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Max 31, *85&rl THE LEAD1JB; .. " #&
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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
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Trial Of William Palmer. , .; . ¦ » ¦ Th...
5 iat wbat he got was a bill for 200 / . ?"— " Yes ; and he i ^ a house furnished for him . " " Don't you know that STJot a bill for 200 / . ?'•'— " Yes . " "And don ' t you know that that bill never -was paid ?" -- ¦ " No , I do not . " "/ Now I ' . U refresh your memory a little with regard to those proposals ( handing witness a document ) . Look at that , and tell me whether it" is in your handwriting ?" _ u . «' ftis . " " Refreshing your memory with that , I ask ran were you not applied to by William Palmer in December 1854 , to attest a proposal on the life of his brother Walter for 13 , 000 * . in the Solicitors and General Insurance Office ? " — " I might have been . " " Were you or were you not , sir ? Look at that document , and say if you have any doubt upon the subject . "— " I do not
like to speak from memory with reference to such matters . " "No ; but , not speaking from memory in an abstract sense , but having your memory refreshed by a perusal of that document , have you any doubt that you were applied to ?"— " I have no doubt that I might have been applied to . " " Have you any doubt that in January , 1855 , you were called on by William Palmer to attest another proposal for 13 , 000 / . on his brother's life in another office ? Look at the document and tell me . " —* . ' . ' ¦ I see the paper , but I don't know ; I might have signed it in blanks . " " Do you usually sign attestations of this nature in blank ?"— " I have some doubt whether I did not sign several of them in blank . " " On your oath , looking at that document , don ' t you know that
William Palmer applied to you to attest that proposal npon his brother ' s life for 13 , 000 / . ?"— " He did apply to me to attest proposals in some offices . " " Were they for large amounts ?'— " One was for 13 , 000 / . " " Were you applied to to attest another for the like sum in the Universal Office ?"— " I might be . " " They were made much about the same time , were they not ? You did not wait for the answers to come back to the first application befoi « you inade the second ?"— " I do not know that any answers were returned at all . " " Will you Bwear that you were not present when Walter Palmer executed the deed assigning the policy upon his life to his brother William Palmer ? Now , be careful , Mr . Smith , for depend upon it you shall hear of this again if you are not . "— " I will not swear that I was . I think I was not . I am not quite positive . " ( Very few of the answers to these questions of the Attorney-General were
given without considerable hesitation , and the witness appeared to labour under a sense of embarrassment which left a decidedly unfavourable impression upon the minds of the audience . ) "Do you know that the 200 / . bill was given for the purpose of enabling William Palmer to make up a sum of 500 / . ?"— " I believe it was not ; for Cooke received absolutely from me 200 / . If I am not mistaken , he took it with him to Shrewsbury races — not the last races . " " In whose favour was the bill drawn ?"— " I think in favour of William Palmer . I don't know what became of it . I have never seen it since I cannot state with certainty who saw me on the Monday ; but I called at the Talbot Arms , and went into Cooke ' s room . One of the servants gave me a candle . As well as I can remember , the servant who did so was either Bond , Mills , or Lavinia Barnes , I can ' t say Which . "
The question with respect to Mrs . Palmer was renewed by Mr . Serjeant Shee , who asked : — M la there any pTetence for saying you have ever been charged with any improper intimacy with Mrs . Palmer ?"—Witness : "I hope not . " "Is there any pretence for saying so ?"— " There ought not to be . " "Is there any truth in the statement or suggestion that you have had any improper intimacy with Mrs . Palmer ?"" They might have said so , but they had no reason for saying so . " " Is there any truth in the statement ?"" I should say not . " ( I ^ tugktei : ) William Joseph Sanders , n witness subpoenaed both for the prosecution and the defence , waa then called upon his recognizance , but did not appear .
All the evidence having now been taken , Mr . Serjeant Sheo , on account of the way in which the Attorney-General had brought out certain facto , submitted that he had a rifcht to reply ; but the Court was of opinion that he had no right—The Attorney-General said he had been taken somewhat by surprise on the previous day by the evidence of Dr . Richardson with respect to the disease known as angina pectoris . Dr . Richardson adverted to / several books and authorities lie had now those books in hi * possession , and he wan desirous of patting some questions arising out of that part of the evidence . —The Court decided also against thin application .
