A SUSPICIOUS DEATH.

Evening Star, Issue 3232, 30 June 1873, Page 3

A SUSPICIOUS DEATH.

The d*ath in Chriatchurch of a. Mr S, B. Stifle, under very peculiar circumstances, and the connectionjhere with of several persons, including Mm BMott, to actress, who is, best knoWA by her stage name of Mabel Herberte, has caused considerable excitement in that city; The Fwa reports the proceedings at the Coroner’* inquest as follow*: Alex. Cowan: I live at Malvern House, Safiebury street. I deceased, Mr Stiff*. 1 taw him on Saturday last, about four ©’clock or a little before, in the evening. I spokeliohim.. He seemed to he in his usual health and stateof mind, as. J have seen mm for pasi He was at Mrs Elliotts house. When 1 first saw Wm he was standing thewiadow with his coat and hat offhand he earae but to me. Kp appeared to he sober and not under the influence" of drink. Alfred Tajdor: I live in Madras street north. I recollect passing Mrs EHlott’s house about a quarter to twelve on Saturday night. . When I jfliwitWoteW or yards I beard a noiw

rone one calling out,and* ; then Mr Stiffe, Mrs Elliott, and a. boy came out. Mr Stiffe kept Baying “Oh, dear,” and.calling for the police. The boy tried to get v Mm to go inside. He touldn't go. A minute or two afterwards a ,an came round the comer from Manchester Street. When deceased saw the man coming over the bridge he said : “ Policeman, I call yu to witness that this boy’s mother is a disga ce to the town, and I’ll expose her. ’ The man then caught hold of the deceased and took him into the house, and shut the door. I did hot see the man well enough to identify him again. The deceased slipped into the road and he appeared to be intoxicated. He spoke distinctly, but very quickly, and threw his hands about. I thought from his manner, that he was intoxicated. He bad his left hand by his lide and his right on© raised. JJy the way he gpoke he seemed o have something the matter with his chest. The man used no violence to the deceased. John Parker: I am a registered medical Practitioner. I live in Hereford street. _ Three months ago I was called on to attend Mr Stiffe |or delirium tremens: he recovered from that. East Wednesday week, he called on me, and asked me to go and see. Miss Herberte (Mrs Elliott.) I went and found she had gastric fever. < I stayed at her house two nights. She lit delirious both nights and in the day rime too. During this time Mr Stiffe was drinking Very much, and I warned him, after his having a fit last Priday. On Sunday morning, between dne and two o’clock, I was called to go and see him again, When 1 got there he was dead. He was lying on a mattrass in the comer of the rifting xoftm. I attended deceased three months 3gar On the Friday when he had the fit, I prescribed for him. From the Friday he was Suffering from delirium tremens, and he; was taking medicine up to the tun© of his death. The mixture that I prescribed for him was at the house. I warned him against teeing spirits except ha a moderate quantity. I directed him tb take three glasses of' brandy and water a day, as he was in the habit of drinking a great deal. I warned"him against drinkmg to excess. There were spirits in- the house, and I warned guxurtes of the house not to let deceased to excess. I secreted the spirits invself. leceased’s fit arose from excessive dnnk- • I left the house about eleven o clock on Saturday morning. The deceased appeared to be better then than the day before. I did not do again until Sunday morning. Deceased was Violent, and broke a table on Saturday night, at Uast.l heard so*but-I saw of violence myself. I did not see any necessity for putting any. restraint- on deceased,- - grid X aid Sot advise any. Deceased was in a similar state three months ago, but on the Saturday morning I saw no Signs of his heeding restraint. ; The morning I left I thought he would, even with proper ■ care, have another epileptic fit. With .proper care, and by keeping from drink, there was no doubt the. deceased might have recovered, .One of my instructions was that.he wjw not to have drink 'except in moderate quantities. I did hot anticipate the deceased would die that night. I knew there was danger, but did not Bhe would die that night. I told several e tost I thought deceased was in dangers not return that day, because 1 did not think there was immediate dahger. I looked "upop the case as a dangerous one from beginning to end. I did what I could for him. I think restraint, such as roping him, would be dangerous to him. I saw the rope in the room* and asked what it meant. I did not see the on him. They were oh the floor. I saw the ropes, afad judged the use they had been put 1 to. I said. “ Take that rope awflv.” I hfcd no reason tor saying that no onr told' me tie deceased had been tied, but I concluded so. lithink the use of ropes was likely to hasten hi* death: that is my opinion. I saw the mark on his head from a talL I dunH think the fall Wd hay* any .fetal effect upon him. A iaU woflld cause effusion of blood oh tile fomm m the state the deceased was id, without leaving any more external appearances tiian 1 sail. Excitement, I have no' doubt, would have effect. Stiffe tremens, very much so. He was violent