TRIAL OF WILLIAM PALMER FOR THE RUGELEY POISONINGS. (continued 2)

On Saturday, about three o’clock in the afternoon, I saw Mr. Bamford, the surgeon. On Sunday morning I went to Mr. Cook’s room, about seven or eight o’clock. Mr. Smith, called “Jerry Smith,” slept in Mr. Cook’s room during Saturday night. He is a friend of the prisoner Palmer. I asked Cook if he was any worse? He said he felt pretty comfortable, and had slept well since twelve o’clock. On Sunday more broth, a large breakfast-cup full, was brought over for Cook. That was between twelve and one o’clock. I believe Charles Horley brought it. I took some of that broth up to Cook’s room in the same cup in which it was brought. It was hot. I tasted it. I drank about two tablespoonfuls. In about half-an-hour or an hour I was sick. I vomited violently during the whole afternoon till about 5 o’clock. I was obliged to go to bed. I vomited a great many times. During the morning I had felt perfectly well, and had not taken anything that could disagree with me. It was before dinner that I took the broth. I went down to work again about a quarter before 6 o’clock. On the Sunday evening I saw Mr. Cook; he did not appear to be any worse. He seemed to be in good spirits. The illness seemed to be confined to vomitings after taking food. On Sunday night I saw Cook last about 10 o’clock. On Monday morning I saw him between 7 and 8 o’clock, when I took up to him a cup of coffee. I did not remain to see him drink it. He did not vomit it. Palmer was coming down stairs, as though from Cook’s room, about 7 o’clock. To my knowledge Palmer was not there, on Monday. Cook got up about 1 o’clock, and appeared to be a great deal better. He shaved, washed, and dressed himself. He said he felt better, only exceedingly weak. He dressed as if he was going out. Ashmall the jockey, and his brother, and Saunders the trainer, came to see him. As soon as he got up I gave him some arrowroot, which remained on his stomach. He sat up until about 4 o’clock, when he returned to bed. Between 9 and 10 o’clock at night I saw Palmer. He was sitting down in Cook’s room. I saw Cook about half-past 10 o’clock, and not again until about a quarter before 12 o’clock. On the Monday night, about 8 o’clock, a pill-box wrapped in white paper was brought from Mr. Bamford’s. It was given to me by Miss Bond, the housekeeper, to take up to Cook’s room. I took it up and placed the box on the dressing-table. That was before Palmer came. When I saw Palmer he was sitting by the fire in Cook’s room. I went to bed between 10 and 11 o’clock. About eight or ten minutes before 12 o’clock the waitress, Lavinia Barnes, called me up. While I was dressing I twice heard screams from Cook’s room. My room is above, but not immediately over Cook’s. I went down to Cook’s room. As soon as I entered the room I saw him sitting up in bed. He desired me to fetch Palmer directly. I told him Palmer was sent for, and walked to his bedside. I found the pillow upon the floor. There was one mould candle burning in the room. I picked up the pillow, and asked Cook if he would lay his head down. He was sitting up, beating the bedclothes with both his hands and arms, which were stretched out. When I asked him to lay his head down, he said, “I can’t lie down; I shall be suffocated if I lie down. Oh, fetch Mr. Palmer!” The last words he said very loud. I did not observe his legs, but there was a sort of jumping or jerking about his head and neck, and his body. Sometimes he would throw back his head upon the pillow, and then raise it up again. He had much difficulty in breathing. The balls of his eyes projected very much. He screamed again three or four times while I was in the room. He was moving and knocking about all the time. Twice he called aloud, “Murder!” He asked me to rub one hand. I found it stiff. It was the left hand.

By the Court.—It was stretched out. It did not move. The hand was about half shut. All the upper part seemed to be stiff.

Examination resumed.—I did not rub it long. As soon as he thought I had rubbed it sufficiently he thanked me, and I left off. Palmer was there while I was rubbing the hand. While I was rubbing it the arm and also the body seemed to twitch. Cook was perfectly conscious. When Palmer came in he recognized him. He was throwing himself about the bed, and said to Palmer, “Oh, doctor, I shall die.” Palmer replied, “Oh, my lad, you won’t!” Palmer just looked at Cook, and then left the room, asking me to stay by the bedside. In about two or three minutes he returned. He brought with him some pills. He gave Cook a draught in a wineglass, but I cannot say whether he brought that with him. He first gave the pills, and then the draught. Cook said the pills stuck in his throat, and he could not swallow them. Palmer desired me to give him a teaspoonful of toast-and-water, and I did so. His body was still jerking and jumping. When I put the spoon to his mouth he snapped at it and got it fast between his teeth, and seemed to bite it very hard. In snapping at the spoon he threw forward his head and neck. He swallowed the toast-and-water, and with it the pills. Palmer then handed him a draught in a wineglass, which was about three parts full. It was a dark, thick, heavy-looking liquid. Cook drank this. He snapped at the glass as he had done at the spoon. He seemed as though he could not exactly control himself. He swallowed the draught, but vomited it immediately into the chamber utensil. I supported his forehead. The vomit smelt like opium. Palmer said he hoped either that the pills had stayed on his stomach or had not returned. He searched for the pills in the vomit with a quill. He said, “I can’t find the pills,” and he then desired me to take the utensil away, and pour the contents out carefully to see if I could find the pills. I did so, and brought back the utensil, and told him I could not see the pills at all. Cook afterwards seemed to be more easy. That was about half an hour or more after I had first gone into the room. During the whole of that time he appeared to be quite conscious. When Cook was lying more quiet he desired Palmer to come and feel how his heart beat, or something of that sort. Palmer went to the bedside, and pressed his hand, I cannot say whether to the heart or to the side of the face, but he said it was all right. I left Cook about 3 o’clock in the morning. He was not asleep, but appeared to be dozing. Palmer was sitting in the easy chair, and I believe he was asleep. I went into the next room and laid down. About 6 o’clock I saw Cook again. I asked if Palmer had gone, and Cook said he left at a quarter before 5 o’clock. I asked if he felt any worse, and he said, no, he had been no worse since I left him. I said, “You were asleep when I left.” He replied, “No, I heard you go.” He asked me if I had ever seen any one suffer such agony as he did last night? I said, no, I never had. He said he should think I should not like to see any one like it again. I said, “What do you think was the cause of all that agony?” He said, “The pills which Palmer gave me at half-past 10.” I do not think anything more was said. I asked him if he would take anything, and he said, “No.”

I do not remember seeing Palmer on that day (Tuesday) until he was sent for. On that morning Cook seemed quite composed and quiet, but his eyes looked wild. There was no motion about the body. About twelve o’clock at noon he rang his bell, and desired me to send the “boots” over to Palmer to ask if he might have a cup of coffee. Boots returned and said he might, and Palmer would be over immediately. I took the coffee up to Cook a little after twelve o’clock. Palmer was then in Cook’s room. I gave the coffee to Palmer. He tasted it to see whether it was too strong, and I left the room. Mr. Jones arrived by the three o’clock train from Lutterworth. I saw him in Cook’s room. About four o’clock I took Cook another cup of coffee. I cannot say whether Palmer was there. Afterwards I saw Palmer. He opened the bed-room door and gave me the chamber utensil, saying that Cook had vomited the coffee. There was coffee in the utensil. I saw Cook several times before I went to bed. He appeared to be in very good spirits, and talked about getting up next morning. He said he would have the barber sent for to shave him. I believe I gave him some arrowroot. I did not see him later than half-past ten. Palmer was with him when I last saw him. I gave Palmer some toast-and-water for Cook at the door. Palmer then said to Cook, “Can this good girl do anything more for you to-night?” Cook said, “No; I shall want nothing more till morning.” He spoke in a composed and cheerful manner. I remained in the kitchen all night, to see how Cook went on, and did not go to sleep. About ten minutes before twelve o’clock the bell of Cook’s room was rung violently. Jones was sleeping in a second bed in the same room. On hearing the bell I went up to Cook’s room. Cook was sitting up. I think Jones was supporting him, with his arms round his shoulders. Cook said, “Oh, Mary, fetch Mr. Palmer directly.” I went to Palmer’s, and rang the surgery bell. As soon as I had rung I stepped off the steps to look at Palmer’s bed-room window, where I expected him to appear, and he was there. He did not lift up the sash, but opened a small casement and spoke to me. I could not see whether he was dressed, but I heard and knew his voice. I asked him to come over to Mr. Cook directly, as he was much the same as he had been the night before. I don’t remember what he replied. I went back to the hotel, and in two or three minutes Palmer came. I was then in the bed-room. Jones was there supporting Cook. Palmer said he had never dressed so quickly in his life.

The question which elicited this answer was, “Did Palmer make any remark about his dress?” After the answer had been given,

Mr. Serjeant Shee objected to the form in which the question had been put.

Lord Campbell: It seems to me that the examination is conducted with perfect fairness. No leading question, nor any one which could be considered doubtful, has been put to the witness.

