Part 7

WILLIAM VERNON STEVENS, examined by the ATTORNEY-GENERAL--I am a retired merchant living in the city. I am the step-father of John Parsons Cook, having married his father’s widow eighteen years ago. He did not live with me, but we were always on friendly terms. He became entitled to property worth about £12,000. The last time I saw him alive was at Euston station at two o’clock on the afternoon of 5th November. He looked better than I had seen him for some time, and I said, “My boy, you look very well; you do not look anything of an invalid now.” He struck himself firmly on the chest and said he was quite well. The next time I saw him was after his death, information of which I received from Mr. Jones, who came to my house on the Wednesday. I went to Lutterworth on the Thursday to search for a will and any papers he had left. I found a will. When I reached Rugeley the next day I went to the Talbot Arms, and met Palmer in the passage. I had only seen him once before. Mr. Jones introduced us in the inn, and we then went up and viewed the body. I was greatly struck by the appearance of the countenance, the tightness of the muscles across the face. We all then went down to one of the sitting rooms, and I said to the prisoner that I understood from Mr. Jones he knew something of my son’s affairs. He replied, “Yes, there are £4000 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, signed by Mr. Cook, to show that I have never had any benefit from them.” I told him I feared there would be no money to pay them, and asked if he had no horses or property. He replied that he had horses, but they were mortgaged. He mentioned one debt of £300 that was owing to Cook. It had nothing to do with sporting matters, and was a personal debt from a relative of his. I then turned round to Palmer and said that, whether Cook had left anything or not, he must be buried. Palmer immediately said, “Oh! I will bury him myself if that is all.” I replied I could not hear of that. Cook’s brother-in-law was there at the time, and he also expressed a wish to bury him. I said it was my business, as executor, to bury him, and that I intended to bury him in London in his mother’s grave, and that the body would have to be at the inn for a day or two. Palmer said that would be of no consequence so long as the body was fastened up at once. Some short time afterwards I asked Palmer for the name of some respectable undertaker in Rugeley, so that I might order a coffin at once. He replied, “I have been and chosen that. I have ordered a shell and a strong oak coffin.” I expressed my surprise, and said he had no authority to do so. At my invitation, my son-in-law, Mr. Jones, and Palmer all dined with me at the inn. We dined about three, as I was going back to London by the quarter-past four train. Before I left I asked Mr. Jones to go upstairs and bring me Cook’s betting book and any papers. He went along with Palmer, and in about ten minutes he returned, saying he could find no book or paper. I expressed my astonishment, and Palmer said, “It is of no manner of use if you find it.” I said I was the best judge of that, and I understood my son won a great deal of money at Shrewsbury. Palmer replied that when a man dies his bets are done with, and that Mr. Cook had received the greater part of his money on the course at Shrewsbury. I said that the book must be found, and he replied in a much quieter tone, “Oh, it will be found, no doubt.” The body was in the shell, and I noticed that both the hands were clenched. I then returned to town. The next morning I communicated with the uncle of the deceased and with my solicitor, who gave me a letter to Mr. Gardner, of Rugeley. I returned to Rugeley by the two o’clock train, arriving there about eight. Palmer travelled by the same train. I met him first at Euston station, when he told me he had been summoned to London by telegraph. I saw him again in the refreshment room at Wolverton. We had some conversation, and I remarked that it would be as well to know something of the complaint of which Cook died, and that I should like his body opened. Palmer replied, “That can be done very well,” or “That can be easily done,” or something of that sort. I saw him again in the refreshment room at Rugby, and mentioned to him my determination to see a solicitor in Rugeley about my son’s affairs. From Rugby to Rugeley we travelled in the same carriage, but no further conversation took place. When we arrived at Rugeley he again spoke about me employing a solicitor, and offered to introduce me to one. I refused his offer, and said I would find one myself. I then immediately purposely changed the tone of my voice and manner, and said, “Mr. Palmer, if I should call in a solicitor to give me advice, I suppose you will have no objections to answer him any questions he might choose to put to you?” He replied, with a spasmodic affection of the throat, which was perfectly evident, “Oh, no, certainly not.” I also expressed my desire of taking a solicitor to Hednesford, where Cook’s horses were kept. I ought to say that, when I first mentioned the post-mortem, there was not the slightest change in Mr. Palmer’s manner; he was perfectly calm and collected. We then parted, he to go home and I to go and look for Mr. Gardner. Later in the evening Palmer came to me again, and the first thing he spoke about was the bills. He said, “It is a very unpleasant affair for me about these bills.” I remarked that I had heard a different account of Mr. Cook’s affairs, and that his affairs could only be settled in the Court of Chancery. All he replied was, “Oh, indeed,” in a lower tone. The next day, Sunday, I saw him again in the coffee room of my hotel. He advised me not to take a solicitor to Hednesford, but I told him I should use my own judgment upon that. Later in the evening, I think, I saw him again. I asked him who the Mr. Smith was who had sat up with my son, as I wished to make inquiries regarding the missing betting book. He replied he was a solicitor of that town. I asked him if he attended my son medically, and he said no. He then asked me if I knew who was to perform the examination, and I told him I did not. On the Friday, when I twice saw the body, I did not perceive any decomposition or anything which called for its being speedily put into a shell; on the contrary, the body did not quite look to me like a dead body.

