Mr. Thomas here produced a letter, in which it was stated that Mr. Appleton had declared to a postman, that the body was warm when offered for sale to him, and that he declined the purchase for that reason.
The Coroner asked if the fact were so?
The witness declared he never saw the body, and positively declared that he never spoke a word to a postman on the subject.
Mr. Cribb, the foreman of the jury, asked the witness whether he had any particular reason for declining to purchase the body.
The witness replied that he had no other reason than that of not wanting it, as the theatre was already supplied.
A Juror.—What was your motive for asking the sex of the subject?
Witness.—Because many of the pupils prefer a male to a female subject.
After a long desultory conversation as to whether the inquiry should proceed further,
Mr. Corder said, that he really did not think there was any further evidence to produce at present, tending to throw any additional light upon the inquiry. If, however, the jury should return a verdict of wilful murder against some person or persons unknown, the inquiry would be pursued at Bow-street Office, where the four men were now in custody. He (Mr. Corder) had reason to believe that his Majesty's Government, struck with the importance of the inquiry, would lend every facility tending to bring the affair into a proper train, in order that public justice might not be defeated. He then suggested that the accused should be sent for, with a view to see whether or not they felt inclined to account for the possession of the body.
A Juror observed, that they were as yet proceeding in the dark, inasmuch as they had not yet ascertained the name of the deceased or to whom he belonged.