WEBVTT - The Murder of Mabel Greenwood 0:00:00.080 --> 0:00:04.399 Welcome to Criminalia, a production of Shondaland Audio in partnership 0:00:04.440 --> 0:00:05.359 with iHeartRadio. 0:00:10.680 --> 0:00:14.640 This is the story of the unsolved death of Mabel Greenwood. 0:00:15.120 --> 0:00:18.840 Who killed her and why is still unknown. One hundred 0:00:18.920 --> 0:00:23.520 years later, the prime suspect in the case, Harold Greenwood, 0:00:23.760 --> 0:00:26.640 her husband of more than twenty years, was arrested on 0:00:26.720 --> 0:00:31.319 June seventeenth, nineteen twenty, accused of fatally poisoning her. Let's 0:00:31.320 --> 0:00:34.640 look at what happened, the messy trial and the one 0:00:34.760 --> 0:00:38.920 detail that got Harold acquitted. Welcome to Criminalia. I'm Maria 0:00:38.960 --> 0:00:39.919 Tremarky and. 0:00:39.920 --> 0:00:43.839 I'm Holly Frye. Let's get to know the Greenwoods first. 0:00:44.479 --> 0:00:47.400 Harold Greenwood was born on New Year's Day of eighteen 0:00:47.479 --> 0:00:51.519 seventy four to William Greenwood, a landed gentleman, and his 0:00:51.560 --> 0:00:56.360 wife Isabella, at Ingleton in Yorkshire, England. Mabel Bowater was 0:00:56.360 --> 0:00:59.760 born on September third, eighteen seventy one, to William and 0:00:59.800 --> 0:01:04.840 al Liza Bowater of the Prosperous Bowater Multinational paper milling Company. 0:01:05.800 --> 0:01:09.160 In June of eighteen ninety six, Harold and Mabel married, 0:01:09.280 --> 0:01:12.680 and they went on to have four children, Edith, Irene, 0:01:12.760 --> 0:01:19.319 Isabel Mabel, Eileen Norman Ivor Vansittart Bowater and John Kenneth. 0:01:19.800 --> 0:01:22.959 At the time of our story, Edith known as Irene, 0:01:23.040 --> 0:01:24.959 was the only child living at home. 0:01:25.440 --> 0:01:28.840 Harold was a Yorkshire solicitor, but the family was really 0:01:28.959 --> 0:01:34.440 supported by Mabel's independent income. She was a paper mill heiress. 0:01:34.600 --> 0:01:37.880 Harold bought himself into a partnership in Clan Leslie in 0:01:38.000 --> 0:01:42.160 southwestern Wales, where the family lived before moving into Rumsey 0:01:42.200 --> 0:01:45.759 House in Kidwelly in eighteen ninety eight. It was here 0:01:45.880 --> 0:01:50.280 where Harold set up his own practice. Other lawyers didn't 0:01:50.440 --> 0:01:54.720 care much for Harold because his clientele primarily included quote, 0:01:55.360 --> 0:01:59.680 a less desirable element. It was true he primarily got 0:01:59.720 --> 0:02:02.480 his work work by undercutting local solicitors and acting for 0:02:02.600 --> 0:02:06.200 money lenders. The people in town generally thought poorly of 0:02:06.240 --> 0:02:09.560 Harold as well, because he was a married man with 0:02:09.639 --> 0:02:13.800 an eye for younger women Mabel. Though people liked Mabel. 0:02:14.120 --> 0:02:16.760 She was held in high esteem by friends and neighbors. 0:02:17.200 --> 0:02:21.320 Always took part in local social gatherings and regularly attended 0:02:21.360 --> 0:02:24.840 Saint Mary's Church services on Sundays. She was friendly and 0:02:24.880 --> 0:02:25.840 she was agreeable. 0:02:26.760 --> 0:02:30.720 Mabel was long considered to be a bit of a hypochondriac, 0:02:31.080 --> 0:02:33.880 and she had endured a series of fainting spells with 0:02:34.000 --> 0:02:38.160 no discernible cause. It was generally considered that a weak 0:02:38.280 --> 0:02:41.640 heart was the reason for her ills. She had been 0:02:41.680 --> 0:02:44.880 the patient of doctor Thomas Roberts Griffiths for more than 0:02:44.880 --> 0:02:47.880 a decade, and on more than one occasion complained to 0:02:47.960 --> 0:02:50.840 him of pains in her chest and in her abdomen. 0:02:51.240 --> 0:02:54.680 Doctor Griffiths advised it was just quote the change of 0:02:54.760 --> 0:02:58.760 life and sent her home with medication. During the first 0:02:58.800 --> 0:03:02.760 six months of nineteen nineteen, Mabel suffered a marked deterioration 0:03:02.960 --> 0:03:06.360 in her health, but no one could pinpoint why. 0:03:07.240 --> 0:03:10.960 Let's talk about Mabel's health and her activities in the 0:03:11.080 --> 0:03:15.280 days leading up to her death, specifically between June twelfth 0:03:15.320 --> 0:03:18.880 and June sixteenth. Those are the days of her rapid decline. 