The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1843-12-26 00:00:00

CROWN COURT.-FRIDAY,

MURDER AT MANCHESTER.
Ann 3P Cornzack, (26), was indicted for the wilful mur-
der of her infant, Rosanna M'Cormacc, by the felonious
administration of half-an-ounce of poison, called arsenic.
Mr. Hutton and Mr. Kennedy appeared for the prose-
cution; and Mr. Pollock for the prisoner.
Mr. HULTON stated the circumstances of the case at
some length, as they subsequently came out in evidence.
Ann .Prean examined.-1 am a charwoman, and reside
in a court in Stockdale-street, Manchester. I have
known the prisoner for about four or five years. I re-
collect Monday, the 27th of November last. She came
to my house on that day. She told me she wanted to
speak to me. This was about three o'clock in the after-
noon. She wanted me to go with her to buy a new cap.
I went with her, and she bought one. As we were going
to the shop, she said her baby was very ill; and on
coming out she said she wanted a penn'orth of something
to kill rats with, and I took her into Mr. Baron's, the
chemist's shop. She asked for a penn'orth of arsenic.
Mr. Baron asked me whether I had come with her as a
witness. I said I did, and he then asked what she
wanted the arsenic for. She said it was to kill rats. He
asked her whether there were any slaughter-houses near
her place. She said no, but there were some stables. He
asked if there were any children at her place, and she an-
swered no. He gave her something in a paper, and wrote
something on it. It was a white paper. I did not notice
what the substance was, nor where she put the paper.
She left the shop with me, and we walked into Grosvenor-
street together. On the way through Oxford-road she
told me her child was.very bad, and that she did not ex-
pect it to live above a day. left her in Rusholme-lane.
She asked me before we parted and after we left the che-
mist's, whether I would let her bring the child to my
house, and keep it up stairs, and she added that it was
such a poor little object she did not like any one to see it.
She promised to buy me a half-cwt. of coal if I gave her
the loan of the room. She also said that if it died she
would bury it at the Ardwick-green Cemetery. She left
me at about five minutes to four. She promised to bring
the child to my house at half-past three the next day.
Between eight and nine o'clock the same night I went to
the druggist, Mr. Barron_, and to Mr. Taylor, the super-
intendent, to tell them what I had heard.
Cross-examined.—The prisoner has not been very well
off during the last four or five years. Her parents are
not well off. I saw the baby shortly after it was born.
It was a sickly little thing, with bad eyes; it was a very
small child. Before we went into the druggist's, she said
the baby was ill. I don't think Mr. Baron gave her any
caution about the arsenic.
Thomas Baron examined.—l am a druggist in Oxford-
street, in the borough of Manchester. I recollect the
last witness coming to my shop between three and four
o'clock in the afternoon of the 23th of November. The
prisoner was with her, and asked for a pennyworth of
arsenic. I asked what for, and she said for destroying
rats. I then asked the woman with her if she came as a
witness, and both of them answered "Yes." I then asked
her if she had any children, to which she replied, " No."
I next asked her if she lived near a slaughter-house, and
she answered, " No, near some stables." I then gave
her half an ounce of white arsenic in a piece of cap paper,
and told her to take care of it. Cap paper is of a whitish
brown colour. She paid me a penny for it. I wrote
" Poison" on it, in plain, legible characters ; and the pri-
soner and the other woman left together. The prisoner
took the arsenic with her.
Rosanna Brown examined.—l am a widow, and live at
the corner of Bold-street, in Bank-top, Manchester.
The prisoner lived with me for the three weeks before she
was confined. She was confined on a Monday night, but
I cannot recollect the day of the month. The child was
five weeks old when this occurrence took place, on the
27th of November. The prisoner lived with me for eight
days after her confinement. She then left my house, and
left her baby in the care of Margaret Francis, a lodger in
my house. Francis minded it for seven days, and then it
was delivered by the prisoner's mother into my care. It
was about seven days in my care when this occurrence
took place. I took it to be christened when it was about
a fcrtnight old. I had it called Rosanna, after myself.
The prisoner came to see her child on the Saturday before
this occurrence. She then fed it. She never suckled it.
She remained with it about three quarters of an hour on
the Saturday in question. I made some porridge for the
child about nine o'clock on the following Monday morn-
ing. I broke bread in a basin, poured boiling water on
the bread, put a sa:cer on the top, and poured the water