The Sun.
London, England, 1849-05-03 00:00:00

ALLEGED MURDER FOR THE

SAKE OF BURIAL FEES.

The greatest excitement prevails at the present
time in Hastings and its vicinity, in consequence of
a female having been apprehended on a charge of
administering poison to her husband and three of her
children, grown-up young men. The circumstances
which transpired, and led to the prisoner's apprehen-
sion, were the following :
It appears that at the foot of the White Hart-hill,
in the parish of Guestling, resided, up to last Sept.,
a hard-working man, named Richard Geering, and
his wife, with five grown up sons, two daughters,
and four younger children. The father, who belonged
to a benefit society, held at the White Hart, died on
the 13th September last, at the age of 56. The
sudden manner of death gave rise to a belief that the
man had died from a disease of the heart, and he was
buried in the parish churchyard, the prisoner receiving
at the time 5/. from the club. On the 27t1' of Dec.,
one of the sons, aged 21, named George, died from
what was supposed to be pericarditis. On the 6th of
March, a second son named James Geering, also
died, aged 26. This party was also a member of the
same benefit society as his father had belonged to,
This son's death was registered as being caused from
gastritis.) IA few weeks since a third son was taken
ill with violent vomitings. He was attended by the
same surgeon, but circumstances arose which induced
a desire that another surgeon should be called in,
which was done, and the medical men having pre-
scribed, the son recovered, and contemplated going
to S or Is again Tl',v;og io fur recovered,
no further notice was taken of him by the
medical men, until Mr. Ticehurst, the surron,.re-
celYecl illf9rnaNtiga tblit the 5911 r$ g twwi oed

with vomiting. He immediately proceeded to the
house, and on examining the matter the son had
brought off his stomach he detected the presence of
arsenic. The coroner having been informed of the
suspicion attached to the death of the husband and the
two sons, that functionary at once gave orders for the
three bodies to be exhumed, which was accordingly
done, and on Thursday afternoon a jury assembled,
and were sworn in.

The CORONER informed the jury that, from what
he had heard, he felt it to be his duty to cause an
inquiry to be made into the cause of the deaths of the
several parties named above.
The jury then proceeded to the churchyard, where
the several coffins were opened, and the stomachs and
intestines of the deceased were removed, for the pur-
pose of being submitted to Professor Taylor, for the
application of the proper tests. The bodies were
afterwards re buried, and the jury bound over to
appear again, when the analysis is complete. The
inquest was, therefore, adjourned sine die. The whole
of the intestines and stomachs were in a remarkable
state of preservation.
On February the 27th, Mary Anne Geering, the
prisoner, was brought before W. Briscoe, Esq., at
the Town Clerks office. She is a well-look-
ing woman, about fifty years of age. Mr. Thomp•
son, the superintendent of the East Essex constabu-
lary, said that he had apprehended the prisoner on a
charge of administering poison to her Eon Benjamin,
18 years of age, who was then so ill as to be unable
to attend. He had searched the house, and found a
paper with the word " poison" marked thereon. It
contained a red precipitate. He told the prisoner that
she was charged with administering arsenic to her
son, when she replied that she had not had any in
her house for many months. Mr. Henry Dilman,
chemist of Hastings, said that he had known the
prisoner for twenty years. She was at his
shop on the 2d of April, when she had a mixture.
He had sold her many pennyworth/ of arsenic. She
had some about the 12th of February. She had some
several times during the autumn of last year. Mr. F.
Ticehurst, surgeon of Hastings, said that he was
called by the prisoner to see her son Benjamin. Sh•
said her reason for wanting him to see him was that
she had lost her husband and two sons in the same
way, and that Mr. Pocock had seen him and could
do nothing with him. Witness saw him on the 13th
instant, when he described himself to have been
suffering from the previous Sunday with violent
vomiting, great irritation of the stomach, and ten-
derness of the abdomen ; all the symptoms were of
irritating poison. On the 19th he saw the patient
again, when he was quite well ; but on the 24th he
heard that he was ill again, but not from any member
of his family. He went immediately, and on seeing
some fluid of a greenish hue in a utensil, he took
some home in a bottle, having been told that the
patient had vomited the same. He had analyzed it,
and believed it contained arsenic. The prisoner
told him she had not had any arsenic in the house
for more than twelve months.
The prisoner was remanded.

LAW INTELLIGENCE.
SECONDARIES' COURT, May 2.
(Before Mr. Secondary POTTER.)