0:03:19.520 --> 0:03:22.760 On June twelfth, which was a Thursday, she attended a 0:03:22.760 --> 0:03:25.680 meeting of the antiquarians in the town Hall, where it 0:03:25.760 --> 0:03:29.440 was observed by others that she looked quite sickly. When 0:03:29.440 --> 0:03:32.480 she saw her dressmaker the next day, she mentioned she 0:03:32.560 --> 0:03:35.760 was looking forward to seeing her sister, Edith Bowater. Her 0:03:35.800 --> 0:03:39.560 dressmaker later stated she worried about Mabel's health and hoped 0:03:39.600 --> 0:03:41.360 she'd have the energy for that visit. 0:03:42.240 --> 0:03:47.120 That Saturday, Mabel called on Martha Morris, formerly a nanny 0:03:47.160 --> 0:03:50.960 to the Greenwood's daughter Irene, and she returned without complaint, 0:03:51.680 --> 0:03:55.400 but add Martha to the list of people who noticed 0:03:55.400 --> 0:03:59.440 that Mabel looked quite ill. On her way home from 0:03:59.440 --> 0:04:02.120 their visit, Mabel bought a bottle of wine to be 0:04:02.160 --> 0:04:06.280 served at the family's Sunday lunch. That afternoon, she attended 0:04:06.360 --> 0:04:09.600 a tennis match at Ferryside, just about five miles away, 0:04:10.120 --> 0:04:14.360 sharing a carriage with the Reverend Ambrose joan vicar of Kidwillie. 0:04:14.760 --> 0:04:18.920 They later returned together by the same route. Mostly on 0:04:18.960 --> 0:04:22.400 the return trip, Mabel met Irene at Kidwelly station and 0:04:22.480 --> 0:04:26.120 the two walked about a half mile home together. Upon 0:04:26.200 --> 0:04:29.440 returning home, Mabel reported that she had had a fine time, 0:04:29.800 --> 0:04:33.240 but she was completely exhausted. She went to bed early. 0:04:34.080 --> 0:04:36.920 The next day. None of the Greenwoods were seen at 0:04:37.000 --> 0:04:40.400 church service. Irene read a novel in the garden while 0:04:40.400 --> 0:04:43.080 her father and his friend tinkered with the family car. 0:04:43.520 --> 0:04:46.200 Irene was to go out for a driving lesson that afternoon. 0:04:46.920 --> 0:04:51.080 Mabel caught up on her correspondents. Their cook observed while 0:04:51.080 --> 0:04:56.040 preparing Sunday lunch that quote, Missus Greenwood looked drawn and tired. 0:04:56.880 --> 0:04:59.320 The family sat down to their usual Sunday roast beef 0:04:59.400 --> 0:05:03.400 lunch with goose berry tart. Harold uncorked the bottle of wine, 0:05:03.440 --> 0:05:07.240 but according to one of their domestic help Hannah Williams, 0:05:07.600 --> 0:05:10.040 he was in the pantry for nearly half an hour 0:05:10.120 --> 0:05:13.599 while doing so, a detail she later told the police 0:05:13.680 --> 0:05:17.520 during their investigation of Mabel's death. But let's not get 0:05:17.520 --> 0:05:18.400 ahead of ourselves. 0:05:19.040 --> 0:05:22.560 After lunch, Mabel began to feel ill, and she started 0:05:22.560 --> 0:05:26.560 to suffer from diarrhea, and she blamed the tart, of 0:05:26.600 --> 0:05:29.520 which she said, quote, it must be the gooseberry tart. 0:05:29.760 --> 0:05:33.279 It always disagrees with me. Now there is truth to 0:05:33.360 --> 0:05:38.680 gooseberry's potentially leaving you feeling unpleasant. Gooseberry bushes contain the 0:05:38.720 --> 0:05:44.200 toxin hydrogen cyanide, and eating unripe berries can be dangerous, 0:05:44.279 --> 0:05:48.200 but ripe berries are perfectly safe. A few hours later, 0:05:48.320 --> 0:05:53.200 she began having quote, suffocating pains throughout her body. Her 0:05:53.279 --> 0:05:57.120 husband gave her brandy, but it caused her to vomit violently, 0:05:57.600 --> 0:06:01.800 so the family's doctor, doctor Griffiths, was called the doctor, 0:06:01.880 --> 0:06:04.600 who happened to just live across the street, prescribed her 0:06:04.640 --> 0:06:08.720 brandy and soda, and then he and Harold left Mabel 0:06:08.800 --> 0:06:10.920 to play several games of clock golf. 0:06:11.839 --> 0:06:15.359 It wasn't until early evening that doctor Griffith checked on 0:06:15.480 --> 0:06:20.200 his patient, who was definitely not better, and he sent 0:06:20.279 --> 0:06:24.560 over a bottle