[Sidenote: W. V. Stevens]

Cross-examined by Mr. SERJEANT SHEE--The last time my stepson stayed in my house was for about a month, in January and February of last year. He had a slight sore throat then, but I do not know that it was continuously sore. He did not complain of it. I never noticed any ulcers about his face. Between that time and the 5th November I saw him several times, and he did not appear to be more delicate than usual. The reason why I mentioned to him on 5th November that he was looking very well was because he had complained of being an invalid the winter before. His brother and sister were rather delicate, and his father died at the age of thirty or thirty-one.

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[Sidenote: J. T. Harland]

Dr. JOHN THOMAS HARLAND, examined by Mr. BODKIN--I am a physician residing at Stafford. On 26th November I made a post-mortem examination of Mr. Cook. I called at the house of Mr. Bamford, and on my way there I was joined by Palmer, whom I had frequently seen and spoken to at Rugeley. He said, “I am glad you have come to make a post-mortem examination; some one might have been sent whom I did not know; I know you.” I asked him what the case was; that I heard there was a suspicion of poisoning. He replied, “Oh, no! I think not; he had an epileptic fit on Monday and Tuesday night, and you will find an old disease in the heart and in the head.” Palmer offered to lend me instruments, as I had brought none with me. He said a queer old man seemed to suspect him. He also said, “He seems to suspect that I have got the betting book, but Cook had no betting book that would be of use to any one.” After we reached Bamford’s house, Mr. Bamford and I went to Mr. Frere’s, a surgeon in Rugeley, and from there to the Talbot Arms, where the post-mortem examination was proceeded with. Palmer and several others were in the room. Mr. Devonshire operated and Mr. Newton assisted him. The body seemed to me to be stiffer than bodies generally are six days after death. The muscles were strongly contracted and thrown out, which showed there was a strong spasmodic action in the body before death. The hands were clenched; firmly closed. The abdominal viscera were the first parts of the body examined internally. They were taken out of the body, and were in a perfectly healthy state. The liver was healthy. The lungs were healthy; there was blood in them, but not more than could be accounted for by gravitation. The brain was quite healthy. There was no extravasation of blood nor serum on the brain. There was nothing in its appearance that would cause unnatural pressure. The heart was contracted, and contained no blood. This did not appear to be the result of disease, but from spasmodic action. The stomach was taken out. At the larger end there were numerous small yellowish-white spots about the size of mustard seed. These would not at all account for death, nor would they have any effect on the health of any one. There may have been numerous follicles, nothing more. The kidneys were full of blood that had gravitated since death, and had no appearance of disease. The blood was in a fluid state, which is a rare occurrence even in cases of sudden death. About the whole body generally there was no appearance of disease that would account for death. The lower part of the spinal cord was not minutely examined on this occasion. The upper part presented a perfectly natural appearance.