THE ATTORNEY-GENERAL'S REPLY . The case for the defenco being now concluded , The Attorney-General rose to reply on the part of the Crown . He observed thnt two questions would have to be decided by the jury : —lstly , whether Cooko died a natural death ; and , 'indly , whether ho was taken oil by means of poison . The statement of the Crown was that he had first been practised on by antimony , and that at laat ho was poisoned by strychnine . Ho ( the Attorney-General ) had listened with deep attention to the various accounts which had l > cen given , by the medical witnesses , of the several forms of tetanus , and he : confidently asserted that no case had been brought forward in which the symptoms wore so marked as in U » e cam of Mr . Cooko . The kind of tetanus of which
Mr . Cooke died was not either traumatic or idiopathic . The medical evidence for the defence was a mere sea of speculation , and the way in which it had been given was , he thought , a scandal upon a learned , distinguished , and liberal profession . It was a scandal that men should come forward with speculations and conjectures such as had been advanced , and that they should misinterpret facts , and extract from them sophistical and unwarrantable conclusions , with a view to deceive the jury . He ( the Attorney-General ) had the greatest respect for science : no man could have greater ; but he could not repress his indignation and abhorrence when he saw it perverted and prostituted to the prejudice of truth in a court of justice . There was no ground for
saying that Cooke was suffering at the time of his death from syphilitic affection . A fortnight before the races , he had told his step-father he was quite well ; and his appearance confirmed his words . It had been contended that idiopathic tetanus might have been brought on by a cold ; but there was nothing to show that the deceased had caught a cold . Then it was said that the excitement after the races might have led to the convulsions ; but it was admitted that that excitement did not last for more than a few minutes , and there was nothing to show that it returned . What were the cases which the witnesses for the defence attempted to set up against the assertion of the Crown ? They brought all the way from Scotland a girl named Watson , who deposed that ,
though she had not taken any poison and had no wound of any kind on her body , she was attacked with a violent paroxysm in the month of October last year . But in cross-examination it appeared that she had been ill all day , was taken worse at night , had a pain in her stomach and cramps in her arms , was for a while quite insensible , but soon recovered , and went about her business . That was the case they brought forward as a parallel for the mortal anguish—the spasms—the convulsionsthe death agony of the unhappy man , Cooke ! The Attorney-General next called attention to the contradictions of what they had said in their examination-inchief elicited in the cross-examination of Dr . Nunneley , Mr . Partridge , Dr . M ' Donald , Dr . Letheby , & c . ; and
observed that the medical witnesses called for the defence set up five distinct theories , all of which he contended were inadmissible—namely , 1 . General convulsions . 2 . Arachnitis . 3 . Epilepsy proper . 4 . Epilepsy with tetanic convulsions . 5 . Angina pectoris . It was not a little remarkable that the learned gentleman ( Mr . Serjeant Shee ) never ventured to assert the nature of the disease to which he refers the death of Cooke ; and that , in course of the evidence , these five causes should have been successively advanced . His learned friend had an advantage in not stating what theory his medical witnesses would set up , " because , " said the Attorney-General , "I admit that one after another they took me by surprise . The gentleman who was called yesterday
and who talked of angina pectoris would have not escaped so easily if I had been in possession of the books to which he referred ; for I should have been able to expose the ignorance or the presumption of the assertions he dared to make . I say the ignorance or the presumption , or , what is worse , the deliberate intention to deceive . I lay to his charge one or other of these three , and , in the presence of this Court , and in the face of the whole medical profession , I assert that one or other of these charges I should have been able to substantiate . The medical witnesses for the defence differ one and all in their views ; but there is a remarkable coincidence between the opinions of some of them and the opinions of those who have been examined on the other side . "
With respect to the experiments on animals , it must be considered that there is a vast difference between the life of animals and of human beings , in the power with which certain specific things act upon them . The defence alleged that there were no premonitory Byniptoms . That he denied . The asking to have the neck rubbed waa a premonitory symptom , and one which corresponded with the case of Mrs . Smith , with the Leeds case , and with others . Yet Dr . Nunneley , who attended the lady at Leeds , who discovered strychnine in her body after death , and who knows that she requested her husband to rub her legs and arms between the paroxysms , dared to say that Cooke ' s having tolerated the rubbing is u proof of his not having taken strychnine . Such assertions prove nothing but the dishonesty and insincerity of those who so daro to pervert fade . Moreover in the face of the evidence of other witnesses , Dr . to that he did not bc
Nunneley had the audacity eay - lievo thia was a case of strychnine because of the rigidity of the body , though that had been shown to be a result of Btryclinine . Then , they had the theory of the heart being empty ; but it should be borne in mind that it could not bo preciaely averred in what way the final Biinam took place , and , if it had seized on the heart , the heart would be found empty . The cases of undoubted death from strychnine which had been detailed were so idetincal with the death of Cooko that it would bo difficult not to conclude that hia was a death from strychnine also and several medical witnesaea , both on the part of the Crown and of the defence , agreed that , in the whole ranee of their experience , they knew of no diaciiHO to which such remarkable symptoms could be attributed . That being so , and there being a known poison which would produce them , how fltrong , how cogent , how
