The Sun. — 1847-11-10 (London, England)

SUSPECTED POISONINGTIVERTON, MONDAY.—The magistrates have, been again occupied a considerable time h.! investigating the supposed murder of Richard Pis her, a farm labourer, at the village of Morchard, a few rail es distant. Two other persons, Thomas Leach and Mary hHodge, sister-in-law of the unfortumate del .-:eased, ealedeen apprehended on suspicion or beim con- yin apprehended his death, and, with the -widow, Ann Fisher, have been committed to the county gaol for trial at the ensuing assizes. It was ascertained beyond all doubt that he died from the efli ,cts of arsenic. He was 71 years of age, and his wife 32, a•nd at the time of his death they had not been marries three months. It may be mentioned, that she had been married previously, and her husband, John Lee, died as late as February or March last. The deceased rented a small piece of land in the above_ named village, and occ:cts;ionally worked for a Miss Partridge, in the neighbO,athood. It would appear that they lived comfortably together until the 25th of August, when she left her house, tat. ing with her some papers of importance ack . an account of the amount of wages due to him iyalm Miss Partridge, V- or 61. The latter she endeavour f'd to obtain, saying that her husband was:ill and wb:ntei the cash, but Miss Partridge having been cautioned' :not to give it to her, she failed in getting it. As subsequentlyamertained, he had quarrelled with' her about a young xuan named Thomas Leach. He susp, acted that a certain intimacy existed between them, and found fault with her for allowing him to kiss her. Notwithstanding this ill-feeling, deceased eux*,yed Leach on the 26th to reap, and in the evening Ise was permitted to sup in the house with the other labourers By this period the wife had returned: home, and she joined the party. The deceased probab7l: y from a desire not to continue in their company, ret:i red to bed at an early hour, and they kept it up until be aween one and two o'clock in the morning, the wife c..; iusing Leach to be seen home in a cart. The poor d man again complained of his wife sitting up so late with the party in question, and on the morning of the 27th, after breakfast, he complained of being unwell. He went to bed and remained in a bad state all day. At four o'clock on the next morning (the 28th) the wife called her sister, Mary Hodge, up to attend tl ie deceased, as he was seized with a violent retching; , such was their statement before the coroner and magis ti ate. Upon Hodge arriving, the wife begged her to I ook after him, as she was going to Woodford f .)1 • a doctor, adding that she had made some tea in a h a Ifpint cup, which she was to give him if he was thirs Cy. He died at half-past six o'clock. Mr. Haley, s surgeon who was called upon to visit the poor ms tn, did not see him till eleven o'clock, when he was dead. He was told that the decease d had died at half-past six o'clock, but, frog az the condition of the body, he thought that life had been extinct more than eight or nine hours... The post mortem examination of the body, and the, analysation of the contents of the stomach, detectecE the presence of arsenic sufficient to produce death. It. was also shown by a Mr. Wood, druggist, of Tiver-. ton, that she called at his shop, accompanied by as woman, about the first Tuesday in August, and procured half an ounce of white arsenic, to destroy rat::. These facts induced the magistrates to commit the widow for trial on a charge of having administered the poison to the deceased. The police then sifted other suspicious facts, which told considerably against the sister-in-law, Mary Hodge, and Leach. Their apprehension was determined on, and, on being exa-. mined before the magistrate, they, as previously announced, sent them also for trial at the assizes, to be holden in March next.