[Sidenote: J. T. Harland]

On the 25th of January the body was again exhumed, so that we might examine the spinal cord with more attention. Dr. Monckton and I jointly made a report on the matter. I am still of the opinion that there was nothing in the appearance that I have described to account for the death of the deceased. When the stomach and intestines were removed from the body in the first examination they were separately emptied into a jar by Mr. Devonshire and Mr. Newton. Palmer was standing at the right of Mr. Newton. When the intestines and stomach were being placed in the jar, and while Mr. Devonshire was opening the stomach, I noticed Palmer pushed Mr. Newton on to Mr. Devonshire, and he shook a portion of the contents of the stomach into the body. I thought a joke was passing among them, and I said, “Do not do that,” to the whole. Palmer was the only one close to them when Mr. Newton and Mr. Devonshire were pushed together. After this interruption the opening of the stomach proceeded. It contained about, I should think, 2 or 3 ounces of brownish liquid. It was stated that there was nothing particular found in the stomach, and Palmer remarked to Mr. Bamford, “They will not hang us yet.” The stomach was then emptied into the jar along with the stomach itself. The intestines were then examined, and nothing particular found in them. They were contracted and very small. They were placed in the jar, with their contents, as they were taken from the body. I then tied the jar over with two bladders and sealed it, and placed it on the table beside the body. At that time Palmer was moving about the room. My attention had been called away by the examination, and I missed the jar for a few minutes. I called out, “Where is the jar?” and Palmer, from the other end of the room, said, “It is here; I thought it more convenient for you to take it away.” Palmer was standing a yard or two from a door at that end of the room. I got the jar from him. I found there was a cut, hardly an inch long, through both bladders. The cut was quite clean, as if nothing had passed through. I asked who had done this, and Palmer, Mr. Devonshire, and Mr. Newton all seemed to say they had not done it. I told Palmer I should take the jar to Mr. Frere. He said, “I would rather you take it with you to Stafford, if you would take it there,” but I took it to Mr. Frere’s house, tied and sealed in the way I have told. When I noticed the slit in the bladders I immediately cut the strings and replaced the bladders, and tied them separately again, so that the slit was not at the top. When I returned to the Talbot Arms Palmer asked me what I had done with the jar. I said I had left it with Mr. Frere, and that it would go to either London or Birmingham that night for examination.

Cross-examined by SERJEANT SHEE--On the occasion of the first examination you say you observed follicles under the tongue; are those pustules?--Not under the tongue, on the tongue. They are not pustules; they are large mucous follicles, not containing matter.

Is it a sort of thickening, then, of the skin?--Of the mucous follicles at the base of the tongue. They appeared to be of long standing, and were very numerous.

Do they indicate that there had been much soreness there?--I have no doubt they would produce inconvenience. They must have given some slight degree of pain in eating and speaking.

Will you undertake to say they were not enlarged glands, enlarged by the irritation of disease?--I do not believe they were; I have seen them frequently.

Do you adhere to your opinion that the lungs were healthy?--Yes.

Did not Mr. Devonshire, in your presence, express a contrary opinion, and say they were unhealthy?--He said he thought there was emphysema, as well as congestion of the lungs.

Is that not a diseased state of the lungs?--Yes, it is an abnormal state. I examined the white spots on the wider part of the stomach.

How did you examine them?--By removing the mucous that was on the surface of the stomach by the finger or scalpel. I had no lens, no glass. I should have examined them with a lens if I had had one.

Was your examination of these appearances satisfactory to you without a lens?--Yes.

You said that the brain was healthy; what sort of examination did you make of the brain?--The brain was carefully taken out; the external part was first of all examined; the membranes were examined, and slices were taken off from the apex to the base of the brain. These slices were, I should think, a quarter of an inch thick.

