POISONED CHOCOLATES

Greymouth Evening Star, 29 January 1926, Page 7

POISONED CHOCOLATES

' 'ATI E.MI-1- TOANNOY WIFE. '. i The trial took plade at Leeds sfres recently of John Roberts, aged

; 26, ship s cook, on a'charge of . 1 , attompting to murder', his wife, Eliza at Rotherham, by sending poisoned chocolates, .- 1 // .A verdict of'not guilty was returned,, tlie jury expressing the' - opinion that Roberts intended to annoy his wife. . !, 1 ' I Counsel 1 for the prosecution stated i. that Roberts had left his wife in Oct- •; ojier, 1924. On September 14 Mrs. ’' Qarliii; a neighbour of Mrs. Roberts, teceived' a, letter from Roberts, who ' was then at Warwick. This letter ran : “Would you be good enough to give this small parcel of 1 chocolates to my wife, as 1 do not know if she is at home or not. You can just mention I have sent it to her. It will be the last present she will ever get from me on this earth. I have put something in it which will quieten . her for good, but do not say anything about it. If it works, all the better, for she will be dead and out of my way. She has been nothing but an incumbrance all iny married life. You will give her the box and letter,

won’t you, for old times’ sake? Dori t sa.y anything to the police.”! A postscript added: “The chocolates are poisoned with salts of lemon. Not a word to her, let her die.” Accompanying the chocolates, said counsel, was a- letter addressed to Mrs. Roberts. The box contained 10 chocolates; five of which had been cut open, and a certain amount of salts of lemon put in. The letter to Mrs. Roberts read : “My dear wife, —It is such a long time since I saw or wrote to you, so yon must recognise the’ pleasure it gives me to devote these few lines to you. I know you are fond of chocolates. ’ I want you to eat them and think of me; think what you have been to me;, what you ought to have been, then you will see. I have been justified in what I have done.

Goodbye for ever-” Inspector Shaw, West Riding police, lead a statement by Roberts, describing how he was on tramp and bought the chocolates and two pennyworth of salts of lemon in Warwick. Roberts, in the witness-box, said : “I. sent the chocolates and letter with no other object but to get into prison. I had no intention whatever of killing my wife. I wanted to go to prison, because I was down and out and low-spirited through being out of work.” Through the publicity given to the case, he added, a sister of his. who had been missing 20 years, had offered help and to get him work. He did not now: want to go to prison. The jury, without retiring,' returnverdict of not guilty. “We think Im intended to slightly annoy her,” sgid the foreman. Roberts was discharged.