of bismuth to help relieve her gastrointestinal symptoms. It, 0:06:24.960 --> 0:06:29.000 like the brandy and soda, had no positive effect. Mabel's 0:06:29.040 --> 0:06:33.760 condition continued to worsen into the night. A friend, miss Phillips, 0:06:33.760 --> 0:06:36.560 called on her at about eight o'clock that Sunday night, 0:06:36.680 --> 0:06:41.119 and upon seeing her, immediately called for the district nurse, 0:06:41.320 --> 0:06:44.920 Elizabeth Jones to pay a visit. Nurse Jones lived close 0:06:44.960 --> 0:06:48.160 to the Greenwood's home, but despite that, by the time 0:06:48.200 --> 0:06:51.000 she arrived, Mabel had collapsed and had been moved to 0:06:51.040 --> 0:06:55.919 her bed. The nurse assumed incorrectly that the medicine on 0:06:55.960 --> 0:06:59.040 Mabel's nightstand was that which was previously given to her 0:06:59.120 --> 0:07:02.600 by doctor Griffin for her heart condition, and she gave 0:07:02.640 --> 0:07:07.000 Mabel another dose. What that medication was, we aren't sure. 0:07:07.440 --> 0:07:11.080 We do know that it didn't help. Later, this medication 0:07:11.120 --> 0:07:15.560 for the alleged heart condition mysteriously disappeared, along with all 0:07:15.640 --> 0:07:18.920 the bottles which had contained prescriptions by the doctor and 0:07:19.200 --> 0:07:22.160 all the patent medicines Mabel had ordered for herself. 0:07:22.680 --> 0:07:26.400 Nurse Jones returned later that night to check on Mabel's condition. 0:07:27.280 --> 0:07:30.760 Doctor Griffiths looked in on her once before midnight, when 0:07:30.800 --> 0:07:35.920 her gastro intestinal pain and diarrhea became uncontrollable. The doctor 0:07:36.120 --> 0:07:40.080 failed to examine her or her bowel movements. He was 0:07:40.160 --> 0:07:43.320 not thorough, and that lack of detail would be called 0:07:43.320 --> 0:07:47.240 into question when he testified about her death. Not long 0:07:47.280 --> 0:07:50.960 after midnight. Mabel asked if she was dying, and she 0:07:51.080 --> 0:07:54.280 told the nurse quote, if I don't recover, Nurse Jones, 0:07:54.560 --> 0:07:56.960 I'd like my sister to look after the children and 0:07:57.000 --> 0:07:59.960 bring them up. Irene still needs mothering. 0:08:00.800 --> 0:08:04.200 Seeing her mother in dire straits, Irene in the middle 0:08:04.240 --> 0:08:06.880 of the night pleaded with her father to call again 0:08:06.960 --> 0:08:11.000 for the doctor. He did, but he curiously had no 0:08:11.280 --> 0:08:14.400 urgency on his way across the street, instead chatting with 0:08:14.560 --> 0:08:18.400 Mary Griffiths, the doctor's sister and a woman he often 0:08:18.440 --> 0:08:23.760 flirted with. An hour later, he returned home alone, and 0:08:23.800 --> 0:08:26.440 Irene and Nurse Jones watched as he was unable to 0:08:26.480 --> 0:08:31.000 stifle a yawn while they told him about Mabel's steep decline. 0:08:31.160 --> 0:08:34.240 While his wife was dying, Harold went to bed, an 0:08:34.320 --> 0:08:37.800 act that would later become evidence against him in court. 0:08:38.480 --> 0:08:41.319 He was woken by the nurse, who was apoplectic at 0:08:41.320 --> 0:08:46.199 his behavior and insisted, quote, you must fetch doctor Griffiths 0:08:46.200 --> 0:08:48.840 without delay. This may be a crisis. 0:08:49.240 --> 0:08:53.880 Harold went out again, but returned again without the doctor, 0:08:54.040 --> 0:08:57.400 whom he had found asleep and did not want to wake. 0:08:58.400 --> 0:09:00.720 Not having any more of this non sense, and with 0:09:00.800 --> 0:09:04.800 a patient's health rapidly declining, Nurse Jones ran across the 0:09:04.840 --> 0:09:08.559 street herself to rouse the doctor, who gave his patient 0:09:08.720 --> 0:09:12.800 morphine pills. But Mabel, during all of this chaos, had 0:09:12.840 --> 0:09:16.720 become violently ill. She then lapsed into a coma and 0:09:16.840 --> 0:09:19.600 passed away at three point thirty in the morning of Monday, 0:09:19.679 --> 0:09:24.720 June sixteenth. Doctor Griffith signed her death certificate, stating her 0:09:24.760 --> 0:09:28.720 cause of death was valvular disease of the heart. She 0:09:28.920 --> 0:09:30.679 was interred on Thursday. 