The Sun.
London, England, 1829-08-17 00:00:00

SATURDAY.

The Assizes terminated to-day. Mr. Justice
BAYLEY continued hearing causes the whole of the
day. Mr. Justice LITTLEDALE proceeded to open
the commission at Durham.

WESTERN CIRCUIT—EXETER, Aua. 14.

Kezia Wescombe was placed at the bar, charged
with the wilful murder of her 'husband Samuel
Wescombe, by. ;administering to him a certain quan-
tity of white arsenic in broth, at Whipton, in the
parish of Heavirree, on Tuesday, the sth of May,
and Richard Quaintance was charged with malici-
ously inciting Kezia Wescombe to the said murder.
Martha Davy—l live at Whipton; am eighteen
years of age; know Kezia Wescombe; recollect
seeing her on Tuesday, the sth of May last; I
walked With her between seven and eight o'clock of
the evening of that day; I went to her house, and
she walked out with me. When I went to her
house, Kezia was sitting by the fire-side. There
was'a little crock by the fire; she was going to
make some broth for her husband; he was there at
that time, and appeared to be very well. I had
known him before; he seemed in
.his usual health;
I saw thickening (for the broth) already made in
the basin which stood upon the table. It appeared
to be made of flour and water.

By the COURT—In the usual way ?—Yes, my
Lord.

Kezia put it into the crock; she also put bread
into the crock. After this I went to Heavitree with
Kezia; the broth had not boiled up while I was
there; I did not stop long enough to see it boil;
Kezia said in the presence of her husband, that she
was going to walk out with me—but I heard no-
thing said about the broth then ; I saw the thicken-
ing put into the crock, but I did not see it made;
it was made before I came in ; I did not see Kezia
taste the broth before I left the house with her; I
did not observe a cup in her hand; if she had
taken any of the broth while I was there, I must
have seen-her ; I am quite sure she did not ; I went
to Heavitree in Kezia's company, and returned with
her in about an hour and a half. As we were re-
turning, Kezia said, " If Sam was to die, I would
marry no man besides Knowles."
By the COURT—There was no previous conver-
sation about Satn's state of health. I was not talk-

ing about marrying. She said it without any pre-
vious introduction. I knew she had a dislike to her
husband. I can't say that any thing passed before
on the subject. Kezia did not say who " Knowles"
was. On our return we both went into my father's
house, Kezia stayed there a few minutes; she then
went into her own house, and I accompanied her.
By the COURT—Kezia made no objection to my
going with her. We went up stairs into the de-
ceased's room; he was in bed, and said he was bad;
he had eaten some of the broth, and was very cold
and shivery. This was in Kezia's presence. Kezia
took the clothes off her side of the bed and put them
upon him. She said nothing in answer to de-
ceased's remark about having eaten the broth. At
this time I saw the crock in which the broth had
been, on the floor between the fire-place and the
window in the sitting-room. I looked into the
crock, and observed that there was about half of
the broth left. Kezia was with me when I looked
at it. I had not observed how much broth was in
it before we went to Heavitree. Kezia tasted none
of the broth on our return. When Sam said he
was bad, and had eaten some of the broth, I took
the cover off the crock and looked into it. I held
the cover in my hand about a minute, and then put
it down. I borrowed the crock from Kezia on the
Thursday after; it looked very clean. I believe I
saw Kezia at mother's house on the Thursday. I
heard Kezia say a word or two about me to my
mother, in mother's bed-room. Kezia said to
mother, " I ate a tea cup full of the broth, did'nt I
Patty ?" (addressing me.) I replied " No." I
did not see her touch the broth.

Mary Richards—Remembers going to her father's
house on Tuesday, the .sth of May. I stayed there
till Thursday. I did not see Kezia Westcombe on
Tuesday night, but I heard her voice below stairs
when I was in bed. Between eight and nine on
Wednesday morning Kezia came into the bed-room
where I was lying ill. I said," What, Sam is bad,
is he ?" She said, " Yes, I have had enough to
do with him all night, for he .has been vomiting and
purging all night." I asked her, " Are you going
to have the doctor ? She replied, that her husband
had said, " If Mr. Pridham comes, I'll not speak to
him." 1 said, "If he comes by and by, shall I
send him up unknown to Sam, and then he must
speak to him." Kezia answered, " You may if
you will." I saw Kezia between six and seven next
morning; her husband was dead at that time. She
came in with her hands on Ihet stomach, crying and
lamenting; and saying, she,*as in great pain, for the
neighbours said they were going to " crown" him
(hold an inquest on his body), and open him, and I
don't know what else. She said they may " crown"
him if they like, but the first that says they will
open him, I will say there is the door, and there is
the way, for I will never see a friend of mine opened
or cut abroad ; I forget which expression she used.
I went down stairs, and saw the prisoner Quain-
tance there. I spoke to him, and said, " Oh!
Frank, (we call him Frank instead of Richard,) this
is a dreadful thing about Sam." He said, " Yes,
it is." On that night (of the Thursday) I slept at
my father's; Kezia aiso slept there along with me.
In the night before I went to-bed she was sitting on
the bed-side, crying, I said, " Why do you lament
so? I hear Broom has said Sam was seen picking
.savin." She replied, "If he has been wicked
enough to take savin, he would take arsenic, mer•
cury, or any thing else." Kezia went to-bed, and
got up before me. I went to bed at ten o'clock ;
she More ten.

The purchase of six pennyworth of white arsenic
(three ounces) by the male prisoner, at the shop of
a druggist in Exeter, about a fortnight or three
weeks before Westcombe's death, was clearly estah-
lisht d. It was proved that Quairitance obtained the
poison under the pretence of destroying rats in his
master's premises.
Evidence was given of Quaintance having knocked
up some of the female prisoner's relatives who live
ten miles from Whipton, and apprised them of
Samuel Westcombe's death, between three and four
o'clock of the morning after that event.
The intimate, understanding and constant inter-
course subsisting between the male and female pri-
soners 14,, previous, and subsequent to this period,
was made out in a manner the most- distinct.

Prisoner Quaintance consulted a man with whom
he worked as to whether the female prisoner could
not successfully resist a post mortem examination of
her husband's body, and when informed that if there
was any suspicion of foul play she could not, ap-
peared, in the words of a witness who spoke to the
circumstance, " stagnated."
Kezia Westcombe, being called upon for her de-
fence, contented herself with saying she knew no-
thing about the clime laid to her charge.
Richard Quaintance reiterated his previous state-
ment of having purchased the arsenic for the de-
ceased, who told hien he was so pestered with rats
that he could not sleep, and declared that he had
always been upon the best terms with the deceased.
Two witnesses spoke to having heard Samuel West-
combs express a determination to destroy himself
upon several occasions.
Mr. Justice BURROUGH charged the Jury, who,
after a very brief consultation, returned a verdict of
Guilty against both, prisoners.
The Learned JUDGE sentenced both prisoners to
be hanged on Monday next,—their bodies to be
given to the surgeons for dissection.
The trial lasted from about nine o'clock in the
morning till six in the afternoon.
When judgment was pronounced, the female pri-
soner left the bar, declaring " she knew nothing
about the matter." Quaintance betrayed as little
emotion on receiving sentence as he had displayed
throughout the trial.