and
took the lodgings together, was by the woman, and
was partially destroyed. But it run this—" We
had better be married ;" and it referred to his going
abroad. That was a letter undoubtedly written by
the deceased woman to the prisoner just before
they left. It would be very material for
the jury to consider whether the woman
was dead on the Wednesday, for, if so it would
be very extraordinary that the prisoner should
not have mentioned it to the landlady when he saw
her, and asked for a rozor. The learned judge di-
rected the attention of the jury very carefully to all
the surrounding circumstances attending the posi-
tion of the bodies and the condition of the room
when they were discovered. He adverted to the
fact that the woman had procured poison, and that
the paper which had contained it was found in the
room, and that it would contain poison sufficient to
kill two persons. The learned judge then read and
commented on the letters found in the room, in the
name of the deceased, but in the handwriting of the
prisoner. The first of these, dated on the 3d, the
day the poison was bought, ran thus :—" My time
in this world will be short. I intend to take some
deadly draught. I know that he will willingly die
with me." The learned judge observed that the
letter was said to be written by the prisoner in a
feigned hand, but the signature was rather in a dif-
ferent hand from the body of the letter. Its terms, he
observed, rather indicated that it was dictated by
the woman, and the probability of that was con-
firmed by the fact of her purchase of the poison, and
its mentioning a fact only known to her. The next
letter was clearly by the prisoner, and purported to
be a farewell, as he was " about to take his depar-
ture from this world," and "no blame to those who
were with him." The jury would put their own
construction upon these letters, keeping their minds
upon the position of the parties. The next letter
was avowedly by the prisoner, and was dated the
4th, the Wednesday. It ran thus :—" So now dear
Elizabeth lies by my side," end purported from its
terms to be written at night, and it was the evening
of the day on the morning of which the landlady had
seen the young:woman lying apparently asleep. The
letter went on :—"May the Lord have mercy on her
soul ; may both our bodies lie in one grave." There
s ere erasures in the letter, but it appeared to run
thus—" This morning she took the draught, though
I took a part of it, and she died in 20 minutes ; and
I was left weeping in her cold arms. She said
Are you coming ?'" It was very singular, the
learned judge observed, that Dr. Taylor had stated
that hail a grain of strychnine would cause a per-
son's death in 20 minutes. 'The letter went on :
" I have watched and caressed her all the long day,
but now dear Elizabeth is fit for clay, and shortly
after we shall be together if that little article will
end my life"—probably alluding to the knife or
razor. It was very remarkable that this was writ-
ten, or purported to be written, on the the night of
the 4th, when it was probable the poor woman was
dead. There was another letter by the prisoner to
his mother, and ran thus :—" I was going out to
India, but there was a young woman who I kept com-
pany with, but she could not go oat with me, and so I
thought it was time for me to leave this world." Tne
learned judge then went on to read and comment on
the medical evidence, telling the jury to bear in
mind the two theories set up—of death by strych-
nine or by strangulation. He pointed out that Mr.
Philips's reason for not thinking that death was
caused by poison was, that none could be detected ;
whereas Dr. Taylor did not deem this reason at all
adequate, and considered that there might be death
from strychnine without traces of it being left in
the body, provided the dose was not more than
sufficient to cause death. And Mr. Philips would
not undertake to say that strychnine had not boen
taken, and admitted that the appearances were con-
sistent with death having been caused by strych-
nine. The jury would have to consider whether
the evidence of the local medical men satisfied them
that the death was caused by strangulation. Un
doubtedly the other medical man, Mr. Sells, spoke
more positively as to death by strangulation, and
spoke diatinct,y to extravasation of the blood,
which he said took place only in life, and was a
sign of strangulation. But, then, there was the
evidence of Dr. Taylor, a gentleman of great
eminence, the author of a well known work on Medi-
cal Jurisprudence, regarded as one of considerable
authority, and who gave his evidence with remark-
able candour and moderation. Dr. Taylor, he
showed, disproved the actual presence of strych-
nine, but declared that it might have caused death
and yet leave no trace discoverable after death. And
he stated that the appearances were inconsistent
with death by strangulation. He remarked that
Dr. Taylor stated that, if the woman had taken the
whole packet, there would have been a residuum
left in the body. But Dr. Taylor's conclusion from
the appearances was that death was caused by
strangulation, and not by strychnine. Such, said
the learned Judge, was the whole of the evidence in
the case, and upon it the jury would have first to say
whether they were satisfied that the woman died of
strangulation, and by the act of the prisoner; and
if so, then he was of course guilty of murder. Next,
they would ask themselves—if the death was caused
by poison—whether the prisoner and deceased had
agreed together to cause their deaths by poison,
Upon this point they must consider the two latter
of the letters. Did the jury believe that the woman
took the poison of her own accord, or by mutual
agreement between her and the prisoner ? In the
latter case it would cleaely be murder in the pri-
soner. So it had been held again and again that if
two persons agreed to commit suicide and one sur-
vived, the survivor was guilty of murder in point
of law. The learned counsel for the prisoner sug-
gested that the prisoner might hue been in a state

of distraction, and sa would not be legally answer-
able. But in that he could not agree, and in one of
the very eases cited, an eminent judge, the late Mr.
Justice Patteson, said that coroners' juries were
often in the habit of finding verdicts of temporary
insanity in cases of suicide without any sufficient
evidence of insanity. In that he quite agreed, and
he saw in this case no evidence of it, but on the con.
trary down to the last he saw every appearance of
the full possession of sense and reason. It would be
another question whether the jury found in the
letter any sufficient trace of a mutual agreement to
take poison, or to destroy themselves, If not, and
they thought rather that the woman's taking of the
poison was her own act, without the prisoner's con-
currence, then he would not be guilty of murder.
The duty the jury had to discharge was one of a
very grave and serious character; and though, on
the one hand, if there was any reasonable doubt, the
prisoner was entitled to the benefit of it, yet, on the
other hand, if there was no reasonable doubt, the
jury ought not to shrink from doing their duty
firmly, and finding the prisoner guilty.
The trial took all day. The summing up was
net over until half-past five o'clock, and the jury
then retired to consider their verdict. They were
absent about half an hour.

On their return they found a verdict of guilty
as accessory before the fact, and recommending him

,o mercy.

The learned Judge—On what grounds?
The jury said on account of his previous good
conduct.

The verdict in law was one of "guilty."
The prisoner being called upon to say why sen-
tence of death shoula not be passed upon him, said
simply, " Not guilty." _

The learned Judge in a tone of profound feeling
,hen passed sentence of death in the usual form. _

The prisoner who, throughout his protracted trial
had stood as soldiers do, upright and firm, heard his
sentence without flinching, and was then removed
from the bar.

Breach of Promise of Marriage,