0:09:31.520 --> 0:09:33.280 We are going to take a break for a word 0:09:33.320 --> 0:09:37.079 from our sponsors. When we're back, we'll talk about marriage 0:09:37.280 --> 0:09:39.280 motives and arsenic. 0:09:54.160 --> 0:09:59.679 Welcome back to Criminalia. The local community was convinced Harold 0:09:59.720 --> 0:10:03.040 was going guilty of murdering his wife, and it wasn't 0:10:03.120 --> 0:10:07.320 all gossip. Let's talk about how their outrage helped get 0:10:07.360 --> 0:10:09.439 some answers about Mabel's death. 0:10:09.960 --> 0:10:13.560 It was a blink of an eye moment after his 0:10:13.640 --> 0:10:17.840 wife's burial that Harold proposed marriage to another woman, the 0:10:17.920 --> 0:10:23.720 doctor's sister Mary. When she refused him, he promptly proposed 0:10:23.760 --> 0:10:28.280 to yet another woman, Gladys Jones. He had known Gladys 0:10:28.360 --> 0:10:31.560 since her childhood, having been friendly with her father, William, 0:10:31.640 --> 0:10:36.840 a businessman for decades. Harold and Gladys did marry just 0:10:37.320 --> 0:10:41.880 months after Harold became widowed, but there were no congratulations 0:10:41.960 --> 0:10:45.400 to the couple. Mabel had been active in the community 0:10:45.440 --> 0:10:49.280 and she'd been popular, so when Harold remarried as quickly 0:10:49.280 --> 0:10:52.560 as he did after her death, many people were outraged. 0:10:53.240 --> 0:10:56.240 People were expecting him to follow a reasonable length of 0:10:56.320 --> 0:10:59.160 time to grieve his wife's death, and they didn't think 0:10:59.320 --> 0:11:04.720 three months was sufficient. By October, about four months after 0:11:04.800 --> 0:11:08.960 Mabel's death, the local rumor mill was so hot that 0:11:09.000 --> 0:11:13.480 the police decided they needed to do something. By Christmas, 0:11:13.679 --> 0:11:17.400 gossip about the Greenwoods and especially how Mabel may have 0:11:17.559 --> 0:11:21.840 died had reached a fever pitch. Though authorities considered her 0:11:21.880 --> 0:11:25.959 death to be of natural causes, the public disagreed. They 0:11:26.000 --> 0:11:29.520 pointed the finger at her husband. The coroner agreed to 0:11:29.559 --> 0:11:32.839 an inquest, hoping to clear up the growing mystery and 0:11:32.960 --> 0:11:36.360 quell the anger. When Harold was informed there would be 0:11:36.440 --> 0:11:40.160 an examination of his wife's body, he replied, quote, just 0:11:40.320 --> 0:11:42.640 the very thing. I am quite agreeable. 0:11:43.160 --> 0:11:45.880 Forensics at this time were not what we know them 0:11:45.960 --> 0:11:48.640 as today, but there was a test that was highly 0:11:48.679 --> 0:11:53.080 sensitive to even the tiniest amounts of arsenic and human tissue. 0:11:53.640 --> 0:11:57.320 That was the Marsh test. This method was discovered and 0:11:57.480 --> 0:12:01.560 created by British chemist James M. Mars in eighteen thirty six, 0:12:02.040 --> 0:12:05.240 and while it's best known because it worked, it's also 0:12:05.520 --> 0:12:09.160 known as the first use of toxicology in a jury 0:12:09.240 --> 0:12:12.599 trial that happened years before this case, though in the 0:12:12.679 --> 0:12:13.640 nineteenth century. 0:12:14.600 --> 0:12:18.640 Arsenic has a history back to ancient times as a 0:12:18.720 --> 0:12:22.800 potent poison, but it wasn't always used in that capacity. 0:12:23.000 --> 0:12:27.600 Though it's always been toxic, nineteenth century women applied arsenic 0:12:27.640 --> 0:12:30.800 powder to whiten their faces, and it became a popular 0:12:30.960 --> 0:12:35.440 ingredient in cosmetics. It was thought that arsenic consumption would 0:12:35.480 --> 0:12:38.840 give quote beauty and freshness to the skin, and in 0:12:38.960 --> 0:12:43.840 nineteen nineteen, doctor Campbell's safe arsenic wafers promised to clear 0:12:43.920 --> 0:12:47.480 up acne and rashes, and it flew off store shelves. 0:12:48.080 --> 0:12:51.920 Arsenic was also used as a pharmaceutical agent as a 0:12:51.960 --> 0:13:00.720 remedy for various diseases, including asthma, korea, ezema, psoriasis, rheumatism, syphilis, tiburgulosis, 0:13:00.760 --> 0:13:05.559 and even ulcers. It was also a popular ingredient in pesticides. 