Is that as thick as it should be to make a full examination?--I think that would show any disease if there was any. The spinal cord was examined down to the first vertebra, and we found no appearance of disease.

Supposing you had discovered a softness of the spinal cord on that occasion, after a full examination, might not that have been sufficient to account for the death of Mr. Cook?--No, certainly not; softening would not produce tetanus at all; it might produce paralysis.

[Sidenote: J. T. Harland]

Do not you think in the case of a man dying by convulsions, in order to ascertain with any degree of certainty what the cause of his death might be, it was necessary shortly after his death to make a careful examination of the spinal cord?--No, I do not. It was afterwards thought desirable. It was first suggested on 26th December.

It was in January the second examination took place; supposing there had been a softening, do not you think, in order to discover it, it was necessary to examine the spinal cord at an earlier period after death than two months?--If there had been a softening it would have been detected at the second examination; the body remaining unexamined for a long time would not produce hardening of the spine.

That is your opinion; might not any softening at that late period be the result of decomposition?--The spine was very little soft indeed. There were some appearances of decomposition upon it. I examined him to see if there was any disease on him of the venereal kind. I observed there was a loss of substance from past disease. It was cicatrised over, and on the cicatrix there was a small abrasion.

Then it must have been in a sore state?--The excoriation might be a little sore. It was very small. It was a mere excoriation; merely a little of the excoriation rubbed off.

Re-examined--There were no chancres, nothing beyond what I would term an excoriation, except the cicatrix from the old disease. There was no symptom of ulcerated throat, nor any appearance of anything syphilitic there. The follicles in the tongue are often produced by a disordered stomach, and are of no serious consequence to health. The congestion of the lungs, which Mr. Devonshire spoke about, was due, in my opinion, wholly to the gravitation of blood after death. There was nothing whatever in the brain to indicate the presence of any disease. Even if there had been, I have never heard or read of any diseased state of the brain occasioning death by tetanus. There is no disease of the spinal cord with which I am acquainted which produces tetanus and that form of death. Sometimes with inflammation of the membranes of the spinal cord there is tetanus; but there were no appearances of inflammation whatever.

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[Sidenote: C. J. Devonshire]

CHARLES JOHN DEVONSHIRE, examined by Mr. HUDDLESTON--I am an undergraduate of London University. I performed the post-mortem on 25th November at the Talbot Hotel. The body was pale. The fingers were clenched firmly; the thumb of the left hand was thrown into the palm, and the fingers were clenched over. The mouth was a little contracted. The body was stiff, much beyond the usual stiffness of death. I took out the stomach and opened it with a pair of scissors. As I was opening the stomach there was a pressure or push from behind. I did not pay any attention to it, and I do not think any of the contents of the stomach escaped. I punctured the anterior surface of the stomach, and a spoonful of the contents fell out on the chair. I tied up where it was punctured, and it was put into a jar and sealed by Dr. Harland. On the same day I got the jar at Mr. Frere’s, and gave it, on the 28th, to Mr. Boycott, Messrs. Lander & Gardner’s clerk. The body was opened again on the 29th to get the liver and kidneys and spleen. They were taken from the body with some blood, placed in a stone jar, which I sealed and handed to Mr. Boycott on the 30th. In consequence of something Mr. Palmer had said, I examined the body to find if there were any indications of syphilis, but I found none. I also took out the throat, and found there were natural papillæ there; they were larger than usual at the base of the tongue.

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[Sidenote: John Myatt]

JOHN MYATT--I am postboy at the Talbot Arms at Rugeley. On 28th of November last I was engaged to drive Mr. Stevens to Stafford station. Before I started Mr. Palmer asked me if I was going to drive them to Stafford. I told him I was. He asked if I was going to take the jars. I said I believed I was. He said there was a £10 note for me if I would upset them. I told him I should not. I saw him next morning, and he asked me who went with the fly. I said Mr. Stevens, and I believed one of Mr. Gardner’s clerks.