Examination continued: I left the room, but remained on the landing. After I had been waiting there a short time (about a minute or two) Palmer came out. I said, “He is much the same as last night.” Palmer said, “Oh, he is not so ill by a fiftieth part.” He then went down stairs as though going to his own house. He was absent but a very short time, and then returned to Cook’s room. I also went in. I believe Cook said, “Turn me over on my right side.” I was then outside, but the door was open. I do not think that I was in the room at the time he died. I went in just before, but came out again. Jones was there at the time, and had his right arm under Cook’s head. Palmer was then feeling Cook’s pulse, and said to Jones, “His pulse is gone.” Jones pressed the side of his face to Cook’s heart, lifted up his hands, but did not speak. Palmer asked me to fetch Mr. Bamford, and I went for him. Cook’s death occurred about three-quarters of an hour after I had been called up. Mr. Bamford came over. I did not return to Cook’s room. When Mr. Bamford came down stairs he said, “He is dead: he was dead when I arrived.” After Mr. Bamford had gone I went up to the landing, and sat upon the stairs. I had sat there about ten minutes when Jones came out of the room, and said, “Mr. Palmer wants you,” or “Will you go into the room?” I went into the room where Cook was lying dead. Palmer was there. I said to him, “It is not possible that Mr. Cook is dead?” He said, “Oh yes, he is dead.” He asked me who I thought would come and lay him out. I mentioned two women whom I thought Palmer knew. He said, “Those are just the women.” I said, “Shall I fetch them?” and he said, “Yes.” I had seen a betting-book in Cook’s room. It was a dark book, with gold bands round the edges. It was not a very large book, rather more long than square, and had a clasp at one end. I saw Cook have this book when he stopped at Talbot Arms, as he went to the Liverpool races, some months before. There was a case at the one side containing a pencil. I saw the book in Cook’s room on Monday night. I took it off the dressing-table and gave it to him in bed. He asked me to give him the book, pen, and ink, and some paper. I gave him all. That was between seven and eight o’clock. He took a postage stamp from a pocket at one end of the book. I replaced the book on the frame of the looking-glass on the dressing-table. Palmer was in the room after that time. To my knowledge I never saw the book afterwards. I afterwards searched the room for it, but could not find it. When I went into the room after Cook’s death, the clothes he had worn were lying on a chair. I saw Palmer searching the pockets of the coat. That was about ten minutes after the death. When I went into the room Palmer had in his hand, searching the pockets, the coat which I had seen Cook wear. Palmer also searched under the pillow and bolster. I saw two or three letters lying upon the chimney-piece. I never saw them again, but I was not much in the room afterwards. I had not seen the letters before Cook’s death.

The examination in chief of this witness being concluded, the Court adjourned, at twenty minutes past six o’clock, till next morning, when it met at ten o’clock.

SECOND DAY, May 15.

Among the distinguished persons present were the Earl of Derby, Earl Grey, Lord W. Lennox, Lord G. G. Lennox, Lord H. Lennox, &c.

The learned judges, Lord Chief Justice Campbell and Mr. Baron Alderson, accompanied by the Recorder, the Sheriffs, the Under-Sheriffs, and several members of the Court of Aldermen, took their seats on the bench at 10 o’clock.

The prisoner was then placed at the bar. The expression of his countenance was sadder and more subdued than on the preceding day. He maintained his usual tranquillity of demeanour, seldom changing his position, and gazing steadfastly at the witnesses.

The same counsel were again in attendance:—The Attorney-General, Mr. E. James, Q.C., Mr. Bodkin, Mr. Welsby, and Mr. Huddleston, for the Crown; and Mr. Serjeant Shee, Mr. Grove, Q.C., Mr. Gray, and Mr. Kenealy, for the prisoner.

The Jury, who had been all night at the London Coffee-house, were conducted into court by the officer who had them in charge.

Elizabeth Mills, who was under examination the previous evening, was again placed in the witness-box. She deposed as follows:—I had been engaged at the Talbot Arms for about three years previous to Cook’s death. Cook first came to that inn in the month of May, 1855, and was off and on for some months. I never heard him complain of any illness during that time except of an affection in his throat. I heard him complain of a sore throat two or three months before his death. He said it resulted from cold. He took a gargle for it. I believe he had it from Mr. Thirlby. I did not observe any sores about his mouth. I never heard him complain of a difficulty in swallowing. I have seen him with a “loaded” tongue occasionally, but I never heard him complain of a sore tongue, nor have I heard of caustic being applied to his tongue. It was a month, if not more, before his death that I heard him say he had a sore throat. I never knew him to take medicine before his last illness. He had a slight cough through cold, but never to my knowledge a violent one. He had not been ailing just before he went to Shrewsbury. On his return from Shrewsbury he complained of being poorly. I left my situation at Christmas, and went to my home in the Potteries. Since then I have been in another situation, which I left in February. I have seen Mr. Stevens, Mr. Cook’s father-in-law, since I have been in London. I cannot say how many times I have seen him, but it is not more than six or seven times. Sometimes we conversed together in a private room. He only came to see whether I liked the place or whether I liked London. We used to converse together about Mr. Cook’s death. I have talked to him about Mr. Cook’s death at Rugeley. I cannot remember anything else that we talked about except the death. He has never given me a farthing of money or promised to get me a place. I saw Mr. Stevens last Tuesday at Dolly’s Hotel, where I had been in service. Lavinia Barnes was with us. She was the waitress at the Talbot Arms when Mr. Cook died. Two other persons were present, Mr. Hatton, the chief officer of Rugeley, and Mr. Gardner, an attorney at the same place. Mr. Cook’s death may have been mentioned at this meeting. Other things were talked of which I do not wish to mention.

Serjeant Shee: But you must mention them.

Witness: I cannot remember what they were. I don’t know whether we talked about the trial. They did not ask me what I could prove. My deposition was not read over to me, and Mr. Stevens did not talk to me about the symptoms that were exhibited by Mr. Cook before his death. I had seen Mr. Hatton a few times before. I once saw him at Dolly’s. He merely dined there. I cannot remember whether he spoke to me about Cook’s death. He might have done so. I cannot remember whether he did or not. I know he asked me how I did. (A laugh.) I saw Mr. Gardner once at Dolly’s, and once in the street, and I swear these were the only occasions I ever saw him. I never went with him to a solicitor’s office. At present I am living with my mother at Rugeley. Before that I had been living among my friends. I know a man named Dutton. He is a friend of mine. I have been staying at his house. His mother lives in the same house. He is a labouring man. I used to sleep with Dutton’s mother. I swear that I slept with his mother. I have also been staying with a cousin of mine in the Potteries. I left Dolly’s of my own accord, because I did not like the place. I can read, and I read the newspapers. I have heard of the case of a person named Dove, who was supposed to have murdered his wife at Leeds. I merely heard that it was another strychnine case, but the symptoms of strychnine were not mentioned. I will swear that I mentioned “twitching” to the coroner. If I did not use the exact word, I said something to the same effect. I will swear that I have used the word “twitching” before I came to London. The words “twitching” and “jerking” were not first suggested to me. I did not say anything about the broth having made me sick before the coroner, because it did not occur to me. I did tell the coroner that I tasted the broth, and that I did not observe anything particular about it. I was examined several times, and I was questioned particularly upon the subject of the broth, and I said on one occasion that I thought the broth was very good. I did not at the time think it was the broth that had caused the sickness. I was so ill that I was obliged to go to bed; but I could not at all account for it. I only took two table-spoonfuls, and the sickness came on in about half an hour. I never knew of Mr. Cook taking coffee in bed before those occasions. If I have said that Mr. Palmer ordered coffee for Cook, I have no doubt that it is correct. I cannot remember so well to day as I did yesterday. I cannot remember whether I told the coroner that I had not seen Mr. Palmer when I gave the deceased the coffee. I don’t remember whether I said anything before the coroner about seeing a box of pills in the deceased’s bedroom on the Monday night, and that Palmer was in the room at the time. Perhaps I was not asked the question. I did nothing but answer questions that were put to me. I am sure that Palmer was in the room on that night. I remember that he brought a jar of jelly, and I opened it. I swear that the deceased told me that the pills Palmer had given him had made him ill. I did not say this before the coroner. I was asked some questions by Dr. Collier with regard to what I had stated to the coroner, and I said that my evidence had been altered, as some things had occurred to me since, and I had made another statement to a gentleman. I gave this additional statement to a gentleman at Dolly’s. I don’t know who the gentleman was. I did not ask him, and he did not tell me. He did not ask me many questions. He put a few to me and wrote down my answers. He mentioned Mr. Stevens’ name. Mr. Stevens was there.

Serjeant Shee: Why did not you tell me that?—Because you did not ask me. (A laugh.)

Cross-examination continued: I did not tell the coroner that Mr. Cook was beating the bedclothes on the Monday night. I did say that he sometimes threw his head back, and then would raise himself up again, and I believe I also said that he could hardly speak for shortness of breath. I did not say that he called “Murder!” twice, and I do not remember saying that he “twitched” while I was rubbing his hands. I did not say anything about toast-and-water being given to Mr. Cook, by order of Palmer, in a spoon; or that he snapped at the spoon and bit it so hard that it was difficult to get it out of his mouth.