0:13:06.400 --> 0:13:09.680 In its pure form, arsenic is a silvery gray color, 0:13:09.760 --> 0:13:13.480 but when compounded with copper salts, it creates some beautiful 0:13:13.559 --> 0:13:17.080 green colors, and because of that, it was commonly used 0:13:17.080 --> 0:13:20.760 in fabrics and other home goods. It was deadly in 0:13:20.880 --> 0:13:23.880 all forms, but it was also kind of everywhere in 0:13:23.960 --> 0:13:27.520 small amounts. It was popular as a poison because it 0:13:27.600 --> 0:13:31.480 was also an odorless and tasteless powder that dissolved easily 0:13:31.520 --> 0:13:36.520 in hot liquids and foods. Early symptoms mimic food poisoning. 0:13:36.880 --> 0:13:41.640 Depending on the dosage, arsenic might produce severe diarrhea and vomiting, 0:13:42.200 --> 0:13:46.680 or more serious symptoms including paralysis and death. About a 0:13:46.679 --> 0:13:50.960 month before his wife's death, Harold had purchased Cooper's Weedicide, 0:13:51.240 --> 0:13:55.480 a weed killer containing arsenic that in itself, though, isn't 0:13:55.480 --> 0:13:58.320 a clue that he was the murderer, because anyone could 0:13:58.320 --> 0:14:00.760 buy it or items in which it was an ingredient, 0:14:00.920 --> 0:14:04.280 and a lot of people did with no malicious intent 0:14:04.400 --> 0:14:08.040 for its use. The only requirement was you did have 0:14:08.120 --> 0:14:12.160 to sign the poisons register, basically a record of purchases, 0:14:13.040 --> 0:14:15.520 or you could send someone else to buy it for 0:14:15.600 --> 0:14:17.640 you if you wanted to keep your name out of 0:14:17.679 --> 0:14:18.439 the books. 0:14:18.920 --> 0:14:23.320 Mabel's body was exhumed for testing, and doctor Webster, a 0:14:23.440 --> 0:14:27.400 home office analyst, was called in. He calculated by the 0:14:27.400 --> 0:14:30.880 marsh test that her remains contained point two five to 0:14:31.360 --> 0:14:35.760 point five grain of arsenic, which equals sixteen to thirty 0:14:35.760 --> 0:14:39.680 two milligrams. A dose less than an eighth of a 0:14:39.760 --> 0:14:44.960 teaspoon can be fatal. The coroner, JW. Nicholas, noted her 0:14:45.000 --> 0:14:49.360 body showed no evidence of heart disease. He also noted 0:14:49.360 --> 0:14:52.280 he found no traces of morphia, nor did he find 0:14:52.360 --> 0:14:56.800 cyanide from unripe gooseberries. Accordingly, after seeing the results of 0:14:56.840 --> 0:14:59.920 the examination of the body, an inquest was held on 0:15:00.000 --> 0:15:01.840 in June sixteenth, nineteen twenty. 0:15:02.360 --> 0:15:07.480 Harold did not attend the inquest. Mister Ludform, who represented him, 0:15:07.680 --> 0:15:11.800 kick things off not with anything medically oriented, but with 0:15:11.880 --> 0:15:16.520 a gossip forward statement. He accused the Vicar of being 0:15:16.600 --> 0:15:21.000 a top gossip who had and continued to malign his client, 0:15:21.160 --> 0:15:25.520 who was a grieving widower. The reverend had enjoyed Mabel's company. 0:15:25.720 --> 0:15:30.120 That was true, but when Harold accidental or otherwise failed 0:15:30.120 --> 0:15:33.720 to send the formal death certificate to the Vicar's office, 0:15:34.120 --> 0:15:36.200 it was in a mission that led the reverend to 0:15:36.360 --> 0:15:41.000 voice his personal opinions and suspicion in regard to Harold's 0:15:41.040 --> 0:15:44.840 role in Mabel's death. A similar finger pointing tactic was 0:15:44.960 --> 0:15:48.280 used against Miss Phillips, a woman who tried to save 0:15:48.320 --> 0:15:50.880 Mabel's life on the night of her death, calling her 0:15:51.000 --> 0:15:56.360 quote a treacherous busybody and quote the kidwelly postman because 0:15:56.360 --> 0:15:59.040 of how fast she was a disseminating gossip. 0:16:00.120 --> 0:16:03.000 But it wasn't the gossip. It was the medical results, 0:16:03.320 --> 0:16:06.480 the results of the marsh test, and the fact that 0:16:06.520 --> 0:16:10.640 Harold had purchased weedkillers shortly before Mabel's death that led 0:16:10.680 --> 0:16:15.480 to the jury's return of a unanimous verdict quote murder 0:16:15.680 --> 0:16:21.400 by arsenical poisoning administered by Harold Greenwood. Harold had one 0:16:21.480 --> 0:16:25.360 comment regarding that verdict and it was quote oh dear. 0:16:26.200 --> 0:16:28.640 He was arrested the next day and charged with the 0:16:28.720 --> 0:16:29.720 murder of his wife. 0:16:30.360 --> 0:16:32.200 We're going to take a break here for a word 0:16:32.240 --> 0:16:35.000 from our sponsors, and when we come back, we will 0:16:35.000 --> 0:16:37.760 take a dive into Harold Greenwood's trial. 