when ho was under my treatment three months ago. I controlled him by giving him spirits, otherwise I should have had to get ass&tance. Two months before I attended him, he had : to have two men to sit up with him, George M'Kircher and George Oslxgne. I thought it likely he would become violent in this present attack. I left no opiates to be given to him in the event > of his beedming violent. I Igave him opiates in small doses myself. I did not warn the people in the house toget assistance in the‘event or the deceased becoming violent, but it would have been necessary. I don’t think Hill a man at all able to compete with the deceased if he became violent. He might with the assistance of one or two men. If drink had been positively to deceased as by my directions, still yioieuce wpuld bave beCh keep him in the hduse. It would have required two men to kdep him in the house. He had been violent occasionally for three or four days, but I leftno instructions as to what should he done in that case. When I went to the house on Saturday night, I don’t remember any remarks being madeabout Violence having been used in tying btyn with the ropes. I said when I saw the rimes the deceased ought'not'to have been tied. In such cases tying is better left alone. (Llewellyn Powell/ M.D.: 1 am a duly qualified medical practitioner. , On, Sunday evening last I went in company with Inspector Pender toi a house in Salisbury street I was taken inin a room, where I round the body of the deceased lying on a mattrass on the floor. He wks covered with, blankets and an opossum rug, with his face uncovered. The body was lying on the back, with the fa6e ’turned towards the right side, and.tbK arms folded across |hp chest, ih which petition thpybad stiffened. 1 noticed ‘marits'’<if ligature on both -wrists, also a large bruise pa the left,side of the forehead, On turning up the blankets I /noticed two wide or spirit bottles containing water,, apparently between the legs, and a brick at the foot, I also noticed gopie abrasions off the legs,’ and made nd further examination at this time. The witness then detailed the results of a post mjrtm examination made by him, and deposed to finding on the person of the deceased several bnflses, ithjjgature marks on the wrist, add continued: The immediate cause of death was effusion of serum on the brain. Effusion of serum oh the brain is a very not all of them. It is sometimes absolutely necessary when the appliances of a lunatic asylum are not handy, to use restraint, but it, should be done with great caution and only under iuedical advice. Great excitement would tend to increase the effusion of serum; Any sheck of a' struggle or a fall would tend to bring about such a result in a man suffering from 1 congestion of Hie brain. Delirium tinmens generally produces an effusion of serum on the bridn., Had I been called in to.attend deceased, I shouldhave advised those about him to procure a. man able to cope with him. or-failing their, Inability to do so, they should have informed the police, I should not have ordered any drink to be given to him, but there exists a different of opinion in these matters. I think the genefol shock from the injuries which he suffered might have tended to hasten his death; but the local injuries paused by the ligatures on % wrists, and the blow on his Ijpadwerp trivial They were the least of his injuries. If a man of tfle deceased’s temperament and' powerful frame became violent In the night, eveninthe event of a medical man being present, the necessary restraint in such a case would cause a shock to the system. Effusion of serum is the usual result of delirium tremens when terminating fatally. I don’t think a man under the influanee of liquor Is a fit person to institute the remedies used. Inspector Fender: From information I received, I went to the house of a woman named Mary Ann Elliott, who is sometimes called Miss There is a man named Charles Hill in custody, pending the result of the inquiry. On entering the house, I saw Mrs Elliott and Charles Hill. They were at dinner or tea together : and a boy (a son of Mrs Elliott) was there* Isaid to Mrs Elliott I eahke there to make about the death of Mr Stiffe, and that I should like to see the body. I went into another room in the same house, and there saw the body of Sydney Bunwwes Stiffe, It was lying in a corner of the room, on the floor, with some sort of mattrass underneath, and some blankets and a rug covering the body. Mrs "Elliott followed us in; also the boy, Frank Elliett. The room was then rather dark, and I had the blind taken up. I was proceeding to examine the body, when Mir Elliott got between we and the body. She said she wouldn’t allow anyone to touch him, that there should be no Inquest, and that she shouldn’t allow the body to leave the house. I reasoned with her. I told her that I came there to make inquiries, and that I was bound to carry them out, and'requested her hot to interfere. After a little I commenced looking at his head, I could see that she was getting in between me and the light (hyoTp in by the . raising of the blind. I again requested her to keflp on one sideaUttie, and allow me to waked ‘an waSSiw of (be pjaw and (be body. It l

