THE OLDHAM MURDER. A Mother Poisons Her Little Daughter for £10 Insurance Money. A FEROCIOUS AND UNNATURAL CRIME (From our London Correspondent.). London, March 4.

Te Aroha News, Volume IV, Issue 201, 30 April 1887, Page 6

THE OLDHAM MURDER. A Mother Poisons Her Little Daughter for £10 Insurance Money. A FEROCIOUS AND UNNATURAL CRIME (From our London Correspondent.). London, March 4.

The suspicion that murders for tho sake of insurance monoy are much commoner amongst tho poor than people would ever suppose or believe, has of late developed into a positive certainty. In the North of England, more especially, this particular crime is, lam informed, constantly committed in the most cold-blooded way, and with less attempt at concealment than one would conceive possible. At the present moment nil England is shuddering over the deliberate murder of a poor little girl of eleven, by her mother, a woman of about thirty, who made away with her partly to get rid of the burden of providing for her, and partly to obtain £10 insurance money. The fact that the woman was a hospital nurse (though only at Oldham workhouse, to be sure) accentuates ,the horror. The occurrence shows that .despite the vaunted growth of civilisation in all matteis affecting tho treatment of the sick since Dickens's time, the rjinub Sairey Gamp is by no manner of means extinct. The prisoner, Elizabeth Berry, was tried at Liverpool last week before Mr Justice Hawkins and a special jmy. The CVoawi Council, telling the story of the case, said prisoner was charged witla having, on the 4th January, in the present year, caused the death of her female child, eleven years and eight months of age at the time of her death. It was alleged that the child met with its death from poison, and not from natural causes. The child was seen by several doctois during its illness. It died at five o'clock on the morning of the 4th ult. It was seen after its death by several persons, medical and otherwise, and marks were noticed on the lips. These marks were material to the inquiry ; so material that the prosecution thought it right to have a photograph taken iof them. On that photograph would be perceived marks on the upper lip, and one mark on the chin. That was before the post-mortem examination was made. When the examination was made it was found that the fetomach of the deceased was. congested. It was found that the mucous membrane of the stomach had blood on it ; it was found that there was a spot on the lining of the gullet having a black or dark appearance, about an inch in diameter. No signs of natural disease were found on the body. From the state of the body the doctors concluded that death had resulted from natural causes. The «entlemen who examined the stomach analytically found that there was no direct natural cause ,of death, and arrived at the conclusion that the child died from the administration of some corrosive poison. If that were proved to the satisfaction of the jury, then the inquiry arose, who administered to the child in the last day of its life poison ? 'TJie -deceased at the time of hei\death lived .at the house of a Mrs Sanderson, at Miles Platting. The prisoner at the time of this occurrence was a nurse in the Oldham Workhouse. She had been employed there from the July previous, at a salary of £25 a year. She was a widow and the. mother of two children — the deceased and one who died two years ago. The deceased girl was left with Mrs Sanderson, the prisoner giving Mrs Sanderson 8s a week for the keep, (id a week for the schooling, and kl a week for insurance. On the child's life there was an insurance, which resulted in the myment of £10 to her mother at the death of the child. In the April previous prisoner made proposal to a Mr Jackson to insure herself and daughter mutually in another society. Mr Jackson made a proposal to the directors, but that proposition was not accepted, and the insurance was never carried out. Besides paying for schooling and maintenance, the mother also paid for the clothing of her child, and it was costing her £12 or £13 a year out of the t25 she was receiving at the Oldham Workhouse. On the 27th December the prisoner went to Mrs Sanderson's at Miles Platting, and stayed till the 27th, when she left for Oldham by the five o'clock train, taking with her the deceased and a child companion named Beatrice Hall. The deceased was at that time in good health, and an examination after death showed she was a well-nourished but not a robust child. The child had not suffered from any disease, nor from constipation, and the prisoner had not given her pills, as she alleged, for that. During the 30th and 31st December the children were playing about the workhouse, along the corridors, near prisoner's room, and nothing was apparently the matter with them. The workhouse was divided into different blocks. Next to prisoner's room was the surgery, in which the different drugs used by the medical advisers of the workhouse were kept. To that surgery prisoner had access, and kept the key. In the surgery there was a cupboard, in which the direct poisons, such as arsenic, were kept, but there were also in the surgery many articles which, when used, were destructible to life. That surgery was close to the door of the sitting room used by tthe prisoner and deceased while she was ; at Oldham infirmary. On the morning ,-of the Ist inst. several witnesses -a woman named Dillon, and another called Thompson saw the deceased, with her companion come from her mother's bedroom to her mother's sitting-room about half-past nine. To «il appearances, she was then in her usudl health. The woman Dillon said that about ihalf-past nine she saw deceased come from her mother's bedroom, and that at a quarter-past ten she saw the deceased girl in the surgery with her mother. Dillon had to go to the surgery fc© receive the dinner b.UI from the prisoner, .*nd she thus fixed the time. Abont a quarter to 11 another witfness went into the sibting-room, and saw the deceased kneeling against her mother and vomiting. That was ,the first symptom they ha<.3. of the illness that terminated in her death. This was on the Ist ultimo, which was a JESaturday. At the time tho child was vomiting the prisoner had a tumbler in her hand, Deceased said, " Oh, mamma, I cannot drink it." About the same time another woman named Ellen Thompson came' into the sitting-room, and saw deceased vomiting about every five minutes. At first the vomit was white, but after some time it turned to red streaks of blood. The deceased vomited at first on the rug of the room, and a woman named Hallcroft was called by the prisoner to wash it off. After this the prisoner said she had better send for the workhouse surgeon, and Dr. Patterson was sent for, saw the child in the sittingroom, and administered a mixture of iron and quinine. Nothing further occurred until two o'clock, when the child was removed from the prisoner's sitting- room to her bedroom. Afc ten o'clock Dr. Patterson paid a visit, and found the same state of things. At eleven o'clock Dillon and Thompson went into the room and volunteered to stay all night, but prisoner declined their doing k so, and said she would

