TRIAL OF DR. BEANEY FOR WILFUL MURDER.

Grey River Argus, Issue 70, 23 June 1866, Page 3

TRIAL OF DR. BEANEY FOR WILFUL MURDER.

The trial of Dr Beaney, winch excited so much interest in Victoria, commenced in the Supreme Court, Melbourne, on Thtirsday, May 17, and occupied ths Court ten days. From the voluminous reports published daily in the Melbourne papers, Aye have extracted, sufficient to give an outline of the case, which was heard before Mr Justice Barry. James George Beaney surrendered to take his trial upon an information charging him -thai, .on tho 15th March, he feloniously, -wickedly, . maliciously, and of his niilica aforethought, ; did kill and murder one Mary Lewis. . jL v Mr T^avev^ Arlamson.and' Mr C. A. Smyth appiired for tlie. Crown; Mr Dawsin, Mi* Aspinall, pad Mr "Wrixon for the defence. - Mr A/taniioa stxhed tho caie to tlie jury, The crimo cliarjsd w.i 3 the highest" know.l t>th.3 law— .nurdor— in this ca3e charged to have baan don-3 in the commission of an act of a felonious description. The ease came first before the coroner to inqiure principally into the cause of death.; and necessarily, however efficient a coroner may be, the result of the inquiry before him must be unsatisfactory until supplemented by further evidence. It was re-investigated before 'the police court. For what purpose ? To put upon record evidence not elicited in the inquiry before ; the coroner ;" above all, to give notice to the prisoner of the evidence that would; be brought against Mm. It appeared to him to be a powerful case of. circumstantial evidence, and if lie could succeed in putting it together it would fully support this information for murder. The present wa3 put as a, case of implied malice where a person acting feloniously in defiance of the law causes death. This was a casa where it was charged that a person, committing the felony of using instlu'iients io prosuro abortion, in perpetr.iUon of that felony, had caused the cbath of Mary Lew's,' an 1 did do so, as the facte to bo proved in evidence support ! he lelief, vr'ch. a r:c lessi e^n seldom m t with even in, ca~ei of tli; sri. This crime was murder ; it became murder. Thi charge of murder contained anoiher charge, and it was competent to find a verdict of manslaughter ; but he was boiuid to tell them tliey could only find that yardc'; if they believed that the • • prisoner. ■ was treating his patient in a legitimate manner. Now to the facts of the exse. Tl^e charge was that in the perpeir.ition of an illegal act, and also with great ' rec/dessness, the prisoner caused the death of the deceased. She was about twenty years of age, the daughter o,? Robert Lewis^ a laborer, and she had been " off and on" in the employment of Mr Bennett, cf the Terminus Hotel, £t- Kilda. She had, in fact, two children previously, one of wlu'ch was deid, and the othsr about fifteen months old, was kept under- the ■ same roof where she died. She was in ail resiiccts a healthy wholesome young jWoman, as .her father described her. The ■landlord of the hotel had had, according to his ow : n adm'ssion, intereour.se with her two years before, ands 7 .ie had bdjii "off and on," in the same employment afterwards. She had been aAvay a:i two. occasions, aud the appeared to have been allowed to go and rjfcurn without . <• ny dimur. TaVing Mr Bennett's.admission, there was every probability he w.is the father of her second child. . Before the tune particularly to be dealt with, she had h,xn for six or eight months 'hi the same service. The first they would "hear gf her material to the present is3ue,wa3 onjfthe 6th December, when Mrs ■. j^)hiny at whose house the unfortunate died, went with her to Dr WHkie's house in Collins street, with her child. She told Dr Wilkie she was in the family, waj';. They would next find her at Mr Rankin's, a sxu'geon at St. ■ Kilda, who was the medical attendant of Mi* Bennett's f amily. She first went to the doctor on the ftth January, complaining of certain ailments which the learned counsel explained, in dstail to the jury. Mr Rankin gave'her some trifling remedy —purgative and irritant, and on a second visit, a few days after, by her to him, he gave her some pills containing a small dose of oil of sayine, properly directed to cure the complaint she d^sjeribed. She got the prescription made up at Mr Johnson's a chemist at Windsor. She returned to : Mr Rankin's on the 6th February, telling him that the medicine had produced no change, and she wanted him to " give her something stronger." Mr Rankin asked lier> if she was pregnant. When the question was put to her she laughed, and when offered to examine her slightly, she refused. The -doctor then told her what he siispected, and declined to give her aiiy. more medicine. The question of pregnancy was. aU important. It appeared that on Saturday^ March 10th, deceased went to Mr Beaney's house about ten o'clock in the morning. Margaret Cronin went with herj but remained outside. On Monday evening, she went with a witness, Smith, to a house in, Collins street. 0«i that Monday, Mr Eaukin calied at the Terminus Hotel to attend Mrs Bennett j and saw decease -I,' who sesmed to have nothing the matter with her. The learned cpunselthen detcribed whajj took place at Mrs Cronin V house ; • the deceased appeared in good health, and going to bed about ten o'clock after drinking porter and taking supper, also some brandy and water. She got up about eight or nine o'clock the following morning, and then mentioned ; to Mrs Cronin that she was suffering, and she wanted the doctor to come.. By her direction, Mrs Cronin went for Mr Beaney, who said^ on learning her business, " I don't know what she means. 1 ' Mrs Cronin told him the nuni* her of the house ; he said he would come, and accordingly he came. The prisoner came about four or five o'clock that evening, walking to the house. On his arrival, deceased told Margaret Cronin to shut the door. Only deceased and prisoner were i\\ the room. Prisoner remained, about three-quarters of an lioui'. He had on that occasion no bag with 'him, as on a subsequent visit. Immediately after he had' gone',' Mrs Cronin went into deqeased's room, and asked how she was. Deceased answered, "Nicely, thank you." -Mrs Cronin noticed some spots of blood on the sheet, .Tvhich deceased explained so as to prevent suspicion. She said she thought she should have had, a great deal of pain, but she had not had much. A very short

