The Dorset County Express and Agricultural Gazette. — 1876-06-06 (Dorchester, Dorset, England)

THE EXTRAORDINARY CONSPIRACY.  Sentence was pronounced on Thursday upon the medical student and the married woman whose extraordinary conspiracy, the one to commit suicide and the other to assist her in that wicked design, has been the subject of a trial this week at the central Criminal Court. The MAU Vance gets off with eighteen mouths Imprisonment, the woman Snee with six-penalties which cannot but be considered extremely lenient. The history of the cam in curious. A Post Office clerk in the Dead Letter Office opening a batch of unowned letters, aotording to practice, in order to return such as have miscarried, revealed one of the most shocking correspondences on record. In the communication was fortunately caught the attention of the Dead Letter clerk Vance was found replying wan advertisement which began "To medical assistants well up in chemistry and in need of money," and which offered • liberal reward for "professional assistance to • gentleman engaged in an interesting experiment" He had sent • answer to the Junction-road Post Office, Kentish Town, and there ensued a reply in terms which showed that " W.C.," the advertiser, wanted a poison which destroy life without awakening supicion, on the plea of contemplating suicide In the interest of a friend. Such poison Vance was willing to supply for money, as his next letter declared. Detectives were presently set to watch the local post-office, before long matters were ripe for the arrest of both correspondents, and they were brmght up at Bow-street upon the strength of the first batch of correspondence. But while they. were under examination the solicitor of the female prisoner called at the poet-office for the further series of letters lying there : aad these being refused to him, and opened afterwards by authority, a new body of evidence was furnished which tended to render the case more important and mysterious than ever. In the subsequent correspondence the sinister transaction had gone much further. The would-be suicide, supplied already with chloral, wrote for fuller instructions, requesting at the same time some ;rustic acid, and noticed that before dying she meant to take a little holiday trip. Upon the question of poison the correspondence showed that the stuff was to be tried upon animals first; and the man's letter gave instructions about these deadly rehearsals: nay, we ars informed by the evidence that a cat kept by the woman Snee did sicken suddenly. Against Snee the circumstances an they stood did admit the possibility that suicide was the real object in her thoughts—nevertheless the suspicion arose that here was an attempt to obtaim deadly drugs for a murderous purpose without any trace being left of their having been procured. This portion of the case, however, was not sustained by the further evidence gathered by the prosecution. Mrs. finee's husband—spoken of as • most respectable man— came from his business abroad to 'had by -his wife's side, and the facts appeared not nearly so dark against the female prisoner as her correspondent The letters also bear distinctive marks. Helen Sues writes: "The lovely weather has given me great desire to see one particular spot of the country in the North for the last time. I think I shall start on Tuesday afternoon and give myself a week's holiday. This may defer the event till Easter Tuesday or Wednesday, but cannot make much difference to you. The man Vance ends one of his villainous letters with these widely different words: "I have the prussic acid packet ready, and send it immediately on receipt of your next What • pleasing change the weather has assumed !—Believe me, my dear Sir, very cordially, W. KY."  It is altogether a came which has been to lightly branded by the law—in the man's instance, at least—for such cool contempt for the sanctity of human life as It tends to indicate is a deadlier form of peril in society than possionate vices. Vance, as an accomplice in a murderous conspiracy deserved surely the severest punishment, for no brutal assassin is so Mid as he who could abuse his scientific knowledge to make miserable profit out of the death of a fellow-creature whom he had never even known or sees. Ten times more wicked than his foolish accomplice, is is to be regretted that the ratio of his punishment should be only as three to one.