UNFORTUNATE MARRIAGE.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXXIX, Issue 11854, 4 January 1902, Page 2 (Supplement)

UNFORTUNATE MARRIAGE.

EXTRAORDINARY SUICIDE OF A BRIDEGROOM, ■■ Rr.iLunrAT3LE-. evidence was given at West- : niinster7 a lew days ago, when Mr. John ' Troutbcck held an inquiry into the : death / of Folke Bjorkegrin, 31 years, a shipowner, '■■■ of Stockholm, -who died from cyanide of :" potassium poisoning at the Kensington Palace Hotel under extraordinary . circum- :• stances. '"-, v. : ' ,:i '-:.:,;'-■ '/ : ''/"/'■:,:/ Mr. Norman William Shairp, . a Baltic ; merchant, of 25, Sinclair Gardens/.;West Kensington, identified the body of deceased as that of his son-in-law, who, he said, was a Swede. , He was married on the 6th November, and stayed with his wife first at i the Buckingham. Palace Hotel, then :at the Imperial-Hotel, Torquay, and then, at the Kensington Palace .'• Hotel. . Witness ■;■'■ knew: nothing, about his health before marriage, but he and his wife seemed to live on affectionate terms. ■■ He had never heard that deceased had expressed, a wish to end his life. ; Mr. Walter : Vernon Shairp/; son of; the previous witness, said that both deceased arid his wife were amateur photographers, and would use cyanide of potassium.: They went to a theatre on the 16th (deceased died the following morning), and on the way fliere . deceased complained of a headache, and seemed strange and excited. He also seemed hurried and flushed and not as contented as he, had been in the earlier part of the day. ■ Joseph Henry Collins, a chemist, of Holland Park Avenue, Kensington, stated that ; Mrs. Bjorkegrin, whom he had known as a customer for three or four months, came - and purchased some films and loz of cyanide of potassium. She said that she wanted it for intensifying purposes, for which it was frequently used.; ■ The Coroner: Not by amateurs, surely 1 Witness: Oh, yes. Witness added that > the lady signed the poison-book in the name of "Shairp." '■■' : Mr. Frank Harrison Low, M.8., of 12, Sinclair Gardens, said he had not previously attended the Bjorkegrins professionally, he had a friend in the same house. Early in the morning he: received the following note :—" Please come immediately ; my husband very ill. —Rita Shairp." He went at once, and found the lady pacing the corridor awaiting his arrival. In the/inner of the two rooms he found deceased in bed, and the lady said she was afraid; her husband-had taken'some poison. He asked her why she thought so, and she replied, "It had come to my knowledge during the summer before ray marriage that my husband was suffering. For that reason I did not wish to marry him, but I was pressed into it on Mat ground that it would be his salvation. . . ." She also said they > had agreed to have separate rooms, and that it was on that understanding that they were married. She 'added mat after her marriage the promise and agreement were abrogated and thrown to the winds, many violent scenes being the result; that he had come into her room and left in a furious rage, saying that he could stand it no longer, and should kill himself. : She further informed witness that earlier 'in the day she had handed her husband the bottle of cyanide to put in the luggage, and that shortly after he had entered his room she heard him groaning. She at onco ran in, and he told her that he was very ill, and she gave him a basin, and at once sent for witness. By the Coroner: He did not learn how soon the deceased died after the first groans were heard, but when he was called ''.death, had been very recent. Witness had since, assisted by a skilled pathologist, : made a post-mortem examination. ;' Death .was'unquestionably due to cyanide of potassium. There was a quarter of an ounce missing from'the bottle, which would be an enormous dose, two and a-half grains being ample to kill. . ' . // Mrs. Margaret Eliza* Bjorkegrin, the widow, said that the account given by Dr.Low of his interview with her was absolutely correct. She signed the poison-book as stated by the chemist. She signed her maiden name through a little forgetfulness, not having yet got used to her marriage .name// She had the bottle, in her jacket . 'pocket, and when she gave it to her husband he uncorked it and smelt: the contents.; She had no idea how lie took the poison. >; -By, \ the Coroner : She did not take her < father, and mother into her confidence : only her husband's sister. .-.■■'- •. ~ lii summing up, the Coroner described the case; as a most painful one. and it was quite clear that the deceased had taken advantage of a girl's ignorance of the world- He commented upon the circumstances of the purchase of the poison as a very peculiar episode in the case. It was a curious commentary on the value of the Poisons Act when a'chemist could be so easily deceived. /The jury returned a verdict of "Suicide during temporary insanity."