The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1886-08-07 00:00:00

DTSCOVERY of a STAKED SKELETON.

In excavating a trench in London (City) for the
Commercial Gas Company, the workmen of Messrs.
John Aird and Sons a few days ago made a "remark-
able discovery. At a point where the Cannon-stteet-
road and Cable-street, in St. George's-in-the-East,
cross one another, and at a depth of six feet below
the surface, they discovered the skeleton of a man
with a stake driven through it, and some portions of
a chain were lying in close proximity to the bones.
The citizen says : "The presence of such an object
naturally caused discussion in the neighbourhood,
and with the aid of some of the oldest inhabitants, whose
recollection carried them back three-quarters of a cen-
tury, the person whose remains have thus so strangely
been brought to light is, by common consent, declared
to be the principal in some tragic occurrences which
took place at the close of the year 1811, and of which we
will endeavour to give our readers a brief outline.
Shortly before twelve o'clock on Saturday night,Dec. 8,
in that year, the servant of a Mr. Marr, a silk mercer,
residing at 29, Ratcliff-highway, was sent out to pur-
chase some oysters and to pay a bill. On her return, in
a pout 20 minutes—it i,hen being Sunday morning—she
was unable to gain admittance to the house, the shut-
ters being closed, the door fastened, and all the lights
being out. With the aid of Mr. Murray, who lived next
door, an entrance was obtained through the back door,
which was open, and it was then discovered that
the whole of the inmates of the house had been mur-
dered. They consisted of Mr. and Mrs. Marr, their
infant child, aged 14 weeks, and an apprentice named
James Gohen, aged 14 years. The two former had
not been married two years, and were each under 25
years of age, and apparently nothing was takfm from
the house, for cash to the amount of nearly £l6O
was found in a tin box, or on the person of Mr. Marr.
The murderers left behind a large shipwright's maul
or mallet, the head weighing two or three pounds, and
the handle being about three feet long, an iron chisel
18 inches long, and a wooden mallet about four
inches square, with a handle of about 18 inches
in length. These were the only traces left
with which to unravel the mystery, the per-
petrators having left the house by the back door on to
a piece of waste ground belonging to the London Dock
Company. So things remained until Thursday night,
Dec. 19, between 11 and 12 o'clock, when the neigh-
bourhood of New Gravel-lane was alarmed by a cry of
' Murder ' at No. 81, the King's Arms public-house,
and a man quite naked was seen descending from
a second floor window by the aid of some sheets
kotted together. His name was Turner. He
lodged in the house, and his evidence was to the
effect that after having gone upstairs to bed he
heard a cry, We shall all be murdered,' which
induced him to cautiously go down again, and
looking through the glass window of the tap-room
he saw a powerful man, .6ft. high, dressed in a drab,
shaggy bearskin coat, stooping over the body of Mrs.
Williamson, the landlady, apparently rifling her
pockets; he then returned to his bedroom and lethim-
self down from the window. The front door having
been broken open, it was discovered that Mr. Wil-
liamson had been murdered in the cellar, and the
servant girl was lying dead by the side of her mistress,
the vacant piece of land belonging to the Dock Com-
pany having evidently again been used by the mur-
derers to escape. Strong evidence induced the
authorities to apprehend an Irish sailor named John
Williams, alias Murphy, who lodged at a public-
house called the Pear Tree, kept by Mrs.
Vermilloe, and at which house there had
been left by John Paterson, a ship's car-
penter, a chest of tools. The maul found in
the house where the first murder was committed was
identified as belonging to this set of tools, and a woman
who had washed Mnrphy's linen stated that a shirt of
his was bloody and torn when it came into her hands.
There was other evidence pointing to him as the mur-
derer, or, at all events, one of the murderers, supposing
he had accomplices, and he was remanded to Coldbath-
fields Prison. On Dec. 27, upon his cell being opened,
it was discovered he had hanged himself with his
pocket-handkerchief, and it is believed the remains
now discovered at the cross-roads are those of this un-
mitigated scoundrel. There were strong suspicions
against two men, friends of the suicide, named
Allblass and Hart, as being implicated with him in
these murders, but we believe after several examina-
tions they were discharged, the evidence against them
being too weak for conviction. But as regards Williams,
alias Murphy, there is rin doubt he was justly accused,
the evidence against him being strong and overwhelm-
ing. The story is interesting from more points than
one, combining, as it does, barbarous murders of unex-
ampled atrocity, and a barbarous custom then in
vogeey when a coroner's jury returned a verdict of
fel° de se."