CRIME AND MYSTERY.

Auckland Star, Volume LV, Issue 188, 9 August 1924, Page 19

CRIME AND MYSTERY.

THE HORSE MURDERERS,

By JOHN RAYNER.

Racing in 1 811 — Sls Horses Poisoned—Daniel Damon the "Touter" —Arrest of a Chemist— A Well-matched CoupleTwo Bow Street Runners—Scoundrelly Plota—Wholetale Poisoning—An Observant Woman—Without Benefit of Clergy—Was He a Scapegoat? Cheerful On The Gallows.

-Though outrages against r.irehorscs have Lm been successful, they brought a man "fthe gallows once-for what was iv effect . nrce-mtirder. ■h, ISO 9it was found that Lord Darling- • horse Kubens, whirl) was favourite ""s'to 2 for the Pavilion Stakes at SrfsMon "had bcon 'doctored" the night lefore the race. It ran. nevertheless, and *„„, despite this handicap. Tie matter created a certain amount of citempnt but nothing to that occasioned £ jnir io ° £ tho sam " ye " r nt N "«« , »» rk «t. the Dcn . s sprond Mc wildfire that a Bare telOßging to Mr. William Adams, of Kwston, Herts, and two marfs belonging t0 Mr. Korthpv, of Newmarket, had been anna'dead from poisoning iv the Newjartet tables of Mr. Stevens, a welltioffn "training groom." One of the animals, Woodwell Ucad, w;is reckoned to lave stood a good chance a/ the meeting tien: being held at Newmarket.

The greatest indignation was aroused, bet though a reward of a hundred guineas offered for the discovery of the malefactor, nothing resulted, and us months and tlcn years rolled by people began to look on flu matter as a mystery past solving.

Startling Newmarket. Jast when the Newmarket Spring Meetinglng had commenced in ISII the racing irodd was thrown into consternation by tte news that exactly the same thing had lappened again, but in a worse degree fonr racehorses were dead and two others almost dying, all from poisoning.

The stable affected this time was that of Mr. Ricnard Prince, a "training groom" leld In nigh esteem by members of the jockey Clnb. The principal runners in the Claret Stakes had been placed in his care, ud it was these that had been poisoned.

They included Pirouette (which was the favourite for the Craven States) and Spaniard, belonging to Lord Foley —one of tie heaviest plungers of his day—the Eagle colt, belonging to Sir Francis Standish, and Dandy, belonging to Lord Kinnaird. The {to others, Coelebs and Reveller, both belonging to Sir Francis St.-.ndish, recovered, bnt were quite unfit for further racing. Taking their engagements into account, the Talne of the dead horses was about £12,000.

Here was not the slightest doubt but that tie outrage had been perpetrated by someone who stood to win money by the lact of these horses being out of tie way. Die trouble was to find out who it was. The whole of the Turf was roused and the Jotkey.Clnb held a special meeting, at which they voted a reward of five hundred guineas for information which would lead to the discovery of the dastard.

The one thing which baffled everyone was loir tie poison was put in the water, for except at watering times the troughs were eorered and the lids securely padlocked. Bnt poison had been introduced, not only Into the stable troughs but into those on tie Heath. The natural deduction was that it had been introduced at watering time, and that the stablemen must have been confederates at least. Their honesty, loireTer, was beyond question.

Source Of The Poison. it last the anthoritles placed the matter k the hands of two of the most famous Bow Street runners of the time—John Ladbltter and George Ruthven. These two contacted their inquiries quietly and systematically, going about among the lungeis-on of the Tnrf with ears for ««7 bit of gossip. They were particularly interested in anyone whom the death « the poisoned racehorse had benefited, Mi they gradually found that their ingurieswere all pointing in one direct: n. Daniel Dawson, a tout—or touter as they Wfe called in those days-a man very well taw* at all the principal race meetings. •M backed against" Pirouette and Dandy «*e.tartly. Not only that, but, before ~! ° atra S e occurred, he had been advising nT" 1° d ° 6 °- There was no apparent Lt r/f SDC]I conMen ce other than that wppUed by guilty knowledge, and on August io Ue two Bow Street runners acted. uieyfonna Dawson at Brighton, arrested Z I?T ht Wm UP t0 London . and lodged Jta in the Tothill Fields Bridewell. They monTT t0 arrest a kn " wn tmt com J™» itf Us, one Cecil Bishop, who had CtaT , t0 a Chemist and druggist in Z w Street - TWs fact in "sS was *! raiSed their for P Lon M ™ PtlTely ' Was the sonrce * th.

tJi!r? were haiied bef ° re Mr - c ° nan t. •m'S the assizes . Daniel Dawson, 0D the Kewfomidlana course «mpaSo n SIC V 3 * realised tiat * is ■flencfc p haa turned King's cvi-

a^,L flrSt WltneS3 19 William Longford, Ho^f,,,?^ , late,y a serTant t0 Sir »PpZ<* fl laD"I aD " Lonsford said be had been hi. mrT\ Dawson > ana that the latter PoLn gSeSted that b e Should help him to mZT ebmses, statinff that tf Mc re " Wd it tounch he w °uld soon become rich lio*eT» c a S entl eman." Longford, D,* ' WoDld lave none of the scheme. *hich WaS lUcMer at hls next attempt, evltoe Wlth Blsnop, who now Ms le sJT aS " ' ap P roT er-" Bishop said that WJMn,?* DaWSOD iD IS ° 7 - The latter tflif? ,? c iad a friend with whose horse h e ° aaa been Played. Could he help him, Wo Jm, „.• OP, t0 retali ate by giving Hilhnn !' tbat WOnld SiCken a horSe W^ 5 "' for tbat what ha<J "••KM* to hl s friend . s horse _

