A case of suicide, under somewhat strange circumstances, occurred yesterday. A man named Richard Sexton, who has been for some time past in the service of Mr Paveletich, of the Universal Hotel, was locked up for drunkenness on Wednesday night, and yesterday morning was fined. The fine was paid, he was discharged, and went to the hotel. Shortly after he took some liquid that was in a bottle kept for cleaning brass work. Having drank the liquid, he said good-bye to one of the servants, went to his room, and speedily died. A doctor was soon in attendance, but too late. The remainder of the liquid and some matter thrown up by deceased has been given to Dr Black for analysis. An inquest is to be held to-day. -ODT, 21/1/1876.
CORONER'S INQUEST.
An inquest was held at the Hospital yesterday, before Dr Hocken, Coroner, touching the death of Richard Sexton, who committed suicide on the previous day.
The Jury having viewed the body, the following evidence was taken: —
Thomas Pavletich, proprietor of the Universal Hotel, Maclaggan street, stated that deceased, who had been in his employ for the last nine mouths, received intimation of his brother's death a fortnight ago, and had since been in very low spirits and drinking heavily.
Ellen Lonorgan, domestic servant at the Universal Hotel, said she had known deceased for the last nine months. After coming from the Police Court on Thursday, he entered the bar where she was sitting, made the remark that he was going upstairs to his bedroom, held out his hands to her and said good-bye. On her asking him where he was going, he replied that be was going to bed for an hour, after which time she was to call him. Witness, thinking he was going to leave the house, followed him, and on reaching his room he told her to go down to the kitchen and remove from there a glass out of which he said he had drank some of the stuff used for cleaning the brasses. At this time he was lying on the bed, and on going downstairs she gave the alarm to a boy. She found a little fluid in the glass. On returning she found he had fallen off the bed, appeared insensible, and did not move.
Dr Brown said he was called in and found deceased lying in a lobby at the Universal Hotel. He was quite livid. He breathed two or three times and died. Witness found the inside of decsased's mouth and his tongue quite white, evidently the effect of corrosive action.
Professor Black stated that he had analysed the contents of the bottle, which was unstoppered and unlabelled, from which it is said the deceased drank, and a piece of blotting paper which Dr Brown had steeped in the vomited matter found near deceased's bed. The latter contained a small quantity of sulphuric acid, and the bottle a strong solution of oxalic acid, which being a very powerful poison accounted for the corrosive marks in deceased's mouth.
Dr Brown, re-called, stated that a strong solution of oxalic acid was capable of causing death in fifteen or twenty minutes.
Constable Hinds deposed to finding in deceased's papers entries which showed him to have been a native of Cork. He was about 24 years of age, and a Roman Catholic.
A verdict of "Committed suicide while temporarily insane" was returned. -Otago Daily Times, 22/1/1876.
Richard Sexton was buried in Dunedin's Northern Cemetery, in an area of paupers' graves.
No comments:
Post a Comment