The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1903-03-27

London, March 23.-Mrs. Florence
Maybrick, the American woman who
was convicted at Liverpool in 1889 on
the charge of poisoning her husband,
James Maybrick at Aigburts by ar
Senic, and whose sentence of death
was committed to penal servitude for
life, will be released in 1904. The an
nouncement comes from the home Of
flee, which now authorizes her Wash
ington lawyers to use the fact of her
release next year as a reason for Sc
curing the ~postponement of the trial
of the law suits bearing on the pris-
oner's interest in land in Kentucky,
Virginia and West Virginia until she
is able to testify.
Those who are in a position to know
say that Home Secretary Akera
Douglas has shown great courtesy in
connection with the suits now pending
in America, that the decision to relese
Mrs. Maybrick was entirely due to eff
forts on this side of the Atlantic and
that Ambassador Herbert has never
been called upon to act in this matter.
Mrs. Maybrick. who was Miss
Florence Elizabeth Chandler, and a
member Of a we'll know and prosperous
southern family, was married July 27,
1881, in ST. James church, Piccadilly,
to James Maybrick of Liverpool. She
was then eighteen years of age, vivac-
ious and beautiful and a social favor
lite. Her husband was over forty years
old. In h spring Of 1889, Mr.. May
Dr1ck became i'll and in a few days he
died His brother investigated his
death n charged Mrs. Maybrick with
h murder of her husband. A long
trial followed and a numbe of doc
tors swore Mr.. Maybrick died of ar
senical poisoning. The defence proved
that for twenty years, Mr.. Maybrick
that he daily took doses that would
have killed a dozen ordinary men.
Mrs. Maybrick eventually was sem
fenced to death by the judge, Sir Fitz-
james stephen, who spoke for two
days in charging the jury and who
said it was impossible for them to find
her guilty in the face of the medical
evidence. He died some time later in
a mad house.
From the time of Mrs. Maybrick's
conviction, her mother, the Baroness
E. von Roques, has been unremitting
in her attempts to obtain the prison.
er's release. in Which she has been
SIioSo ny I'll VII DolIl
sides of the Atlantic. In 1900, after the
death of Lord Russell of Killowen,
chief justice of England, a letter which
he had written to Mrs. Maybrick in
1895 was discovered. 1t showed that
the eminent lawyer was convinced
that she ought never to have been con-
Victed n it has been generally I'M
derstood that all the recent American
ambassadors to the court Of ST. James
have done everything possible tt OBJ
tain Mrs. Maybrick's pardon. The fall
ure of Mrs. Maybrick to testify in the
suits pending in the United States,
would cause the loss to her and TO her
mother of all title and interests in
large tracts of land situated in Ken.
lucky. Virginia and West Virginia.
Washington, March 23.-Mrs. May
bricks attorneys in this city received
a cablegram from the American en-
bassy in London this afternoon, con-
frming the news of her forthcoming
release and adding that she will be
liberated in July, 1904.
ST. Louis, March 23.-The st. Louis
relatives Of Mrs. Florence Maybrick
who is undergoing life Imprisonment
in England for the alleged poisoning
of her husband, have received no word
of the reported intended release of Mrs.
Maybrick.
Rev. ]. P. T. Ingraham, pastor en-
eritus of Grace Episcopal church is the
brother of Mrs. Maybrick's grand
mother n thus Mrs. Maybrick is his
grand niece. Mr.. Ingraham is at pres
ent in st. Augustine, Fla. visiting his
son. Miss Elizabeth Ingraham, his
daughter, says that she has received
no word whatever tending to show
that her cousin is to be granted her
freedom. Miss Ingraham received a
letter from her father only four days
ago. In it he mentioned nothing of
having any word from France or En-
gland, suggesting that his grand niece
would eventually be pardoned.
Both Ingraham n his daughter
have always believed in the innocence
of Mrs