Bl \ BetS Aeainst Favourites. *u in t* quite wniin s to *■*>■ « «thef» Lr s before the tw ° k "new each Bab r thoroughly. Tbcr became intl»CMon« Panlons ' goinff from racecourse to tons cnT\ sether, and soon an inl< - ui i«%Ued r Was ln beln? - Bish °P flrst 0a»« EOme corrosiT e sublimate, but »ut fa fl , COmpliUMa that this was leads * Water tbe horses """ew up their «epDifpS W ° md not drink - Bii *°P then «tial« , a eolntion of arsenic, which he «tt'^ a DOt be o£tenslT e in smell. Daw- ,* again, however, saying that . *« not strong enough. en Biehop told him that If he had it this n ° nSer he wonld M » th * horses. To -If » !° n replied: "! d 0 Dot ca " a *«*»!** f ° r tbCr are all r ° SUe3 at *onlfl k ana if J had "Jousanas ther jj a rob mc of it." lil s *!"* thDS rerealed what was really in *»c 1- Da ' Ivson '"'"I Bishop he would 111111 «00 if he succeeded in what he

wanted to do. Bishop gave him the stronger solution asked for, and Dawson came back some days later saying that he was completely satisfied, for he had used the stuff on a hackney and two mares at Doncaster, and it had killed them.

The attempted poisoning of Lord Darlington's Rubens at Brighton had been Dawson's doing, said Bishop. At Newmarket, however, when they introduced the poison In the water In Mr. Stevens' stables, they made no mistake.

Another man had been brought Into the conspiracy by tins time, one going by the name of Triste. While Bishop and Dawson between them doctored the troughs, Tristc was employed on the courses to back the field against the favourites. Dawson, In London, sent the poison down to Bishop, who kept the troughs eupplied, and when he wanted more wrote to Dawson, addressing him as "Miss Dawson." The secrot of the method by which the poison was got into the troughs despite their lids and padlocks was disclosed by Bishop, who stated that they used a hooked eyrtnge '.vhlch squirted the poison through any small aperture.

The object of their machinations <m the last occasion was the favourite for tlie Craven Stakes, Pirouette, and to get at that horse they had to poison all the horees in the same stable that had run for the Claret Stakes, three trongha being tampered with. Bishop described how he waited in hiding until he saw the horses drink and then hurried off to tell Dawson, so that he might instruct Trlete. Released and Rearrested. The evidence against Dawson was overwhelming, for Bishop was amply corroborated, and when it was completed the eager crowd in the court looked forward to We sentence.

They were disappointed. Mr. Kins, who appeared for Dawson, pointed out that it had been clearly shown that Dawson had nothing to io with the actual poisoning itself, and, that, as lie had been Indicted as a, principal and not as an accessory, he was entitled to an acquittal. The judge could only agree, and Dawson was released.

He was immediately re-arrested, however, under what was known as the "Blacfc Act" (Statute 9, Geo. 1., c. 22), which declared that anyone who on any hign, roaa, open heath, common or down should unlawfully and maliciously kill, wound or maim any cattle or should procure another to join him in such unlawful acts, shouM, on conviction, be adjudged guilty of felony, and "Buffer death without benefit of clergy." The indictment was for the poisoning in ISO 9, the mare belonging to Mr. William Adams being ;the one selected for the purpose.

Dawson came up In tUe following: July to answer it. He found himself faced witn a new witness, Hannah Tlllbrook, the carpenter's wife with whom he toad been wont to lodge when at Newmarket.

Mrs. Tlllbrook said that at the time of the Spring Meeting in ISO 9 Dawson warned her not to let her servant go to his room ■for he had, some stuff In a mug, mixed for doss, which would make her sick. She went upstairs, fonnd a mug containing something like chalk and water, and put It away. In the following July, when making his bed, she felt something; hard and discovered a flat bottle containing a clear liquid. Under the mattress was a paper containing a powder like cream of tartar. Dawson left the house on the evening of July o, and did not return until 2 a.m. The same thing happened the following night.

The next day Dawson bet her hushand, "pay or play," that Woodwell Heath would not win. A few minutes afterwards her brother-in-law came In and said that the horse was dead, whereupon Dawson changed colour and went up to his room. Six tveeka afterwaTds she found a bottle of his containing liquid. (This a chemist afte-rwards proved to be arsenic.)

When he came down the next year, «he said, Dawson made the strange remars that he supposed "Bully" Mitchell would saddle him with poisoning the horses as he had done at Doncaeter. This 'brought a reference from her to the liquid lie had left behind, and Dawson flew into a rage and demanded that they should go before a magistrate bo that his character might ■be cleared. Sent to the Gallows. Throughout the trial Dawson was ieflant, alternately sn-earlng at and chaffing the witnesses. His counsel, Mr. King, made another attempt to get him off on a technical ground, saying, firstly, that it was a matter of trespass and tint it was necessary to prove malice against the owner of the horse; and, secondly, that the intent was only to injure. Mr. Justice Grove, however, dismissed these arguments ana passed sentence of death.

Strong endeavours were made to get Dawson off, even men he had wronged, like Lord Foley, interceding for him. Bat the judge had Bald he must expect no mercy and he got none.

His last effort was a scheme to breaK out of prison, 'but his wife was caught with his instructions in her hand. He threatened suicide after this. The chaplain of the gaol dissuaded him, however, and lie went to the gallows quite cheerfully.

Noticing Will Arnull, the Jockey, and other racins men on Mi way he shonted to them, "God bless yon, my Newmarket lads. You see I can't shake hanis with you. Good-bye."

Whether or no he acted on behalf of men higher placed than le was a secret he carried to the grave. It was suspected that he did.