look after her <Mld, -and sheandißeatriee Hall slept with the deceased girl. -Nothing further was heard until 'next- : morning, at eleven o'clock, when Ellen 'flMipmpson visited the deceased,ahct found that she-was no better than she had been on the night before. About twelve o'clock Dr. Patterson saw deceased and thought she .was better, and he told the mother that there was a good prospect of her recovering. The mother showed one of the towels which had been used. He perceived a distinct smell of acid, and, taking this ground, he prescribed bicarbonate of soda. About two o'clock the same day Ellen Thompson again visited the room, and deceased was then asleep. Thompson said that was the first time she noticed the presence of a blister on the upper lip.. She asked prisoner about that, and prisoner said she had been giving deceased an orange, and so she supposed the orange must have caused the blister on tho lip. At a quarter to three a woman named Henderson visited she room, and she said she saw no blister and no vomit, and that deceased seemed better. About a quarter past five Ellen Thompson went to the room, and spoke to prisoner about fetching Dr. Patter*on, and prisoner said he should be again fetched. Five minutes later a woman went into the room, and she spoke about a blister on the lips of the deceased girl. About half-past six Thompson was told to fetch Dr. Patteison, and he came about nine. He then found the child was very much worse than when he saw her at noon. The learned counsel proceeded to trace the symtoms up to the time, of the. death of the child, which the medical evidence would show ! arose from some corrosive irritant poison. j He found the eyes sunken, pain all over the abdomen, straining taking place every 15 minutes. Dr. Robertson was called, and they consulted as to what was best to alleviate the -suffeiings. They had a consultation as to the symptoms, which he (Mr M'Connell) would rather the jury heard from the doctors themselves. That brought them up to half-past ten on the Sunday night. Ellen Thompson spent that night —from eleven to seven next morning— in deceased's room. About seven in the morning prisoner got some whitish medicine, but said " She cannot take it, her throat is made up." Monday passed in the same way. The child giadually sank, and the redness on the mouth developed into blisters*. At five o'clock on the morning of Tuesday the child died. After the death Mrs Sanderson stated that prisoner told her that the child was habitually costive. But Mrs Sanderson said the child had not suffered from costiveness, that the child's health was on the average good, and that she (Mis Sanderson) had only administered rhubarb to the deceased. Prisoner also stated that when she gave the child pills she was in the habit of passing blood, but Mrs Sanderson, with whom she lived, knew of nothing of that kind occurring. Prisoner further stated to the doctors that the child was not insured, and that she would have to pay the funeral expenses. That was not so, because just before the child was buried she went to the Society and received £10, which she was entitled to receive for the one penny a week which had been paid. The mother was asked to allow a pool mortem examination to be made, and she consented. The doctors examined the stomach , and from what was discovered there a coronor's order was issued, and an examination was made of the body and viscera. An analytical [examination was made, but no direct poison was found to be present. The doctors arrived at the conclusion that death arose from a corrosive, irritant poison. They gave it as their opinion that poison might have been administered on Saturday I or Sunday, and after the death on Tuesday morning no traces of such poison as a corrosive acid could bo found, because it might have been absorbed into the system or ejected by constant vomiting. This story was supported by numerous witnesses (medical and otherwise), the suggestion being that the poison employed was sulphuric acid. Mr Cottingham, for the defence, discoursed eloquently on the sacred character of maternal affection, and the utter impossibility of a quiet, kindly woman like the accused (who over - flowed with tenderness to the sick and had taken up with nursing from love of the occupation) committing such a monstrous crime. He was, however, unable to call any witnesses on the good creature's behalf, and the judge made short work of counsel's flowery appeals to the jury to trust in the accused's better nature. They had — quoth His Honor — they had to look calmly at the facts. If they pointed in the direction of guilt, they should say so ; if they did not, equally so in favour of the prisoner. Unhappily it had occurred — and he would not make the remark if he had not been constrained to do it by the topics addressed to the jury - that before now i£ had occurred that people had been inhuman enough, fogetting all materI nal affections and every tie that ought to bind a mother to her child, to take life for the most paltry consideration. It was not the supposed maternal affection which they must look at, but they must look at the faots as they were, and osk themselves whether the prisoner at the bar was one of j those inhuman people who many a time in their recollection had been guilty of the hideous crime they were then discussing. It had been said by the prisoner that the little girl was taken ill after eating a hearty supper on the night of the 31st December. She told Dr. Pattenson that she was ill after eating apple pie and cheese, and to Mrs Sanderson she said that she was taken ill after the hearty supper, and suffered from acute stoppage of the bowels. Was there any evidence that there was any hearty supper? He must confess that he had seen none. His lordship then reviewed the evidence, dwelling upon the fact that the morning the deceased was first taken ill she was seen leaning her head on her mother's breast, her mother asking her to drink the white liquid contents of a glass, and the little girl saying, "No, mamma, I can't." It was not suggested that that was other than a mineral powder, but thie not being seen or heard by Beatrice Hall went to show that she was not in the room aT the time, and that the prisoner was alone with the deceased at one time at all events. If the jury believed that the deceased died from corrosive poison, which the medical gentlemen believed to be sulphuric acid — and it was a question for the jury as to whether the child died from any poison, not from that particular corrosive poison — they would find prisoner guilty. Assuming they came to the conclusion that the child's death was not shown i v )O have been produced by poison, of <oourse txHe whole thing failed, because that was on c of the most essential ingredients to be established. If the child did not die of poison, of course the prisoner did not poison" her, and there would be an end of the case ; but if, adopting the view presented by the medical gentlemen, the jury came to the conclusion that the poor girl did die of poison administered to her, then they had to ask themselves whether the* prisoner at the bar administered it. Another question for them to consider was; whether the marks around the mouth were caused by corrosive poison. And then they must ask themselves, looking at the whole evidence and the statement of the prisoner as to the appearance

