The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser. — 1835-01-02 (Liverpool, Merseyside, England)

SUSPECTED MURDER.  An inquest, arising out of circumstances of a most extraordinary nature, commenced on Wednesday se'unight at Bristol, which may possibly involve some parties, against whom suspicion attaches, in the crime of murder, by administering poison to an aged lady, named Clara Ann Smith, whose death took place suddenly on the 26th of October, 1833. About 14 or 15 mouths ago the lady in question resided in lodgings in Trinitystreet, souse of her friends living in Bristol, but the greater number at a distance; she became unwell in consequence of a cold, and requested to have a girl to attend upon her, who was not to take her meals in the house but to go home to them. A girl did accordingly attend on the night of the 24th of Octoberand the following day, on the evening of which some gruel was given to the deceased by the landlady of the house in which she fudged ; this gruel was observed by the girl to be of a brownish colour, and on taking it the lady vomited. One suspicious ~ circumstance in the case was, that the landlady had purchased • some arsenic just previous to the demise of the deceased. It had also been alleged that the old lady was possessed of considerable property, of which, however, nothing had appeared rrom that time to the present her death occurred on the Satur-; • day, and on the following , Monday she was, buried, her nearest • eflations having no knowledge whatever of the event until about a fortnight ago, when, aware that she wits in possession of property, and instituting some inqiiiry respecting it, they • became acquainted with such circumstances as led them to believe that her sudden death was brought about by some unfair means. They then made application to the magistrates, and it was thought right to hold an inquest on the body. The jury having repaired to the churchyard of St. Augustine, the body was disinterred, and the stomach and its contents removed in their presence. The inquest was then adjourned till Friday, for the purpose of allowing time for analyzing the contents of the stomach. On Friday the evidence of the girl was taken, from which it appeared that the deceased because much worse after taking the gruel, and died about an hour afterwards ; and that the landlady, who was in the room at the time, behaved in a very unfeeling manner on the occasion. She had frequently cautioned her against touching any of Mrs. Smith's food, and told her not to mention any particulars respecting the deceased to any person; but, if she were asked, she was to say that the lady she attended was a foreigner. After the examination of two or three other witnesses, the inquest was adjourned till the following day. The Bri.tol Journal says the result of the chemical analysis, by Mr. Herapath, is that orpiment or yellow arsenic has been detected in the contents of the stomach, and that its effect (contrary to what is usually understood of poisonous substances) has been to preserve the coats of the membrane, which in this instance were in a state of extraordinary perfection, as contrasted with other parts of the body. The head also has been examined by Dr. Riley, with a view to personal identity. On the coffin-plate there were no christian names, but merely " Mrs. Smiths," and the date of her decease. Mrs. Murdock and her maid, Mary Evans, who was in the house where the deceased died, and denies that any gruel was made fur her on the night of her decease, arc both in custody.