The Lord Chief Justice here interposed and intimated his opinion that it would be a fairer course to read the witness’s depositions.

The other judges concurred.

The Attorney-General said, he should have interposed, but it was his intention to adduce evidence to show the manner in which the case was conducted by the coroner, and that he was expostulated with upon omitting to put proper questions, and also omitting to take down the answers that were given.

Cross-examination continued: I should have answered all those questions if they had been put to me. I was not purposely recalled to state the symptoms of the deceased in the presence of Dr. Taylor. When the prisoner came to the Talbot on the Tuesday night he had a plaid dressing-gown on, but I cannot say whether he had a cap or not. I did not observe that the prisoner appeared at all confused at the time he was examining the clothes and the bed of the deceased.

A model of the prisoner’s house and of the hotel was here produced. The deposition of the witness was put in and read, for the purpose of showing that the statements made by her in her examination on Wednesday were omitted when she was examined by the coroner.

The witness was re-examined by Mr. E. James: I was examined on a great many different days by the coroner. I was not asked to describe all the symptoms I saw. The coroner himself put the questions to me, and his clerk took down the answers. I merely answered the questions, and I was not told to describe all I saw. The coroner asked me if the broth had any effect upon me; and I said, “Not that I was aware of.” I don’t know what brought the sickness to my mind afterwards, but I think that some one else in the house brought the fact to my memory. I certainly did vomit after I took the broth, and was obliged to go to bed. I am quite sure the deceased told me that it was the pills Palmer had given him that had made him ill. When Mr. Collier came to me he said that he was for the Crown, and he then asked me questions about the inquest and the death of Mr. Cook. I answered all the questions he put to me, and he took them down in writing and carried the statement away with him. Two other persons waited outside the house. I am engaged to be married to one of the Duttons.

Serjeant Shee: Did not Dr. Collier tell you that he was neither for the Crown nor for the defence, but for the truth?

Witness: No; what he said was that he was for the Crown; but what he desired above all things was to know the truth, and that he asked me to tell him without fear, favour, or affection.

Mr. Gardner, examined by the Attorney-General: I am a member of the firm of Gardner and Co., of Rugeley. I acted in this matter for the firm of Cookson and Co., the solicitors of Mr. Stevens, the father-in-law of Cook. I attended the inquest on the body of Cook, and occasionally put questions to the witnesses. Mr. Ward, an attorney, was the coroner. He put questions to the witnesses, and his clerk took down the answers. The inquest lasted five days, and several times upon each day I expostulated with the coroner on account of his omitting to put questions.

Mr. Serjeant Shee submitted that what was said by the coroner was no evidence against the prisoner.

The Attorney-General: It is not intended as evidence against the prisoner, but to rebut the effect of evidence that you have put in. I will ask—had you occasion to expostulate with the coroner as to the omission of his clerk to take down the answers of witnesses?

Mr. Serjeant Shee: I object to the question being put in that form.

The Attorney-General: Did you observe that the clerk omitted to take down the answers of Elizabeth Mills?—Not in reference to that particular case.

Mr. Baron Alderson: Her account of the matter is that the questions were not put.

The Attorney-General: Did Dr. Taylor object that questions were not put which ought to have been put?—I do not recollect it.

Lord Campbell: It is not suggested, as I understand, that the coroner refused to correct any mistakes that were made.

The Attorney-General: I am prepared to show that there was such misconduct on the part of the coroner as led to expostulation.

Mr. Serjeant Shee: Don’t state that unless you are going to prove it.

The Attorney-General: It is suggested that a witness has given evidence here which she did not give before the coroner; my object is to show, first, that questions were not put to her which might and ought to have been put; secondly, that her answers to other questions were not taken down.

Lord Campbell held that the evidence was not admissible.

Witness, cross-examined by Serjeant Shee: The jury put a great many questions.

Re-examined: The jury made very strong observations as to the necessity of putting questions.

The Attorney-General: Did they assign any reason for interfering when they put questions?

Mr. Serjeant Shee objected to this question, on the ground that it did not arise out of his cross-examination.

Lord Campbell: My learned brethren think that evidence upon this point is not admissible.

Mr. Justice Cresswell said the depositions which had been put in did not show that any questions had been put by the jurymen. If they had contained such questions they would have shown the motive of the jury in putting them. But the Court was left totally in the dark as to whether questions had been put by the coroner or any other person. For anything that appeared to the contrary, the witnesses might have made a voluntary statement, without any questions at all being put to them. No foundation was laid, therefore, for the Attorney-General’s question.

Mr. Baron Alderson concurred.

Mrs. Ann Brooks, examined by the Attorney-General: I live at Manchester. I am in the habit of attending races. I was at Shrewsbury Races in November, 1855. I saw Palmer there. On the 14th (Wednesday), about eight o’clock in the evening, I met him in the street, and asked him whether he thought his horse Chicken would win? He desired me, if I heard anything further about a horse belonging to Lord Derby, which was also to run, to call and tell him on the following day. I went to the Raven to see him at half-past ten o’clock on the Thursday evening. Some friends waited for me in the road. I went upstairs, and asked a servant to tell Palmer that I wished to speak to him. The servant said he was there. At the top of the stairs there are two passages, one facing the other, to the left. I saw Palmer standing by a small table in the passage. He had a tumbler-glass in his hand, in which there appeared to be a small quantity of water. I did not see him put anything into it. There was a light between him and me, and he held it up to the light. He said to me, “I will be with you presently.” He saw me the moment I got to the top of the stairs. He stood at the table a minute or two longer with the glass in his hand, holding it up to the light once or twice, and now and then shaking it. I made an observation about the fineness of the weather. The door of a sitting-room, which I supposed was unoccupied, was partially open, and he went into it, taking the glass with him. In two or three minutes he came out again with the glass. What was in the glass was still the colour of water. He then carried it into his own sitting-room, the door of which was shut. He afterwards came out, and brought me a glass with brandy-and-water in it. It might have been the same glass. I had some of the brandy-and-water. It produced no unpleasant consequences. We had some conversation about the races. In the course of it he said he should back his own horse, Chicken. I was present at the race, when Chicken ran and lost.

Cross-examined by Mr. Serjeant Shee.—I am married. Brooks is the name of my husband. He never goes with me to races. I live with him. I don’t attend many races in the course of a year. My husband has a high appointment, and does not sanction my going to races. A great number of racing men were ill at Shrewsbury on the Wednesday. There was a wonder as to what had caused their illness, and something was said about the water being poisoned. People were affected by sickness and purging. I knew some persons who were so affected. The passage in which I saw Palmer holding the glass led to a good many rooms. I think it was lighted by gas. I supposed that he was mixing some cooling drink.

Re-examined: I was not examined before the Coroner. The brandy-and-water which Palmer gave me was cold. I had been on friendly terms with him. I had known him a number of years as a racing man.

Lavinia Barnes, examined by Mr. E. James: In November, 1855, I was a waitress at the Talbot Arms. I knew Palmer and Cook. Cook called there on the 12th (Monday) as he was going to the races. He did not complain of illness. I saw him when he returned on the 15th. On the Friday he came between nine and ten o’clock in the evening, after dining with Palmer. He spoke to me. He was sober. On the Saturday I saw him twice. Some broth was sent over and taken up to him by me. He could not take it; he was too sick. I carried it down and put it into the kitchen. I afterwards saw Palmer, and told him Cook was too sick to take it. Palmer said he must have it. Elizabeth Mills afterwards took it up again. She was taken ill with violent vomiting on the Sunday, between twelve and one o’clock. She went to bed, and did not come down stairs till four or five o’clock. I saw some broth on that day in the kitchen. It was in a “sick-cup,” with two handles, not belonging to the house. I did not see it brought. The cup went back to Palmer’s. On the Monday morning, between seven and eight o’clock, I saw Palmer. He told Mills he was going to London. I also saw Cook during the day. Sandars came to see him, and I took him up some brandy-and-water. I slept that night in the next room to Cook’s. Palmer came between eight and nine o’clock in the evening, and went up-stairs, but I did not see whether he went into Cook’s room. About twelve o’clock I was in the kitchen, when Cook’s bell rang violently. I went up-stairs. Cook was very ill, and asked me to send for Palmer. He screamed out “Murder!” He exclaimed that he was in violent pain—that he was suffocating. His eyes were wild-looking, standing a great way out of his head. He was beating the bed with his arms. He cried out, “Christ, have mercy on my soul!” I never saw a person in such a state. Having called up Mills, I left to send “Boots” for Palmer. Palmer came, and I again went into the room. Cook was then more composed. He said, “Oh, doctor, I shall die.” Palmer replied, “Don’t be alarmed, my lad.” I saw Cook drink a darkish mixture out of a glass. I don’t know who gave it to him. I both saw and heard him snap at the glass. He brought up the draft. I left him between twelve and one o’clock, when he was much more composed. On the Tuesday he seemed a little better. At night, a little before twelve o’clock, the bell rang again. I was in the kitchen. Mills went up stairs. I followed her, and heard Cook screaming, but did not go into the room. I stood outside the door and saw Palmer come. He had been fetched. I said as he passed me: “Mr. Cook is ill again.” He said, “Oh, is he?” and went into the room. He was dressed in his usual manner, and wore a black coat and a cap. I remained on the landing when Palmer came out. As he went down stairs, Mills asked him how Cook was? He said to her and to me, “He is not so bad by fifty parts as he was last night.” I heard Cook ask to be turned over before I went in, while Palmer was there. I went in after Palmer had left, but I came out before Cook died.

