Celebrated trials of all countries, and remarkable cases of criminal jurisprudence / Selected by a member of the Philadelphia bar [i.e. J.J. Smith].

  • John Jay Smith
Date:
1835
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Celebrated trials of all countries, and remarkable cases of criminal jurisprudence / Selected by a member of the Philadelphia bar [i.e. J.J. Smith]. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    97/612 (page 87)
    that infested the office 1 A. Yes, it was only to be used in the office to destroy the mice, and for no other purpose. This poison had not been used before for a year and a half. William Thisselton sworn.—I am an officer of Hatton Garden office.—Q. Did you take the prisoner into custody1? A. I did, on the 23d of March, the day before Good Friday.—Q. While she was sitting in the room in the office, did she say any thing respecting the poison or the yeast] A. 1 asked her whether she suspected the flour] She said she had made a beef-steak pie of the flour that she made the dumplings with; that she, and her fellow servants, and one of the apprentices, had dined off the pie. I then observed, if there was any thing bad in that flour, it must have hurt them as well as her. She said, she thought it was in the yeast; she saw a red settlement in the yeast after she had used it. Joseph Penson sworn.—Q. You are a servant to Mr. Edmonds, the brewer in Gray's Inn Lane 1 A. Yes.—Q. Were you in the habit of leaving table beer at Mr. Turner's 1 A. Yes.—Q. Had the prisoner made any application to you respecting yeast 1 A. Yes, she asked me on Thursday. I told her, if I came that way on Saturday, I would bring her a bit; if not, on Monday. I brought the yeast on Monday morning. I took it out of the stilliards where the casks lay ; out of the yeast for bakers. Cross-examined by Mr. Alley.—Q. When you brought the yeast to the house, you gave it to the last witness, not to the prisoner 1 A. I gave it to the house-maid: she brought me a pot, into which I put the yeast. Sarah Peer.—Q. What did you do with the yeast] A. 1 emptied it into a white basin. I told Eliza that the brewer had brought the yeast. She took the basin. I saw no more of it. Mr. John Marshall sworn.—I am a surgeon. On the evening of Tuesday, the 21st of March, I was sent for to Mr. Turner's family. I got there about a quarter before nine o'clock. All the affliction attending the family were produced by arsenic. I have no doubt of it, by the symptoms. The prisoner was also ill, by the same 1 have no doubt.—Q. Did Mr. Orlibar Turner show you a dish the next morning 1 A. He did. I examined it. I washed it with a tea-kettle of warm water. I first stirred it and let it subside. 1 decanted it off. I found half a tea-spoonful of white powder. I washed it the second time. I decidedly found it to be arsenic.—Q. Will arsenic, cut with a knife, produce the appearance of blackness upon the knife ] A. 1 have no doubt of it.—Q. Did you examine the remains of the yeast ] A. Yes, there was not a grain of arsenic there; and I examined the flour tub, there was no arsenic there. Mr. Gurney.—That is the case on the part of the prosecution. Prisoner's defence.—I am truly innocent of the whole charge. I am inno- cent ; indeed I am! I liked my place. I was very comfortable. Gadsden behaved improperly to me; my mistress came, and saw me undressed: she said she did not like it. I said, Ma'am, it is Gadsden that has taken liberty with me. The next morning I said, I hope you do not think any thing of what passed last night. She was in a great passion, and said she would not put up with it. I was to go away directly. I did not look on Mrs. Turner, but the old lady, as my mistress. In the evening the old lady came to town. I said, I am going away to-night. Mrs. Turner said, Do not think any more about it: I don't. She asked Mrs. Robert Turner if she was willing for me to go 1 She said, No, she thought no more about it. - As to my master saying I did not assist him, I was too ill. I had no con- cern with that drawer at all: when I wanted a piece of paper, I always asked for it. The prisoner called five witnesses, who gave her the character of a good- natured and amiable disposition. The recorder concluded his charge in words to this effect:—