The Poisoning Case.

Manawatu Herald, Volume III, Issue III, 15 July 1890, Page 2

The Poisoning Case.

tlistf tfeelf.a uialaneholy Gvent occur, red r'esiilt,in<j hi j tii€s death of .Mrs Bennett by her taking'sdin'e' riifc'dJcirie ai morphia, which was strychnia. We give below, from the Post's, report, t-'ie gVi4e'uoft' of the chemists which explains the matter 2d frir/ The •nqtiiry was to have beeu reminded tcday William Inglis, assistant to Mr W. G. Fitzgera ! d. chemist, was called and deposed to Mr Fitzgerald making up Mrs Bennett's medicine from Dr Kemp's prescription. Witness handed the package to Mr Bennett shoi'tly alter 1 o'clock, After it had been taken away, Witue-s seat the shop boy into the store f>r the stock bottle of solution of m uphia from which he Intended replenishing the dispensing bott'e. When the boy brought the bottle he noticed that the 1 capsule wns intact, and he Hceording'.y sent the lad ba-k again, tei'ing him there must be a bottle opened asthe dispensing bottle had been p-eviously filled. The boy came belt again and reported he could not flud an opened bottle, 'ftn^ tnat tue unopened one was the only bottle in the store. Witneso then went himself, and was satisfied that there wa3 only one bottle of th« solution of morphia in the store —the unopened one. In looking f>r it, however, he noticed that the bottle containing; solution of strychnia had been opened and it flashed across his mind that posoibly a mistake had occurred. He therefore sent to the shop for the green dispensing battle, which contained only a few drops of liquid, andafer lasting it he was convinced hat it was not morphia. He next nformed Mr Fitzgerald of his suspicion that the dispensing bottle had been filled with solution of strychnia instead of morphia. Mr Fizgerald said. " surely such a mistake could not have been made," and suggested that perhaps liqmorph. acet. had been put into the dispensing bottle in place of liq. morph. hyd. Witness replied he Hid not think so, as there appeared to have been more taken from tliestrychnia bottle than therp nnrrhtto have been, and besides that in the disppnsing bottle did not taste like morphia. They tested that in the di-p M nsing bottle, but the result was unsatisfactory. Dr Poll an came in at this moment, and Mr Fitz § gerald said to him h« feared there had been a mistake, and the doctor after tasting the contents of the dis* sensing bottle, agreed that it tasted li'-e slrychnia. The witness then refused to Or Pollen's departure for Mrs Bennett's house with a fresh bottle of morphia and an emetic, &c, and oaid that he left the phop about 0 o'clock, telling Mr Fitzgerald, who was very anxious about the matter, he would c='ll at Mrs Bennett's 'as he live 1 close by), inquiie if anything had gone wrong, and telephone the vasulfc of his enquiries. After arriving at Alfred street he could see no si^n of Dr fV.Hen's cab, so he con* eluded he had gone, an 1 did not go to the house. He, however, intended telephoning to Mr Fitzgerald, but could not get him. Subsequently he leared from a night-watchman that a death had occurred in Alfredstreet. To the Foreman -TTe hal been in Mr Fitzgerald's employ for about two months, but never had occasion to dispense liq morph. before To tho best of witness' knowledge, the green disppMsing bottle had only b^en onc> filled since Mr FitzgeraM oommencd business. It was a s">z hnttk, nnd would propa'ly have contained about 4oz Conitl not s-iy whothpr any more of t had be^n d'spensod bpnid' 1 '? tlmt pent toM'S Renn^tt. When the tost was in'de there was not more thi-i a .Iratsham in the battle. To thi! Oi-n-iev — Witn»ss em'd not say what quantity of liquid vomaine-l at tli > preso'»»- t : me in Hip hottle of liydro-clilor- f-tryjhi.ia now in the shop. To the f r»mn -On'v from five to ten minu'os elapsed fi'.-m tho time su3picio i of the liquid wa< nroused until when tho docto • went off to Mrs "Benny's lioMse. v h >-it, tluvpquarter" of nn hour hrl then p'ans'fl iiiofi Mr Bennett to )k away the mediWne. William Hrowtheis Fitzgerald wis then ca 1 d and on b-in r swo n h 1 fixp'anif-d that it w-s bis wish to have thi- mnct unfortunate aff>ir (Jiomnglily sift d, and for that reason ho was pprfe tlv willing to giv> ovp.ry possiblft a«sistan^p. Tiisnost/or Thomson admitted tha Mr Fi<zj n nl'l had bpon moa' fra'dc in his cnimunication wish the p die •. and h'd iilfo-ded thnm ovorv faci'ity iv eoii'lu'tin^ their investr gah'on. Fitz'^oral 1 th n i»"o-o°'l"d to exp'a : n t'-e r^'-eipt of T);- Komn's prftvcrint'O'i. and tho cou-frsati n wlrch lie snb'Pi'ioMtly had with his assistant and Dr Po'lon about. o<tn or'iiriry lnr^np-s of the die ordered. Speaking of tho botl.'e marked liq. morph, from which he