irresistible was the conclusion that it was that poison , ana that poison alone , to which they were to be traced ! On the other band , ' lie was bound in candour to admit that there were difficulties . Strychnine was not found in the body ; and they had it , no doubt , on very high authority , that strychnine can always be discovered . But let them consider the state in which , the stomach and intestines were examined - — a portion of the contents being lest , and the rest jumbled tip together "It is very true , " continued the Attorney-General ,
" that Dr . Nunneley , Mr . Herapatb , and Dr Letheby , say , that whatever impurities there may have been , ii strychnine had been in the stomach they should have found strychnine there , no matter how decomposed or putrescent the organic matter might be . Bearing in mind Mr . Herapath ' s eminence in his profession , I should have had much confidence in his testimony were it not for the active and zealous feeling of partisanship which he has manifested on repeated occasions in the course of this inquiry . It had come to my knowledge that he had been heard to assert that this was a case ' of
death by stTychnine , but that Dr . Taylor had not gone , the right way to find out the poison . I pressed him urgently on this poison , and I am sure you will be of opinion with me that his explanation of his having formed bis judgment merely from the newspaper reports was anything but satisfactory . There can be no doubt that in his conscience Mr . Herapath believes this to be a case of death by poison—indeed he has said as much ; and yet ive have seen him mixing himself up in this case with all the enthusiasm of a partisan , and suggesting-to my learned friend questions with a view to the protection of a man whom he feels to be guilty of murder . I reverence the man who , from a sense of justice and an innate love of truth , comes forward on behalf of any
accused person who is in danger of being swept to destruction by the torrent of prejudice ; but I have no language to express my abhorrence for that traffic testimony whieb , from professional pique or for the sustenation of a particular theory , men of science—I grieve to say—occasionally are led to offer . Assuming all that they say on the question of detecting strychnine to be true , is it certain that the poison can be found in all cases ? Dr . Taylor says , 'No , ' and that it would be a most mischievous and dangerous proposition to assert that the poison must in all cases be detected , for such a theory might enable many a guilty man to escape who would take care to administer only such quantities as being large enough to destroy -would not be large enough to admit of
subsequent detection by analysis in the stomach . What have these gentlemen done ? They have given large doses in the experiments they have made for the purposes of this case , in which they have been ' retained '—I use the word ' retained , ' for it is the proper word—in all these cases , I say , they have given doses large enough to be detected . But the gentlemen who made the experiments in Cooke's case failed in detecting strychnine in two cases out of four in which they had administered it to animals . The conclusion I draw is that there is no positive mode of detection . " The Attorney-General then drew attention to other parts of the evidence , remarking that , although the learned counsel for the defence undertook to combat the prosecution inch by inch , he had not
alluded to the fact of Palmer having obtained strychnine shortly before Cooke ' s death . If he procured it for a patient , -why was not that patient produced ? or , if for any other purpose , why was it not explained ? The learned 6 crjeant had passed over the matter in a mysterious , but significant silence . Then , as regards Newton , the chemist ' s assistant , to whom perjury was attributed , what could be his motive for desiring to procure , by means of a lie , the conviction of the accused ? But it was said that Palmer called in Mr . Jones and Mr . Bamford to see Cooke in his last illness . He picked his men well . Without any disrespect to Mr . Bamford , he must contend that hia powers were impaired by age ; and , as regards Mr . Jones , ho thought the event proved
that Palmer was justified in believing that he was a man fitted for hia purpose . Not one of the medical witnesses for tho < lefence spoke of antimony , though Dr . Taylor found that drug in the tissues . Who could have administered it but Palmer ? Then , Palmer solicited that Mr . Bamford should not sec Cooko on the day of his death ; he omitted to tell Mr . Jones anything about the fit Cooke had had on tho night previous to Mr . Jones ' s arrival ; and various other circumstances which , taken together , were of importance , tended to fix the act on tho prisoner . It had been said that there was no motive . If the evidence established tho guilt of Palmer , motive would be but a secondary consideration . But Palmer
was a man in tho direst embarrassment ; he owed 19 , 000 / . upon bills , all of which were forged ; and he failed to obtain the 13 , 000 / . for which he insured hia brother ' s life , the insurance office refusing , under the circiiniHtuiiccH , to pay tho amount . He and Cooke wore jointly interested in tho 600 / . for which Polentar waa assigned . Polestar won at the Shrewsbury races ; Cookc , desirous to redeem hia property , sent 800 / . ; but this sum was taken by Palmer , and applied to the payment of his own debts . Cookc had assigned everything to Pulinor ; and there was therefore no reason whatever for Haying that Palmer had an interest in Cooke ' s life . Ho was in fact interested in his death ; and tho sudden accession of wealth to tho accused immediately after tho
Max 31, *85&Rl The Lead1jb; .. " #&
Max 31 , * 85 & rl THE LEAD 1 JB ; .. " # &
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), May 31, 1856, page 5, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_31051856/page/5/
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