Saturday 09 Aug 1845 (p. 2, col. 1-4) Part 1 SECOND EDITION. ----- TRIAL OF JOHN GRAHAM, FOR THE ALLEDGED MURDER OF HIS FATHER. ----- JOURNAL OFFICE, Friday, August 8, Six o'Clock. The Court opened at nine o'clock, when Mr. TEMPLE, the counsel for the prosecution in the case of John GRAHAM, charged with the wilful murder of his father, by administering poison to him, addressing his Lordship, said that the parties connected with the prosecution considered it their duty to proceed with the case. The jury in the case was composed as follows:— Thomas MOSES, farmer, Bascodyke. George RAYSON, yeoman, Highgate Head, Ivegill. John LAMB, yeoman, Great Salkeld. Samuel RELPH, farmer, Kirkoswald. Henry SMITH, yeoman, Ainstable. William GOULDING, farmer, Great Salkeld. Joseph WATSON, yeoman, Gamblesby. Isaac YOUNG, farmer, Castle Sowerby. Thomas ARMSTRONG, farmer, Grahams Onset, Bewcastle. Lionel ROBSON, miller, Kirkoswald. Nesfield ROBISON, ironmonger, Penrith. Richard PATTINSON, farmer, Kirkoswald. Mr. TEMPLE stated the case to the Jury. The prisoner was charged with causing the death of his father at Grinsdale, by mixing arsenic with dough, which was afterwards partaken of by the deceased. He proceeded to describe the family, of which the prisoner was the eldest of four children, and after detailing the circumstances under which the cakes had been made and eaten, described the symptoms produced in those who had partaken of them, and in the deceased especially. There was no doubt, from medical testimony, which would be produced that deceased had died of poison. Mrs. CANNELL and the wife of the deceased had some of the cakes to supper, and were ill in consequence of eating it; whilst Mr. CANNELL, who ate another description of cake, was unaffected with any of the symptoms exhibited by those who ate the girdle cakes. Those cakes had been analysed and found by the medical men to contain poison. He believed the fact would be made out that the arsenic had been mixed, by some means, with the dough, and not in either the yeast, the flour, or butter, used in its composition; for other bread made of the same yeast had been eaten with impunity, and the butter and flour, being analysed, were found not to contain arsenic, and to be unquestionably harmless. The dough was made about eight or nine o'clock on the Thursday morning, by Mrs. GRAHAM, the prisoner's mother, who put it into a covered pot, and set it near the fire, in the back kitchen, to make it rise. Between nine and ten o'clock that morning, Sibson GRAHAM, brother of the prisoner, sent his servant, Jane THOMPSON, to Mrs. GRAHAM's, to procure some pot-herbs. Mrs. GRAHAM went into the garden and got them, and Jane THOMPSON remained alone in the kitchen till she returned. When the girl had been supplied with the herbs, after talking a few minutes with Mrs. GRAHAM, she went away, and in going out met the prisoner coming into the door of the back kitchen. He went in after talking a short while with his mother: they went into the front parlour. If he mixed the arsenic with the dough, opportunities presented themselves for so doing while he was in the house that morning. He asked his mother if she would go to Newcastle, but she declined, and he went away, saying he was going himself to see his friends, Mr. PROCTOR and Mr. ORD. He remained, however, in the house long enough to have enabled him to put the arsenic into the dough; and then went to his house at Kirkandrews. He there changed his clothes, which he had on when he was at Grinsdale, and, amongst other things, a waistcoat which he had on; he put on another suit, leaving behind him the clothes which he had taken off. He went to Newcastle. The clothes he left behind were afterwards searched and the pockets found to contain particles which, on chemical analysis, proved to be arsenic. The waistcoat containing some of these particles would be produced and identified. No doubt various parties had opportunities of mixing arsenic with the dough, it was necessary to enquire into the subsequent conduct of those parties; and it would be found that John GRAHAM's conduct afterwards was such as to lead to the belief that he was the guilty party. After stating the proofs he should advance in support of this belief, the learned counsel called the following witnesses:— Ruth GRAHAM (examined by Mr. RAMSHAY)—I am the widow of John GRAHAM, of Grinsdale, about three miles from Carlisle. My family consists of the prisoner, Sibson, and two daughters. Mary is married to John HIND, and Ruth to William CANNELL. I and my husband had lived at Grinsdale, on my own property, many years—ever since our marriage. My eldest son, John (the prisoner), was a farmer at Kirkandrews, upon a farm belonging to my husband. He paid us rent for it. He was upon it 13 or 14 years, and ceased to occupy it at Candlemas last. John BESWICK then became the tenant, and John continued to lodge with him in the house. The farm was let to BESWICK at £100 a-year. My husband had a small piece of freehold land, called Cobble Hall, worth about £20 a-year. My property at Grinsdale contains about 25 acres, and is worth £60 or £70 a-year. Down to the period of his last illness, my husband's health was pretty good, but declining of late. He died on Tuesday, the 20th May, aged 76. He became ill on the previous Thursday—in the course of the night—between 10 and 11 o'clock. He was attacked with sickness—vomiting. He went to bed about 10 o'clock. He had taken bread and milk to his supper, between eight and nine o'clock. He was affected in about a quarter of an hour after he went to bed. He was very poorly next day: and took very little food. I was ill at the same time, and in the same way. I am not aware that he had any of the bread, of which he had eaten on Thursday evening. He had no vomiting after the Thursday night. I took a little of the same bread and milk as my husband, on Thursday, a little after him: I was very sick, but felt no particular pain. I was very poorly on the Friday. The bread we took for supper on the Thursday was some yeasted cake, which was made that day. It was made of flour, yeast, milk, and butter. I got the yeast from Elizabeth NIXON, a neighbour, who gave it to me. The flour of which the cakes were made was kept in a tub upstairs. I set the bread about nine o'clock in the morning. I think I had the flour down stairs before I set the bread, in a pot in the dairy. All the flour in that pot was used for the bread I speak of. I put the dough into a set-pot on one side of the back kitchen fire place, and to which there is a close lid. It is a pot we used occasionally for boiling water. The dough was in a small dish. The lid was not fastened, and was easily lifted—it was an iron lid, and would weigh above a pound. Between one and two o'clock, I worked the bread with more flour, and then set it before the fire. It remained before the fire till about three o'clock, when I made up the cakes. They were put upon a tin and then sent to Mrs. NIXON's to be baked; and I got them back in the evening. There were six cakes—two of them very small. My son John frequently came to see me. I saw him there on the Thursday. He had been there on the Tuesday before. He came about ten o'clock on the Thursday: a young woman, the servant of my other son, Sibson, was there; she had come for some pot-herbs, which I went to get for her from the garden. My son came to the back door when she was there; she was standing at the door complaining of being ill, and John stood a bit with her at the back door when he came in. He stood at the door a little while, and then both went in. I went into the back kitchen for a few minutes, perhaps fire minutes or better. When he came in he came forward just within the back kitchen and went forward to the other kitchen. Perhaps he was within the door of the back kitcken [sic]: I can't say; I was further in than he. I went into the front kitchen to him perhaps about ten minutes after he went, and sat down beside him. We sat a good while, near an hour I dare say. I never was out till I opened the door and let him out, nor was he. He went away before twelve o'clock, and went out at the front door. I had no servant; nobody lived in the house besides myself and my husband. A good piece after he went out, I went into the back kitchen. When we are at the well in the garden it is impossible to see any one standing at the back door. I was at the well after he went away, and left nobody in the house. The front door was shut, the back door, which is nearest the well, open. I had some clothes at the bottom of the hedge, in the garden, and was a good deal with them. I could not see the house door when I was at the clothes: it was a washing of clothes. I was twice at the well, and several times at the hedge. By Mr. WILKINS—About one o'clock. Witness—I was once at the well before, and once after 12; and once or twice at the clothes. It was perhaps about 12 o'clock when I was first at the well. When the cakes came back from the baker's they were put in the dairy: there were no others like them in the house. I recollect, in February last, being taken ill, about two o'clock; we were sick and very poorly, not so bad as we were the second time, but much of the same kind; we vomited, and the sickness continued during that night. We had a medical man, Mr. ANDERSON, and he gave me and my husband an emetic, which we took about eight or nine in the evening. My son John was there that day; it was on a Thursday. The JUDGE—If this is given to show that the prisoner had been guilty of an attempted felony, I can't receive this incidental evidence. It is irregular. Mr. WILKINS—I shall certainly sift it, now it is begun. Examination continued—In working up the bread, after getting it from the set pot I put some flour in it, and a little butter. The water was got from the well and brought in the night before. I always put my bread into the