Cross-examined--How did you know what he meant by “going to drive them to Stafford”?--I knew I was going to take some one to Stafford.

Did he use the name “Stevens” before he used these words to you?--He mentioned Mr. Stevens afterwards.

You understood the word “them” to mean Mr. Stevens and his party?--Yes.

Were the words used not to this effect, “I should not mind giving £10 to break Mr. Stevens’ neck”?--I do not remember that.

The “£10 to upset him”?--These were the words to the best of my recollection.

When he said “to upset him” did he say anything about him at the time?--He did say something about it, that it was a humbugging concern, or something to that effect. I do not recollect him saying he was a suspicious, troublesome fellow.

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[Sidenote: S. Cheshire]

SAMUEL CHESHIRE--I was for upwards of eight years postmaster at Rugeley. I am now from Newgate suffering punishment for having opened a letter as postmaster. I know the prisoner very well, he and I having been schoolfellows together. I was with him at Shrewsbury Races the day “Polestar” won. I saw Mr. Cook at the Talbot Arms on the Saturday, 17th November. He was in bed at the time. On the Tuesday following Palmer asked me to meet him at his house and bring a receipt stamp with me. I did so. He said he wanted me to write out a cheque, which, he said, was for money Mr. Cook owed him. He produced a copy from which I was to write, and I copied it. He gave me as a reason why he wanted me to write it that Mr. Cook was too ill, and he said Wetherby would know his writing. After I had written it I left it with him, and he said he was going to take it over for Mr. Cook to sign.

The ATTORNEY-GENERAL--We know that it went out of his possession afterwards, and therefore perhaps we ought to follow it.

[Evidence was then given to show that this cheque for £350 was sent to Mr. Wetherby, the secretary to the Jockey Club, that it was returned to Palmer, that notice to produce it was given by the prosecution, and that it was not produced.]

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[Sidenote: S. Cheshire]

SAMUEL CHESHIRE, recalled--After Mr. Cook’s death, on the Thursday or Friday, Palmer sent for me again. I went to his house and saw him there. He had a sheet of quarto paper in his hand, which he asked me to sign.

LORD CAMPBELL--Was there anything written upon this quarto sheet of paper?--There was.

Examination resumed--I asked him what it was, and he said, “You know that Cook and I have had some dealings together, and this is a document which he gave me some days ago, and I want you to witness it.” I asked him what it was about, and he replied, “There is some business that I have joined him in, and which was all for Mr. Cook’s benefit, and this is a document stating so,” or something of that kind. The paper was a post quarto paper of a yellow description. I observed the writing on it, and thought it was Mr. Palmer’s. I told him I could not sign it, as I might perhaps be called upon to give evidence in the matter at some future day. I said I had not seen Cook sign it, and that the post office authorities would not like me to be called on to give evidence as to a document which took place while I was absent. Palmer replied that it did not matter my signing it, and he dared say they would not object to Mr. Cook’s signature. I gave the paper back to him and left.

(Notice to produce this paper was given, but it was not produced.)

[Sidenote: S. Cheshire]

Palmer was in the habit of calling for letters addressed to his mother, and which I gave to him. I cannot remember whether during October and November, 1855, I gave him letters addressed to his mother or addressed to Mr. Cook. I remember seeing Palmer while the inquest was going on. He came to me on the Sunday evening previous to 5th December, and asked me to let him know if I had seen or heard anything fresh. I understood that was a temptation for me to open a letter, and I told him I could not do that. He said he did not want me to do anything to injure myself. The letter which I read, and for which I am suffering, was a letter from Dr. Taylor to Mr. Gardner, the solicitor. I did not give nor send that letter to Palmer. I merely told him in few words of its contents. I only read part of the letter, and told Palmer the contents as much as I remembered. That was on the morning of the 5th of December. I told Palmer that I found in Dr. Taylor’s letter that there were no traces of strychnia found. I cannot recollect what else I told him. He said he knew they would not, for he was perfectly innocent.

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[Sidenote: J. H. Hatton]