MURDER BY POISON

Press, Volume XC, Issue 27404, 17 July 1954, Page 3

MURDER BY POISON

SURVEY BY SCOTTISH AUTHORITY The Power of Poison. By John Glaister. Christopher Johnson. 266 pp. When the author decided on this apt title for his work he may have had in mind the lethal power of poison; but poison also has a malign power over those whcruse it and a powerful fascination for people generally. ‘Anyone who has much to do with the Courts of Law has pfobably found that murder trials in which poisoning is alleged draw the largest crowds—which may be attributed to an intensified morbidness. As Professor Glaister says: “Murder by poisoning is a crime of devilish wickedness and inhumanity which no language can adequately describe.” It is probably the most cruel form of murder and the one most difficult to prove.

This comparative study of well known poison cases includes several of which the author has had first hand experience. He writes with authority, for he is Professor of Forensic Medicine at Glasgow University and is a recognised medico-legal expert. One °r his books is in most law libraries and, in recent cases heard in the Supreme Court in Christchurch, has been quoted by counsel and medical witnesses as an accepted leading authority. The technique of poisoners, their personalities, and their defences in Court are dealt with in this survey of important and classical cases of murder alleged to have been due to poisoning. Professor Glaister discusses the safeguards society has evolved against poisoners and the cunning schemes to overcome these. It would be comforting to accept Professor Glaister’s opinion that the advances in scientific methods of detection give the poisoner a very slim chance of going undetected, but that is arguable. However, we in New Zeaa are protected by the Poisons Act, the Dangerous Drugs Act, the Coroners Act and particularly by the high integrity of medical- practitioners who bear a heavy responsibility, not only m giving death certificates, but, where there may be suspicious circumstances in a household, in accepting the onus of bringing the circumstances to the notice of the authorities. The symptoms of some diseases are similar to the effects of some poisons and a doctor may be in the most difficult of dilemmas.

‘The Power of Poison” is not a treatise for medical experts. It is written in plain language for the layman and is free of technical scientific terms. It is deeply interesting to anyone who has any thought for the forces motivating human conduct. The chapters range from the establishment of proof in poison trials, where scientific evidence is so important, through the early history of poisoning and some mass poisoners, to the motives and methods of poisoners. This last is likely to make the greatest impact on the. reader, for motive in murder trials always arouses keen speculation by the public. “In discussing generally the question of motive for crime, mention should be made of the erroneous conception, held by some, that all forms of crime are merely the outcome of psychological illness. Such a theory is quite fallacious,” says Professor Glaister. “Many crimes are committed with clear insight as to their nature and consequences, and are therefore deliberate. Of these, poison murders provide an excellent example.” It may well be that the real motive is never discovered. What to ordinary men and women may seem sc negligible a reason as to be preposterous may well have been the strong moving force ip the mind of the murderer. Of 16 famous poisoning cases eight had a sex background and seven were prompted by gain. From “The Power of Poison” it appears that poisoners take tremendous risks for very small benefits. There have been men who, having become tired of their wives, had only to leave them and bear comparatively slight odium, but who stooped to poison instead, and were detected and hanged. It seems inexplicable. Insanity is legally defined, but Professor Glaister says there is the no-man’s land which lies between sanity and insanity—the land where slight deviations, temporary or permanent, from the absolute normal may be found. It is difficult to believe that a poisoner carries out his crime when in a state of sustained emotional stability. To show the practical application of numerous points raised and described, Professor Glaister devotes the concluding portion of his book to extended descriptions of three trials of unusual interest. In one the verdict was not guilty; in the other it was not proven, a verdict available only in Scotland; and in the third a woman was found guilty but the jury could not arrive at a verdict where her husband was concerned.

So, they pass under the analytical survey of Professor Glaister; men and women from many walks of life—for criminals are not marked with a common stamp.