The Press.
London, England, 1857-10-10 00:00:00

THE PRESS, OCTOBER 10, 1857.

And here, too, a singular ir.cident occurred. After
the house had been searched, Thomas Henderson
and one of the men went for the police, while James,
the accused, and Michael Malockney, the other man
who slept in the granary, remained in the kitchen.
James sat on the sqaab or sofa, and remained for
about tm minutes without uttering a word. He then
suddenly jumped up and said, " Come, Michael,
come out and let us look what they have done at
your door." They went out, and then James held
up the candle to the latch and said, " Here, Michael,
see what they have done here ; there was a piece of
wood put over the latch." Wh3 did James think
that anything had been done to the granary door ?
The search, too, of the police brought to light some
curious results with respect to the scraps of wadding
picked up on the landing, and found upon the
father's bed. They formed part of a leaf itorn from
" The Cottage Girl," the remainder of which leaf
was discovered in the prisoner's bedroom. The in-
spector of police states :
I then made a search of the bedclothes (says the
superintendent of police), anti picked up about
twelve pieces of paper on the body and bed and side
of the bed, which appeared to have been used as
the wadding of the firearms with which deceased was
shot. They are blackened with powder and singed. I
was assisted in this search by Sergeant Hammond, anti
we picked up a number of pellets that had been flattened
with the discharge against the well, and Sergeant Ham-
mond picked up what appears to have been the wadding
of the gun and handed it to me. I afterwards found
in the prisoner's bedroom, in the chamber-pot, two pellets.
In the thessing-room table I found a number of publica-
tions called " The Cottage Girl, or the Marriage Day."
A portion of ono of these I now produce. The pages are
1,146, 1,!U9, 1,200. On one of the pieces of wad
taken from deceased's bedroom were the corners of pages
1,197 anti 1,194, the fourth figure being torn off. There
is letterpress also on the piece of paper. I produce a
perfect number of the same publication commencing
with page 1,1'45, and concluding with 1,200, which has
been since purchased. It contains the whole of page
1,193, anti on comparing the pieces of paper I found in
deceased's room with this perfect copy of the work I find
many of the same words on each, and on comparing
the wadding found on the attars, and the piece of the
paper found in the chamber.pot in the prisoner's room, I
find they contain the same matter as that on the lower
parts of the same page.
-•-

The terms upon which the father and son lived
was a point necessary to be made clear. A friend of
the family, a Mr. Walker, a steam-packet agent,
deposed that in March last the prisoner spoke as
follows regarding his father :
Do you know that old rascal and old villain? He
is quite by himself—he is quite deranged. He is abusing
us all, and we must get him into a madhouse, as he is not
6t to conduct his business or to have anything to do with
the management of the farm, and I intend to take it out
of his hands.
He then produced a copy of the lease of his father's
farm between him and Colonel Davenport (the land-
lord) for nineteen years, which he gave into the
charge of Mr. Walker, desiring him to keep it secret.
Since that interview, Mr. Walker had frequently met
father and son, and they had each complained of
one another :

A few days after the lease was left with me, the prisoner
called on me and said, " We can't put up with that old
fellow. I have given him something that he'll mind. I
have had to tie his hands and feet." Thinking that the
old man had been hurt, I came over to I3ramhall the
next morning to see him. I then saw marks of violence
on the deceased's body. His two eyes were very severely
swollen and blackened. His upper lip was also swollen,
as was likewise his left jaw, which seemed to hare been
caused by a kick. The skin was all off his left arm,
which he bared to show me. The shin-bones of both legs
were black with bruises. Those were all the marks that
I saw.

On the Wednesday morning after the murder, the
prisoner called upon Mr. Walker in Manchester :
He first called between nine and halfpast nine o'clock,
bnt I had not then arrived, and he came again shortly
before eleven o'clock. I had then beard of the murder.
When he came into the office he walked round the counter
to the window where I was standing. He was then
accompanied by another young man, named Mattbieson,
and I asked them to be seated. I said to the prisoner that
I was sorry for the transaction which bad taken place, and
he replied that it was a sau thing or circumstance. I in•
quired if his father was shot, and if so, where ; and, putting
his hand to his right :heek, he said, " through there." He
was next asked whether his father was killed with a pistol
or a gun, and he answered, "by a gun." I then said,
addressing the prisoner, " Now, sir, lest assured that the
murderer will be found out ; if man cannot, God will." I
mentioned the instances of Mrs. Manning and Ilush, and
said, " horrid murderers cannot escape," upon which be
and the other young man got up and left.
Further evidence was adduced to show that the
prisoner eagerly anticipated getting possession of the
farm. To Colonel Davenpt,res agent, about a year
since, he spoke in the strongest terms of the in-
ability of his father to manage the farm properly. He
also stated that his father was a very great drunkard
while be lived in Scotland, and he added :
I do not know whether you are aware that I found the
greater portion of the money to come upon the farm ; and
I wish very much to have the power for my brother and