Remarks on the trial of Robert Reid, for the murder of his wife : before the High Court of Justiciary, at Edinburgh, on the 29th of June 1835 / by John Fletcher.

  • John Fletcher
Date:
1835
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Remarks on the trial of Robert Reid, for the murder of his wife : before the High Court of Justiciary, at Edinburgh, on the 29th of June 1835 / by John Fletcher. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    the ambiguous expressions, in answer to a question by Mr Grieve of what complaint his wife had died, We must not tell all things, and all things go as they come and, supposing these words to be am- biguous, * what was more natural than for a drunken man, as he then was, under such circumstances, to affect great circumspection in his discourse, and to have recourse to the wise words and dark say- ings in question ? The answers savour much more of the mock solemnity of a fool, than of the crafty pur- pose of a villain, and are very different from what we should expect from one who had committed murder, and who would have felt that such expressions were calculated to excite, not to allay suspicion. And a similar remark may be made with respect to his sub- sequent declaration of satisfaction at being released from his wife. When first aware of her death he was very much affected and concerned-like, as stated by Mrs Crichton, Mrs Lenny, William Duncan and others j and, according to Mrs Tod, shed tears so copiously that they streamed down his cheeks. Now these tears were either real or affected. If they were real, it is most improbable that Reid had committed the murder imputed to him ; if they were affected, it is most improbable that he would, had he been a murderer, so soon afterwards have made the above declaration, which was so inconsistent with them. The fact appears to be that the tears which the man at first shed were the instinctive expression of emotion at the loss of a woman to whom he had * It has been imagined that Reid, in these replies, alluded to the infirmity of his wife, above spoken of; and in this sense the words are simply absurd—they cease to be ambiguous.
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