Poisoning

POISONING.- Mary Ann Higgins, aged 19, and Edward Clarke, aged 21, were indicted for the willful murder of William Higgins, at Coventry, 0n the 22nd of March last, by administering to him three drachms of arsenic. In a second count of the indictment, the prisoner Higgins was charged as principal, and Clarke as accessory.

William Higgins, the deceased, was a man in an humble station of life, who had saved a little money, upwards of 100l., which he had placed out at interest. Upon the death of his only brother, who left four or five children behind him, the deceased, being himself unmarried, took one of the children (the female prisoner) to live with him, and reared her, intending also to leave her, at his death, the little money he possessed. About the beginning of the present year, a courtship commenced between the girl and the prisoner Clarke, who was an apprentice at the watch-factory of Messrs. Vale and Co., at Coventry, in the course of which he evidently acquired considerable influence over her mind. He was observed, within the last few weeks, to be in possession of more money than usual, including one or two golden guineas, a denomination of coin of which the deceased’s savings were supposed principally to have consisted; and he boasted on more than one occasion, that he had only to go to the old man’s house whenever he wanted money.

On, Tuesday, the 22nd of March, the female prisoner went into a druggist’s shop, and asked for twopenny-worth of arsenic to destroy rats. The young man in the shop told her that she could not have it, except in the presence of a witness, upon which she went away and did not return. She afterwards went to another shop of the same description, and made a similar application, to which she received the like answer. Upon this she observed that she did not know what she was to do, as she came from the country. She added, however, that she had a sister residing at Coventry, and she would go and fetch her. She then left the shop,and, when passing through Spon-street, she met a girl named Elizabeth Russel, who told, her that she was going to the factory (Vale and Co’s), upon which the prisoner said, “Just come with me as far as Messrs. Wyly’s, the druggist, and I will then accompany you to the factory.” Elizabeth Russel asked her what she wanted at the druggist's? To which she replied, that she wanted some arsenic to destroy rats. The girl then accompanied her to the druggist’s, where she received the arsenic in her presence, with a label upon the paper, having the words “arsenic, poison,” printed on it. She inquired of the shop man how she was to use it, in order to destroy the rats, and he told her she might mix it up with some bread, or some substance of that kind. She then left the shop, and, on going into the street, she tore off the label, saying at the same time to the other girl, “What has he stuck this on for?" They walked together as far as the factory, which they reached as the men were coming out of it to go to their dinners, it being then about one o’clock. They here parted, and Higgins was joined by Clarke, who walked with her towards her uncle’s house. A waggoner, who was passing along the street shortly afterwards, observed Clarke entering the uncle's house, and the niece next moment closed the door, which Clarke had left open after him. At two o‘clock Clarke returned to his work at the factory, and remained there until eight in the evening.

About nine he was observed standing at the entry that led from the deceased’s house to a yard where there was a certain convenience, from which the old man was seen apparently returning. The niece was also observed standing at the entry. Whilst the old man was in the yard, a particular kind of noise was heard, and the place afterwards exhibited the appearance of a person having been vomiting there. At about one o’clock at midnight, the female prisoner knocked up an old woman, named Green, who lived a few doors off, and implored her, for God's sake, to come to her uncle, who was taken very ill. Mrs. Green accordingly got out of bed, put on her gown, and followed her over to her uncle's. On her way, Mrs. Green was met by a man, who, when passing by Higgins's door the moment before, heard two voices, as he thought, in the house, but could not tell whether they were the voices of a male and female. Upon Mrs. Green going into the house, she found the deceased lying upon his niece’s bed, with his head resting on his left hand, in the attitude of a man who had been vomiting. Upon going up to him, she thought at first she heard him breathe,but found, when she stirred him, that he was stiff. She called to him, but received no answer. Observing some water on the floor near the bed, and knowing that the old man had been subject to a complaint which she called the water-swamp, she proposed going down stairs and making some tea for him.

She and the niece went down accordingly, and while below, the latter said, “Oh! I hear my uncle groan." They immediately returned to the room, but on Mrs. Green again going to the bed, she found that the old man was dead, and also concluded from a more particular examination of his body, that he must have been dead for at least half an hour. The niece wept bitterly, exclaiming, “Oh my dear uncle! my dear uncle! now he’s gone, all my friends are gone!” She told Mrs. Green, that she and Edward Clarke were to have been married on Easter Monday, and that, had it not been for her poor uncle’s death, they were all to have had a jovial day of it. She said, that they must still be married, however, on that day, as she was in the family way; that she would put on mourning for her uncle, but put it off on the day of her marriage, and then resume it again, it being unlucky to be married in black. The statement of her being in the family way was untrue.

