William Palmer (murderer)

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William Palmer (murderer) : biography

6 August 1824 – 14 June 1856

Dr Taylor found no evidence of poison, but still stated that it was his belief that Cook had been poisoned. The jury at the inquest delivered their verdict on 15 December, stating that the "Deceased died of poison wilfully administered to him by William Palmer"; at the time this verdict could be legally handed down at an inquest.

Cultural references

The fictional character of Inspector Bucket in Charles Dickens’s Bleak House is reputed to be based on Charles Frederick Field, the policeman who investigated Walter Palmer’s death for his insurers.

The salutation "What’s your poison?" is thought to be a reference to the events.Davenport-Hines (2004)

The film The Life and Crimes of William Palmer was released in 1998, with Keith Allen playing the part of Palmer.

In the Sherlock Holmes short story, The Adventure of the Speckled Band, while commenting on the apparent villain, Dr. Grimesby Roylott, Holmes tells Dr. Watson that when a doctor goes bad he is the first of criminals. He then illustrates this with the comment that Drs Palmer and Pritchard were at the "head of their profession". Since neither was considered a good doctor, and Pritchard was considered something of a quack by the medical fraternity in Glasgow, the "profession" involved was that of murder.

Arrest and trial

Palmer was arrested on the charge of murder and forgery (a creditor had told the police his suspicions that Palmer had been forging his mother’s signature) and detained at Stafford Gaol; he threatened to go on hunger strike, but backed down when the governor informed him that this would lead to him being force fed.

An Act of Parliament (the Central Criminal Court Act 1856) was passed to allow the trial to be held at The Old Bailey in London, as it was felt that a fair jury could not be found in Staffordshire, where detailed accounts of the case and the deaths of his children were printed by local newspapers. The Home Secretary also ordered that the bodies of Ann and Walter Palmer were to be exhumed and re-examined; Walter was too badly decomposed, though Dr Taylor found antimony in all the organs in Ann’s body.

Judges
Lord Chief Justice John Campbell, 1st Baron Campbell
Mr Justice Cresswell
Mr Baron Alderson
Prosecution counsel Defence counsel
Attorney-General Alexander Cockburn
Edwin James QC
Mr Bodkin
Mr Welsby
John Walter Huddleston
Mr Serjeant Shee
William Robert Grove QC
Mr Gray
Edward Kenealy

His defence was led by Mr Serjeant William Shee.Barker (2004) The defence case suffered adverse comment from the judge because Shee had, against all rules and conventions of professional conduct, told the jury that he personally believed Palmer to be innocent.Knott (1912) p.267

The prosecution team of Alexander Cockburn and John Walter Huddleston possessed fine forensic minds and proved forceful advocates, especially in demolishing defence witness Jeremiah Smith, who had insisted that he had no knowledge of Palmer taking out life insurance on his brother, despite Smith’s signature being on the form. Palmer expressed his admiration for Cockburn’s cross-examination after the verdict through the racing metaphor "It was the riding that did it."Knott (1912) p.3

Circumstantial evidence came to light: Elizabeth Mills said that as Cook was dying he accused Palmer of murder; Charles Newton also told the jury that he had seen Palmer purchasing strychnine; chemist Mr Salt admitted selling Palmer strychnine in the belief that he was using it to poison a dog, he also admitted that he had failed to record the sale in his poisons book as required by law; Charles Roberts, another chemist, also admitted selling Palmer strychnine without noting the sale in his poisons book. Palmer’s financial situation was also explained, money lender Thomas Pratt telling the court he lent money to the accused at 60% interest, and bank manager Mr Stawbridge confirming that Palmer’s bank balance had stood at £9 at 3 November 1855. The cause of Cook’s death was hotly disputed, with each side bringing out medical witnesses: Dr Bamford was ill but his stated cause as congestion of the brain was dismissed by other witnesses and the prosecution told the jury that he had become mentally suspect in his old age; the prosecution witnesses, including Dr Taylor, stated the cause of death as ‘tetanus due to strychnine’. Few medical witnesses actually had any experience in human cases of strychnine poisoning and their testimony would have been considered weak by 21st century standards. Shee summed up his case to the jury by stating that "[if the prosecution were correct] Never therefore, were circumstances more favourable for detection of the poison and yet none was found." He summoned fifteen medical witnesses who stated that the poison should have been found in the stomach (the contents of which had disappeared during the post-mortem). The prosecution had the last word, and an image was painted of Palmer as a man desperately in need of money in order to avoid debtors’ prison, who murdered his friend for his money and who had covered his tracks by sabotaging the post-mortem. The jury deliberated for just over an hour before returning a verdict of guilty. Lord Campbell handed down a death sentence, to no reaction from Palmer.

Some 30,000 were at Stafford prison on 14 June 1856 to see Palmer’s public execution by hanging at the hands of George Smith. As he stepped onto the gallows, Palmer is said to have looked at the trapdoor and exclaimed, "Are you sure it’s safe?" at Canongate Press The prison governor asked Palmer to confess his guilt before the end, which resulted in the following exchange of words:

"Cook did not die from strychnine."
"This is no time for quibbling – did you, or did you not, kill Cook?"
"The Lord Chief Justice summed up for poisoning by strychnine."

William Palmer was buried beside the prison chapel in a grave filled with quicklime. After he was hanged his mother is said to have commented: "They have hanged my saintly Billy". Some scholars believe that the evidence should not have been enough to convict him, and that the summing up of the judge, John Campbell, 1st Baron Campbell, was prejudicial. On 20 May 1946, The Sentinel published a final piece of evidence not included in the trial, found by Mrs E.Smith, widow of the former coroner for South West London; it was a prescription for opium written in Palmer’s handwriting, on the reverse of which was a chemist’s bill for 10d worth of strychnine and opium.