time after prisoner left, deceased began to feel very unwell ; Margaret Oronin slepi with her that/night. Deceased was very; restless, and complained of forcing pains in her stomach. On Wednesday these increased. Margaret Cronin was sent for the prisoner. Deceased said she wished he would come ; how cruel it was of him not to come. Something had been done by him on the first visit, for it ;i caused these great pains. The prisoner came to the 'ore about four or five in the afternoon, and brought with him in his carriage a leather bag, which he sent, for into the hous". Ho remained about an hour, and wliile lie was there Margaret Cronin, who was in the kitchen, thought she heard a moan from deceased's room The prisoner called for some water. Mm Cronin asked if there was any danger of life, to which prisoner answered, " Nonsense, nothing. " About seven o'clock that evening she became very ill, and told: Margaret Cronin to go for the doctor ; he was not to mind the expense. Prisoner said he /would c;rai3 by and by ; she tossed and tumbled >about.in bed and seemed bad. . The pri"s'vner cii lie at about ten oMcck, and thon t'.i3 b.droom dp:>r wassliut as usual, no :o i(3 else but-t'ie two being present. Before ilie left he sil she wasin a. nice sleep, and was not to be disturbed, for,, poor thing, she wanted rest. He took out a bottle and" sprinkled over the bed; perhaps it was cliUr jforin. ., -He : went away. 6ii Thursclafe .*eniiig.'th,i pi i onel* came again, having his leather bag with hini. It was iabout a quarter of anhour before Margaret 'Croninnoticed that deceased was at death's door, and when it wa3 impossible that the .prisoner could; not- have known how bad 'slie was. Mr Befineiitviirr^re'd tlifere aftec deceased "had died, and asked j>risoner how it happened, to which' it was answered that she was in a very bad state of health indeed ; she liad a disease that was likely, to have carried her off soon. The prisoner then offered to open the body, which Mr Bennett declined. The Crown Prosecutor concluded by urging the importance of the case, and the presumption.that the death of the deceased was caused by the prisoner, with great violence procuring abortion; ■■ ■■'■' ■■'■.'' " ' -"■'■ .;v;y... ; In addition : to the evidence as to facts", a great number of medical witnesses Avere" examined. The case for the Crown closed on the 23rd May, and on the 24th-"Mr Dawson addressed the jury in defence, in a very powerful sjeich. The three followinj days were employed in examining witnesses for the prisoner. On the 29 th inso., the Crown Prosecutor, Mr Adamson, replied, and Mi Justice Barry commenced his clm v ge by explaining to, thejury the law applying to- the crime of murder. The ■prisoner-, was- in-.' a peculiar position with reference- to" 1 tins • case.- • There was no evidence to show that he entertained any express malice towards tins woman. He was a surgeon, an operating surgeon, to whom was attributed that in carrying out an unlawful act towards her, he caused her dexth. The law was imperative. Amedical man's-position wasoften-a difficult one ; no man could place himself beyond the reach of accident. Patients sometimesdied from the result of accident, or a simple mistake, perhaps" arising from erroneous treatment of an obscure or not well understood case! Thr S3 results were different from circumstanses brought about by violent malpractice. The evidence of Mrs Brown was to. the effect that deceased had "not" previously complained to her of her general health ; but it seemed that two or three days before she left the Terminus Hotel she first complained. She was Iraated as if for some local derangement. Up to that time she had given no; account of herself, except that she wis laboring under some functional derangement, There was no evidence of her having frequently complained of not being well. He then referred at length to Mrs Burn's, evidence, and remarked that it was very much at varience with that of the other •witnesses ; so much so, that if the latter spoke truly it was impossible deceased could have been in such a fearful condition. Then as to the state of her health when she got to Collingwood. , He_attach.ed no importance to her having I gone there, because' 'it -ttp^rod-^hat onprevious occasions she had left the hotel and taken lodgings for the purposes of her confinement. She left upon the Monday ■with consent of her employers, and on her arrival at Mrs Cronin's she said she had a holiday for two days, and she was going to consult a doctor. That was. all the evidence previous to the occurrence ; and now during the time she was at Mrs Cronin's they had evidence of what had occurred; Mr L; L. Smith had distinctly identified" her. The nature of her consultation with tins witness was of considerable importance. When Mr Smith told her he believed she Avas pregnant, would she not have answered, "Doctor, you are mistaken ; I have been suffering from disease ffor some time?" Now he came to the evidence of pregnancy. The symptoms detailed by the [witnesses for the Crown were said by the medical witnesses for the defence not to be conclusive on the point. They had to deal with this as an ordinary case, and there was evidence of a cumulative kind, presumptive evidence of a sufficiently cogent kind to justify giving it very careful consideration. Supposing deceased was pregnant, and in that state had gone to Mrs Cronin's, how was she treated ? The disease did did not seem to be of any alarming character on prisoner's first visit, judging from the treatment prescribed. The jurymust judge from tlus and other evidence how far they were brought to the conclusion that deceased was pregnant or suffering from disease. He dwelt upon the events of Thursday. The prisoner came in the afternoon, and remained about three-quarters of' an hour, called for hot water and soap, and then a syringe was used. Prisoner said deceased was very bad indeed, but she may sleep } he went away, and she died in half-an-hour afterwards. There was no evidence of any one having seen any abortion, no evidence of any foetis taken away ; but the medical witnesses for the Crown said that the indications suggested to them that there had been pregnancy and abortion. His Honor then reviewed the opposing medical evidence. He then passed to the evidence favoring the theory that the deceased died from other causes, and pointed out some contradictions between two of the yatnesses'accounts of the symptoms. The defence was that the rupture might have occurred spontaneously, or might have been caused after death, through improper or careless treatment of the body. His Honor then reviewed thevarience between the opinons of the medical witnesses for the defence. Many persons of a speculative turn of mind build up theories for themselves, but the jury were to deal with tlii's case .as. plain mcn v It was not

