Thomas Smethurst

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Charge:	Murder
Sentence:	Death
Years Imprisoned:	0.5
Year Crime:	1859
Year Convicted:	1859
Year Cleared:	1859
U.S. State or Country of Crime:	United Kingdom
County or Region of Crime:	England
City of Crime:
Result:	Pardoned
Summary of Case:	"Dr. Thomas Smethurst convicted in 1859 of murdering his wife Isabella Bankes who died on May 3, 1859, allegedly by poisoning her. The primary evidence against Smethurst was a bottle found in his home that supposedly had arsenic in it. However, during the trial it was discovered that at the time of Smethurst's December 9, 1858 marriage to Isabella he was married to another woman, Mary Smethurst. Given the acceptable public morals of the time, that information in the eyes of the jury would be expected to be very damning "bad" character and "bad" acts evidence. After Smethurst's August 1859 conviction and sentence of death by hanging, it was determined there was no arsenic in the bottle, his wife who became sick in mid-March had been sickly prior to marrying Smethurst and likely died of natural causes, and Isabella knew at the time of the marriage that Smethurst was married to Mary. Smethurst was subsequently granted a free pardon by the Crown on November 14, 1859. Smethurst was prosecuted and convicted of bigamy and sentenced to prison for a year. Smethurst successfully pursued legal action to recover the money Isabella left to him in her will. After his release he resumed living with his wife Mary."
Conviction Caused By:	Reliance on a bottle found in Smethurst's house that was erroneously identified as having arsenic in it.
Innocence Proved By:	"Smethurst was subsequently granted a free pardon by the Crown on November 14, 1859."
Defendant Aided By:
Compensation Awarded:
Was Perpetrator Identified?
Age When Imprisoned:
Age When Released:
Sex:	Male
Skin/Ethnicity:	White
Information Source 1:	"The case of Thomas Smethurst, M.D.-- his trial, sentence, respite, and pardon for wilful murder and prosecution for bigamy, By A. Newton, Esq., Routledge, Warne and Routledge, London, 1859. (In the Harvard Law Library and available digitally online.)"
Information Location 1:	http://pds.lib.harvard.edu/pds/view/5787363
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Book About Case:	"The case of Thomas Smethurst, M.D.-- his trial, sentence, respite, and pardon for wilful murder and prosecution for bigamy, By A. Newton, Esq., Routledge, Warne and Routledge, London, 1859. (In the Harvard Law Library and available digitally online.)"
Book Information:	http://pds.lib.harvard.edu/pds/view/5787363
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Thomas Smethurst

Charge:

Murder

Sentence:

Death

Years Imprisoned:

0.5

Year Crime:

1859

Year Convicted:

1859

Year Cleared:

1859

U.S. State or Country of Crime:

United Kingdom

County or Region of Crime:

England

City of Crime:

Result:

Pardoned

Summary of Case:

Conviction Caused By:

Reliance on a bottle found in Smethurst's house that was erroneously identified as having arsenic in it.

Innocence Proved By:

"Smethurst was subsequently granted a free pardon by the Crown on November 14, 1859."

Defendant Aided By:

Compensation Awarded:

Was Perpetrator Identified?

Age When Imprisoned:

Age When Released:

Sex:

Male

Skin/Ethnicity:

White

Information Source 1:

"The case of Thomas Smethurst, M.D.-- his trial, sentence, respite, and pardon for wilful murder and prosecution for bigamy, By A. Newton, Esq., Routledge, Warne and Routledge, London, 1859. (In the Harvard Law Library and available digitally online.)"

Information Location 1:

http://pds.lib.harvard.edu/pds/view/5787363

Information Source 2:

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Book About Case:

"The case of Thomas Smethurst, M.D.-- his trial, sentence, respite, and pardon for wilful murder and prosecution for bigamy, By A. Newton, Esq., Routledge, Warne and Routledge, London, 1859. (In the Harvard Law Library and available digitally online.)"

Book Information:

http://pds.lib.harvard.edu/pds/view/5787363

Book About Case (2):

Book Information (2):

Movie About Case:

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