The Dorset County Express and Agricultural Gazette.
Dorchester, Dorset, England, 1862-12-09 00:00:00

tosile Intelligence.,

THE ROTDON HALL MUHDER.—The trial of the
Itoydon Hall poachers took place before Mr.. Justice
Byles, at Maidstone, on Wednesday. The history. of
the ease is as follows :—Early in the morning, or just
after midnight, on the 22nd of January last, on a fine
moonlight night, an under-game-keeper of Major Cook,
of Boyden-hall, East Peckham, in the parish of
Nettlasted, and an assistant were out watching, and,
bearing guns fired in a wood, they went and called up
Gray, the head gatnekeeper, and, with four others,
making seven in all, went through the wood towards
where the report of the guns was heard. After passing
through the wood they entered a meadow, and there
saw a party of from 10 to 13 men walking towards ano-
ther part of the wood on the opposite aid of the meadow.
When the men saw the gamekeepers after them they
turned round and faced them, being nearly twit* their
number, and armed, whereas it did not appear that the
gamekeepers had weapons, (except poor Gray, who had
a flail) and drew up in a line. Gray, the deceased
gamekeeper, and five of the aesistants, went forward to-
wards the men, and on coming near them one of the
prisoners cried out, " Halloa! where are you coming
to ?" This man seemed to have a stick or • gun in his
hand, and the man next to him had a gun, and fetid
"If you come another step I'll shoot." The other
said " Yesl shoot, shoot." The gamekeeper, Gray,
said "You'll not be go cowardly as to shoot," and one
of the poachers, with an oath, cried out that he would.
What took place after this was, of course, involved in
some doubt, as it appears that the men rushed on each
other, and the poor gsmekeeper was shot through the
thigh and fell. A short but terrible struggle took
place, which resulted in the flight of the poachers, and
In consequenoe of their go' at preponderance in number
none of them were apprehended on the spot. They all
made off towards Wateringbury, which is in the direo-
tion of East Mailing, where two of the prisoners (Luck
and Eversfield) resided. Poor Gray earnestly begged
to be taken home. "Take me home," he said, "as
quickly as you can, for lam dying. Let me see my
dear wife and family once more before I die." He
lingered a few hours in agony, and died. At the spot
where the affray occurred gun-saps, &c., were found ;
and on the route home a gun; and these were traced
as the property of one of the prisoners. The great
difficulty in the case was as to identity. Two of the
men (Luck and Everefield) were indicted at the last
assizes for manslaughter. In consequence, howevel,
of the arrest of seven other men, and the discovery of
fresh evidence, the caste was postponed, and bills for
murder were at this assize preferred against the two
men first named, who were !opposed to have been the
the two men mentioned as having threatened to shoot.
By the direction of the judge, the bill for wilful
murder was ignored, and bills returned for man-
slaughter and poaching. The jury, however, after a
lengthy trial, acquitted them of manslaughter, and the
whole of the seven prisoners pleaded guilty of poaching.
Luck and Burgess were sentenced to 12 months, and
the others to 4 months' hard labour.
WIFI MORD/CIL—At the Kent assizes, held at Maid-
stone, Major Murton, a farmer.aged 52, was on Tuesday
tried before Mr. Justice Bytesfor the murder of his
wife. The prisoner lived at Wiekling, near Linton,
between Maidstone and Staplehurat, and about fifteen
miles from Chatham. He had been married to his wife
about thirty years, and bad • daughter grown up and
married at Chatham. The wife on Wednesday, the
22nd of October last, was to all appearance in good
health and strength, and the prisoner on leaving home
said he desired the best bedroom to be got ready, as he
should bring home a friend with him the next day. On
that day he called at the home of his daughter at
Chatham, and from something he there dropped she
came to the conclusion that he was about to take home
a woman of the town with him, and she felt it her
duty to go to Wickling and protect her mother from
insult and outrage. She proceeded there at once, and
as she walked along she overtook her father in a cart,
having two women with him. She got up into the cart,
and went with them to the house, where they arrived
about eleven o'clock at night. When they got there
the two women were shown into the parlour with the
husband, the wife being in the kitchen. He ordered
some supper for the women, and it was brought in by
the daughter. About twelve o'clock he said it was time
t go to bed, and one of the girls, who appeared to be
somewhat ashamed of her position, said she did not
mean to go to bed while Mrs. Marton was in the home,
and that she should not have come if the had known the
wife was there. Upon that be became excited, and
came out into the passage and said be would very soon
clear her out. He went into the kitchen with • hunt-
ing whip in his hand, and striking his wife with it
said, "Go out, or I'll kick you out," He seized her
violently by the arms, lifted her up, and dashed her
down upon the brick floor. She could not at once get
up, and was sitting on the floor, when he went to the
fireplace, took up the tongs, and struck her violently
with them on the thigh. She screamed out. He re-
peated the blow. The daughter tried to protect her;
hut be struck her on the head, and she rushed out of
the house for help, leaviog her father and mother
there ; hut as there was no help to be got she soon
came back, and found her mother where she had left
her in the kitchen. The poor woman was helped up to
the servant's bed, where she lay, while her husband
was in her bed with one of the women. She was carried
to a neighbour's house, where from that thneshe lan-
guished and drooped, in great pain, until, on the tenth
day, she died.—Sentenced to three years' penal servi
tude.