New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1856-01-24

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the purpose Of ipjec.iDg nourishment, furnistsl
conclusive answer. TiAs syringe was her ~
bands, and used chiefly By nina circumss,,,,
which appears to have escaped tho obseryaH, =
Mr.. Baron Martin, who charged strongly for II
quittsl on the ground Of an absence Of sss,,.,s
motive for the crime. Mr.. wolmer WA -.
nounced innocent. Still. the verdict CAV. ma
public dissatisfaction, and would doubslsss 49,.
been sharply canvsssed had not new horror "a.
up Of still more CHASTITY character and thrown a.
the shade.
This was the case OF Mr.. Palmer Of Ru,a..
in stafor,lshre, who appears to have united d :.
profession OF surgeon that Of gambler; q, 4.
turf in England, to which this gentleman he,s,s,
and which Mr. Disraeli has styled TIA Mi.
"pastime of the arstocracy, has all the wont A.,
darkest features Of gambling in the ruin |. eject.
the temptation to crime it offers, and the han,o...
of heart it always begets. 1t appears that via
this Mr.. Palmer, another known turf sanss.sy.
a Mr.. John Parsons Cook, had been for som, lin.
an intimate associate and confederate. and IA
entered into heavy bets, ss supposed, in which
Mr. Palmer was or feared to be, a heavy lossr
Either with the object of wiping out this debt.
death csncelling by the laws of the turf in EnslsA
all existing bets and past losses-or with viswa
possessing himself of sum Of f1,000 which n.
Cook had won at Shrewsbury race and csnN
about with him, and which was missing on y
decease, or with both purposes, as Is MAJ
probable, Palmer commenced to subject him to-
course of poisoning, which terminated in his desA
The circumstances under which his sudden dssA
took place, the mysterious disappearance n biz
betting book, which he invariably carried abost
bis person, and the absence Of the f1 900 he M
known to have had on entering the house whershs
was last seen in company with Palmer and whom
he was drugged, fixed suspicion on the murdens
and he was arrested. Case on case has since risen
I'D in cumulative horror, gradually developing a
array of murders which surpasses in terrible dark.
ness of incident anything the annals Of crime sos
several centuries unfold.
1t appears that the poisoner, Palmer, entered n
the turf some years since, and having had like IL
tyrOs to pay for his experience, became o'S
beyond his means. In those straits be adopted II
course usually resorted to by men on the turf NJ
had recourse to notorious bill discounta b
Queen street Mayfair, by the name of Pratt. Tn
debt whatever it was, doubtless doubled or trebls4
in year or two, Pratts usual rate of interest being
about 100 per cent. In this sinking conditaA
catching recklessly at every means Of escape, I'd
possibly, as it now appears, having commtsa
forgery to extricate himself in the mad Efforts
escape from his difficulties, or the consequencesd
his crime, some such horrible idea as thu
he has since carried out stole on III
senses. II is but the first step which intlicts &
agony; that taken, habit makes even murder 4
light moment, sometimes even passion, IKE opium
or drink. The first victim appears to have ben
the mother of his wife, upon whose death he caus
in by right of his wife for considerable sun.
Four days after coming to reside at his house sAs
died. The next victim was Mr.. Duffy, com
mercial traveller with whom he had business trans'
actions, and who is supposed to have been buredlns
we'll in Pamer's garden. The next was his own wifs
who when ward With considerable fortune, hs lmat
ried him against the desire Of all his connections
and whose life he had previous to the perpetrst'0
of his crime insured for 900 in three dnerenS
English offices. Afterhis wife followed his brother,
whose life he insured in different Offices for E23, 45o
On the occasion of the two first deaths he cOntrive
to eude the suspicion Of either bis relatives %
the public, but the death of his brother following
so close upon that Of his wife, naturally reused
suspicion which proposal to insure the life OF hn
servant, one Bates, for no less sum than E25 OO0
naturally increased and few days before his ares
for the murder of Cook they had, after inquiry de-
clined to pay over the amount 1t has since turned
out that the usurer Pratt received the amount Of
Mrs. Palmer's insurance, and would have received
the greater part of that on William Palmer had
been paid. Since Palmer's committal Pratt hn
presented to his mother, a lady Of some fortune
bills to the amount of ego, 0OO to which her nsms
had been forged by Palmer, and which he doubtless
with full knowledge of the fact, had cashed In fhs
confidence that on that account they were more
valuable, as forcing Palmer to stop at no crime IN
taking them up For the rest there are rum0rs
which ascribe to Palmer the death Of Lord deorge
Bentinck and others, but they are merely those WIZ
exaggeratiOns which always spring out Of sucA
events.
The bodies of both the wife and brother have
been exhumed, and Prof. TsylOr's analysis SAD
Stimulates, without doubt that both died from 'ns
effects of slow but certain poison, administers
with great tact and knowledge Of its Effects a0a
that the system adopted is one Of the most 70
markable ever brought to light. The wre!c'.s
poisoner himself will be tried in March, shoua ~
live to that time, but he appears determines.
compass his own DEATH He was apparently"
society quiet, inofensive person Of rather p'''.
ing manner, and without bearing any Of those ea.'