The Sun.
London, England, 1865-11-14 00:00:00

ate.—.

Shocking Case of Poisoning by Strychnine.

The Supreme Court of Otago has sentenced a
man, named Jarvey, to death for poisoning his
wife. Strychuire was the agent employed. The
closing scene of the poor woman's life is thus de-
scribed in the deposition of the prisoner's daugh-
ter :—On the evening of the 26th September, by
father's orders, I went up stairs to put my brothers
to bed. While I was in the room I heard a jing-
ling sound beneath, as of glasses being stirred ;
and I heard my mother say, • Oh, dear, its dread-
ful bitter ; it's burning my throat." My father
said, " You will have to take it twice a week be-
fore it will have any effect." When I came down
stairs my mother was sitting on a chair, with
her arm resting on the corner of the table.
As I entered she looked up and said, " I feel
dreadful giddy. Bother you, dad, for giving me
such stuff. If I had known it would leave me in
this state I would not have taken it." She tried
then to turn round, and she laughed rather wildly,
and she said, " Oh, whatever is the matter with
me? I feel so funny, and my limbs are all getting
stiff. I never felt like this before." She then
clenched or grasped nervously at the table and the
arms of the chair, and she tried to raise herself up,
but could not. My father said she would have to go
up to bed. She refused to go, and then he took her
forcibly in his arms and carried her along the passage
and until they got up a few steps of the stairs. She
struggled out of his arms, and tried to catch hold of
the stairs on either side. She cried out, " For God's
sake, let me go to the air ; I shall suffocate." I asked
my father if I should open the door, but he said
" No, no." Mother looked at my father very wild,
and said, " Oh, da, you have cooked your Cathe-
rine this time !" I said to my father, " Surely, da,
you have not made a mistake •in what you have
given mother ?" He said, " Oh, no, nonsense !
How could I make a mistake ?" It's the brandy
that's taken effect upon her." Then my father took
her again, and carried her until they got to the top
of the stairs. She cried out, " Let me go, mur-
derer ! I shall go into fits." He carried her along
the passage into her bedroom, and laid her crosswise
on the bed. She straightened herself and went into a
fit, working her limbs very hard up and down all
the while. My father then began to take off her
clothes. I asked him if we should cut or tear them :
but he said " No, no, they must come off straight."
My mother opened her eyes then, and looking at
my father said, " Oh, William Jarvey. You have
done it this time. You have poisoned me for the
big hat and cloak." [The witness burst into tears,
and her evidence was thus interrupted for a minute
or two.] My father was standing at the foot of the
bed. He said, "Go to sleep, mother ;go to sleep;"
She said " Yes, I will soon be in the long sleep, and
then the woman with the big hat and cloak will come
in my place." I tried to soothe my mother, and she
said, " It's no use, Lizzie ; I am poisoned ; your
father has poisoned me for another." Mother asked
me to wet her lips ; but directly I touched them she
seemed to tremble in agony. Father asked her to have a
little brandy ; she said, " No, no ; no more brandy
for me !" She kept screaming at intervals. " Oh,
my God ! oh, my children ! Go for a doctor. Will
nobody go for a doctor ?" I asked my father if he
would go ; but he only answered she would be
better presently—it was the brandy. My mother
said, " Oh, William Jarvey, I could call God to
curse you ; but no, you are my husband and the
father of my children, and may God forgive you.
Oh, yes, may God forgive you for your cruelty to
me this night." When .1 spoke, mother said,
"Where are you, Lizzie ?" I can hear you speak,
my child, but I can't see you." Nearly the last
words I heard her say were, "Good-bye, my faithful
Lizzie; may God bless you, my child. Mind my
Katie, and tell everybody your father has poisoned
me, for the woman with the big hat and cloak."
My mother ceased speaking, and seemed to have
fallen into a deep sleep. Death soon followed.