0:16:50.000 --> 0:16:54.720 Welcome back to Criminalia. Harold Greenwood's trial began one year 0:16:54.880 --> 0:16:58.160 and four months after he was accused and arrested of 0:16:58.240 --> 0:17:02.200 fatally poisoning his wife with d arsenic. Let's talk about 0:17:02.240 --> 0:17:03.320 what happened in the courtroom. 0:17:03.800 --> 0:17:07.800 The trial began on November second, nineteen twenty, at Carmarthinissizes 0:17:07.960 --> 0:17:12.040 before Sir Montague Sherman. Lead prosecutor for the crown was 0:17:12.080 --> 0:17:16.080 Sir Edward Marley Sampson, who was a very experienced prosecutor. 0:17:16.520 --> 0:17:20.359 The lead defense counsel, Sir Edward Marshall Hall, was considered 0:17:20.760 --> 0:17:25.360 and probably was Britain's best known defense lawyer. If there 0:17:25.359 --> 0:17:28.640 were celebrity lawyers in nineteen twenty, and surely to some 0:17:28.720 --> 0:17:32.880 degree there were, he was one. This whole event lasted 0:17:32.960 --> 0:17:34.160 seven days. 0:17:34.520 --> 0:17:38.080 You know, it's easy to forget that Harold himself was 0:17:38.119 --> 0:17:40.240 a solicitor, so if he was going to be looking 0:17:40.280 --> 0:17:44.000 for the best defense lawyer, he probably knew this guy. 0:17:44.840 --> 0:17:49.040 He knew. All of the prosecution's case was based on 0:17:49.359 --> 0:17:54.000 this that solicitor Harold Greenwood had murdered his wife for 0:17:54.040 --> 0:17:58.160 her money, and it wasn't really a strong case. It 0:17:58.240 --> 0:18:00.600 was alleged that he had put our snick in a 0:18:00.640 --> 0:18:03.520 bottle of wine from which the victim had drunk several 0:18:03.560 --> 0:18:07.840 hours before she died. The prosecution considered Mabel's wealth to 0:18:07.880 --> 0:18:11.800 be a motive, but what motive Harold had financially was 0:18:11.880 --> 0:18:15.840 much less clear as the evidence was laid out. Another 0:18:15.920 --> 0:18:19.199 possible motive came in testimony by a male acquaintance, who 0:18:19.280 --> 0:18:23.399 stated that Harold did not quote have a single man 0:18:23.480 --> 0:18:27.320 friend and was fond of stirring up mischief and trouble. 0:18:27.640 --> 0:18:30.439 On the other hand, he was exceedingly popular with the 0:18:30.480 --> 0:18:34.880 opposite sex. The prosecution played this up, claiming that there 0:18:34.880 --> 0:18:37.920 had been fighting in the Greenwood home because Harold had 0:18:37.920 --> 0:18:42.120 a wandering eye and wanted to remarry or just live 0:18:42.160 --> 0:18:45.119 as the cad he was while he was a leccher, 0:18:45.160 --> 0:18:47.840 There was no evidence of any such quarrels. 0:18:48.520 --> 0:18:51.280 While local gossip had played a part in the case, 0:18:51.440 --> 0:18:55.480 recalled that's how Mabel's forensic examination even happened in the 0:18:55.480 --> 0:18:59.480 first place, there were salient facts upon which the swirling 0:18:59.560 --> 0:19:03.880 rumors were founded. The defense brought Hannah Williams to the stand, 0:19:04.000 --> 0:19:07.520 the domestic worker in the Greenwood home who testified for 0:19:07.560 --> 0:19:10.840 the prosecution that Mabel was the only one to drink 0:19:10.880 --> 0:19:14.600 the wine at lunch that day. She had also stated 0:19:14.640 --> 0:19:17.800 that Harold had spent thirty minutes in the pantry opening 0:19:17.880 --> 0:19:20.840 that bottle of wine before serving it to Mabel on 0:19:20.920 --> 0:19:26.000 the day she died. She admitted to Hall during cross examination, though, 0:19:26.320 --> 0:19:29.680 that she had been coached by investigators to change her 0:19:29.720 --> 0:19:34.399 story to one that would better implicate Harold. In fact, 0:19:34.560 --> 0:19:37.480 her story had changed more than once during the trial. 