One hundred years ago
A REMARKABLE case of poisoning is under investigation in Liverpool. Mr James Maybrick, a stockbroker, recent- ly died in his house under circumstances which made his brother, who was staying with him, the nurse, and other servants suspect poison in his medicine. They accordingly seized the bottles, and on analysis, traces of arsenic were disco- vered. Suspicion fell on Mrs Maybrick, a young lady said to be a niece of Jefferson Davis, and twenty-three years younger than her husband. At the inquest, a letter was produced from Mrs Maybrick which showed that she was carrying on a clandestine correspond- ence with a lover, and had been accused or suspected by her husband of the fact. The Coroner's jury has not yet given its verdict, but it is admitted that a trial cannot be avoided. The great point in favour of the suspected lady is the absence of evidence as to her possession of arsenic; but it is proved that she had a quantity of "fly-papers", that the pap- ers are covered with arsenic, and that in a previous case arsenic so obtained has been shown to be useful for murder.
The Spectator, 1 June 1889
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