The Butler County press. [volume] (Hamilton, Ohio) 1900-1946, 1930-10-10
HISTORY'S
MYSTERIES
UnsoIved Riddles That Still Puzzle
Authorities Here and Abroad -
Who Killed James Maybrick /?

- she was the daughter of banker
in Mobile, Ala, and because the death
of her husband was surrounded by
the trial and subsequent imprisonment
Of Mrs. Mary Chandler Maybrick for
the murder of her English husband
caused a widespread sensation on both
sides of the Atlantic and threatened
for while to lead to diplomatic
break between London and Washing
ton. Mrs. Maybrick's final release in
1905 was heralded as final confes
sion Of error on the part of British
law and a vindcation of the woman
who had been wrongfully imprisoned
for fifteen long years. But even this
did not clear up the mystery connec-
ted with the death Of James May
brick.
Mary Elizabeth Chandler who was
destined to play leading role In this
tragedy of legal mistakes, married
James Maybrick of Liverpool when
she was eighteen years of age Dur
ing the second year of their marriage
son was born to them and, later, a
daughter.
For eight years the married life of
the Maybricks appeared to be as hap
py and pleasant as possible. Then,
apparently without any explanation
whatever, Maybrick developed the tenn
per OF brute finally beating lis wife
and turning her out into the street.
Evidence produced at the trial, how
ever, showed that Maybrick had be-
come q confirmed arsenic-eater and
this was understood to account for
his sudden alteration In habits and
disposition.
Following the brutality of her hus-
band, Mrs. Maybrick sued for a di-
vorce but, on account of the children,
the couple were reconciled and lived
together quietly for a short time In
the spring OF 1889, however, May
brick was taken Ill and died a short
time later, presumably from natural
causes. The dead mans family, how
ever, maintained that there had been
foul play and insisted upon having
the body eXhumed, particularly as
they announced that they had dscov-
cred no less than seventy grains of
arsenic concealed in the room which
Mrs. Maybrick had shared with her
husband.
In spite of the fact that minute ex-
animation of the body disclosed the
presence of only one-tenth of a grain
of arsenic and medical authorities
stated that two grains was the small
est dose which could possibly prove
fatal, Mrs. Maybrick was arrested on
the charge Of murder and the ensu-
ing trial was one of the most sensa-
tional in the annals of the British
courts. The attorney for the defense
proved conclusively that Maybrick had
been in the habit of eating enough
arsenic to kill dozen men and
showed that he had continually bought
large quantities of this poison for his
| personal use. The prosecution coun-
tered with the statement that this al
legged habit of the dead man was a
fabrication invented for the sole pur-
| pose OF explaining the arsenic found
In the house after Maybrick's death
and exploded b0mb-shell In the
shape of evidence that Mrs Maybrick
had purchased flypaper containing ar
senic which she had soaked out, stat
| ing that she intended to use this as q
| complexion bleach.
But, as the concluding statement OF
the counsel for the defense showed,
Mrs. Maybrick had been the first to
| give the alarm when her husband had
been taken i'll and, as her lawyer put
1t, ''if she had wished to set every
one in the house and the doctors
themselves on the scent of poison, she
could not have acted differently"
Sir Fitzjames Stephen, presiding
| judge, delivered a long and rather
rambling address to the jury which
appeared, at first, to favor the de-
fendant but which concluded with
what was practically a demand for
her conviction and the jury, after be-
ing out only thirty-eight minutes, re-
turned with verdict Of "guilty as
charged Shortly afterwards the
judge went mad and the Liverpool
Post in commenting upon the matter
said: "In fancy, one still hears the
distant fanfare of the trumpets as the
judges with quaint pageantry pass
down the hall, and still the minds
eye sees the crimson-clad figure of
the great mad Judge as he sat down
to try his last case. A tragedy, In
deed, was played upon the bench no
less than in the dock"
Having been sentenced to the gal.
lows, Mrs. Maybrick remained In pris-
on for seven weeks and then, after
having been warned that her execu.
tion would take place within few
days, was suddenly reprieved and her
sentence commuted to life imprison.
ment. During the years that followed
an almost constant stream of diplo.
matte messages about the American
woman passed between London and
Washington, but 1t was not until fif
teen years after she had entered pris
on that Mrs. Maybrick was released
on a "ticket to leave''-with the mys
terry of what had really caused the
death of her husband still unsolved
((0 by the Wheeler Syndicate)