0:19:38.240 --> 0:19:41.600 Had he really been in the pantry that long? Hall 0:19:41.720 --> 0:19:45.440 turned her into someone not to be trusted. He also 0:19:45.800 --> 0:19:47.560 made her cry on the stand. 0:19:48.080 --> 0:19:52.600 And then the medical testimony. When doctor Webster was called 0:19:52.600 --> 0:19:55.199 to testify about the results of the marsh test, he 0:19:55.320 --> 0:19:58.480 produced a series of glass tubes which he called mirrors, 0:19:58.840 --> 0:20:01.400 which he explained to the cour he'd used to prove 0:20:01.440 --> 0:20:05.680 the presence of arsenic in Mabel Greenwood's body. In Harold's defense, 0:20:05.840 --> 0:20:10.280 Hall threw all sorts of poisoning examples at him, some ludicrous. 0:20:10.920 --> 0:20:14.399 These two examples stood out to us. One maybe the 0:20:14.440 --> 0:20:18.000 weed killer purchased by Harold had seeped into the gooseberries 0:20:18.040 --> 0:20:21.399 that Mabel had eaten the day she died. Or maybe 0:20:21.400 --> 0:20:25.120 two that the arsenic had blown in the wind and 0:20:25.160 --> 0:20:30.480 Mabel unknowingly inhaled it. Doctor Webster didn't play along and 0:20:30.720 --> 0:20:33.360 stuck with the numbers, not the speculation. 0:20:34.480 --> 0:20:39.280 Then there was doctor Griffiths, whose testimony was really just 0:20:39.320 --> 0:20:42.879 a big old miss state at Hall during his cross 0:20:42.880 --> 0:20:47.520 examination of Mabel's longtime doctor, quote, have you the smallest 0:20:47.600 --> 0:20:50.840 doubt whatever that if you, as a medical man, were 0:20:51.000 --> 0:20:53.880 accurate when you said you gave her two half grains 0:20:53.920 --> 0:20:56.680 of morphia after ten o'clock, that she would have been 0:20:56.760 --> 0:21:00.960 dead before four o'clock. Griffis replied, quote, if I had 0:21:00.960 --> 0:21:03.080 given her morphia, as she would but I did not 0:21:03.280 --> 0:21:08.800 give her morphia. But Griffiths had previously testified for the 0:21:08.840 --> 0:21:11.960 prosecution and during the inquest that he had done so. 0:21:12.680 --> 0:21:16.240 During the inquest, he stated he had given his patient morphine, 0:21:16.640 --> 0:21:19.920 but during cross examination he stated he had given her 0:21:20.000 --> 0:21:25.040 opium and bismuth, not morphine. Hall stated to the court 0:21:25.119 --> 0:21:28.520 that either morphine or opium could have killed Mabel, and 0:21:28.800 --> 0:21:33.400 insinuated that doctor Griffiths hadn't properly attended to his patient. 0:21:33.960 --> 0:21:37.360 Stated Hall to the doctor, quote, if missus Greenwood took 0:21:37.600 --> 0:21:41.520 under doctor's orders a drug in a dangerous quantity, and 0:21:41.680 --> 0:21:45.720 soon afterwards sank into a state of coma, the natural 0:21:45.800 --> 0:21:48.679 result of such a dose of morphia, from which she 0:21:48.760 --> 0:21:52.560 never recovered, it would be difficult to attribute her death 0:21:52.640 --> 0:21:55.760 to her husband. Whether arsenic was found in her body 0:21:55.800 --> 0:22:01.560 months after her death or not. Griffiths replied simply, quote yes. 0:22:02.720 --> 0:22:06.000 Paul also noted that doctor Griffiths may have made another 0:22:06.119 --> 0:22:10.919 deadly error. Quote if by some unfortunate mistake, you, in 0:22:11.000 --> 0:22:15.000 the anxiety and hurry gave her four tea spoonfuls of 0:22:15.080 --> 0:22:18.639 Fowler's solution, you would have got all the arsenic that 0:22:18.800 --> 0:22:21.879 was found or more, and there would be practically no 0:22:22.080 --> 0:22:28.000 distinction in the mixture. Griffiths replied, quote no, they resemble 0:22:28.040 --> 0:22:32.680 each other. Hearing this admission of a possible medical mistake, 0:22:33.240 --> 0:22:36.240 the judge surmised that if true, it could amount to 0:22:36.280 --> 0:22:40.639 an accusation of criminal negligence. As you recall from earlier 0:22:40.680 --> 0:22:43.880 in the episode, someone had destroyed the bottles that had 0:22:43.920 --> 0:22:47.960 been on Mabel's bedside table. It had been Griffiths who 0:22:48.000 --> 0:22:52.080 had also destroyed his prescription books, and now he lacked 0:22:52.119 --> 0:22:56.119 evidence that may have saved his contradictory testimony. When the 0:22:56.160 --> 0:22:59.679 defense questioned why he would destroy all those records, the 0:22:59.720 --> 0:23:02.600 doctor replied, quote, I don't remember. 