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Dr. Lamson was tried at the Old Bailey, London, for the murder of his nephew, Percy Malcolm John. This is one of the few cases recorded where the poison used was aconitine.
Lamson visited John, who was in residence at Blenheim House School, and, in presence of the headmaster, gave him a piece of cake and a capsule, the latter supposedly as medicine. Lamson then left hurriedly and the young man became suddenly ill; he died the same evening after suffering great agony.
A motive for the murder was found in the fact that John possessed some small property, part of which was to revert to Lamson on the former's death; at the time the murderer was in considerable financial difficulty. Although great pressure was brought to bear to obtain a commutation of the sentence, especially from America, Lamson was eventually hanged.
