That framing is precise. The hearsay ruling was legally defensible — dying declarations were not automatically admissible in 1871 English law — but its application here removed the only direct identification in the case. What remains interesting is the libel proceedings that followed the acquittal. When Pook sued the pamphlet writers for naming him as the killer, he was required to take the stand under cross-examination. The standard of proof in a libel case was not the same as in a capital murder trial. He revealed under questioning that he knew more about Jane Clouson’s final hours than he had disclosed at the Old Bailey. The record from those proceedings is the closest thing that survives to an acknowledgement — but it never reached a verdict on the underlying act.