Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1886-10-27

the course OF half an hour MIR. Mauleverers
valet, who had attended him while he was
preparing for rest, informed the prisoner,
who had in the mean time been sitting in
the drawing room with Mrs. Cawthorne,
that his master was ready to see her, and
she at once went up to his room.
e, "Now, gentlemen" continued Hawk, speak
ing in more solemn tones than hs had hither-
to used, 1--WE cannot tell you what happened
during tho interview. The prisoner alone
survives it. What we do know IS that she
remained for quarter Of an hour in the
apartment of the deceased. Her own &C
count of the way in which she spent that in
terval was given, after she had been duly
cautioned, to the officer Of the law by whom
she was arrested. According to her state
ment she read chapter Of the Bible. as her
custom was, to the deceased She then gave
him d powder of kind which he was In the
habit Of taking at times. It was powder
of bromide Of potassium, medicine which,
as you are probably aware, gentlemen of
the jury, is frequently used for patients Of
an epileptic tendency. He took the medicine,
she says, quite readily, made no remark on
taking it, and, saying he was sleepy, bade
the prisoner goodnight. She at once left
the; room, and presently she herself retired
forest"
The noxt piece of evidence to which Hawk
called attention was somewhat remarkable
one. About half-past eleven o'clock, or an
hour and half after the prisoner had left
the deceased. one of the younger housemaids
of the hall, who was passing along corridor
not far from the room occupied by Mr.. Maui
levorer, heard, as she declares. a sharp cry Of
pain. Unfortunately the girl, instead Of
ascertaining the cause Of his cry, fled hastily
to the servants hail. Her account of her
conduct was that "she believed she had heard
ghost" 1t appeared that popular tradition
declared Great Lorton Hall to be haunted,
and US consequence the servants were con-
tinualIy imagining that in certain parts of
the house they heard various mysterious
sounds. Mr. Mauleverer's room, as it hap
pened, was somewhat remote from the other
sleeping apartments which were occupied
that night The girl never thought that it
could have been from her master that this
cry of agony proceeded, and SO the unfortu-
nate man was left to struggle alone with
death-to which he too soon fell victim
The next morning at the usual hour the
valet Of the deceased. John Green by name,
went into bis masters bedroom He imme-
diately saw that something dreadful had hap
pened. The bedclothes were in great disor.
der, as though the deceased had been strug-
Cling violently. On looking more closely at
him Green saw that Mr.. Mauleverer was
quite dead. He was lying with his face
buried in one of the pillows, and he had ap-
parently died in convulsions. In one Of his
II, l,ol IoS cfo;,, 1,,hto oh IN,
his agony he seemed to nave torn from its
fastenings The household was at once
alarmed. The prisoner on learning what
had happened professed extreme grief, and
sent messenger forthwith to summon the
nearest medical man, DR.. Carrick, of Little
Lordon. DR.. Carrick, who would be called
before them as witness, undoubtedly fell
into a great mistake. He came to the con-
clusion, on seeing the body, that Mr.
Mauleverer had died possibly Of suffocation
in fit Of epilepsy, and he gave certificate
in accordance with that belief. In excuse
for him it might be said that he had not the
slightest reason to suspect foul play, while
he was aware that deceased was al
ficted by epilepsy. Fortunately for
the ends Of justice, however, suspicious
were aroused; and on the day after MIR.
Mauleverer's funeral, at which the prisoner
at the bar attended as chief mourner, his
body was exhumed, and on an analysis Of
the contents Of the stomach 1t was
discovered that his death was really
dus to a large dose of strychnia.
All the evidence that could be obtained
pointed to the conclusion that this poison
must have been administered somewhere
about the time when the prisoner last saw
the unfortunate man. how could it have
been administered The answer TO that
question was clear. Two persons only had
access to Mr.. Maulcverer about the time
when he unquestionably took the fatal dose.
One Of these was Green, the valet, and the
other was the prisoner at the bar. Now, in
Green's favor certain facts could at once be
ALLEGED. One Of these was that he had never
been in the habit of administering drugs to
the deceased, and any att 'mpt he might
make to do so could hardly have failed to
arouse Mr.. Mauleverer's suspicious. The
prisoner, OH the other hand, constantly mixed
and gave him his medicine. Next. all their in
quiries O nted to the conclusion that Green
had absolutely nothing to gain b. Mr..
Mauleverers death. The prisoner, on the
contrary, as he should show them presently,
had everything to gain by it, provided 1t
took place within certain periol of time
Lastly all inquiries which had been made
led to the belief that Green had not been in
the possession Of any poison at the time
when the murder was committed. The
prisoner, it would be conclusively proved,
did possess poison and poison exactly SINH
l.. A. ~ <ho hod1 of Man
leverer, few days before the death Of that
gentleman.
Surely in these circumstances it was clear
that, inasmuch as, according to all known
laws, either Green or the prisoner at the bar
had given the fatal dose to the deceased, it
was the latter whom they had the best rea-
son to suspect But the law mercifully de-
manded in cases Of this kind that some mo-
tive should be shown, some reason which
was likely to have led the accused person to
resort to desperate crime. He was sorry
to say that there would be no difficulty in
meeting this requirement Of the law on the
present occasion. He would bring forward
evidence to show that violent quarrel had
taken place between the deceased and the
prisoner at the bar shortly before the date OF
the murder. The quarrel was due to love
affair between the prisoner and gentleman
Of whom Mr.. Mauleverer did not approve as
pretender to the hand of his niece. There
had been painful scenes between Mr.. Maui
leverer and the prisoner, and witnesses, who
were strongly prejudiced in favor CT the
latter, would give evidence showing that
there was in reality very bitter feeling
on her part with regard to the i:l-usage
which she conceived she had received
from her uncle. This was not all,
however. It would be shown that Mr..
Maueverer, having executed will by
which all his vast wealth passed unreservedly
to the prisoner, had within week or two OF
his death given instructions for the prepara-
ton Of second will under which, in tie
event of her marrying the gentleman re-
ferred to, she would receive only compara-
lively small legacy, whilst the rest of his
estate would be devoted to charitable pur-
poses This will had not been signed at the
time Of Mr.. Mauleverer's death, in conse-
Quencs of the temporary absence from Eng
land of his usual legal advisor, by whom it
had been prepared. But the prisoner at the
bar knew Of its existence. and knew further
that it would be duly executed as soon as
the attorney returned from abroad. Here
then, they had what all must feel to be a
strong motive for the commission Of this
crime He did not wish to press hardly
upon the prisoner, whose youth and good
looks were we'll calculated toprepossess most
persons in her favor. But the jury had
duty to discharge, and re could not see how,
after hearing the evidence which he was
about to lay before them, and which would
bear out the statement he had just made to
the fullest extent, they could find any other
verdict than that the prisoner at the bar