INQUEST.

Evening Star, Issue 4281, 15 November 1876, Page 3

INQUEST.

An inquest was held at the Hospital at noon to-day, on the body of Alfred Fairfax Deudney, whose death by poisoning was briefly mentioned by ns yesterday. The Coroner (Mr Hocken),. in addressing the jury, said You know, gentlemen, this is the case Of a Mr Deudney who (Med two days ago, at Fidler’s Hotel, Stuart street, presumably by strychnine—suicide. It was supposed at first, that he did not die from strychnine, bnt from some brain disease, inasmuch as some strychnine, purchased by him a few days before for killing cats, was still found untouched at his house. It however appears that he purchased a further quantity on the day of his death from Mr Isaacs, the druggist, and the contents of this paper were evidently swallowed by him at Fidler’s Hotel, as the empty paper was found beside a tumbler which contained strychnine. The question for you to decide is what state of mind the deceased was in at the time of his death, whether he was In full possession of his mental faculties and committed fe lo de se, or was in a state of temporary insanity at the lime. George Henry Barnes, bailiff of the Ecsident Magistrate’s Court, Dunedin, deposed: I have known the deceased pretty intimately for ten or twelve years. I last saw him alive about twenty minutes to five on Monday afternoon. He was then at the Auld Scotland Hotel, Stuart street. When he saw me I said, “ Hilloa, Deudney, what’s the natter P ” He appeared to have been •drinking and was very excitable. He d dif I know. It’s not nice for a fellow to be stuck up in Princes street and asked for money when a chap’s got land. That old woman of mine won’t let me sell it." I replied, “ She’s quite right, too. Dendney; because if you had it you would only spend it in drink, and of course she has to look after her children." He then went out orthe door for two or three minutes, and when he came back I said, “ Why don’t you lie down ? you’ve been lying out in the moon.” This is a nautical expression, meaning •* three sheets in the wind." I then left the deceased dozing in a chair. Hf appeared to be in good bodily health. He was the last man in the world I should have dreamed would have committed suicide. He was of somewhat intemperate habits.

Margaret Deudney: The deceased, Alfred Fairfax Dendney, was my husband. He was 36 years of age at the time of his death, a native of St. Leonards, Sussex, a warehousemen by occupation, and of the Church of England religious persuasion. We have been married three years. The only way I can account for his action was this: He took the temperance pledge six months ago,, and I believe adhered to it; but having, as lam informed, broken it, was ashamed to come home. He left his home at a quarter-past eight o’clock last Monday morning to go to business. He was then quite well and in good spirits. On Monday evening I was informed that he was dead. Deceased was subject to fits; he has had two curing the last twelve months. Since he hasleft Sargood’s employ he has been generally "uIL On Saturday last he purchased sixpennyworth of strychnine at Dermet’s and gave it to mo. The cats worried our chickens, and he purchased it to *Ol them. I poisoned a piece of meat, and retained too rcSt of the poisou, uud Lave it in my possession, i. did not think deceased was in any monetary dilfi. culty.

_Wm. Stokell, to Mr Isaac, chemist: The deceased, who has been a customer with us for some time, called at our place at eight or nine 0 ® n Mondfl y night, and asked for a shillings’ w si -a strychnine to poison rats. I served him with it, and he signed the poison-look which I now produce, and got about thirty-five grains. He was perfectly sober at the time. The papers produced are those which contained the strychnine. The dregs in the tumbler produced is strychnine. It contains about twenty grains. Many applications are made for poison, principally strychnine. When a respectable person applies for poison in moderate quantities I do not think it necessary to caßana witness, but sometimes attest the signature

The Foreman (Mr A. Solomon); Are you a duly qualified chemist ? Witness: I am.

The Foreman (looking at the poison-book) • Do yon know the provisions of the Poisons Act ? Witness: Yes.

The Foreman: Do you know that the Act has been systematically ignored in your shop for the last two years P Witness : I have only been in Mr Isaac’s employment for five weeks, and have followed his instructions. Just as'l found the book I have followed it.

The Foreman: Yon have never required the attesting signatures of two witnesses ? Witness.- No.

The Foreman: In fact any person inquiring poison from your shop would have no difficulty in getting it ? Witness: I have been very careful to whom I have supplied poison. Twice I declined to sell it The Foreman thought the evidence disclosed a loose manner of condnol ins business. Not a single entry had been duly attested. Witness: I have done what has been done in the shop before. The Coroner: The signatures only appear since this accident.