After he died on the Tuesday I went into the room and found Palmer with a coat in his hand. He was clearing out the pockets of the coat and looking under the bolster. I said, “Oh! Mr. Cook can’t be dead!” Palmer said, “He is. I knew he would be,” and then left the room. I saw him on the Thursday following. He came into the body of the hall, and asked for the key of Mr. Cook’s bedroom, in which the body was lying. The key was in the bar. He said he wanted some books and papers and a paperknife, for they were to go back to the stationer’s, or else he would have to pay for them. I went with him into the room. He then requested me to go to Miss Bond for some books. I went downstairs and fetched the books. When I returned he was still in the room looking for the paperknife on the top of the chest of drawers among books, papers, and clothes. He said, “I can’t find the knife anywhere.” Miss Bond, the housekeeper, afterwards came up, and I left. On the Friday, between 3 and 4 o’clock, I saw Mr. Jones with Palmer. Jones said he thought Palmer knew where the betting-book was. Palmer asked me to go and look for it, and said it was sure to be found, but it was not worth anything to any one but Cook. Mills and I went up to look for it, but we could not find it. We searched everywhere, in the bed and all round the room, but not in the drawers. We went down and told Palmer and Jones that we could not find it. Palmer said, “Oh, it will be found somewhere. I’ll go with you and look myself.” He did not go with us, but left the house. I did not see him come out of the room on the Thursday. There was no reason for our not looking in the drawers. Some people were in the room at the time nailing the coffin.

Cross-examined by Mr. Serjeant Shee.—Cook had some coffee on the Saturday between 12 and 1. I did not pay any particular attention to the time when Palmer went up on the Monday. I am not sure it was before half-past 9, but I am sure it was before 10. I don’t remember whether Cook touched the glass from which he drank the mixture. I think some one else was holding it. There was some of Cook’s linen in several of the drawers. There was a portmanteau containing other things besides those in the drawers. There were dress clothes, an overcoat, and morning clothes. The door was locked on the night of the death. The women were sent for to lay out the corpse before it was light. The undertaker went on the following morning, and the door was locked after they left. They came again on the Thursday night, had the key, and went up by themselves. The body was put into the coffin the day Stevens was there. The women were in the room with the undertakers when I looked for the book.

Re-examined by the Attorney-General.—The chamber-maid and I were in and out of the room while the women were laying out the body, but they were sometimes left alone. I saw nothing of the book at that time. I had seen it before in Cook’s hand, but I don’t remember seeing it in the room.

Ann Rowley, examined by Mr. Welsby.—I live at Rugeley, and have frequently been employed as charwoman by Palmer. On the Saturday before Cook died Palmer sent me to Mr. Robinson’s, at the Albion Inn, for a little broth for Cook. I fetched the broth, took it to Palmer’s house, and put it to the fire in the back kitchen to warm. After doing so, I went about my work in other parts of the house. When the broth was hot, Palmer brought it to me in the kitchen, and poured it into a cup. He told me to take it to the Talbot arms for Cook, to ask if he would take a little bread or toast with it, and to say that Smith had sent it.

By Lord Campbell.—He did not say why I was to say that.

Examination resumed.—There is a Mr. Jeremiah Smith in Rugeley. He is called “Jerry Smith.” He is a friend of Palmer’s. I took the broth to the Talbot Arms, and gave it to Lavinia Barnes.

Cross-examined by Mr. Serjeant Shee.—Mr. Smith was in the habit of putting up at the Albion. He was friendly with Cook. Cook was to have dined with Smith that day, but was not able to go. Mrs. Robinson, the landlady of the Albion, made the broth, but I don’t know by whose orders.

By Lord Campbell.—The broth was at the fire in Palmer’s kitchen about five minutes.

Charles Horley, examined by Mr. Bodkin.—I am a gardener living at Rugeley, and was occasionally employed by the prisoner in his garden. On the Sunday before Cook died, Palmer asked me to take some broth to Cook. That was at Palmer’s house, where I was in the habit of going. It was between 12 and 1 o’clock. He gave me the broth in a small cup with a cover over it, and told me to take it to the Talbot Arms for Cook. I did so. I cannot say whether or not the broth was hot. I gave it to one of the servant girls at the Talbot Arms, but which I cannot say.

The witness was not cross-examined.

Sarah Bond, examined by Mr. Huddleston: In November last I was housekeeper at the Talbot Arms. I knew Cook. He stayed at the Talbot Arms. I remember his going to Shrewsbury races on the 12th of November. He returned on the Thursday. I heard him say that he was very poorly. I did not see him on the Friday or Saturday. On Sunday I saw him about eight o’clock in the evening. He was in bed. He said that he had been very poorly, but was better. Very soon afterwards I saw Palmer. I asked him what he thought of Cook, and he replied that he was better. On Saturday night Smith had slept in the room with Cook. On the Sunday evening I asked Palmer if Cook would not want somebody with him that night, and Palmer replied that he was so much better, that it would not be necessary that any one should be with him. I asked if Daniel Jenkins, the boots, should sleep in the room. Palmer said, that Cook was so much better he had much rather he did not. On the Monday morning, a little before seven o’clock, I saw Palmer again. He came into the kitchen to me. I asked him how Cook was. He said he was better, and requested me to make him a cup of coffee. He did not say anything about its strength. He remained in the kitchen, and I made the coffee and gave it to him. He told me that he was going to London, and that he had written for Mr. Jones to come to see Cook. On the Monday night, hearing from the waitress that Cook was ill, I went up to his room between eleven and twelve o’clock. When I went into the room Cook was alone. He was sitting up in bed, resting on his elbow. He seemed disappointed, and said he did not want to see me, but Palmer. I went out on to the landing, and soon afterwards Palmer came. Palmer went into the room. I could not see what was done in the room. Palmer came out, went away for a few minutes, and then returned. After he came back, I heard that Cook had vomited. Cook said, he thought he should die. Palmer cheered him up, and said, that he would do all he could to prevent it. When Palmer came out of the room again, I asked him if Cook had any relatives, and he said that he had only a step-father. I saw Cook again between three and four o’clock on Tuesday. That was when Mr. Jones came. A little after six o’clock I took some jelly up to Cook. He seemed very anxious for it, and said that he thought he should die. I thought he seemed better. I did not see him again alive. Between eight and nine o’clock on Wednesday morning, I locked the door of the room in which Cook’s body lay. About nine o’clock I gave the key to Mr. Tolly the barber, when he came to shave the corpse. On Thursday I gave it to Lavinia Barnes. After that I went up to the room and met Palmer coming out of it. After I came out the door was locked, and I had the key. On Friday, when Mr. Stevens came, I gave the key to the undertaker.

Cross-examined by Mr. Grove: The passengers by the express train from London arrived at Rugeley about ten o’clock in the evening. They come by fly from Stafford.

William Henry Jones, examined by the Attorney-General: I am a surgeon, living at Lutterworth. I have been in practice fifteen years. I was acquainted with Cook, who from time to time resided at my house. I had been on terms of intimacy with him nearly five years. He was twenty-eight years of age when he died, and unmarried. He was originally educated for the law, but of late years had devoted himself to agriculture and the turf. The last year or two he had no farm. He kept race-horses and betted. I had known Palmer about twelve months. Lately Cook considered my house at Lutterworth as his home. I have attended him professionally. His health was generally good, but he was not very robust. He was a man of active habits. He both hunted and played cricket. In November last he invited me to go to Shrewsbury to see his horse run, and I went. I spent Tuesday, the 13th, with him there. That was the day on which Polestar ran and won. I dined with Cook and other friends at the Raven Hotel, where he was staying. The horse having won, there was a little extra champagne drunk. We dined between six and seven o’clock, and the party broke up between eight and nine. Cook afterwards accompanied me round the town. We went to Mr. Fraill’s, who is clerk of the course. I saw Cook produce his betting-book to Whitehouse, the jockey. He calculated his winnings on Polestar. There were figures in the book. Cook made a statement as to his winnings.

Mr. Serjeant Shee objected to this statement being given in evidence, and the Attorney-General, therefore, did not ask any questions as to its purport.

Examination resumed: I left the Raven Hotel at ten o’clock. Cook was then at the door. He was not at all the worse for liquor. He was in his usual health. On the following Monday I received a letter from Palmer.

This letter, which was put in and read, was as follows:—

“My dear Sir,—Mr. Cook was taken ill at Shrewsbury, and obliged to call in a medical man. Since then he has been confined to his bed here with a very severe bilious attack, combined with diarrhœa. I think it desirable for you to come and see him as soon as possible.

“Nov. 18, 1855.

William Palmer.”

