The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1884-03-15 00:00:00

SUPPOSED MURDER 15 LONDON.

In London, on Sunday afternoon, a young woman
was found dead in a house in Burton-crescent,
Euston-road, in circumstances which leave very little
doubt that a deliberate murder has been committed'
It appears that the house, No. 12, Burton-crescent, is
let out in furnished apartments, mostly to young
women, and the occupant of the back room on the
first floor was a young woman about 24 years of age,
known as Annie Yates. On Saturday night she went
out as usual with a fellow lodger, named Annie Ellis,
who parted from her in the Euston-road, about 1.
o'clock on Sunday morning, when Yates got into con-
versation with a respectably-dressed man. Shortly
befor, 2 o'clock, as it was believed, Yates was heard to
come home and go up to her room by some of the
other lodgers, and the footsteps of a man were
distinctly heard accompanying her. Somewhere
about 3 o'clock it is believed a man and woman
who were occupying an adjoining room were roused
by hearing screams proceed from the room occupied
by Annie Yates, but no notice was taken of the cir-
cumstance, as she was subject to fits of hysteria, and
frequently made similar noises. A considerable time
afterwards the footsteps of a man were heard going
downstairs, and he let himself out by the front door,
but this was not an uncommon occurrence, and it
attracted no particular attention. As Yates did not
come down to get her breakfast as usual, between
twelve and one o'clock on Sunday afternoon, Ellis went
up to her room to call her, and, finding the door partly
open, went in but could see nothing of Yates. The
bedclothes appeared to be piled up on something, and
on looking more attentively the woman Ellis saw a
foot with a boot on projecting from under the clothes
at one side of the bed. On her removing the bed-
clothes a terrible sight presented itself. The young
woman Yates, only partially undressed, lay with her
head on the pillow in a pool of blood, which had issued
from a serious gash on the left side of the head, above
the ear, while a towel was tied tightly over her mouth,
the knot being at the back of the head. Ellis im-
mediately raised an alarm, and the landlady of the
house, hearing what had occurred, sent at once for
medical aid and to the police-station of the E Division
in Hunter-street. Dr. Richard Paramore was the
first to arrive, and was speedily followed bYlnspector
Blatchford, who also sent for Dr. Murphy, the divi-
sional police surgeon. The unfortunate woman was
pronounced to have been dead several hours. The
face was very livid, and a severe wound had been
inflicted at the 'back of the left ear. It was the opinion
of the medical men that the actual cause of death was
suffocation. They considered it impossible that the
injuries could have been self-inflicted. The police
made a searching examination of the room to ascer-
tain, if possible, with what sort of instrument the
wound in the head had been inflicted, but nothing was
found. A gold ring, which Yates was known to have
worn on Saturday night, was gone, but money was
found in her clothes. A post-mortem examination
was made on Monday, and the medical evidence points
to the fact that the blow upon the head of the deceased
N'as not self-inflicted, and it is regarded as certain that
suffocation was the cause of death.