British Miner and General Newsman : — 1863-01-10 (London, England)

TERRIBLE ARSENICAL POISONINGS.  ON Friday evening an inquiry was concluded at Revesby, a few miles from Etorncastle, Lincolnshire, into the circumstances attending the death of an elderly woman named Jemima Garner. The inquest was conducted by Mr. Walter Clegg. coroner for the district. The deceaSed died many months since; rumours having been prevalent as to the manner in which she came to, her end, her remains were exhumed about Six weeks ago, and a post-mortem examination inade. The result was that the stomach, intestines, heart, liver, and A portion of the spine were sent in sealed jars to Professor Taylor, who reported that he had discovered a large quantity of arsenic. John Garner, of Mareham-leFen, son of the deceased woman, and Elizabeth Whitaker, who had lived with the parties as servant, and who since the death of the poor old woman had married the Sort, were apprehended by Superintendent horesby, of the Lincolnshire constabulary, on a charge of wilful murder. The evidence adduced at the various sittings of the coroner's jury showed that the prisoners had behaved cruelly to the deceased. Thus, it was stated that Garner had been seen to kick and beat his mother, and on one occasion he and Whitaker put her out of the house in which they lived together, and told her she might go to the union. A week before the deceased was taken ill for the last time the female prisoner said to her, "You d- old -, I wish your mouth was full of mould." On another occasion she was heard to say to the poor old creature, "You d-= I'll stop your going to Mrs. Shepherd's and telling tales." In her last moments, when suffering from dreadful pain and sickness, the deceased implored her son to give her some brandy, but he refused, telling her that she was drunk already, that she wAs afraid of dying, and that her d- Wesleyauism Was giving way. He then left the room, and although her dreadful retching could be heard all over the house, he refused to come near her again before she died. About a fortnight before her eath the deceased remarked to a person named Weldon that she Wished she had never gone to her son's house and broken up her own home, adding, "I am sadly in the road for them, and I am afraid of them."  Professor Taylor was examined at great length, and stated the results of his analysis were :-1. That arsenic was present in the stomach, intestines, liver, and heart of the deceased, in all parts of the organs submitted to his examination. 2. That the arsenic was contained in the stomach, intestines, and in the flesh and ligaments of the spine, partly in a soluble and partly in an insoluble form—that is, as orpiment or yellow arsenic. 3. That the orpiment or yellow arsenic which caused the patches of colour in the stomach, bowels, and spine, had probably been produced by a chemical change in the white arsenic contained in the stomach and bowels at the time of death. 4. That the yellow stains found in the spine were produced by arsenic escaping through the coats of the stomach after death, and the yellow stains on the mesentery were caused by the arsenic escaping through the coats of the intestines. 5. That the quantity of yellow arsenic altogether was probably not less than from six to eight grains, equivalent to from five to six grains of white arsenic; 6. That the discovery of arsenic in the substance of the liver and heart render it probable that the deceased hdd taken the poison some time —that is, one or two days—before death. 7. That the quantity found in the body would be a fatal dose for a human being, and in the absence of any other apparent cause would be quite sufficient to account for death.  Other evidence having been adduced, the jury returned a verdict of "Wilful murder" against both prisoners, and they were committed for trial at the next assizes at Lincoln. The facts ascertained in the course of the inquiry having been submitted to the Home Secretary, accompanied by a memorial from the magistrates, a warrant was received in the