Untitled

Hawke's Bay Times, Volume 6, Issue 313, 9 October 1865, Page 1

Tee Meedeeee De. Piuxchaed.— Subsequent to his condemnation, the following confession of guilt was made bj Dr. Pritchard Confession by Edward William Pritchard, and made in the presence of the All-seeing God, and of the Rev. T. Watson Reid, present spiritual adviser, on the 19th day of July, 1865, at Glasgow prison, for communication to the proper authorities. I, Edward William Pritchard, in the full possession of all my senses, and understanding the awful position in which I am placed, do make free and open confession that the sentence pronounced upon me is just; that lam guilty of the death of my mother-in-law, Mrs Taylor, and of my wife, Mary Jane Pritchard; that I can assign no motive for the conduct which actuated me beyond a species of terrible madness and the use of ardent spirits. I hereby freely and fully state that the confession made to the Kev. R. S. Oldham on the 11th day of this month was not true, and I hereby confess that I alone, not Mary M’Leod, poisoned my wife in the way brought out in evidence at my trial; that Mrs Taylor’s death was caused according to the wording of the indictment I further state to be true ; and the main facts brought out on my trial I hereby fully acknowledge, and now plead wholly and solely guilty thereto, and may God have mercy on my soul!