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.