The deceased man's relatives were communicated with, and his father-in-law soon arrived in Rugeley. On Palmer being questioned about Cook's affairs, he said that he held a paper drawn up by a lawyer, and signed by Cook, stating that, in respect of £4,000 worth of bills, he (Cook) was alone liable, and Palmer had a claim for that amount against the estate. This, with other matters, aroused suspicion, and it was decided to hold a post-mortem examination on the body to ascertain the cause of death. Palmer was present at the examination, and by his deliberate act the fluid contents of the stomach were lost. What portions of the body were reserved for analysis, he did all he could to prevent from reaching the analysts. When the jars, etc. were being sent to London for examination by the Government analyst, he intercepted them, and offered the post-boy £10 to upset the conveyance and break them. The evidence offered at the trial was almost entirely circumstantial, and the medical testimony was very conflicting. It was supposed, in the first instance, Palmer had administered tartar emetic to his victim, but that for the fatal dose strychnine was used. It was proved Palmer had purchased strychnine under suspicious circumstances on the morning of the day on which Cook died, and could not account for the purchase of it, or state what he had done with it. The symptoms appeared at a time which would correspond to the interval that precedes the action of strychnine, being developed over the entire body and limbs in a few minutes, suddenly and with violence. None of the pills could be obtained for analysis, and Dr. Taylor, who made the analytical examination, was unable to find any trace of strychnine in the portions submitted to him, but he found half a grain of antimony in the blood. He believed Cook died from the effects of strychnine. The great point in the case was, did the tetanic symptoms, under which the deceased man died, depend on disease or poison? Doctors Brodie, Christison and Todd, and other eminent authorities of the time agreed, that when taken as a whole they were not in accordance with any form of disease, but were in perfect accordance with the effects of strychnine. On the other hand, medical men called for the defence testified that tetanus might be caused by natural disease, and the deceased might have died from angina pectoris or epilepsy. In spite of the absence of confirmatory chemical evidence, after one hour and seventeen minutes' deliberation, the jury returned a verdict of "Guilty," and Palmer was sentenced to death, the trial having lasted twelve days.