The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1885-10-10 00:00:00

kWFITL TRAGEDY AT FOREST HILL.

On Saturday afternoon Mr. E. A. Carttar, West
I-Cent coroner, held an inquest at the Swiss Cottage
Hotel, Stanstead-road, Forest-hill, on the body of
Gertrude Minnie Homard, aged five months, daughter
of William and Martha Elizabeth Millard, of 20,
Dalinain-road, Forest-hill, the latter of whom is in
custody on a charge of murdering the deceased on
Friday morning last. William Homard, labourer, of
20, Dalllmin-road, said the deceased was his daughter,
and had not been ailing of late. He last saw her alive
at a ittartar to six o'clock the previous morning,
when he left home to go to work, and his wife was
then asleep with her in bed. His wife had been very
strange for sorno time oast. Robert Taylor, labourer,
of 18, Da.lmain-road, -Forest-hill, next door to the
house of last witness, sacl he had known the
family for years, but more intimately since they
had lived next door during the past four months.
About 10 o'clock on the previous morning, the another
of the deceased came into his house, when he was at
breakfast with his wife and daughter in the back
kitchen, and as she came down the passage to the
room, she said, "Mrs. Taylor, I've done it." I said,
"What have you done I' and she replied, "I've cut
any baby's head off," and opened out her apron in
which he saw the child. He lifted its head up, and
noticed the throat cut. The body and apron were
smothered in blood. He then took Mrs. Homard
back to her ow-n house, and sat her down in a chair
in the back parlour, and told his daughter to go for
Dr. Hatfield and a constable. He asked Mrs.
Homard why she did it, and she replied, " I want to
be hung out of the way." He asked her about
the -other two children, and she said they were dead
upstairs, and that he would find them about the same
as the little one in her arms. She did not seem to
know what she was talking about. She seemed dis-
tracted, and looked wilbd, but was perfectly sober. Wit-
ness afterwards saw the other children and found
them to be uninjured. He saw blood -on the floor of
the back kitchen, and saw a neighbour pick up a
hatchet, but that was half an hour after Mrs. Homard
first spoke to him. She had been very strange of late,
especially so last Wednesday night, when she came
into his house about midnight, without shoes or stack-
inas on, and only a nightdress and shawl over her
shoulders. She then looked in at the door, and said,
"Oh, I see you have company,' and then left. That
appeared very unaccountable to him at the Cane.
There had been some mental derangement in the
family, and one of Mrs. Homard's sisters was placed
in confinement a few years ago. Mrs. Taylor, wife of
last witness, corroborated part of his statement, and
added that she asked Mrs. Homard what she had
done, and she replied, "I have chopped my baby's
head off." She said, " What ! " and the mother
said, "Don't laugh. I've chopped my baby's head
off." Witness said, "For God's sake, woman, what
have you done it for?" and she replied, Because
I want to be bung ; " and then opened her
apron and said "Look!" and she then saw deceased
in it and a quantity of blood. She had appeared too fond
of her baby to do it any harm. Inspector Pannett,
P division, stationed at Sydenham, who took charge
of the prisoner on her arrest, said that she was very ex-
cited and restless, and wished to get out -of the cab,
saying, "Why don't you let me fetch my child? You
can't charge me paoperly unless you let me take her
with me." Whilst I had charge of her at Greenwich
Police-station she vent up to the entrance of a cell and
said, "That's my father there." There was a man
standing in the cell at the time. I said, "No, your
father has not arrived yet," but she said, "Yes, it is
any father," and called out "Father" several times,
and" Why don't you come to me?" and afterwards
said, "Why don't you let me go down that black
hole? My baby is there." I said, "No, it is not
there," and she said, "Yes it is. Can't you
hear it crying ? " Dr. Hatfield, of Park-road,
Forest-bill, repeated his evidence given 'at Green-
wich on Friday, and said he had a made a posts-
mortem examination of the body. There were no
'marks of violence except the wounds across the
throat. There were three separate gashes all extend-
ing to the spine, and through into the spinal cord,
and all the vessels were severed. All the internal
organs were healthy and free from disease. Death
was due to hemorrhage from cut throat, quite con-
sistent with such injuries as could have been produced
by the billhook (produced). He attended deceased's
brother professionally 18 months ago, and then
noticed that the mother was very peculiar in her
manner, and he could make nothing of her. The jury
returned a verdict of "Wilful murder against Martha
Elizabeth Homard," and the witnesses were bound
over to attend the next sitting of the Central Criminal
Court, on the 19th inst. An opinion was expressed
that the miller knocking at the door disturbed Mrs.
Homard, and saved the lives of deceased's brother
and sister.