iof tfhe marks, whether the oorroßion was •caused by an application by .the .prisoner -or not. .'lThe chila herself could not- do ibi She *was pn ,her backhand could not stir. $Tb<one suggested that little Beatrice did lit, and it nad not even been thrown out that any of the women had been so cruelly- . minded as to take .the poor little thing's life. .As to whether the prisoner's conduct warranted the founding of the charge he would say nothing. It had been said that the prisoner had had no .motive. It Was quite impossible even to expect to find adequate motive for a diabolical crime like'that against the prisoner. An adequate motive they coald not expect, |.and though in some cases there appeared to i be no motive, they might depend upon it in all great crimes committed by people in their senses there was always a motive. His lordship reviewed the financial position of the prisoner, stating that a proposal for the mutual assurance of prisoner and deceased for £100 was refused. Prisoner, however, was unaware of that fact, or at all events had not been informed by the agent of the company of the refusal. The only two questions, however, that the jury had to take into consideration were whother this child died from poißon— it did not mattor whether irritant or not and, if they came to that conclusion, whether that poison was knowingly administered by the prisoner. If they found a verdict in the affirmative, then the prisoner would be guilty of the crime with which she wa"s charged. H

" GUILTY." The juvy, having returned into Court after an absence of twelve minutes, Their names were formally called over, and then The Clerk of Assize asked :— (Gentlemen of the jury, have you agreed upon your verdict ? The Foreman. — We have. The Clerk of Assize : Do you find tho prisoner guilty of wilful murder or not guilty ? The Foreman : Guilty. The Clerk of Assize : Prisoner at the bar, have you anything to say why the Court should not proceed to pass sentence of death upon you according to law ? Prisoner (excitedly) : I may be found guilty, but the whole world cannot make me guilty.

SENTENCE OF DEATH. His Lordship, having assumed the black cap, said very solemnly : Elizabeth Berry, the law of this country knows but one punishment for the crime of murder, the crime of which the jury have just now found you guilty. A murder co coldblooded, so merciless, and so cruel in causing a poor little child whom you gave birth to to suffer so much pain and agony passes all belief. The law for your crime demands of me that I should pass upon you sentenoe of death. I beseech you during the few days that remain to you here upon the earth to endeavour to forget the world and all the wrongs you have done, and prepare yourself to meet Almighty God, from whom alone you can hope for pardon for your sin. The sentence of the Court upon you is that you be taken to the place from whence you came, and from thence to a lawful place of execution, that thero you be hanged by your neck till you be dead, and that when you are dead your body be buried in the precincts of the prison, within the walls of which you shall be confined until you are executed. And may the Lord God Almighty have mercy on your soul. The prisoner was then led to the cells, and the assizes were formally closed. Upon the rising of the Court the prisoner was removed to Walton Gaol, where she had been incarcerated during the trial. She was placed under the usual surveillance after undergoing the ordinary examination of committed prisoners.