Herbert Rowse Armstrong - Arsenic Poisoning

Arsenic Poisoning

Then Armstrong had to explain his habits concerning arsenic or the white powder, arsenic trioxide. He claimed that it was his practice to put small portions of arsenic into individual pouches, which he squirted into the ground near spots where dandelions tended to grow. One small pouch was found on his person following his arrest, and there was no reasonable explanation offered for his carrying it around, particularly as the arrest was in December. Armstrong did not come off well in a cross-examination by Mr Justice Darling concerning this point.

Much later, after the trial, two possible motives emerged for Katharine Armstrong's poisoning. Firstly, the Major had decided he wanted a different, more congenial wife. Secondly, Katharine had written a will in 1917 leaving the bulk of her estate not to her husband, but to their children. Armstrong produced a new will following his wife's death, giving him control of her estate, but studies suggest that it was probably forged. For some time before the Velinewydd estate affair Armstrong's business had been in financial difficulties. The difficulties in relation to the sale of the Velinewydd estate made things even worse for him.

However, the evidence against Armstrong, though considerable, was nonetheless purely circumstantial. No one had actually seen the Major administering poison, and at the time of his arrest he had made no attempt to draw upon his dead wife's fortune. Mrs Armstrong had occasionally spoken of suicide, some medicines contained arsenic, and there were plenty of other people coming into contact with her at Mayfield. The prosecution failed to show how it was Armstrong and only Armstrong who administered poison, and no one else. As for the Martin poisoning, the money to cover the Velinewydd deposits would still need to have been found even if Martin had died, and Mrs Armstrong's funds would not have covered it. In short, other than gaining a little time, the death of Martin would not in any way have relieved the Major's business problems. Armstrong made no confession, and adamantly maintained his total innocence to the bitter end.