dispensed the 1 fldse 1 ,- Mr Fitzgerald said he bcliev d thai ii ito& only been once filled, and then by Mr Ciiffito*:wotth, who was employed by him as a junior assistant when he first opened the business. The young rrifitf,: lie' said,- en't Ted bis employment Oil the i&ih of April, and c*- '. cept for au interval of a week was i with him until the 2-iih of Junelie vrjte not then discharged btit left sinijj'y be'cri^srY the special work for which lie had befei! etfgs/ged was finished. He (witness) lia'c^ had thorough confidence in his assistant fTo 1 rafrrcfi so in ficfc that only last week fie tefcgfralph^d offering him a' further engagement fat A few weeks. (Before enga<*eitfg him sSFeralli inter.■W»- took place at which tfifcSeßS questioned him closely as to h.13 knowledge of the .tfofflhiess, and the result was quite satisfactory. While be was employed witness haa frequently overlooked him whilst filling' the dipensing bottles from the stock ones, and noticed that he invariab y kept before him c copy of Squires 1 edition of the British Pharmacopoeia for reference. He had also jn his possession an excellent testimonial from a well known Christchuvch firm of chemists by whom Cumberwortli was previously employed. The bottle of solution of morphia referred to was the only one witness 'had in the shop to dispense from, and he recollected having used it in muking up several prescriptionsone in particular he remembered, as die patient had suffered a remarkable recovery. Of course the quantity of liquid from a bottle used in these cases was very small, and not anything like what would be i regarded as a fatal dose: Mi f Fitzgerald then went on" to desenoe the tests made by himself and assist" * and afrerwards by Dr Pollen, the dredful suspicion that dawned upon them, and the subsequent hasty de parture for Mrs Bennett's house, with a fresh bottle of morphia and an emitic, &c, m case any of the solution first sent should have been taken by the patient. A telephone Message came soon after the doctor had departed saving that he was urgently needed at Mrs Bennett's house, but as he had gone nothing could be done but to wait. The assistant (Mr Tnglis) afterwards went away, and Mr Fitzgerald said the next information he got was from the cabman who drove Dr Pollen to the house. He learned from him that Mrs Bennett was dead, aud he also explainod that he had some difficulty in finding the house for the doctor who had arrived too late. After hearing this news Mr Fitzgerald said he posted off to Newton; intending to call at Mi- Bennett's house and see the doctor, bathe saw Mrlnglis before he reached there, who informed him that Dr Pollen had gone and as the house was full of people it was of no use his calling there. He accordingly returned _ to town, after spending some time in hunting for the doctor ultimately met him as ho was entering the door of the Empire Hotel, where he was staying He asked at once to be told the worst whether it was thn medicine whbh had caused the woman's death as it meant ruination. The doctor repMed that it was impossible to tell until an analysis hid been marie, but it certain y looked like ir. Mr Fitzgera'd went: on to say that at two o'nlook in the morning lip went to the police station, and found that Drs Kemp and Pollen had already boen there, and at ha'f past seven o'clock the following morning he handed over the bott'es of liqril now in the room to Sargent lOlv. Questioned by a juryman, Mr Fitzgerald said ' that the medicine was '"handed Mr Bennett some tima before the mistake was suppecte-l. The juryman explained that he isked the question because it bad hflen stated tlm Mr Fitzgerald «nd his assistant wern heard dificuK ing the question of whether the medicine was correct or not befere it wa3 handeil to Mr Bennett. Mr Fitzgerald replied that no ono was present when th* matter wsis discussal by Dr Pollen, himse'f, and hruis^stant. The bottle was gone three quarter's of an hour before the mista'-e w:is suspected. At h sir-part I , six o'clock the onquirv wax ali'ilr-ied un<il nine nVlvk on Tuesday next, Inspector Thorn' s mi intimating that he , lnped to liava thn witne^ Cumherworth in attendance on that da-. At tho present time ho had not been found, but was be'i^ved to be at Mauriceville.