The Sun.
London, England, 1846-11-30 00:00:00

STAND BY-HIS

MURDER OF A I
S IMRE( TIY, SATURDAY NIG TIT.--T he discovery of n
mysterious ease of poisoning in the village of Acton, a
short distance fn n this town, within the last few days,
has created the greatest sensation in this part of the
county of Suffolk. The eircumstarces connected with it
are of a very complicated character:—About a month
ago a healthy loel:ing young man, named John Foster,
24 years of age, was married to Catherine Morley, aged
18, the daughter of a widow residing in the village. For
three weeks they lived with the 'mother, apparently;on
good:terms, when, on the afternoon of the 17th inst ehe
complained of heartburn and sickness, and in less
than
twenty-four hours expired. The sudden nature of the
death having been communicated to Mr. Harry Way-
man, the Coroner for the county, an inquest was opened
at the CrQwn Inn, in the village, on Saturday, the 21st
instant.
There being no suspicion entertained at this period
that the death of the deceased was produced by poison,
the young widow, Catherine Foster, was called in, end
examined as to the circumstances attending her hus-
band's demise. She stated that she had been married
to the deceased exactly three weeks on the day . of
his death. He had been complaining of pains in his
heed ever since their marriage. lie told her that about
a fortnight after their wedding he had slipped off a lodd
of hay, and had hurt himself very much in the back.
On Sunday, the 15th inst., he complained much of the
pain, and said he thought he must go to bed. On
the following Tuesday night he spoke of being affected
with heartburn, and was exceedingly sick. On Wed-
nesday morning he was too ill to get up, and she went
to Mr. Jones, the surgeon, about him. She ought to
have stated that at about nine o'clock on Tuesday, night
he vomited and was purged, and during Wednesday he
continued in the same state until within an hour of his
death, which took place at four o'clock in the afternoon.
It was after he had returned from his work on Tuesday
evening that he complained of sickness. He bad supper
with her and her brother. They had potatoes and hot
dumpling. They had it about seven o'clock, and he
first complained as he was drinking his last cup of tea.
He went to bed between seven and eight o'clock, and in
the course of an hour ho became sick. On. Wednesday
he complained of a pain in his right side. All he -had
on that day was some tea. Mr. Jones did not see him.
until the afternoon. gave her two powders for him
but only one was given. Befere he died she had ocea-,
sion to remove him from the bed. Whilst doing so he
fell• on his knees ; she put him in a chair, and he died•a
few minutes afterwards. Her mother lived with her, but
on the Tuesday she was out washing.
'Very important disclosures, it appears, were lore
made to the Coroner by the surgeons. to the efret,
the deceased . had died from the dr( (.:s of poison. Mr.
Waym CD, the coroner, eccerdingly adjourned th,-. ie. •
gat. till the 24th instar:, so as to cliable a pest as. ,-tun
examination of the body, and an anelysis of the con-
tents of the stomach, to be made.
On the resmnption of the investigation, the eery-,
havint, see been apprised of the probability eel the deee
deatb'being found to haec resulted frera arsenic, I
Wa.3.:l!an deeired the widow to be called in, stud a:
cautioning. her in the usual v ay, read the evidence which

;he Latl previously giver; to v, rich she ,ut her
- - •

beirg coi.ect. She then voluntarily sfaletl, that after
!, the last day's proceedings she recollected her husband
sayiug about a week before hi death at he had raised
blood. There was but one dureplin4 for supper on the
Tuesday night before her hue' and's death. On that day
she beta dininz ,at her husband's mother's house;
it was five o'clock bef ,re she Aot, home, and it was • after
that when she made the du The flOur with
which it was made was kept in a kneading trough, and
part_of the same flour was still iu it. She had not 'used
any of the flour sitee. When her husband was sick he
vomited. She and her mother emptied it in a ditch in
the yard. On the following Saturday three of their hens
,died; she.did not know from what. She saw them all
alive on the Friday.
Maria Morlef, the. mother of the wife, was'then called
and examined. Sl-e deposed that her daughter and her
husband lived at b T house; he went out to work early
in the morning, anti returned at night to supper. On
Tuesday, the 17th, she was out washing. She returned
home shortly after seven o'clock, and found the deceased
in bed. He said he had the heartburn, and was very sick.
She sent her daughter for sixpennyworth of brandy, and
put a part of it in some oatmeal gruel. Deceased took
about two spoonsful of it, but could not keep it down.
This was before eight o'clock. Before this be had been
sick in a handbasin, but she did not notice what he threw
up. After he was sick she emptied the handbasin on
the dunghill in her yard. He vomited frequently during
the night. She went to bed :that night between 11 and
12 o'clock. Her daughter slept in the same room with
her in enother bed. The deceased was in a room by
himself on the ground floor. Between three and four
o'clock he called for some tea, and she made him some
pepLyermint tea, and he drank three cups of it. After
taking it he was very sick. She did not go to bed again;
and ..c.t about ten o'clock she went to Sudbury, and ke-
turne d about an hour before his death. She did not Sup
at home on Tuesday night. The deceased had known 1
her daughter three years. The short time they were '
married they appeared to live very happy.
William Steed 'deposed that the deceased was Lis
fellov-labourer. lie saw him on the afternoon of
Tue slay, the 17th, when he seemed quite well. About
a fortnight ago he saw the deceased shp from a waggon,
but 7ae did not say he was much hurt. He bad known
deceased ten years, and he always seemed a healthy man.
Elizabeth Fester stated that the deceased was her sin.
She had not seen him for two or three weeks before his
dealt. His wife visited her on Tuesday, the 17th, and
had dined with her. She left before four o'clock. Site
said her husband had been very poorly all the night be-
fore. As she went out she said she must make haste
home, as that was pudding night. Witness asked her if
she rniide a pudding every night. She replied that she
did not, but she should make her husband one that even-
ing. On the following day (Wednesday) witness called
at her house. She cried and said she did not think he
was uo bad as he was. She said she was alone with him
and did not like to leave him.
ThxmasMorley, a boy eight years of age, brother of
the d.eceitsed's wife, corroborated his mother's testimony.
He site some of the dumpling, and was not unwell. Jlis
sister, wife of the deceased, made the tea and cug it.
Who at the deceased came in for his slyper he appe3r4d
in a very healthy state and ate he rtily. His sister
help etl everything. She served the deceased with t'eree
cups of tea. He saw her put the sugar in it.
11-to analysis of the contents of the stomach being
uncle tsstood not to be co-rpleted, the proceedings:were'
agaim adjourned till yesterday (Friday), when they
were resumed at twelve o'clock, at the Crown Inn, be-
fore thie same jury. During the day the body was ex-
humed in order that it might undergo a close exami-•
natioet by the medical gentleman engegedin the iequirv.
Jeraes Pleasant, a labourer, deposed to the sound and
healthy state of the deceased when he left work on the
evening prior to his death. He teemed in the best spirits
and f tang as he went along.

