The Sun.
London, England, 1846-11-10 00:00:00

EDINBURGH HIGH

COURT OF

JUSTICIARY.
CHARGE OF MURDER.

Janet Campbell or .111‘Lellan was on Thursday last
placed at the bar, charged with the murder of her
husband, James M‘Lellan, by means of arsenic or other
poison.
The prisoner, who was dressed in deep mourning,
and appeared to be about forty years of age, pleaded not
guilty.
Hugh M'Grgor Mason, who lived in the same house,
proved that on Sunday, the sth July last, the deceased
was taken ill immediately after taking his breakfast of
tea, which had been prepared by the prisoner, but of
which she declined to partake at the time ; that when
requested by the deceased to go for a doctor the prisoner
excused herself, and the witness went instead, and that
the sick man died the same evening.
Margaret Drew gave evidence of considerable ill-
feeling baying subsisted between the husband and wife
for some length of time before the death; and another
witness spoke to threats uttered by the prisoner against
the deceased.

Two females deposed to having purchased poison for
the prisoner, at her request, shortly before the husband's
death; and evidence was also given of expressions used
by her prognosticating the death of her husband, which
took place on the following day.
Dr. Young, Dunning, deposed to having been sent for
on the Sunday, to see deceased, and said—l have heard
a report of deceased having been poisoned, and the
symptoms were quite in accordance with such a thing. I
took away some of the stuff which deceased vomited, to
which I applied the liquid tests, and one of them indi-
cated the presence of arsenic. Mrs. M‘Lellan, three
weeks before the death of her husband, applied to me for
poison to destroy rats; but I did not give it to her, be-
cause of the reports that were current, and also because
of the way in which she aske for it; she said, " Will
you give it to me?" Remember selling poison to Helen
Aitken (a person employed by the prisoner to purchase
it), upon either the Monday or Tuesday before M'Lellan's
death. She got as much for a penny as would kill at
least four men. She also said it was to kill rats.

Dr. Thompson, Perth, read a report on the post-
mortem examination of the body of the deceased, made by
witness and Dr. Malcolm, of Perth, on the 6th of July,
and also on an analysis of the contents of the stomach
and other parts of the body. In the latter they gave it
as the result of their repeated analyses, that they had
found arsenic to a considerable extent in the stomach,
also in the liver, a much smaller quantity in the lungs,
but none in the leaves or in the tea-pot. They gave it
as their opinion, taking the symptoms of the disease
which led to the death, and the result of the analyses,
that James M'Lellan died of poison, and that the poison
was arsenic.

For the defence evidence was given of the deceased
having applied to a medical man for poison, and having
threatened to poison himself.
After a charge from the Lord Justice Clerk,
The jury retired, and after deliberating for fifty mi-
nutes, returned a verdict, finding, by a large majority,
the charge Not Proven.
The prisoner was then dismissed from the bar. During
the whole of the trial she sustained herself with won-
derful composure.
The verdict appeared to excite considerable surprise
in the minds of the large assemblage which crowded
the court-room.