Re-examined by the Attorney-General: I cannot say how many bodies I have laid out, but I have laid out a great many, of all ages. I never knew of the arms being tied before this instance. It is usual to lay the arms by the sides within a few minutes after death. I was called up at half-past twelve. It was half-past one when I went upstairs to the room where Cook lay. Sometimes the feet of corpses get twisted out; it is then that they are tied. That occurs within about half-an-hour after death. I have never known the eyelid so stiff as in this case. I have put penny pieces on the eyes. In those cases the lids were stiff, but not so stiff as in this instance.
John Thomas Harland, examined by Mr. Bodkin: I am a physician residing at Stafford. On the 26th of November last I went from Stafford to Rugeley, to be present at a post-mortem examination. I arrived at Rugeley at ten o’clock in the morning. I called at the house of Mr. Bamford, surgeon. As I went there Palmer joined me in the street. He came from the back of his own house. I had frequently seen him and had spoken to him before. He said, “I am glad that you are come to make a post-mortem examination. Some one might have been sent whom I did not know.” I said, “What is this case? I hear there is a suspicion of poisoning.” He said, “Oh, no; I think not. He had an epileptic fit on Monday and Tuesday last, and you will find old disease in the heart and in the head.” We then went together to Mr. Bamford’s. I had brought no instruments with me, having only been requested to be present at the examination. Palmer said that he had instruments, and offered to fetch them and lend them to me. He (Palmer) said there was a very queer old man who seemed to suspect him of something, but he did not know what he meant or what he wanted. He also said, “He seems to suspect that I have got the betting-book. Cook had no betting-book that would be of use to anyone.” Mr. Bamford and I then went to the house of Mr. Frere, who is a surgeon at Rugeley. Palmer did not go with us. Thence we went to the Talbot Arms, where the post-mortem examination was proceeded with. Mr. Devonshire operated, and Mr. Newton assisted him. There were in the room, besides, Mr. Bamford, Palmer, myself, and several other persons. I stood near Mr. Devonshire. The body was very stiff.
By Lord Campbell: It was much stiffer than bodies usually are five or six days after death.
Examination resumed: The muscles were very highly developed. By that I mean that they were strongly contracted and thrown out. I examined the hands. They were stiff, and were firmly closed. The abdominal viscera were first examined.
At the suggestion of Lord Campbell, the witness read a report which he prepared on the day on which this post-mortem examination took place, November 26th, 1855, and transmitted to Mr. Stevens, the step-father of the deceased. This report described the state of the various internal organs as being perfectly healthy and natural. The material statements were all repeated in the subsequent examination of the witness. After reading the report,
The witness continued: The abdominal viscera were in a perfectly healthy state. They were taken out of the body. We examined the liver. It was healthy. The lungs were healthy, but contained a good deal of blood. Not more than would be accounted for by gravitation after death. We examined the head. The brain was quite healthy. There was no extravasation of blood, and no serum. There was nothing which, in my judgment, could cause pressure. The heart was contracted, and contained no blood. That was the result not of disease, but of spasmodic action. At the larger end of the stomach there were numerous small yellowish-white spots, about the size of mustard seeds. They would not at all account for death. I doubt whether they would have any effect upon the health. I think they were mucous follicles. The kidneys were full of blood, which had gravitated there. They had no appearance of disease. The blood was in a fluid state. That is not usual. It is found so in some cases of sudden death, which are of rare occurrence. The lower part of the spinal cord was not very closely examined. We examined the upper part of that cord. It presented a perfectly natural appearance. On a subsequent day, I think the 25th of January, it was thought right to exhume the body, that the spinal cord might be more carefully examined. I was present at that examination. The lower part of the spinal cord was then minutely examined. A report was made of that examination.
This report was put in, and was read by the witness. It described minutely the appearance and condition of the spinal cord and its envelopes, and concluded with this statement:—“There is nothing in the condition of the spinal cord or its envelopes to account for death; nothing but the most normal and healthy state, allowance being made for the lapse of time since the death of the deceased.”
Examination resumed: I am still of opinion that there was nothing in the appearance of the spine to account for the death of the deceased, and nothing of an unusual kind which might not be referred to changes after death. When the stomach and the intestines were removed from the body on the occasion of the first examination they were separately emptied into a jar, and were afterwards placed in it. Mr. Devonshire and Mr. Newton removed them from the body. They were the only two who operated. At that time the prisoner was standing on the right of Mr. Newton. While Mr. Devonshire was opening the stomach a push was given by Palmer which sent Mr. Newton against Mr. Devonshire, and shook some of the contents of the stomach into the body. I thought a joke was passing among them, and said, “Don’t do that.”
By Lord Campbell.—Might not Palmer have been impelled by some one outside him?—There was no one who could have impelled him.
What did you observe Palmer do?—I saw Mr. Newton and Mr. Devonshire pushed together, and Palmer was over them. He was smiling at the time.