Examination resumed: On that day (Monday) I was very unwell. On the next day I went to Rugeley. I arrived at the Talbot Arms about half-past three o’clock in the afternoon, and immediately went up to Cook’s room. He said that he was very comfortable, but he had been very ill at Shrewsbury. He did not detail the symptoms, but said that he was obliged to call in a medical man. Palmer came in. I examined Cook in Palmer’s presence. He had a natural pulse. I looked at his tongue, which was clean. I said it was hardly the tongue of a bilious diarrhœa attack. Palmer replied—“You should have seen it before.” I did not then prescribe for Cook. In the course of the afternoon I visited him several times. He changed for the better. His spirits and pulse both improved. I gave him, at his request, some toast-and-water, and he vomited. There was no diarrhœa. The toast-and-water was in the room. Mr. Bamford came in the evening about seven o’clock. Palmer had told me that Mr. Bamford had been called in. Mr. Bamford expressed his opinion that Cook was going on very satisfactorily. We were talking about what he was to have, and Cook objected to the pills of the previous night. Palmer was there all the time. Cook said the pills made him ill. I do not remember to whom he addressed this observation. We three (Palmer, Bamford, and myself) went out upon the landing. Palmer proposed that Mr. Bamford should make up some morphine pills as before, at the same time requesting me not to mention to Cook what they contained, as he objected to the morphine so much. Mr. Bamford agreed to this, and he went away. I went back to Cook’s room, and Palmer went with me. During the evening I was several times in Cook’s room. He seemed very comfortable all the evening. There was no more vomiting nor any diarrhœa, but there was a natural motion of the bowels. I observed no bilious symptoms about Cook.

By Lord Campbell: Did he appear to have recently suffered from a bilious attack?—No.

Examination resumed: Palmer and I went to his house about eight o’clock. I remained there about half-an-hour, and then returned to Cook. I next saw Palmer in Cook’s room at nearly eleven o’clock. He had brought with him a box of pills. He opened the paper, on which the direction was written in my presence. That paper was round the box. He called my attention to the paper, saying, “What an excellent handwriting for an old man!” I did not read the direction, but looked at the writing, which was very good. Palmer proposed to Cook that he should take the pills. Cook protested very much against it, because they had made him so ill the previous night. Palmer repeated the request several times, and at last Cook complied with it, and took the pills. The moment he took them he vomited into the utensil. Palmer and myself (at Palmer’s request) searched in it for the pills, to see whether they were returned. We found nothing but toast-and-water. I do not know when Cook had drank the toast-and-water, but it was standing by the bedside all the evening. The vomiting could not have been caused by the contents of the pills, nor by the act of swallowing. After vomiting, Cook laid down and appeared quiet. Before Palmer came, Cook had got up and sat in a chair. His spirits were very good; he was laughing and joking, talking of what he should do with himself during the winter. After he had taken the pills I went downstairs to my supper, and returned to his room at nearly twelve o’clock. His room was double-bedded, and it had been arranged that I should sleep in it that night. I talked to Cook for a few minutes, and then went to bed. When I last talked to him he was rather sleepy, but quite as well as he had been during the evening. There was nothing about him to excite any apprehensions. I had been in bed about ten minutes, and had not gone to sleep, when he suddenly started up in bed, and called out, “Doctor, get up, I am going to be ill! Ring the bell, and send for Palmer.” I rang the bell. The chambermaid came, and Cook called out to her, “Fetch Mr. Palmer.” He asked me to give him something; I declined, and said, “Palmer will be here directly.” Cook was then sitting up in bed. The room was rather dark, and I did not observe anything particular in his countenance. He asked me to rub the back of his neck. I did so. I supported him with my arm. There was a stiffness about the muscles of his neck.

Palmer came very soon (two or three minutes at the utmost) after the chambermaid went for him. He said, “I never dressed so quickly in my life.” I did not observe how he was dressed. He gave Cook two pills, which he told me were ammonia pills. Cook swallowed them. Directly he did so he uttered loud screams, threw himself back in the bed, and was dreadfully convulsed. That could not have been the result of the action of the pills last taken. Cook said, “Raise me up! I shall be suffocated.” That was at the commencement of the convulsions, which lasted five or ten minutes. The convulsions affected every muscle of the body, and were accompanied by stiffening of the limbs. I endeavoured to raise Cook, with the assistance of Palmer, but found it quite impossible, owing to the rigidity of the limbs. When Cook found we could not raise him up, he asked me to turn him over. He was then quite sensible. I turned him on to his side. I listened to the action of his heart. I found that it gradually weakened, and asked Palmer to fetch some spirits of ammonia, to be used as a stimulant. Palmer went to his house and fetched the bottle. He was away a very short time. When he returned the pulsations of the heart were gradually ceasing, and life was almost extinct. Cook died very quietly a very short time afterwards. From the time he called to me to that of his death there elapsed about ten minutes or a quarter of an hour. He died of tetanus, which is a spasmodic affection of the muscles of the whole body. It causes death by stopping the action of the heart. The sense of suffocation is caused by the contraction of the respiratory muscles. The room was so dark that I could not observe what was the outward appearance of Cook’s body after death. When he threw himself back in bed he clinched his hands, and they remained clinched after death. When I was rubbing his neck, his head and neck were unnaturally bent back by the spasmodic action of the muscles. After death his body was so twisted or bowed that if I had placed it upon the back it would have rested upon the head and the feet.

By Lord Campbell: When did you first observe that twisting or bowing?—When Cook threw himself back in bed.

Examination resumed: The jaw was effected by the spasmodic action. Palmer remained half-an-hour or an hour after Cook’s death. I suggested that we should have some women to lay Cook out. I left the room to speak to the housekeeper about this. Seeing two maids on the landing, I sent them into the room where Palmer was with Cook’s body. I went downstairs and spoke to the housekeeper, and then returned to the bedroom. When I went back, Palmer had Cook’s coat in his hand. He said to me, “You, as his nearest friend, had better take possession of his effects.” I took Cook’s watch and his purse, containing five sovereigns and five shillings, which was all I could find. I saw no betting-book, nor any papers or letters belonging to Cook. I found no bank notes.

Before Palmer left, did he say anything to you on the subject of affairs between himself and Cook?—He did. Soon after Cook’s death, he said, “It is a bad thing for me that Mr. Cook is dead, as I am responsible for £3,000 or £4,000, and I hope Mr. Cook’s friends will not let me lose it. If they do not assist me, all my horses will be seized.” He said nothing about securities or papers. I was present when Mr. Stevens, Cook’s stepfather, came. Palmer said that if Mr. Stevens did not bury Cook he should. I do not recollect that there was any question about burying him. Mr. Stevens, Palmer, Mr. Bamford, and myself, dined together. After dinner, Mr. Stevens, in Palmer’s presence, asked me to go and look for Cook’s betting-book. I went to look for it, and Palmer followed me. The night that Cook died the betting-book was mentioned.

What was said about it?—Palmer said that it would be of use to no one.

What led to this?—My taking possession of the effects.

Did you make any observation about the book?—I cannot recollect.

Did you find it?—No.

Did you make any remark?—No particular remark.

Did Palmer know what you were looking for?—Yes.

How?—I said, “Where is the betting-book?” Upon that he said, “It is of no use to anyone.”

You are sure he said that?—Yes. When I went to look for the book, at Mr. Stevens’ request, Palmer followed me. I looked for the book for two or three minutes, but did not find it. I told the maidservants that I could not find it. Palmer returned with me to the dining-room, and I told Mr. Stevens that I could not find the book.

By Lord Campbell: When Palmer, Mr. Bamford, and myself, held the consultation on the landing on the Tuesday night, nothing was said about the spasms of the night before.

Cross-examined by Mr. Serjeant Shee: I am a regular medical practitioner, and have for 15 years practised medicine as a means of gaining a living. I am a licentiate of the Apothecaries Company, and have endeavoured, both as a young man and since, to qualify myself for my profession. When I saw Cook his throat was slightly ulcerated, but he could swallow very well, although with a little pain. I know that he had applied caustic to his tongue, but he had ceased to do so for two months. He did not after that continue to complain of pain in his throat or tongue. I saw him frequently during the races, and never heard him express any apprehension about spots which appeared upon his body, although he did express apprehensions of secondary symptoms resulting from syphilis. I am not aware that at the time he died he was suffering from the venereal disease, but I know that he had it about a twelvemonth ago. He had been reduced in circumstances some time before he died, but he was redeeming them. I do not know that he was frequently in want of small sums of money. I believe that he owned a mare, in conjunction with Palmer, named Pyrrhine, which was under the care of Sandars, the trainer. The race which Polestar won was a matter of very great importance to the deceased. He was much excited at the race, and more particularly so after it. Deceased was a very temperate man, and did not exceed in wine on the evening of the race. The next I heard of him was through the letter from Palmer. Palmer knew perfectly well who I was, and that I was in practice as a surgeon at Lutterworth. When I saw deceased he objected to take morphia pills, because they had made him ill the night before. He did not say that Dr. Savage had forbidden him to take the morphia, but he said that he had been directed not to take mercury or opium. The effect of morphia would be to soothe and to cause slight constipation. When I saw him and he roused up a little, he said, “Palmer, give me the remedy you gave me last night.” I rubbed the deceased’s neck for about five minutes. He died very quietly. I had seen cases of tetanus before. I think I mentioned tetanus at the inquest. I am sure if you refer to my depositions, you will find that I mentioned tetanus and convulsions both. (The depositions were referred to, and there was no mention of tetanus in them.) Witness continued, however, “I am sure that I mentioned tetanus.”

