Antimony was also detected in various stains on linen and articles of clothing, which had been worn by Mrs. Pritchard during her illness.
From these results Dr. Maclagan concluded that Mrs. Pritchard had taken a large quantity of antimony in the form of tartar emetic, which caused her death, and that from the extent to which the whole organs and fluids of the body were impregnated with the drug, it must have been given in repeated doses up to within a few hours of her decease.
The result of the chemical examination of the various organs of the body of Mrs. Taylor, which was exhumed for this purpose, revealed the presence of ·279, or a little more than a quarter of a grain of antimony in the contents of the stomach. Antimony was also found in the blood, and 1·151 grain was recovered from 1,000 grains of the liver.
Dr. Penny, who made an independent analysis, found distinct evidence of antimony in the liver, spleen, kidney, brain, heart, blood, and rectum, but no trace of morphine or aconite. He also came to the conclusion that Mrs Pritchard's death had resulted from the effects of antimony.
Antimony was found mixed with tapioca contained in a packet discovered in the house, also in a bottle containing Batley's solution of opium found in the prisoner's surgery.
Dr. Littlejohn, surgeon to the Edinburgh police, who was present at the post-mortem examination of both women, gave his opinion that Mrs. Pritchard's death had been due to the administration of antimony in small quantities, and that continuously. In Mrs. Taylor's case he believed some strong narcotic poison had been administered with the antimony.
This opinion was further endorsed by Dr. Paterson. Evidence was offered, that Pritchard had been in the habit of purchasing large quantities of Batley's solution of opium, which the manufacturers swore contained no antimony. For the defence it was urged, that there was no proof whatever that poison had had been administered by the prisoner, who had always lived on affectionate terms with his wife, and that the motive suggested was of the most trifling nature; that the stronger suspicion pointed to the maidservant Mary McLeod, on whose uncorroborated statements the chief evidence against the prisoner lay. The senior counsel for the prisoner (Mr. Clark) concluded his address by stating that the Crown had admitted there were but two persons who could have committed the crime—the prisoner, and Mary M'Leod. Mary M'Leod's hand had been found in connexion with every one of the acts in which poison was said to have been administered in the food. The case against the prisoner seemed to depend on a series of suspicions and probabilities, and not upon legal proof; and upon these grounds he asked a verdict of acquittal.
The "summing up" of the Lord Justice-Clerk occupied three hours and twenty minutes, on the conclusion of which the jury retired to consider their verdict. After an absence of fifty-five minutes they returned with the following verdict—"The jury unanimously find the prisoner guilty of both charges as libelled."
Dr. Pritchard was thereupon sentenced to death, and was executed at Glasgow on July 28, 1865.
There can be no doubt that he fully deserved his terrible doom.