A scottish murder - part 2

Earlier, I write a post about a book that makes the case that Madeline Smith did not murder her lover, but I didn't really go into details about the case itself.

Scene of Emiles death, 1st floor up above the door

In the original case, Madeline was found 'Not Proved', a Scottish verdict that lets someone go free due to a lack of a concrete conviction. It's probably the reason why this case hasn't been forgotten yet. Although, given how scandalising the story was, it was unlikely to have been forgotten until the twentieth century anyway, and on the surface of it the story is interesting - young socialite slowly posions her lover by feeding him it via hot chocolate outside her bedroom window.

 Anyway, here is the case for the prosecution:
 - L'Anglier definitely was blackmailing her.
 - Madeline has the motive to poison L'Angelier. Madeline repeatedly bought arsenic in this period.
 - L'Angelier dies of arsenic poisoning.
 - L'Angelier frequently mentions suspicions that Madeline is poisoning him.



Case for the defence:

Madelines house, 3 years later

- L'Angelier frequently mentions suspicions that Madeline is poisoning him. Why would you accept anything from someone if you thought that?
- L'Angelier was an arsenic eater, which he consumed because he believed it gave him health benefits. It is possible that he consumed it as part of his blackmail attempt, believing himself to be more immune to its poison than your average person.
- At the autopsy, L'Angeliers stomach was found to contain 87 grains of arsenic. That's way too much for him to have swallowed and not to have been aware.



Case for ambiguity:
- When the arsenic was autopsied from his stomach, the coroner did not check the colour of the arsenic, he only checked for the presence of arsenic. If he had checked for colour, this would have indicated the source of the arsenic poisoning (it would certainly have confirmed or denied the case for the prosecution, that it was fed to him through hot chocolate).

 Again, I have no idea if Madeline Smith did it. She had a lot to lose socially, and she did buy a lot of arsenic. On the other hand, Emile's behaviour was downright odd in the weeks and months leading up to his death. But then, this is what makes it one of those mysteries that'll never go away.