Keowee courier. [volume] (Pickens Court House, S.C.) 1849-current, 1859-10-08
The Great Poisoning Case.

louuIy Calls Tor inc SterneSt severity OF the
law--as it involves murder stimulated bv
ayarice, aud which may be regarded as an
| example not to be lost sight of by plausible
and professionally educated hypocrtes. 1t
appeals to exemplary Justice for condicn
punishment, as the best protection for do
mestc and social relations against trpa-
sOnablc AMI insidious mode of producino
death, difficult of discovery, and against
which no common caution will avail. Cow
etousncss and the prospect of obtaining
money dishonesty and through the agency
OF murder, will prompt Inscriptions mon
to the commission of terrible dccds-but
their deuder, Satan, soon bctl1ys his vo,
tarics, and the scaffold exhibits the last
scene OF the tragic drama. The, case we
! aliudc to is the murder, by slow poison. of
Isabella Bankcsby DR.. Thomas Smcthnrst,
her husband, Gas she had reason to believe.
The tale is full of mystery, which was not
altogether cleared up on the trial i'll the
Criminal Court of London
1t appears that towards the close of last
year Mr. and Mrs. Smcthu,st went To re.
side at the honso of Miss Smith, Mt Bays,
water. Atthis same house lived two ladies,
Miss Louisa and Miss isabella Bankcs.-
Their connections were respectable, and
their pccuniary means, amounting to some
thing above two hundred pounds year
each, rendered them independents Neither
of the sisters were young; Miss Isabella
had reached the ago of forty-three, and did
not enjoy the best health She seems to
have conceived liking for DIR. Smctlurst
1t is rot quite clear whether Miss Bankcs
knew that Smcthurst was q married man.
though having lived in the same house with
him and his wife, tis difficult to under
stand her Ignorance of the fact, The prob
ability is that Smcthurst had persuaded
Miss Bnnkes that the old lady above seven
| ty was not his real wife, and this conjecture
is confirmed by the fact that the ceremony
OF marriage between Smcthurst and Miss
Bankes was performed at Batteysca church
at the beginning of last December. How
ever that might be they left Miss Smith s.
and after staying short time at Mrs
Grabowski's, they fnallytook up their abode
at the house of Mrs Wheaticy, at Alma
Villas, Richmond, for which they paid iif-
\ teen shillings week According 10 Sn.e-
thurst, he had settled the whole matter
with his legitimate wife, and she had agreed
to accept certain sum for her lodgings.
and to ask no questions as tu where or how
he lived. Smctlurst and Miss Bankcs
lived on at Mrs. Whcatleys until the end
Of last March, when the lady became very
III. In fact, it was necessary to call in a
doctor, and it was decided to summon Dr.
Julius, the leading practitioner in Rich
mond lii as the poor woman was. Sine
thurst HIMSELF was the only attendant. "A
nurse had been suggested by the landlady,
but Snlcthurst objected, saying that he was
too poor; though at the very time he had
balance of some two hundred pounds at
the Bank. On this affcctionatc quosi.hus-
band, therefore, deyoved all the'ttisagrcea-
bic duties of the sick room The food was
mixed and administered by his own hand
During the day no human being cntcrcd
that room but Smethurst; and during the
night no human being sat Ivy the bedside
/ but the apparently devoted Smcthurst, her
sole guardian. The complaint under which
/ tue poor woman suffered, required above
all things, cleanliness and pure air. and
tius, Smethurst, as medical man must
llpvc well lknowD, and yet, during the many
weeks of illness " the bedroom was never
thoroughly cleaned out" though, indeed,
the bed was made by the laudlady every
day. 1T Was surely Il strange fancy for II
man with more than, two hundred pounds
at his bankers, to insist upon acting the
nurse to sick woman. TWAS still strang-
er that, of all the varieties of rice, beeftea,
blanc-mangc, meal, coffee, and jelly, that
chtercd that bedroom, not one scr1p---cx-
cept some sour rice--.cyer came out again.
If anything was mixed with the poor no
man food, no human being ever had an
opportunity of tasting it. According to
Smethurst, indeed, his tender regard for
Miss Bankcs and his parsimony, made him
consume all the remnanss Dr. julius
and Drs. Bird and Todd prescribed RENE
dies, but they were of no avail Their
medicines were countcractcd by some mys-
tcrious means, and they suspected arsenic
and antimony to have been administered
Which, after death, several eminent chcm-
lists found in the stomach, in very small
quantities to be surc-but thcrc was the
residnum-though two or thrco medical
men declared that they. could not discover
any such substance, y few days before
the deceasc of the victim, her sister called
to see her, but DIR. Smctllurst would not
allow her to enter the room. Yet after
that ho introduced solicitor, who made a
will, by which Isabella B,mkcs left all her.
property TO said Smethurst--tho dying wo-
man signing the document as required, in
her. maiden name, In two days she died.
But tho body WAS opened, and in. it was
discovered certain qiHntity OF ,pntn,ony
Mas "a khetr n u.;vt,,,o Of a,uo., T., IL ,.t.