The Attorney-General: I must set this right. I have here the original deposition, and I find that the matter stands thus:—“There were strong symptoms of”—then there is the word “compression” struck out; and then there is the word “tetinus” also struck out—it is evident that the clerk did not know the meaning of what he was writing—and then the words “violent convulsions” are added; so that the sentence stands, “There were strong symptoms of violent convulsions.”

By Mr. Serjeant Shee: I also said before the coroner that I could not tell the cause of death, and that I imagined at the time that it was from over excitement.

The Lord Chief Justice said, that the learned counsel must not read detached portions of the depositions—the whole must be read. (The depositions were accordingly read by the Clerk of the Arraigns.)

Cross-examination continued: I do not recollect that I ever said that deceased died of epilepsy. Dr. Bamford said that he died in an apoplectic fit, and I said that I thought he did not. I said that I thought it was more like an epileptic than an apoplectic fit. I do not know Mr. Pratt, but I took a letter from him to Cook. Cook did not open it, but said, “I know the contents of it—let it be till to-morrow morning.” I have seen Palmer’s racing establishment at Rugeley. I saw a number of mares in foal, and others in the paddock, and some very valuable horses. The stables were good, and the establishment appeared to be a large and expensive one.

Re-examined by the Attorney-General: I am not a good judge of the value of racing horses, but I understand other horses very well. I have only seen one case of tetanus, and that case resulted from a wound. The patient in that case lasted three days before death ensued. I am satisfied that the death of Mr. Cook did not arise from epilepsy. In epilepsy consciousness is lost, but there is no rigidity or convulsive spasm of the muscles. The symptoms are quite different. I am equally certain that death was not the result of apoplexy.

Lavinia Barnes was recalled, at the instance of Mr. Serjeant Shee, and in answer to the learned Serjeant, she said: On Monday morning Mr. Cook said to me that he had been very ill on Sunday night, just before twelve o’clock, and that he had rung the bell for some one to come to him; but he thought that they had all gone to bed.

Elizabeth Mills, recalled by the Attorney-General, and examined on the same point: I remember on Monday morning asking Mr. Cook how he was, and he said that he had been disturbed in the night, adding, “I was just mad for two minutes.” I said, “Why did you not ring the bell?” and he replied, “I thought you would be all fast asleep, and would not hear me. The illness passed away, and I managed to get over it without.” He also said that he thought he had been disturbed by the noise of a quarrel in the street.

Dr. Henry Savage, physician, of 7, Gloucester-place, examined by the Attorney-General: I knew John Parsons Cook. He had been in the habit of consulting me professionally during the last four years. He was a man, not of robust constitution; but his general health was good. He came to me in May, 1855, but I saw him about November of the year before, and early in the spring of 1855. In the spring of 1855 the old affair—indigestion—was one cause of his visiting me, and he had some spots upon his body, about which he was uneasy. He had also two shallow ulcers on his tongue, which corresponded with two bad teeth. He said that he had been under a mild mercurial course, and he imagined that those spots were syphilitic. I thought they were not, and I recommended the discontinuance of mercury. I gave him quinine as a tonic, and an aperient composed of cream of tartar, magnesia, and sulphur. I never at any time gave him antimony. Under the treatment which I prescribed the sores gradually disappeared, and they were quite well by the end of May. I saw him, however, frequently in June, as he still felt some little anxiety about the accuracy of my opinion. If any little spot made its appearance he came to me, and I also was anxious on the subject, as my opinion differed from that of another medical man in London. Every time he came to me I examined him carefully. There were no indications of a syphilitic character about the sores, and there was no ulceration of the throat, but one of the tonsils was slightly enlarged and tender. I saw him last alive, and carefully examined him, either on the 3rd or 5th of November. There was in my judgment no venereal taint about him at the time.

Cross-examined by Mr. Serjeant Shee: I do not think that the deceased was fond of taking mercury before I advised him against it; but he was timid on the subject of his throat, and was apt to take the advice of any one. No; I don’t think that he would take quack medicines. I don’t think he was so foolish as that.

Charles Newton, called and examined by Mr. James, Q.C.—I am assistant to Mr. Salt, a surgeon at Rugeley. I know the prisoner, William Palmer. I remember Monday, the 19th of November. I saw Palmer that evening at Mr. Salt’s surgery about nine o’clock. I was alone when he came there. He asked me for three grains of strychnine, and I weighed it accurately and gave it to him, enclosed in a piece of paper. He said nothing further, but “Good night,” and took it away with him. I knew him to be a medical man, and gave it him,—made no charge for it. The whole transaction did not occupy more than two or three minutes. I again saw Palmer on the following day, between eleven and twelve o’clock. He was then at the shop of Mr. Hawkins, a druggist. He asked me how I was, and put his hand upon my shoulder, and said he wished to speak with me. Accordingly I went out into the street with him, and he then asked me when Mr. Edwin Salt was going to his farm. The farm in question was at a place about fourteen miles distant from Rugeley. Palmer had nothing whatever to do with that farm; but Mr. Salt’s going there was a rumour of the town. While we were talking, a Mr. Brassington came up and spoke to me, and during our conversation Palmer went into Hawkins’ shop again. Palmer came out of the shop a second time, while I was still talking to Brassington. I am not sure whether Palmer spoke to me at that time; but he went past me in the direction of his own house, which is about 200 yards from Hawkins’. I then went into Hawkins’ shop, where I saw Roberts, Mr. Hawkins’ apprentice, and I had some conversation with him about Palmer. I knew a man named Thirlby, who had been an assistant and a partner of Palmer. Palmer usually dealt with Thirlby for his drugs—in fact, Thirlby dispensed Palmer’s medicine. On Sunday, the 25th of November, about seven o’clock in the evening, I was sent for and went to Palmer’s house. I found Palmer, when I got there, in his kitchen. He was sitting by the fire, reading. He asked me how I was, and to have some brandy-and-water. No one else was present. He asked me what was the dose of strychnine to give to kill a dog? I told him a grain. He asked me what would be the appearance of the stomach after death? I told him that there would be no inflammation, and that I did not think it could be found. Upon that he snapped his finger and thumb in a quiet way, and exclaimed, as if communing with himself, “That’s all right.” (Sensation.) He made some other remarks of a commonplace character, which I do not recollect. I was with him altogether about five minutes.

On the following day, Monday, the 26th of November, I heard that a post mortem examination was to take place. I went to Dr. Bamford’s house, intending to accompany him to the post mortem, and I found Palmer there in the study. That was about ten o’clock in the day. Palmer asked me what I wanted? I told him that I had come to attend the post mortem. He asked whether I thought Mr. Salt was going; and I replied that he was engaged, and could not go. I took the necessary instruments with me, and went down to the Talbot Arms. Dr. Harland, and Mr. Frere, a surgeon, practising at Rugeley, were both there. They went away, however, for a short time, and left Palmer and me together in the entrance to the hall at the Talbot Arms. He spoke to me. He said—“It will be a dirty job; I will go and have some brandy.” I went with him to his house, which was just opposite. He gave me two wine glasses of neat brandy, and he took the same quantity himself. He said, “You’ll find this fellow suffering from a diseased throat—he has had syphilis, and has taken a great deal of mercury.” I afterwards went over with Palmer to the post mortem, and found the other doctors there. During the post mortem, Palmer stood near to Dr. Bamford, against the fire. I was examined before the coroner, and did not state before that functionary that I had given Palmer three grains of strychnine on the night of the 19th of November. The first person that I told of it was Cheshire, the postmaster.

Mr. Sergeant Shee objected to anything that this witness had said to Cheshire being admitted as evidence against the prisoner.

The Court ruled in favour of the objection.

Cross-examined by Mr. Grove, Q.C.: It might have been a week or two or three days after I gave Palmer the strychnine that I first mentioned the occurrence to any one. I think I may undertake to say that it was not a fortnight afterwards. Subsequently to the inquest I was examined for the purpose of giving evidence on the part of the Crown. I cannot say how long after the inquest that was. When I was first examined on behalf of the Crown, I did not mention the three grains of strychnine, but I did mention the conversation about the poisoning of the dog. That was not the first time that I had mentioned that conversation; for I had mentioned it before to Mr. Salt; but I cannot tell how long before. I was examined twice for the purpose of the prosecution by the Crown. I did not mention Cook’s suffering from sore throat at the inquest, but I did mention the conversation which took place at Hawkins’s shop. At that time I knew it had been alleged that Palmer had purchased strychnine at Hawkins’s, and I presumed that my evidence was required with reference to that point. I first stated on Tuesday last, for the purposes of this prosecution, the fact of my having given Palmer three grains of strychnine. I cannot say whether in that examination I said that Palmer said, “You will find this ‘poor’ fellow suffering from a diseased throat.” I don’t know whether I said “poor fellow” or “rich fellow.”

