The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1872-01-20 00:00:00

THE STOCKWELL MURDER.

Efforts are being made in Stockwell and the neigh-
bourhood to obtain signatures to a petition to the
Home Secretary praying him to reprieve the Rev. J.
Selby Watson, who was on Friday last found guilty of
the murder of his wife, and condemned to death, but
whom the jury strongly recommended to the mercy
and clemency of the Crown on account of his advanced
age and previous good. character. The petitioners refer
to the extreme age and hitherto blameless life of the
accused, and urge that mercy may be extended
towards him without any detrimental effect.

On this melancholy tragedy a gentleman, who
signs himself "One of the Grand Jury," writes to
The Times
As one of her Majesty's subjects who took part hi what I
am ashamed to call, bat what I fear must be called, the
solemn fine of serving on the Grand Jury when a true bill
of will al murder was returned against the Rev. J. S. Watson,
I trust you will allow me to say a few words 011 the subject
of that distressing case.
Nothing, to my mind, could have been fairer in its reason-
ing, clearer in its explanation, or niece humane ill its cons-
nients than the Recor lees charge on that occasion. Ile
recounted to us briefly but plainly the circumstances of the
terrible tragedy, informed as that the pleat" be brought
forward for the defence would be that of insanity on the
part of the prisoner, and so far as he could, consistently
with his official position, he hinted that such 'plea would
be by no means unreasonable. At Om same time he took
care to tell us that with that plea we had no concern what-
ever. The only question which, acceding to the Recorder,
we had to decide wits whether the deed had been committed
by the prisoner or not.
This reinink had evidently great weight with the Grand
Jury, and when the slight but all sufficient evidence of the
bare facts on which the indictment was based came before
us most of the jurymen seemed to imagine that there was
but one course open to us—viz., to return a true hill. Now,
I know little or nothing of the technicalities of the law, but
it did seem to me that if any of as believed—and I think I
may say that several did believe—that the prisoner might have
been insane, it was most unreasonableto arraign him for wilful
murder Ir., as l understand it, murder with malice at
and intent to slay) until we had further evidence as
to the state of his mind. Ridding a very decided opinion
myself on this ;mint (based on the facts adduced at the time
of the prisoners committal), I endeavoured to draw the
jury's attention to it. hut I was met by the remark that
according to the Recorder's charge we had nothing to con-
sider auto the prisoner's mental condition. The general
impression seemed to be that the plea of insanity would be
accepted at the trial, that the prisoner would be acquitted,
and that the duty of the Grand Jury was a more matter of
form. I may mention that not one of us had served on a
jury before. There was no one to advise us on the important
point whether, lithe prisoner's account of the deed were
correct—and, after all, it u-as on his own confession that he
was arrested--whether, I say, if he did really strike down
his wife in a moment of fury sod after great provocation, the
crime u-ould be reduced in law to manslaughter. A conclu-
sion was hurriedly arrived at, and a true bill for wilful
murder, from which I heartily dissented, and from which, I
believe, others of the Grand Jury would have dissented had
they Icreseen and understood the consequences of their
decision, was returned.
For my own part, Sir, I desire to protest earnestly and
emphatically against that decision. Whether Mr. Watson
killed his wife in a lit of long-controlled but at length Un-
governable rage, or whether he was really afflicted with that
most terrible form of mania which is well known to physi-
ologists, sad which has sometimes tempted the gentlest of
mankind to homicide, may be doubtful ; but I fimily believe,
and I wish to record my belief, that he is innocent of at
least wilful murder; and by wilful murder I mean murder
intended and premeditated.

Sincerely treating that some effort may yet he made to gave
the unhappy old mau from his doom,—.l am, Sir, itc.