Mr Wm. Watson : I presume that if the Act has been broken it will be treated in the same way ns any other by the police. The Coroner: 1 am not quite sure whether it is compulsory, but I think it is. Witness repeated that he only followed instructions.

The Coronet: I can quite understand that yon aid. not intend doing anything wrong, I see the names of some well-known people in the book, av i emall wished Mr S.okcdl to understand that the jury were not casting any imputation on him. It was the system that had been followed he was spe iking of. Witness considered signing the book only a matter of form. He would be cautious to whom he supplied poison in future. The Coroner said that the signing the hook w-s more than a matter of form. With every care it was not possible to prevent persons poisoning themselves, but every precaution should be token If attesting witnesses had been asked for iu this ouse it might have deterred the deceased from purchasingthe poison, . ’Witness stated that ho ■ had been fourteen roars in the drug business, and this was the first accident of the sort that had occurred with him. —Mfcjnij West, waitress at the Auld Scotland Hotel : I never saw Mr Deudney before Monday afternoon last, About half.paet three 1 saw bim go

across the back yard, fie seemed to be the worse fdi drink then. An hour afterwords I saw him going into one of the bedrooms. I told him he had made a mistake. Just then Mr Jones, one of the lodgers, came in and said it was all right, and that Mr Denney was going to lie down on his bed till he fot botttfi William Fidler, of the Auld Scotland Hotel, deposed that he refused to supply deceased with drink at hia hotel on Monday afternoon. Eoenezer Bishop stated that when he went to Fidler’s to tea on Monday evening, Mr Jones remarked to him that Deudney was “on the hurst," and was in his (Jones's) b* d. Witness expressed a wish to see him and accompanied Jones to the bedroom. On noticing the vacant look about deceased, witness remarked that he was dead. His limbs were not stiff.

Dr Murphy: I was called to see the deceased about a quarter to seven last Monday evening. Mr Jones asked me to see a man who was in a fit. I found the deceased lying upstairs on a bed at Pidler’s Hotel, quite dead. He was very rigid—unusually so. On the floor, underneath the b ilot table, I noticed some papers. Those produced are the same. The glass produced, with Its contents, I found on the table at the foot of the bed. The contents of trie tumbler are strychnine and water. I consider poisoning by strychnine to have been the cause of his death.

The Coroner was sorry that there was no evi. dence of what the deceased had been doing during the daytime on Monday. Mr Watson stated that he spoke to deceased shortly after mid-day on Saturday. He was then three paijts tipsy. Witness was aware that he had owed money for some time. The Coroner: That is all the evidence, gentlemen. I think you will gather from the evidence that he died from strychnine taken from his own hand. If you come to that conclusion, the question is as to the state of mind the deceased was in at the time of death. From the evidence of his wife, Mr Barnes, and Mr Bishop, who had known him for some years, he appears to have always been in good mental and bodily health, with the exception of the ■wo instances when he had fits. The question for you to say is whether he was in mental health at the time of the suicide, if yon consider it was suicide. There is nothing in the evidence that shows the deceased was out of his mind at the time of the commission of the accident; but by some snioide is considered part of insanity. A Juror wanted to know if drunkenness did not amount to temporary insanity. The Coroner: No, in my opinion it does not. I have so otten stated my opinion on the matter that I leave its consideration entirely to your own good sense. Drink is not held to be an excuse by the law, nor would it be so in a charge of murder, and 1 by the sime reasoning it is no excuse in a case of self-murder. I may mention that there is no penalty as there used to be for a man who commits feh de se. His goods are not estreated now—simply the stigma remains. _A Juror remarked that suicides were not permitted the usual form ot burial. The Coroner: That is so.

The Jury found “ That deceased poisoned himself with strychnine while in a state of temporay insanity." The Foreman prepared a rider, which hisco-jurors considered was too strongly worded, and ultimately the following, drawn up by the Coroner, was agreed to: the evidence that the sale of poisons by Wr Barnard Isaac is conducted carelessly, and they ore of opinion that he should should strictly comply with that provision of the Sale of Poisons Act which requires that a witness or witnesses should sign their names in the poison book as well as the purchaser."