•improper to tell them' that they should bring iblieir kribwM of life to tear upon the evidence in tliis ' casei His Honor then commented ; on some other contradictions in the witnesses for the defence as to the time when arid the means by which the two ruptures were caused. There is no doubt that this unfortunate woman did hot long survive the two ruptures; .'.'.- That was agreed on all sides t-nd he be?i vel it was not at all probable that she did ; and he thought they occurred on Thursday, That was the only point on .which he ventured to. give Ids opinion. Tliers was not evidence to satisfy any reasonable man that the .ruptur.33. wera caused on Wednesday ; but let the jury form their own; judgment upon -this. J?roni the great.body •of ; the evidence before him, it led hini to, believe that this woman sank immediately after the rupture occurred. ' The jiuy retired shortly before threo o'clock to consider their verdict. At a quarter to five o'clock they returned into Courb to ask a question written and sent to the learned judge. : ; His: Honor, .addressing the jjuiy, said j the quostion they put to him was, whether it was imperative to find a verdict of wilful murder or acquittal, The case was put as a case of wilful nhukler or for aoquittfl '-■ ■'■■'■• '■- ;■■;-:- <-"M- ■;'-''■■'■ - The jury again retired, . andg/shortly after eleven o'clock, not having agreed, and it appeared unlikely that they wouldagree upon a verdict, they wore locked up for the night. - - : . - At ten o'clock precisely, on Tuesday, i;he jury were brought into Court, and asked in the iisual manner if they had agreed on their verdict. ''. : ' .The Foreman said, ; "We have "not ; there is no possibility of our doing so." His Honor thanked the jxiryinen for their patient attention to the case, though he regretted they had not arrived at a imanimo.us conclusion, and stated, that 4heir application for increased remuneration under the circumstances , should be forwarded to the proper authorities. " The ' jury were then discharged from further attendance. : ; . ..Mr Dawsqn applied that the prisoner might-be admitted to bail as before. : Mr ; Adamson said he wa,s afraid that •on the part of the ; Crown he opuld not "assent to tin' application. His Honor had now the evidence before ; him to enable Mm to, see what the case was. There were three elements supposed to affect such ariapplication;— first,- that tlie crime charged was of. the.; gra.ve.st /nature ; secondly, |he" " evidence- was of a cogent character— he would not say conclusive, 'after what had taken place; and, thirdly, the charge involved the ' punishment of death. Looking at all the circumstances of the case, no amount of bail would secure the attendance of thq prisoner. His Honor remarked that the object of bail was to secure the attendance of the accused. He had no reason to. believe that this prisoner would fail in his duty in tins regard. He would never throw whatever weiglit a judical opinion might have into the scale against presumed innocence. He should admit the prisoner to the same bail as heretofore, and saw no reason to alter the amount of bail, unless there was some reason to doubt the position of the sureties. . Mr Adamson said he was instructed that there was no reason to doubt the responsibility of the bail. The Court then adjourned " sine die."