0:23:03.640 --> 0:23:08.359 The defense next called a poison expert, Colonel Toogood, to testify. 0:23:09.440 --> 0:23:12.080 Too Good, who had not been part of the coroner's inquest, 0:23:12.280 --> 0:23:16.680 stated that Mabel had indeed died from morphia poisoning following 0:23:16.760 --> 0:23:23.000 acute gastrointitis caused by eating gooseberry skins. Doctor William Griffiths, 0:23:23.119 --> 0:23:27.159 now note this is a different doctor Griffiths than Mabel's doctor, 0:23:27.720 --> 0:23:31.640 also testified for the defense regarding arsenic poisoning, stating that, 0:23:32.040 --> 0:23:35.040 and we're going to paraphrase to sum up his statement, 0:23:35.520 --> 0:23:37.959 a quarter of a grain of arsenic in a body 0:23:38.119 --> 0:23:41.800 was not conclusive evidence that it had caused death. He 0:23:41.840 --> 0:23:44.719 backed that up, stating that an adult could handle as 0:23:44.800 --> 0:23:46.800 much as two and a half grains of arsenic in 0:23:46.840 --> 0:23:50.479 their body before any ill effect. It wasn't just the 0:23:50.480 --> 0:23:54.679 testimony of Mabel's doctor that was a mess. The entire 0:23:54.880 --> 0:23:58.879 medical testimony was kind of bonkers when it came to contradiction. 0:24:00.119 --> 0:24:03.080 Today, Harold was called as a witness in his own defense. 0:24:03.560 --> 0:24:07.840 The streets were lined with spectators, his carriage to and 0:24:07.880 --> 0:24:11.080 from court was given a special escort of mounted police, 0:24:11.480 --> 0:24:16.119 and he was subjected to angry demonstrations. On the stand, 0:24:16.320 --> 0:24:20.840 Harold denied any involvement in his wife's death and withstood 0:24:20.960 --> 0:24:26.240 lengthy cross examination from the prosecution. The prosecution's case began 0:24:26.359 --> 0:24:29.600 to fall apart, though, when it was revealed that Mabel's 0:24:29.600 --> 0:24:33.119 inheritance would not pass to her husband upon her death, 0:24:33.680 --> 0:24:37.440 it would all go to the children. Paul asked Harold, 0:24:37.560 --> 0:24:40.520 quote had you anything to do with your wife's death, 0:24:41.080 --> 0:24:45.680 and he replied, quote, nothing whatever. Paul continued, quote after 0:24:45.800 --> 0:24:50.760 your wife's death, what happened to her private means? Harold replied, quote, 0:24:50.920 --> 0:24:54.720 they went to her children. It was true that Harold's 0:24:54.760 --> 0:24:57.439 practice wasn't doing well, and that he had lost a 0:24:57.480 --> 0:24:59.800 good deal of his wife's money trying to save it. 0:25:00.240 --> 0:25:03.040 But it was also true that Mabel had been the 0:25:03.160 --> 0:25:07.399 life tenant of her father's estate, which means she was 0:25:07.440 --> 0:25:11.520 the property owner for life, and following her death, the 0:25:11.560 --> 0:25:15.880 Bowwater fortune passed in equal shares to the Greenwood children, 0:25:16.000 --> 0:25:20.800 whose trustees controlled it. Harold got nothing from her death, 0:25:21.440 --> 0:25:25.200 and the prosecution's case took a big hit. That had 0:25:25.200 --> 0:25:29.239 been their motive. That Harold didn't financially gain from his 0:25:29.320 --> 0:25:33.000 wife's death, however, quieted down some of the rumors that 0:25:33.080 --> 0:25:36.640 he was guilty of murdering Mabel for her money. 0:25:36.840 --> 0:25:40.560 Some The witness that closed the case, at least as 0:25:40.600 --> 0:25:45.600 far as the judge was concerned, was the Greenwood's eldest daughter, Irene, 0:25:45.880 --> 0:25:49.880 aged twenty two at the time, who testified that at 0:25:49.880 --> 0:25:53.879 that particular Sunday lunch, she had two glasses of the 0:25:53.960 --> 0:25:57.359 wine her father had uncorked the bottle in question from 0:25:57.400 --> 0:26:01.239 the pantry, followed by a third glass that evening, and 0:26:01.320 --> 0:26:05.080 she had no ill effects from it. To this, the 0:26:05.160 --> 0:26:08.479 judge stated, quote, if she also drank from the bottle, 0:26:08.800 --> 0:26:12.639 there is an end of the case. Her testimony essentially 0:26:12.880 --> 0:26:14.160 led to her father's acquittal. 0:26:14.920 --> 0:26:18.600