Argument of A.G. Riddle, Esq., of Cleveland, delivered at the court house in Jefferson, Ohio, on the 26th and 27th of November, 1858, in the case of the state of Ohio vs. Hiram Cole, 1859, tried for poisoning his wife on the 9th of Sept., 1857, at Bainbridge, Ohio / Reported by Eli Bruce.

  • Bruce, Eli.
Date:
1859
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Argument of A.G. Riddle, Esq., of Cleveland, delivered at the court house in Jefferson, Ohio, on the 26th and 27th of November, 1858, in the case of the state of Ohio vs. Hiram Cole, 1859, tried for poisoning his wife on the 9th of Sept., 1857, at Bainbridge, Ohio / Reported by Eli Bruce. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by Royal College of Physicians, London. The original may be consulted at Royal College of Physicians, London.

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    An innocent man would, when the first paroxysm of fear had subsided, have reached a period of reflection, and capability of rio-ht reasonino-. But the more the defendant reflected, the more iminent seemed his danger ; and reason could suggest no sane u ary but further flight, and increased falsehood. ^ ,, a • t If in the multiplied indications of crime, since the fleeing of Cain, that of flight may be secuiely rested _ upon as producing proof of guilt, that evidence is conclusively furnished by this exodus Income now, gentlemen of the jury, to the consideration of the last source of inculpatory proof, in this strangely varied case-the letters of the defendant to his mistress ; written subsequent to his wife’s death, and which furnish the amplest evidence of motive, the first and most important element of circumstantial proot; and they also furnish damaging and damning allusions, references and admissions. „ , , . a* I declare to you, gentlemen, that these five letters in connection with the conduct of the defendant, and aside from every word ot medical proof, furnish such irrefragable evidence of his complete guilt, that a blind determination to acquit him at all hazards, mus stand paralysed in this presence. .-u You recollect that the prisoner s wife died the 9th, that on the evening of the lOth her body, stripped of its robes, lay exposed to the mocking eyes of rough unlicensed men in the open air. must also remember his wonderful grief on the evening o t e 9tli, and morning of the 10th. On the 12th he writes this letter— *‘My always dear Augusta : i t i, i I have only time at present to say a few wordr, as i have only stopped to feed my horse and rest a short time. I am on my way to look for a place to locate once more, as you say you do not want to live near my friends, and I am sure I do not. < '(A. is dead. She died on the 6th inst. They have started very hard stories about her husband, which can be proved to be false. I am going away somewhere, where we can get away^ from t ose that are acquainted with our past lives, and then 1 will send or you, and then we will be married, and live our past happy days over again ; and far many more with them. I hope you are well and happy, 1 have not felt so happy some time as at present. The anticipation of a speedy meeting with my Augusta makes me happy, and more so when I think that you are so soon to be my wife. . I shall write you again in a few days. In the meantime ple^^^ write to H. C. Hayden, Pittsburgh, Pa. and I will wait there tor it, Yours in haste, Bubby. [excuse haste.] -A-Ugusta C. There gentlemen, what think you now of this wretche ® 1*^'® his wife ? What think you of the genuineness of his grief. Abov<