Eras quite evident shewas endeavoring to pro* eut me seeing the body properly. I noticed a raise on (the left temple. She said he hads fallen down in a fit ana died, and the wound? was the result of the fall; that he had died in a tit; that he had a fit on Friday night previous ; that his wife came there after Turn on the Friday, and he was so much annoyed and excited at it that it brought on a fit, and that he had been drinking very hard, and this second fit came on, and resulted in his death. She said the fit came on during Saturday night, and he died in it; and that, some time before his dbath, he had been quite insane, and was knocking himself about. I noticed other marks on his hands, about his wrists. She gave no explanation as to how they came there. She said that the deceased had been staying with her, on the last occasion, for about six weeks, almost wholly living at the house; that she had a child by him, and she told me he had made a will and left LSOO to this child. 1 inquired whether he had any property in the house, and Sergeant Wilson .remarked, “ Where is his watch ?” She said we hqd nothing to, do with his watch—that it was no business of ours with his watch or his property. I told her she had no right to keep or conceal any property belonging to him. She then said she had the watch and chain—that he Bud made a present of them (gold watch and chain) to the child just before he did. I demanded the watch from her immediately. After some hesitation she pulled the gold watch. and chain, out cif hex' pocket;' and a key, which she said l wa% the key of his office, and gave them to mo.She never, during the whole blithe inquiry, or ih describing his death, made reference to buy disturbance, violence, or ropes being used, i I returned to the house with Sergeant Wilson about half-past seven o’clock ,in the evening. I went to the house of Hill, the prisoner, close by. Hill and hfs wife were tqere. I told Hill’s wife- that I came there to Collect some information about Mr Stiffe’s death. I told her I did not like how ‘ things appeared, [and told her that if there was anything wrong, she should let it Out and t£ll the truth. Hill was present, and . told her to Ibe careful what she said, twice I think. He was rather under the influence of liquor at the time. I tdld him to allow his wife to tell her story about it, and I would hear his statements afterwards. She went on to say she had been attending Mrs Elliott for some time —a fortnight, I think, she said, That Mr Stiffe was there and (got poorly) that he was drinking. Dr Parker was in attendance Upon both, and had been up with Mr Stiffe for two nights, and her husband had been up. I think she said, Friday night; that on Saturday afternoon Mr Stiffe was worse,, and. was in delirium tremens t that Mrs Elliott requested her to get her husband to come to try to control hiih; that he did come, and he became more violent—about 12 o’clock op half-past U he became, very violent, knocking other people about and generally violent; that ner husband and he had a straggle, and both came down and Mr Stiffe’s head came on the,.fender, and that was what caused the wound on the head. She was’ then rather hesitating /about -going on, and I told her it was better to Idt us have the whole truth. Hill then remarked*—“ Go on ; tell about the ropes.” She then said that Hill, herself, and Mrs Elliott and the. boy Frank got, at him and tied him with ropes. I believe che first said they tied h|m before he was down, and he fell She said that while being tied or soon after, he straggled violently and turned over. They saw he was dying, and Mrs Elliott cut the ropes off his hands, but the ropes on his legs remained there. Hill remarked th&t tide was right— that her statement putthat Mrs Elliott had begged vd him to keep the matter quiet, so that the police wouldn’t come to hear it. He said he had done so, and had made no report of ih I then went back to Mrs Elliott’s house to make a further examination of the bodV. I then remarked thfc marks of ropes around the wrists £qd the legs. Mrs Elliott was ■ ratlter violent in her [language and ordered ua to leave tlje houst—that she wouldn’t allow an examination of the body to be made. , . Anna Fryer deposed to witnessing an altercation between Mr Stiffe and Mrs Eluot and the Dills at midnight on Saturday; and overhear-, ing Stiffe say “Am I, or is a man to be murdered in a civilised country ? ” I had put up with a great deal, and that she had not told me the truth. Before I-left the house I brought the boy, Frank Elliott, outside,' and he told file where the ropes had. been hidden. 1 returned to the house, and found the ropes produced stuck in, under the staurejnse. They appear to haye been oiitin a good thahyplaces. After leavingthe.body at the hospital, 1 went back to the place again. Hill and his wife were in the house. I tola Hill that I thought it was my,,d\\ty to take him into custody until tbs inquest fyas held : that from all I cq\ild hsar tjaere waa a good deal of violence; th&t' a woman next door heard him cqll U murder ’ 1 and police,” and the circumstances of his death, and the house he was in, warranted me in taking Hill into custody. He was then sober. I cautioned him in the Ushal way. He said he had; not till then recognised h|s position; that he had given way to Mrs Elliott’s ~ entreaties not to report the matter j that he had put on the ropes for the purpose of restraining him. 'After the jury had deliberated for about half-an-hour with closed doors, they returned a verdict “Tha/t John Parker, Mary Ann Elliott, Charles Hill, and Mary Hill, did, on the 22nd of June, feloniously and unlawfully' kill and slay Sydney Burrows Stiffe. Mrs Elliott, John Parker, and Obarles Hill were then brought before the Coroner, who explained to them that the jury had returned a verdict of manslaughter £nst them, and they would have to be deed in custody.Mrs Hill was not In attend- >, but %as subsequently arrested, ■ ~ --~h