set pot, when I made it, except in very hot weather. There was a pot standing at the door with some yeast, which was not used in making the cakes; it was put there at ten o'clock and stood about half an hour till it cooled. I don't know whether it was there when my son came, but I took it in betwixt ten and eleven: it was set upon a kind of a seat close to the door, there was nothing on the top of the vessel, it was open, and the yeast was just making. Friday was our regular baking day. I did not see my son John after that day till the Monday evening following. My husband died about 12 o'clock on the Tuesday. He was at the house all night, but I don't know what time he went to bed. On the Monday night when John came from Newcastle he made no mention of poison. When he called on the Thursday morning he talked about going to Newcastle, and asked me to go with him. I thought I could not think of it, and he said he would wait another week if it would suit better. I said I told him it would not suit me, he need not wait. He said he was going to look after a place to keep four or five cows, if he saw anything likely. Cross-examined by Mr. WILKINS—The prisoner was taken ill also in February: the doctor said he was worse than any of the rest; he was dreadfully sick and purged. John and his father lived upon friendly terms—very much so: they never had an angry word that I heard. His father wished him above everything to keep on the farm at Kirkandrews; and so did I. When my son John looked in at the door the set pot was on the opposite side of the kitchen. I was between it and the door. The iron lid sits very close to the set pot, and it was not possible for my son to go near it without my seeing him. The well is close by Eden side—there may be rats about. After the potato-pot affair my husband was always displeased when any one said anything about poison. Joshua ANDERSON—I am a surgeon practising in Carlisle. I went to see the deceased on the 18th of May. I found him labouring under great debility, but not in immediate danger. Mr. WILKINS—I have ascertained from my learned friend that this is the only evidence he has to offer as to the opportunity the prisoner might have of mixing the poison. The JUDGE—If there are any other circumstances to fix the guilt of the prisoner, I can't stop the case. It is in evidence that his mother left the house, and it might be that he had come back again and had an opportunity during her absence. I shall not stop the case; these investigations are not made for nothing. Witness—I called again on the Tuesday, and found him sinking rapidly—in fact, he was dying. There was nothing in the symptoms inconsistent with the idea of his having taken arsenic. I saw the prisoner on the 19th, and again on the morning of the 20th. He called to inquire if I had seen his father, as he heard he was very ill. I dont recollect that poisoning was mentioned between us. I saw the prisoner in his father's house on the Tuesday morning, the day the father died. He was very much intoxicated: it was between eight and nine o'clock in the morning. By Mr. WILKINS—I have known the prisoner long, and always considered him a respectable man. I attended the family in February last. The prisoner was sick: and his symptoms were quite compatible with his having taken arsenic. Re-examined—I saw the prisoner vomit after he took the emetic. I did not see him sick before he took it; he said he was. By the JUDGE—He appeared in precisely the same state as his father and mother. They did not vomit till they took the emetic. By Mr. WILKINS—There was nothing to induce me to think John's sickness was feigned. By Mr. TEMPLE—I know nothing about it of my own knowledge. Richard JAMES, M.D.—In conjunction with Mr. ELLIOT I made a post mortem examination of the prisoner's father. I am of opinion that Mr. GRAHAM died from the effects of inflammation, produced by some irritant poison, and that poison we ascertained to be arsenic. The post mortem examination took place 50 hours after death. We also analysed a cake given by Mr. CARRICK, the coroner, to Mr. ELLIOT, and detected arsenic in it. In three ounces and a half we detected 16 grains of arsenic. By the JUDGE—It was about a third of a cake; and a man with a good appetite would eat a whole cake. Examination continued—A packet was given to us by Dr. TINNISWOOD, containing small woollen particles, sealing wax, gritty particles, and seedy particles—the scrapings of corners of pockets. The contents of that pocket were submitted to analysis, and we detected arsenic: this was perhaps three weeks ago. It was only upon one occasion we examined it. It was the ordinary arsenic. Cross-examined by Mr. WILKINS—The prisoner was in the house while the post mortem examination was going on. I should think arsenic is used as a wash for maggots in sheep. I have known Mr. GRAHAM for some time, and he has always borne the character of a very respectable man. [to be continued]