Preble County Democrat. [volume] (Eaton, Ohio) 1857-1859, 1857-10-29


hat he had little expectation .of bein
,blc to prove the prisoner guilty. II
stated to the jury. that the case was i
great mystery. The prisoner was
man of ,respectability and property
The deceased was supposed to have ha
about him gold and jewels to larg
amount; but the prisoner was not 5
much in want of funds as to be under
strong temptation to con- NIT murder
And besides, if the prisoner had obtain
ed the property he had effectually con
eealcd it., Not a trace of it could b
found. .-r' +,.tt .....f -.,..r..-., ...
Why, them. was the prisoner suspect
led? The deceased. Henry Thompson
was ieweler, residing in London aHf
la man of Rsalthss e bad doh
Tor the purpose OF meeting q trader al
Hull, of whom he expected to make i
large purchase. The trader he did
meet; and after the departure of, the
latter, Mr.. Thompson was known tc
have in his possession jewels and gold
to large amount. ..,..t.
With these in his possession, he left
Hull on his return to London. It was
not known that he stopped until he
reached Smiths, and the next morning
was discovered dead in his bed. H,
ldied. then, in Smiths house, and if it
lcou!d be shown that he came to his
death, in an unnatural way, it would in
Icrease the suspicion that the prisoner
Twas in some way connected with the
murder
| Now, then. continued the counsel, il
will be proved beyond the possibility o!
a doubt that the deceased died by poi
son? 1t was a recent discovery of some
German chemists. said to be produced
from distilling the seed of the wild
cherry tree. 1t was poison more pow
eriul than any other known, and de
| privcd of life SO Immediately AZ to leave
Eno marks of suffering and no contor-
| ton of the features. t. -... ........,
But then. the question, when and by
whom was it administered? One cir
cumstance, a small one indeed, and YET
upon it might hang a horrid tale, was,
that the stopper of a small bottle OF
very singular descri ption had been found
in the prisoners house. The stopper
had been examined and said by medi-
cal men to have belonged to german
vial, continuing the kind o. poison he
had described. But, then, was that
poison administered by Smith, or at his
instisation2 Whozwere the prisoners
family ?i~I 1t consisted only Of himself,
housckccper and one nan servant
The man servant slept in an out
house adjoining the stable, and did so
on the night of Thumpson's death
The prisoner slept in one bed of the
house, the housekeeper at the other,
and the deceased had been put in
room adjoining the house -keepers's. Z
1t could be proved. that about three
hours after midnight. on the night of
Thompson's death, light had been
seen moving about the house, and that
a figure holding the light was seen to
60 from theroom in which the prisoner
slept. to the house keepers room the
light now disappeared for minute,
when two persons were seen. but wheth
er they went into Thompson's room, the
witness could not swear; but shortly af-
ter they were observed to pass quite
through the entry of Smiths room, and
which they entered, and in about five
minutes the light was extinguished.
The witness would further state. that
light into Smiths room, and before it
was extinguished. he had twice perceiv-
ed some dark object to intervene be-
tween the light and the window, almost
! as large as the surface of the window it
self, aud, which he described, by saying
| it appeared as if door had been placed
before the light. Now, in Smiths room
there was nothing that could account
for this appearance, and there was nei-
ther cupboard nor press in the room,
which, but for the bed, was entirely
empty; the room in which he dressed,
being distance beyond it.
The counsel for prosecution here con-
cluded what he had to say. During his
address, Smith in nowise appeared to be
agitated or distressed--and equally un-
moved while the witness testified in SUBJ
stance what the opening speech Of the
counself led the court and jury to ex
pect.
| Lord Mansfield now addressed the
jury. He said that in his opinion the
evidence was not sufficient to condemn
the prisoner; and if the jury agreed
with him in opinion he would discharge
him. Without leaving their seats, the
Ijury agreed that the evidence was not
isufhcient. ,-.= ~ -o-I5t
At this moment, when they we're about
to render vrdict Of acquittal, the pri
soner rose, and addressed the court
He said he had been accused of foul
crime, and the jury had said there was
not sufficient evidence against him
Was he to 60 out of court with suspi-
cions resting upon him after all? This
he was unwilling to do. He was an in
nocent man, and if the judge would
grant him an opportunity, he would
prove it. He would call the house
keeper, who would confirm statement
which he would now make.
The house-keeper had not appeared
in COURT She had concealed herself or
been concealed by Smith. This was
considered dark sign against him, but
he himself now offered to bring her for
ward, and stated as a reason, not that
he was not willing that she should tes-
tify, but, knowing the excitement, he
was fearful thatfshe would be bribed to
give testimony contrary to fact, But