'MP. William Edmund Imq..'e, surgeon, of Bury St.
Edm ands, on being sworn said. that on Monday last be
assisted at the analysis of a comach and its contents,
prodia.ced to him at his house by Mr. Jones. He under-
stood it to have been taken from-the body of the de-
ems ed. Mr. Newham, of the Suffolk Hospital, was with
thee a. With a view of dotecting the presence of poison,
they applied Renish's test, by which they clearly dis-
coy( wed arsenic, but nothing else. It was applied to
som e of the fluid in the stomach, and was considered a
very- conclusive test, Marsh's test was also applied to a
portion of the same fluid, with the like result. He had
no doubt whatever that the death of the person from
whose. stomach the fluid so tested was taken must have
resulted from the effects of arsenic. He detected no
other poison in the stomach. He had that day examined
the body of a man-exhumed in Acton churchyard; it
had been previously opened. They first examined the
kiduktys; both were very red, but one more so than the
other. The mucous membrane of the intestines was
in mealy parts covered with thick bloody mucous, and
there were eohgestive patches in the left ventricle of
the he art. Assuming that the stomach and its con-
tents b elonged to this body, he had no doubt what-
ever that these appearances denoted death by poison.
That day he had been shown by Mr. Jones a por-
tion of the vena cava, he found a perforation and one
or two other morbid appearances in it, but without
knowing whether any blood or what quantity of blood
exuclod from it, he could not say whether the death of
the person to whom the vena cava belonged was occa-
sioned by the perforation and morbid diseases. The
deceased appeared to be a particularly healthy subject.
The first consequence which ensued on taking arsenic
was the sensation of heartburn and 'sickness. These
symp toms would come nn in a very few minutes after it
was ti tken. He considered it utterly impo-sible that a
persoi i could take a dose of arsenic sufficient to cause
death, and afterwards eat heartily before he was taken
ill. Virectly the arsenic takes effect nothing can be
retained on the stomach. He had heard the statement
of Catherine Foster, and the evidence of Maria Morley;
they showed the symptoms of a person labouring under
the effects of poison. A person labouring under the
effects of arsenic for so many hours as in the preseut case
would endure great agony.

Mr. S. Newham, of tlie Suffolk Hospital, and Mr. B.
Jones, surgeon, of Melford, confirmed Mr. Image's
tes-
timony. The latter gentleman stated that on tle morn-
ing of the day on which the deceased died, his wife
called upon him and said that her husband had a bowel
complaint. He sent her two powders. About five o'clock
in the afternoon he went to the house and found the de-
ceased dead in bed. He asked several questions, which
the wife answered in a satisfactory manner. The wife
and mother told him that the deceased had been •-ufrering
from sickness and a bowel complaint.
After much other evidence had been adduced,
The Learned CORONER addressed t!:e jury at scale
length, and having dra:vn their•attention to the
points of the evidence, they consulted together, anq re-
turned a verdict of " Wilful Murder" against Catiherine
Foster, the wife of the deceased, who was then committed
to the county gaol at Bury St. Edmunds for trial at the
ensuing asoizes.

DEATH OF A LITERARY LADY.—MY.' Mills held
an inquest on Saturday, at the Coronation, Seymour-
street, Euston-square, on the body of Mrs. Agnes Hall,
aged seventy, of No. 5, Charles-street. Miss Agues Hall,
daughter of the deceased, said, that her mother was the
relict of a medical army officer, and had been an author,ss
for forty years. When Dr. Aiken t dittd the Old Monthly
Magazine she wrote very largely for it. She wrote for
it latterly, for Fraser's Magazi,,c, ari for some of Mr. C.
Knight's publications. Decet d was attending to her
literary occupations up to Ts c,cluy last, when she diei
suddenly, whilst taking some b.-4 D6cease-1 wai
not in want of the necessaries of life. Dr. Ken& iy, of
Tavistock-square. Fa w deceased both bef(irp and after
..• . 11t1' iii.t !..- '
natural causes.—Verdict, "-islatural death."

• . „
Nine more 'tor l'emriad `mat factors stood - : on' tlie
pillory, on Thursd. 7, in the P 1 :a du Fulais de Justice.