Do you not know that there is a difference in the expression “fellow” and “poor fellow?”—I know that there is a difference between poor and rich. It is impossible to recollect all that I said upon every occasion.

Re-examined by the Attorney-General: I did not mention the circumstance of my having given the strychnine to Palmer, because Mr. Salt, my employer, and Palmer were not friends, and I thought it would displease Mr. Salt if he knew that I had let Palmer have anything. I first mentioned it to Boycott, the clerk of Mr. Gardner, the solicitor, at the Rugeley station, where I and a number of other witnesses were assembled for the purpose of coming to London. As soon as I arrived in London, Boycott took me to Mr. Gardner’s. I communicated to him what I had to say; and I was then taken to the Solicitor of the Treasury, and I made the same statement to him.

Mr. Serjeant Shee: Have you not given another reason for not mentioning the occurrence about the three grains of strychnine before—that reason being that you were afraid you could be indicted for perjury?—No, I did not give that as a reason, but I stated to a gentleman that a young man at Wolverhampton had been threatened to be indicted for perjury by George Palmer because he had said at the inquest upon Walter Palmer that he had sold the prisoner prussic acid, and he had not entered it in the book and could not prove it. I stated at the same time that George Palmer said he could be transported for it. I did not enter the gift of the three grains of strychnine from Mr. Salt’s surgery in a book. The inquest upon Walter Palmer did not take place till five or six weeks after the inquest upon Cook.

The Court then adjourned at twenty-five minutes past six o’clock until the next day, the jury being conducted, as on the previous evening, to the London Coffeehouse in charge of the officers of the Court.

THIRD DAY, May 16.

The court was quite as full at the commencement of the proceedings this morning as it had been on either of the preceding days. The Earl of Derby, Earl Grey, and other noble lords were again present.

The jury took their seats shortly before ten o’clock. The learned judges, Lord Chief Justice Campbell, Mr. Baron Alderson, and Mr. Justice Cresswell, soon afterwards entered the court, accompanied by the Recorder and Sheriffs, and the prisoner was then placed at the bar. He appeared rather more anxious than on the two previous days, but was still calm and collected, and paid the greatest attention to the evidence.

Counsel for the Crown: The Attorney-General, Mr. E. James, Q.C., Mr. Bodkin, Mr. Welsby, and Mr. Huddleston. For the prisoner:—Mr. Serjeant Shee, Mr. Grove, Q.C., Mr. Gray, and Mr. Kenealy.

The next witness for the prosecution was Charles Joseph Roberts, examined by Mr. E. James: In November last I was apprentice to Mr. Hawkins, a druggist, at Rugeley. I know Palmer. On Tuesday, November the 20th, between eleven and twelve in the day, he came into Mr. Hawkins’s shop. He first asked for two drachms of prussic acid, for which he had brought a bottle. I was putting it up when Newton, the assistant of Salt, came in. Palmer told him he wanted to speak to him, and they went out of the shop together. I then saw Brassington, the cooper, take Newton away from Palmer, and enter into conversation with him. Palmer then came back into the shop and asked me for six grains of strychnine and two drachms of Batley’s solution of opium (commonly called Batley’s sedative). I had put up the prussic acid, which was lying upon the counter. He stood at the counter when he ordered the things, and while I was preparing them behind the counter he stood at the shop door, with his back to me, looking into the street. I was about five minutes preparing them. He stood at the door till they were ready, when I delivered them to him—the prussic acid in the bottle he had brought, the strychnine in a paper, and the opium in a bottle. He paid me for them and took them away. No one else was in the shop from the time when Palmer and Newton went out till I delivered the things to him. When Palmer had left, Newton came in, and we had some conversation. I had at that time been six years in Mr. Hawkins’s employment. Palmer had not bought any drugs at the shop for about two years. I know Thirlby, Palmer’s assistant. He had started a shop about two years before.

By Lord Campbell: Thirlby was carrying on business as a druggist at the time.

Cross-examined by Mr. Sergeant Shee.—I did not make entries of any of these things in the books.

Re-examined: When articles are paid for across the counter I am not in the habit of making entries of them in the books.

The Attorney-General stated that Dr. Bamford was seriously ill, and unable to attend, but his depositions would be read.

Mr. William Stevens, examined by the Attorney-General: I have been a merchant in the city, but am now out of business. Was stepfather to the deceased Mr. Cook. I married his father’s widow 15 (or 18) years ago, and have known him intimately ever since. I was made executor to his grandfather’s will. I was always on friendly terms with him, and constantly had the care of him. He had property worth altogether about £12,000. He was articled to a solicitor at Worthing, in Sussex, but he did not follow the profession. He had been connected with the turf about three or four years—perhaps not so much. I did everything in my power to withdraw him from that pursuit.

Lord Campbell: But you still remained on friendly terms?

Witness: On affectionate terms. The last time I saw him alive was at the station at Euston-square, about two o’clock on the afternoon of the 5th of November. I think he told me he was going to Rugeley, but I am not quite sure; he looked better than I had seen him for a very long time. I was so gratified that I said, “My boy, you look very well now; you don’t look anything of an invalid.” He said he was quite well, and struck himself on the chest. I think he added he would be quite right if he was happy. In point of appearance he was not a robust man. His complexion was pale. During the previous winter he had had a sore throat for some months. I first heard of his death on the evening of Wednesday, November 21. Mr. Jones, of Lutterworth, called at my house and informed me of it. The next day I went down to Lutterworth with Mr. Jones for the purpose of searching for the will and papers. The day after I went to Rugeley. I arrived between twelve and one. I asked to see the body when I got to the inn. I met Palmer in the passage. I had seen him once before, and Mr. Jones introduced me to him. He followed us upstairs to see the body, and removed the sheet from it to rather below the waist. I was much struck with its appearance. I first noticed the tightness of the muscles across the face. There did not appear to me to be any emaciation or disease. We all went down stairs to one of the sitting-rooms. In a short time I said to Palmer, “I hear from Mr. Jones that you know something of my son’s affairs. Can you tell me anything about them?” He replied, “Yes; there are £4,000 worth of bills out of his, and I am sorry to say my name is to them; but I have got a paper drawn up by a lawyer, and signed by him, to show that I never had any money from them.” I expressed great surprise at this, and said, “I fear there won’t be 4000 shillings to pay you.” “But,” I asked, “had he no horses, no property?” Palmer replied, “Yes, he has some horses, but they are mortgaged.” I said, “Has he no sporting bets, nor anything of that sort?” He mentioned one debt of £300. I would rather not state the name of the person who owed it. It is a relation of his, not a sporting gentleman. (The witness wrote down the name and handed it to the counsel on both sides and the Judges).

Lord Campbell: The name is immaterial.

Palmer said he did not know of any other debt. I said I thought his sporting creditors would have to take his sporting effects, as I should have nothing to do with them. I added, “Well, whether he has left anything or not, poor fellow, he must be buried.” Palmer immediately said, “Oh! I’ll bury him myself, if that’s all.” I said, “I certainly can’t think of your doing that; I shall do it.” Cook’s brother-in-law, who had come to meet me, was then present, and expressed a great wish to bury him. I said, “No; as his executor, I shall take care of that. I cannot have the funeral immediately, as I intend to bury him in London, in his mother’s grave. I shall be sorry to inconvenience the people here at the inn, but I will get it done as soon as possible.” Palmer said, “Oh! that’s of no consequence, but the body ought to be fastened up at once.” He repeated that observation—“So long as the body is fastened up, it is of no consequence.” While I was talking to Cook’s brother-in-law, Palmer and Jones left the room. They returned in about half an hour. I then asked Palmer for the name of some respectable undertaker in Rugeley, that I might at once order a coffin and give directions. He said, “I have been and done that. I have ordered a shell and strong oak coffin.” I expressed my surprise. I said, “I did not give you any authority to do so, but I must see the undertaker to let him have my instructions.” I think he told me the name of the undertaker. I ordered dinner for myself, my son-in-law, and Jones, and I asked Palmer to come in. We all dined together at the inn, about 3. I was going back to London that afternoon. After dinner, Palmer being still present, I desired Mr. Jones to be so good as to go upstairs and get me Mr. Cook’s betting-book, or pocket-book, or books or papers that might be there. I had seen him with a betting-book—a small one with clasps. Mr. Jones then left the room, and Palmer followed him. They were away 10 minutes. Mr. Jones said, on their return, “I am very sorry to say I can’t find any betting-book or papers.” I exclaimed, “No betting-book, Mr. Jones?” Turning towards Palmer, I said, “How is this?” Palmer said, “Oh, it is of no manner of use if you find it.” I said, “No use, Sir! I am the best judge of that.” He replied, “It is of no use.” I said, “I am told it is of use. I understand my son won a great deal of money at Shrewsbury, and I ought to know something about it.” He replied, “It is of no use, I assure you. When a man dies his bets are done with. Besides, Cook received the greater part of his money on the course at Shrewsbury.” I said, “Very well, the book ought to be found, and must be found.” Palmer then said, in a quieter tone, “It will no doubt be found.” I again said, “Sir, it shall be found.”