In answer to previous questions from Mrs. Green, she said that her uncle had had some pea soup for supper; that he had been taken very ill, and gone to bed; but, after she had retired to her own bed, her uncle came into her room, and, becoming very sick, she got up, and placed him on her bed. Mrs. Green observed the bed in the deceased's room very much tumbled, as if by a person who had been tossing from side to side in great pain. There was also a quantity of water on the floor, with two little lumps of bread in it, like what had been discharged from the stomach. Some other of the neighbours being called in to assist in laying out the deceased, Mrs. Green went away.

In the course of the morning, between six and seven o’clock, another neighbour, a Mrs. Moore, called, and, on seeing the niece, asked if it was true that her uncle was dead? She said it was, and that she was then going out to purchase mourning. She went out accordingly, and, when she was gone, Mrs. Moore, seeing the place in a state of confusion, set about putting the things to rights. On going into the pantry, she perceived a basin on the shelf, about three quarters filled with pea-soup. She took it to the window, and stirred it up with a spoon that lay in it; upon which she perceived that it was of a whitish colour and thick substance, different from the usual appearance of pea-soup. She replaced it on the shelf, and then examined another basin, containing a similar quantity of pea-soup, which, however, was of the usual yellow colour, and of the ordinary substance. This basin she also replaced on the shelf, and said nothing until the niece returned, when she asked her the cause of the different appearances of the two soups? to which the latter replied, that she had thickened one with flour, and the other with oatmeal. Mrs. Moore's suspicions having been excited, she gave the soup into the charge of a carpenter who had come to measure for the coffin, who locked it up in the room in which the corpse lay.

A surgeon was then sent for, who opened the body, and found the coat of the stomach extremely vascular and red. He also found within the stomach a pint and a half of fluid, which he put into a bottle, and which he sent, together with the basins of soup, in a basket to his surgery, for the purpose of having them analysed. The fluid taken from the stomach was afterwards submitted to several chymical tests, in the presence of four or five professional gentlemen, all of which led to the same result — namely, that it was impregnated with arsenic. All these tests were admitted by these gentlemen to be fallacious, taken individually, except that of reduction — a process by which small crystals of arsenic were extracted from the metal. The result of this and other tests, coupled with the appearances which the coat of the stomach presented, left no doubt on the minds of the medical witnesses, that the death of the deceased had been occasioned by his having swallowed a quantity of the above poison. The pea soup was not analysed, but was given to a dog, which immediately threw it off his stomach, and survived.

When taken into custody, Higgins told the officer, that she had not purchased any arsenic, and on his saying, that Elizabeth Russell could prove that she had, she admitted it, but said that she had only used it to destroy rats, and that one lay dead under a particular chair. A dead mouse was found under that chair, but, on its being opened, there was no appearance of inflammation in the stomach, which there must have been, had it died from having swallowed arsenic. She also denied having any money in her possession, but, on being searched, a box was found in one of her pockets, containing five guineas, in another three, and in a purse one guinea, a halfguinea, and a seven shilling piece. The officer, when conveying her to prison, said to her, “How could you be over persuaded to do such a thing?” to which she replied that she had not been persuaded by any person, she had done it herself.

She said she had put two tea spoonfulls of arsenic into a basin, and poured the soup over it, and then gave that to her uncle. Having extracted this confession from her, the officer then told her not to say any thing that might criminate her. When before the coroner, she said at first that Clarke had received of her only two guineas and some silver. She said this in Clarke’s presence; but, after they had both withdrawn, she was persuaded by the officer and another constable to return to the room and declare that Clarke had instigated her to take her uncle’s life; and that he (Clarke) had frequently beaten and ill-used her, when he did not get as much money from her as he wanted. The conduct of the officer was severely reprobated.

The circumstances of suspicion adduced against Clarke, consisted of his statements at the factory the next morning, of his having been present when the deceased supped the night before, and his betraying a knowledge at an early hour that the old man was dead. It appeared, however, that he had made no secret of having been present when the deceased had taken the soup which had proved fatal to him, and that he had acquired his knowledge of his death by calling at his house next morning at an early hour to inquire how he did. There were no circumstances to lead to a positive conclusion that he had been aware of the poison having been put into the soup, or of its having been purchased at all. Several witnesses gave Clarke a good character, but none appeared on behalf of Higgins.

The Jury returned a verdict, acquitting Edward Clarke, but finding Mary Ann Higgins Guilty.

The Judge then sentenced the wretched girl to be executed at Coventry on the following Thursday, and her body to be dissected.