The Potteries Examiner : — 1878-11-09 (Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England)

MURDER AND SUICIDE NEAR UTTOXETER.  I One of the most horrible and at the same time the saddest tragaes that have ever happened in this county took place yesterday week at KAM, stitch, a village labout a mile from Uttoxeter, on the road to Bramshall. Mr. James Cook, eldest son of the proprietor of the Red Lion Hotel, Uttoxeter, was the owner of a residence and grounds at Kiddlestitch, where he lived with 1 his wife, whose maiden name was Hodson, and whose family resided at Burt es. Oa her marriage with Mr. , Cook she brought him a large fortune, a considerable portion of which has been spent. There was one child a—nad !title 7t hhoainv ineowwtoali)noaukti waking a"Pryoevtrinonof for age—. Mrs. Cosk had retained possession of some part of her ' fortune, her action in this respect having been much resented by her husband. Sumo time ago Mr. Cook went into the wholesale wine and spirit trade' and since that time he has given way to drink, and boo frequently suffered from deliriant tremens. It is snit, but it is hoped without truth, that Mrs. Cook also drank freely during the last two years, and the house and garden present a scene of disorder and confusion that is quite lamentable. Mr. Cook, when suffering from dipso. mania' was in the bob t of attacking his wife with great brutelity, arid on more than one occasion the f onily doctor has had to be called in in consequence. His conduct having recently become stranger and stranger, serious thoughts seem to have been enter. tamed by his friends of sending him to an asylum, and this coming to his knowledge, he suffered periods of alternate rage and fear. His wife and daughter appear to have taunted hint with threats to the effect that passing vehicles were come to fetch him away. On 'Thursday he drank a large quantity of beer, and in the evening seemed to he anything hut in his right mind. On the following morning he took his wife a cup of tea , before she got up, and the two shortly afterwards came down together. During the morning there was no open , quarrelling, bat the conduct ot Mr. Cook was very ' strange. He ran up and down the garden in a senseless way, asking ridiculous questions, and evidently suffering from many of the symptoms con. necte I with dipsomania. His little girl innocently told him two or three times that 'they were coming for him," at which he would act like a baby, and beg for protection. He eat no dinner, and shortly after midday Ida wife became so alarmed that she sent the gardener into the town to fetch Mr. Cook, senior. Uniortunately that gentleman was cot on business, and he del not return in time to one either his son or eisur,hter-i.law alive. In the alt-moon the servant girl caught Mr. Cook beating his wife in the hall, and rushed out screaming. Mr. Chitty, who was work. ing in the garden, ran to the front door, which he found had been locked. Ile then ran round to the back, meeting on his way the unfortunate little girl, who cried out, "Make haste, me pupa is killing my mamma." Fearing for the safety of the child, betook it a few yards towards the tollgate, telling her to go to the toll-house for safety. He then rushed back into the house, too late, however to prevent the awful crime. It seems that Cook took the carving knife which had not been aced that day, and cat his wife's throat from ear to ear. From the nature of the wound it was evident that the murderer must have stood behind the victim, and it is probable that she was clasped in his arms at the time. So horribly well was the gash directed that the head was almost dismembered. He was afterwards seen to deliberately sharpen the knife, arid when Mr. Chitty closed with him with a view to getting the knife away, he found that he had already cut his own throat. When Mr. Chitty found Mrs. Cook she was on the point of death. Cask, in the meantime, had crawled to the sofa in the front room, where he shortly afterwards expired in great agony. Just a few moments after, when it ‘T SS tato late to avert the awful catastrophe, Mr. and Mrs. Cook, senior, arrived from Uttoseter. The doctor was sent for, but his services were, of course, of no avail. The seems that presented it-elf to the eyes of Inspector Barrett on his arrival ham description. At the foot of the staircase lay the bady of the poor lady, who was nearly thirty.eight year. of age. Her lalid was lying back, exposing the wound in all its ghastly horror, while all around was a pool of blood ankle deep. Here ohm and hair were sett/rat, d wish the same fluid. All along the passage, down which the murierer had crawled after cornmitring this double crime, was a mass of blood, as 'dm was the fluor of the room in which he lay. His throat was even worse cut than that of his wife, and his head woo attached to his body by the vertelsrm alone.  As a proof of the terrible scene of bloodshed, it may be stated that blood found its way into the well, the water of which is tainted by it. The condition of the house is described by eye-witnesses as having been worse than that of any slaughter-house. Inspector Barrett and P.C. Wynn exerted themselves with a view to restoring order. There was little or no excitement in Uttoxeter, several persons expressing their surprise that the crime had not been committed months ago. As an instance of the sad state in which the unhappy pair had lived, it may be stated theta very near relative remarked, on hearing of the awful tragedy, "Well, it's perhaps as well as it is." The mum actor in the awful tragedy was about thirty-four years of age. He is described as having been very handsome when yeauger, but of late years he has bad a somewhat bloated appearance. He was nearly six feet high, and very powerfully built. Even after he had severed all the main arteries of his neck, be possessed sufficient strength to straggle with Mr. Chittr. An inquiry was held on Saturday, when the jury returned a verdict "That Mary Ann Cook had died from wounds iefficted by James Cook ; that James Cook died by his own hand; and that both deeds were committed by him when his mind was in an unsound state."  On Tuf-sday the funeral of the deceased persons took place, in the presence of a large contemn° of spectators. Since the tragic occurrence large numbers of people have visited the house in which the unfortunate couple resided.