I then went to the door, and calling to the housekeeper, I desired that everything in the bedroom should be locked up, and nothing touched until I returned or sent some one. Before leaving I went up stairs to take a last look at the body. Some servants were in the room, turning over the bed-clothes, and also the undertaker. I had given him instructions before dinner to place the body in the coffin. He was standing by the side of the shell. The body was in it, uncovered. I knelt down by the side of the shell, and, taking the right hand of the corpse I found it clinched. I looked across the body and saw that the left hand was clinched in the same manner. I returned to town and communicated next morning with my solicitor, who gave me a letter to Mr. Gardner of Rugeley. I returned to Rugeley, where I arrived at eight o’clock next evening (Saturday). I started from Euston square at two o’clock, and on the platform I met Palmer. He said he had received a telegraphic message summoning him to London after I had left Rugeley. I asked him where Cook’s horses were kept. He told me at Eddisford, near Rugeley, and said he would drive me out there if I wished. When I got to Wolverton, where the train stops, I saw him again in the refreshment room. I said, “Mr. Palmer, this is a very melancholy thing, the death of my poor son happening so suddenly; I think for the sake of his brother and sister, who are somewhat delicate, it might be desirable for his medical friends to know what his complaints were.” Cook had a sister and half-brother. Palmer replied, “That can be done very well.” The bell then rang, and we went to our seats. He travelled in a different carriage till we reached Rugby, where I saw him again in the refreshment-room. I said, “Mr. Palmer, as I live at a distance I think I ought to ask a solicitor at Rugeley to look after my interest.” He said, “Oh, yes, you might do that.” “Do you know any solicitor?” I said, “No.” I then got some refreshment, and went back to my carriage; I found Palmer sitting there. I had no conversation with him before we reached Rugeley, but continued talking to a lady and gentleman with whom I had been conversing since I left town.

After we arrived at Rugeley, Palmer said, “Do you know any solicitor, here?” I said, “No, I don’t, I am a perfect stranger.” He said, “I know them all intimately, and I can introduce you to one. When I get home I must have a cup of coffee, and I will then come over, and take you all about.” I thanked him, as I had done once or twice before, and said I wouldn’t trouble him. He repeated his offer. Altering my tone and manner, I said, “Mr. Palmer, if I should call in a solicitor to give me advice, I suppose you will have no objection to answer any question he may put to you.” I altered my tone purposely; I looked steadily at him, but, although the moon was shining, I could not see his features distinctly. He said, with a spasmodic convulsion of the throat, which was perfectly apparent, “Oh no, certainly not.” At Wolverton, I had purposely mentioned my desire that there should be a post-mortem examination, and I ought to say that he was quite calm when I mentioned it. After I asked him that question there was a pause for three or four minutes. He then again proposed to come over to me after he had had his coffee, and I again begged he would not trouble himself. I went to Mr. Gardner, and then came back to the inn. Palmer came to me, and began to talk about the bills. He said, “It’s a very unpleasant affair for me.” I said, “I think it right to tell you, that since I saw you I have had rather a different account of Mr. Cook’s affairs.” He said, “Oh, indeed! I hope, at any rate, they will be settled pleasantly.” I said, “His affairs can only be settled in a Court of Chancery.” He asked me what friends Mr. Cook visited in the neighbourhood of London. I said, “Several.” The next day (Sunday) I saw him again, between five and six in the evening. He said, “You were talking of going to Eddisford. If I were you, I would not take a solicitor with me there.” I said, “Why not? I shall use my own judgment.” Later in the evening he came again to my room, holding a piece of paper, as if he wished to give it to me. I went on with my writing, and said, “Pray, who is Mr. Smith?” He repeated, “Mr. Smith!” two or three times, and I said, “I mean a Mr. Smith who sat up with my son one night.” He said, “He is a solicitor in the town.” I asked if he was in practice. He replied, “Yes.” I said, “I ask you the question because, as the betting-book is lost, I should wish to know who has been with the young man.” After a pause, I said, “Did you attend my son in a medical capacity?” He said, “Oh, dear, no.” I said, “I ask you, because I am determined to have his body examined; and if you had attended him professionally I suppose the gentleman I shall call in would think it proper that you should be present.” He asked who was to perform the examination. I said, “I cannot say. I shall not know myself until to-morrow. I think it right to tell you of it; but, whether you are present at it or not is a matter of indifference to me.”

On the Friday, when Palmer gave orders for the shell, did you perceive any sign of decomposition in the body, or anything which would render its immediate enclosure necessary?—On the contrary, the body did not look to me like a dead body. I was surprised at its appearance.

Cross-examined by Mr. Serjeant Shee: The last time Cook stayed at my house was in January or February last year, for about a month. He then had a sore throat. I do not remember that it was continually sore. He had not the least difficulty in swallowing. I did not notice any ulcers about his face. In the spring he complained of being an invalid, and said his medical friends told him that if he was not better in the winter he ought to go to a warm climate. No communication was made to me about insuring his life. I was dissatisfied about the loss of the betting-book. I desired that everything belonging to the deceased might be locked up. When I returned to Rugeley with Palmer, I went to seek for Mr. Gardner. I saw him on the following (Sunday) morning. I have once been in communication with the policeofficer Field. That was a fortnight or three weeks after my son’s death. Field called upon me. I never applied to him.

By Mr. Baron Alderson: I never called upon Mr. Bamford, but he dined with me at the Talbot Arms.

Mary Keeley, examined by Mr. Welsby: I am a widow, living at Rugeley. On the morning of Wednesday, the 21st of November last, I was sent for to lay out Cook’s body. My sister-in-law went with me. That was about one o’clock in the morning. The body was still warm, but the hands and arms were cold. The body was lying on the back. The arms were crossed upon the chest. The head lay a little turned on one side. The body was very stiff indeed. I have laid out many corpses. I never saw one so stiff before. We had difficulty in straightening the arms. We could not keep them straight down to the body. I passed a piece of tape under the back and tied it round the wrists, to fasten the arms down. The right foot turned, on one side, outwards. We were obliged to tie both the feet together. The eyes were open. We were a considerable time before we could close them, because the eyelids were very stiff. The hands were closed, and were very stiff. Palmer was upstairs with us. He lighted me while I took two rings off Cook’s fingers. That was off one hand. The fingers were very stiff, and I had difficulty in getting off the rings. I got them off, and when I had done so the hand closed again. I did not see anything of a betting-book, nor any small book like a pocketbook.

Cross-examined by Mr. Grove: It is not usual to tie the hands of a corpse. I have never before used tape to tie the arms; I have used it to tie the ankles together, and also for the toes. I have never seen it used for the arms. It is usual to lay the arms by the sides. If the body gets stiff the arms remain as they were at the time of death. If the eyes are closed at the time of death there is no difficulty in keeping them closed. It is a common thing to put penny pieces upon them to keep them closed. That is to prevent the eyelid drawing back. The jaw is generally tied up shortly after death.

Re-examined by the Attorney-General: I cannot say how many bodies I have laid out, but I have laid out a great many, of all ages. I never knew of the arms being tied before this instance. It is usual to lay the arms by the sides within a few minutes after death. I was called up at half-past twelve. It was half-past one when I went upstairs to the room where Cook lay. Sometimes the feet of corpses get twisted out; it is then that they are tied. That occurs within about half-an-hour after death. I have never known the eyelid so stiff as in this case. I have put penny pieces on the eyes. In those cases the lids were stiff, but not so stiff as in this instance.

John Thomas Harland, examined by Mr. Bodkin: I am a physician residing at Stafford. On the 26th of November last I went from Stafford to Rugeley, to be present at a post-mortem examination. I arrived at Rugeley at ten o’clock in the morning. I called at the house of Mr. Bamford, surgeon. As I went there Palmer joined me in the street. He came from the back of his own house. I had frequently seen him and had spoken to him before. He said, “I am glad that you are come to make a post-mortem examination. Some one might have been sent whom I did not know.” I said, “What is this case? I hear there is a suspicion of poisoning.” He said, “Oh, no; I think not. He had an epileptic fit on Monday and Tuesday last, and you will find old disease in the heart and in the head.” We then went together to Mr. Bamford’s. I had brought no instruments with me, having only been requested to be present at the examination. Palmer said that he had instruments, and offered to fetch them and lend them to me. He (Palmer) said there was a very queer old man who seemed to suspect him of something, but he did not know what he meant or what he wanted. He also said, “He seems to suspect that I have got the betting-book. Cook had no betting-book that would be of use to anyone.” Mr. Bamford and I then went to the house of Mr. Frere, who is a surgeon at Rugeley. Palmer did not go with us. Thence we went to the Talbot Arms, where the post-mortem examination was proceeded with. Mr. Devonshire operated, and Mr. Newton assisted him. There were in the room, besides, Mr. Bamford, Palmer, myself, and several other persons. I stood near Mr. Devonshire. The body was very stiff.