The Sun.
London, England, 1856-10-16 00:00:00

SHOCKING CASE' OF CHILD POISONING.

The greatest excitement has prevailed at Runcorn,
a small port above Liverpool, during the past few days..
owing to the mysterious proceedings attending the death
and burial of a female child aged nine days, daughter of
Elizabeth and Thomas Brennan, a pedlar living in Nel-
son-street, Runcorn. The child was in good health on
the afternoon of the Ist inst., was taken ill, and died
that night. The day after its death the patents and a
young man named Patrick Frain, who lodged with them,
bought an old soap box, with the ostensible purpose of
making a rabbit-box. Tile same night the father went
to the sexton, told him that his daughter had died, and
requested permission to bury it without any "fuss."
The sexton consented on the man promising to bring the
registrar's certificate the next merning. The child was
buried in the old soap-box that night, and, the father
having by subterfuge obtained the registrar's certificate
gave it to the sexton. ..The suspicious circumstances
came to the ears of the chief constable, the body was ex-
humed by order of the coroner, and the appearance of
the mouth, throat, and stomach suggesting the suspi•
cion that death bad been caused by sulphuric acid, or
tome other deadly poison, the three suspected persons
were taken into custody. An inquest was held,
which after ajoarnment terminated on Monday.
Elizabeth Reece stated that she nursed the child up
to the 30,b tilt., returning it to its mother in perfect
health. On the afternoon of that day, having occasion
to go into Brennaa'a house, she saw the child struggling
and kicking on its mother's knee, blowing from its
mouth, and apparently scarcely able to breathe. Hearing
on the following day that the child was dead, she went
to inquire, but the mother said the child was asleep.
The mother locked the door of the room in which the
child was said to be sleeping, and, giving the key to a
boy, went out with her husband and Frain. In their
absence the boy unlocked the door, and witness went
into the room and found the child dead, and naked, with
a window-blind thrown across it and a cloth over its
mouth and chin. Dr. Edwards, of :Birkenhead, pro-
fessor of chemistry, deposed that ho made a post mortem
examination of the stomach, intestines, and soft organs
of the deceased. The ce3ophagus, or gullet, and upper
portions of the stomach were deeply furrowed by the
action of a corrosive liquid, which had destroyed the
mucous membrane, corroded the tissues, and entirely
dissolved a portion of the stomach. The smaller blood-
vessels were blackened and charred, and in the large
intestines black patches occurred, which, when placed
on test paper, gave strongly acid reaction. He analysed
the contents of the stomach and detected the presence of
sulphuric acid, which was consistent only with the ad-
ministration of the concentrated sulphuric acid known
as oil of vitriol. Mr. H. Wilson, surgeon, Runcorn,
had made a post mortem examination, and from what
he had seen, and after the result of Dr. Edwards's ana-
lysis, he was satisfied that death had been caused by the
administration of sulphuric acid. From the extensive
destruction of the stomach he imagined that as much as
40 drops had been given. The jury returned a verdict
of Wilful Murder against the three prisoners, who were
committed for trial.