The Montgomery advertiser., 1906-02-08
THE DELAYED DEATH PENAL TY
How American and English Laws Diverge- The Case of Albert I. Patrick, Arrested in
 October, 1900. and Still Pending.

in 1889 was interesting England very much as the Patrick case is now at fracting notice on this side or tne ocean. The victims of both crimes were found by jury to have peen murdered byNmeans of poison, arsenic in the former instance, mercury and chloroform in the latter Strikfngly similar was the dispute between medi- cal authorities in either case. Mrs: Maybrick was sentenced to be hanged this being commuted to imprisonment for iife--in England nearly always meaning twenty years of confinement by the home secretary. On January 25, 1904, after serving fourteen and half years at hard labor, she was re- leased from Aylesbury prison on special license being now a resident or this country, really at liberty on ticket-of-leave. but not compelled to make the usual periodical reports, since she is out of England Jurisdiction.
 Mrs Maybrick was accused of killing aer husband with whom she had quar- reied, by the administration of arSen- jc. post-mortem examination re- vealed that the stomach contained less than one-hundredth of a grain, but in the woman's dressing room were found quantities of the drug. There were half dozen fy-parers containing ar senic, soaking in water, cardboard box marked Poison for rats. and eight bottles, all containing solutions Of the poison.
 The Maybrick Medical Dispute.
 It was insisted by g. variety of emil nent medical men. headed by Dr. Tidy, a well known writer on forensic medi- cine, and Dr. Macnamera of the Irish College of surgeons, that MT. Maybrfck did not die of arsenic at all. Every one, however, admitted that he had died of Inflammation os the intestiues ar fhrs Gfn u.f hf frh gastro- -entcritis; and, further, that ar senic causes death by producing gas- tro-enteritis But Dr. Tidy and others swore positively that a man could not | die of arsenic unless he suffered from well-defined symptoms which MT. Maybrfck had not evineed. They de- | clared that gastro-enteritis migfiht be produced by taking food affected by certain laten impurities. not capable 1 or being specified, and that the kinds 1 of food most likely to become deadly in this mysterious way were sausages, cheese. and lobster. all of which the deceased had eaten.
 The doctors for the defense also ex- plained the arsenic found in the body bJ the fact that Maybrick had been in the habit of taking medicine in which the drug was an important element. Mrs, Maybrick. according to English law, was not called as a witness but
 
 She admitted that she had put arsenic in bottle of meat juice, and said that she had done so at her husbands, re- quest, not knowing what the powder was. The ay-paper found, she said, she was using in the preparation of a face wash which she had learned to make in Germany. The jury however, found her guilty after being out half an hour. ST Lesle Stephens the chief justice. who presided at the trial, be- came insance rot a great while after ward. and the convicted woman's friends used this as an argument for the exercise of clemency, urging that the judges mental condition during the time Of the trial could not have been conducive to a fair summing up of the legal points involved
 The Valct's Confession.
 m one or Jones early confessions he had sworn that he himself pIaeed cone containing a chIoroform snonee over Rices face. acting under Patriek's direction. The valet had atten pted to commit suicide by slashing his throat Tn the Tombs shortly after his arrest ana generally manifested a disturbed mental condition. Motive for the nur- der was held to be desire to obtain control of the Rice estate by means of forged will, concocted by Patrick On trial, the jury adopted the theory urged by the district attorney that the was accomplished hX Jones. at Patrick's command, chloro- form being the means used to Kill the gray tablets" and the salts" be- ing dfsregarded. The valet after his trio of dangling confessions, was re- moved from New York and released. his utter escape from punishment being commented upon as more than queer by many who thought the district at torney had exceeded legitimate license Tor the obtaining of necessary evil dence, There were many who even insisted that Jones was too feeble minded to have any of his testimony given credence. At all events, the va let went scot free. and Patrick. his control, was sentenced to death for fl crime in which they both were equally active
 Medical experts in the Patrick case began to differ immediately after the autopsy following the one performed by the coroner's physician This was done after the body had been em- balmed. and from this embalminR all the debate has arisen. Dr. Allan Mo Lane Hamilton, the aIienist, has been the mover of the recent petition, sign ed by medical men and others. which has resulted in Governor Higgins re- prieve. Dr. Hamilton was quoted as saying recently:
 ITO those of us who have kent track of the points at issue there is a very