The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1904-01-31
FLORENCE MAVERICK IS
REPORTED TO HAVE BEEN
RELEASED FROM PRISON


been an arsenic eater; that Mrs Maybrick
was aware OF the fact. and relied upon it
TO protect her in the event Of accusation.
T. That Maybrick, by long usage. had be-
come saturated with the poison, and was
arsenic-proof.
s. That In deciding that Mrs Maybrick
had been guilty of attempted murder, the
home secretary arrived at the only true
solution of the mystery.
g. That Mrs. Maybrick was not guilty
of the actual murder of her husband she
was legally entitled to acquittal.
Z. That, inasmuch as she was never tried
for attempted murder and that charge
formed no part of the indictment on which
she was arrafgned, she should not be pun
ished for attempted murder and was, in
fact, Illegally detained.
CONNECTING FACTS.
1t is scarcely necessary to go deeply into
the details of the events that followed May
bricks death. 1t was known that Mrs.
Maybrick had administered arsenic to him
in meat juice. and. as every one had expect
ed, the autopsy revealed the presence of
arsenic In certain organs, notably the liver
and the kidneys. Only half a grain I'm all
by Prof. Fowler i'm the Tawell case, this
very fact would indicate that a large guam
tity had been taken. Arsenic found in
various parts of the house-in the cooking
utensils, in the medicines and medicine bot
ties handled by Mrs. Maybrick during the
period of her charge, and in a handkerchief
from which her husband had sucked
cracked ice, administered by her. The trial
mainly resolved itself into battle of
pertS and counsel. The individuality of the
prisoner was lost. She had become the silent
spectator of a skillful game played out be-
tween counsel, with her life as the stake
DR.. Humphreys, DR.. Carter and Prof. Stew
enson declared that the deceased had died
from arsenic poisoning, and based their
views on the main symptoms-principall
on the bright red rosy blush OF the in
testines. In direct contradiction came two
of the first pathological authorities of the
world in the persons of Prof. II. u. Tidy
and Prof. Mcnamara, to declare that the
four main characteristics of arsenic poison
ing were absent. namely, suffusion of the
eyes, pains in the calves OF the legs, irri-
liability of eyelids and the intolerance of
light. Sir James Poole, former mayor of
Liverpool, together with several witnesses
gathered from both sides of the Atlantic,
were called to prove the constant use of
arsenic by Maybrick.
The balance of expert testimony was
clearly in favor of Mrs. Maybrick, and the
element of reasonable doubt had been
raised. Yet in the way of the prisoner TO
freedom-grim, immovable, insurmountable
stood the incident of the Valentines meat
juice. bathing the skill even of the mighty
Russell
1t remained for Mrs Maybrick herself,
against advice, against warning, to finally
turn the balance against herself by her at
tempt in a wide statement read to the jury
to explain away this damning evidence.
Il admit that L put the powder in the
and in a weak moment l yielded" This was
the substance of her reply. Give jury the
choice between a plain fact on the surface
and an explanation under the surface and
they will invariably choose the fact in
preference to the explanation.
Thus is the Maybrick case simply and
fairly stated. The home secretary chose
to AFFORD Mrs. Maybrick the benefit of the
doubt arising from the conflict of expert
testimony, in trying and convicting her of
an offense for which she mad never been IN
tote 70 n
a Jury. On basis of simple law the po-
sition of the British government was indie
feasible.
MANY BOOKS WRITTEN.
The case gave rise almost to literature
of it's own. Various Americans have from
time to time written books and pamphlets
reviewing evidence in the case, analysing
it from various standpoints. In 1891 Gail
Hamilton wrote a series of articles on the
case and was instrumental in having Mrs.
Maybricks condition somewhat amenorat-
ed, as her health was fast failing. 1t was
Gail Hamilton who started the petitions
which were signed by 100000 American
imprisoned woman. The Americans have
not been alone in interest in the case. Sew
eral books have been written by English
men in the case. DrS. II. +. Tidy and X.
Mcnamara wrote book Analysing the
medical testimony given at the trial. Ii
was largely on this testimony that the
Of the pOstmortem on the body of the de-
ceased and OF the analysis of the medi-
cines administered and also of the effect OF
the continued use of the drug on the sys-
TEN, the claim being made and established
at the trial that Maybrick used the drug
habltually John l.. FOuds. of Edinburgh.
an eminent jurist and student of criminal
law also wrote a book on the case, draw
ing the conclusion at the end that Mrs.
Maybrick had not been legally convicted
Mrs Maybrick's mother is now the Baro-
ness de RoILeS, and made her home until
very recently in Paris, France. She has
eNerted what influence she possessed in the
effort to have her daughter released. One
of the brothers of Mrs. Mayorick lives in
New York and the other in Liverpool.
Mrs Maybrick was the first person ever
To sing stephen Adamss The Holy City"
Adams is the nom de plume Of her brother.
author OF the famous song. and he took
the score ana words with him, when first
composed. to join a yachting party, of
which his sister and her husband were
members. Mrs. Maybrick. an accomplished
vocalist sang II while the yacht was cruis-
ing off the Isle of Wight.