The Express.
London, England, 1851-08-06 00:00:00

MURDER IN SUFFOLK.

The neighbourhood of Eye, in Suffolk, halt been
the scene of another murder, the perpetrator of which is re
farmer named John Mickleburgh, who occupies about I
acres of land in his own right in the neighbourhood of
Thraudeston, a stuttered village and parish in the Hartis-
mere Hundred, three miles and a half north-west of Eye.
He is a mirried man and has three children, the eldest of
whom, a girl, is 14 years of age. lli, victim was a single
woman, named Mary Baker, who for two years and a half
had been in the service of Mickleburgh 41 a generaldoinestie
servant. Although he was married, and hi, wife and family
lived with him under the same roof, it was evident that he ;
hail formed a strong attachment for the girl, and from his
representations i twould scent that an improper intimacy had
existed between them. The girl, however, was generally
considered a well-conducted person, and nothing was ever
seen that would tend to show that she gave him any en-
couragement. On Thursday last a large cattle fair, with
shows and booths, sits held in the village, and Mary
Baker obtained permission from her mistress to at-;
tend it, it being a general holiday among the domestics •
in that part of the country. She first visited her sister, !
a married woman named French, who, in the course of
the afternoon, accompanied her to the fair. A young'
man named Boatman joined them, who was considered to
be the deceased's sweetheart. Mickleburgh having learned ,
where she hail gone, also visited the fair. Ile fintnd her
and followed her about, and seemed highly incensed at her
talking with the young man Boatman. Wishing appa-
rently to conceal his feeling from Boatman, he invited him
with the deceased into a booth, kept by a person named
Eastaugh, where he treated them to brandy and water and
wine, and while there the deceased's sister, Mrs. French,
and ner husband came in, whom he was also acquainted
with, and called Ler more wine to treat them. He solicited
the young man Boatman to drink more freely than he did.
Boatman, however, refused, and between b and 7 o'clock
left the booth in company with the deceased. Before
quitting, Mickleburgh asked the deceased what time
her mistrals expected her home. She replied, "About
half-put tune oclock ;" and, after they hail gone, Mrs.
Frenel followed them, leaving her hushaell drinking with
Miekleburgh. Some time transpiring, and French not coming
home, his wifereturned to the booth, where she waited until
they came out. Mickleburgh then addressed her saying,
"'fell Mary (meaning the deceased) to get home by nine
o'clock. I will be in the meadow (alluding to one adjacent
to his farm) just before 9, as I want to see her." He ap-
peared much excited, and she understood that if the de-
ceased girl did not meet him he would be revenged. Ile
parted with them and went in another directirn of the fair,
while Mrs. French and her husband proceeded to a public.
lieuse kept by a man named Barrett, where the deceased and
her sweetheart (Boatman) were regaling themselves. Within
a short time of Mickleburgh parting with the Feenches he
went to the shill of a hawker in the fair and purchased a
stiletto knife, with a blade some tour or five inches in length,
and protected by a spring back. In the .nurse of the
next half hour he visits it the house where the deceased
was. There was a sort of village frolic going on, and all
were varying themselves, the company amounting to about
40 or ,o p ople. What followed will be best gathered from
the unfortunate girl's own statement, which was taken by
a magistrate shortly after she had received the fatal in-
jury. She 'slide—. I was sitting in this house alongside of
William Boatman, with whom I had been keeping company,
and my sister Clara French. About 8 o'clock iu the evening
my master came in exclaiming, ' Al,, Mary, I see you. 1
mole no reply. nor did I observe 'tithing in his manner to
excite alarm. Ile left the room immediately, and returned
in about two minutes, and without saying a word lie came up
to where I was sitting and plunged a large knife in my side.
1 did not feel it until he drew the knife out, when he said,
s Now, Mary, you hive it now.' I saw the knife in his hand.
Boatman was sitting by my side all the time. I recollect no-
thing more until I found myself up stairs in lied. I solemnly
declare there has been nothing improper between Inc and
Mr. Miekleburgh." Most of the persons in the room wit-
nessed the occurrence. Ile was instantly seized. Ile of-
fered nut the slightest resistance, nor did lie evince the
least minion at the tearful act he had committed. He said
that he bad had his revenge, and all he regretted was that
his arm had not been stronger, us he would have given her
four inches more of it, and he hoped he had finished her,
and she would die. The poor girl survived but a very few
hours. The point of the stiletto had entered the cavity of
the stomach to the extent of four or five inches. _

On Monday the prisoner, Juhn Mickleburg, underwent'!
an eveminutun at the TowtehAll, before the Rev. T. Lee
French and a full bench of magistrates, on the charge of,
murd sr. lie was wretchedly dejected, uud fainted during,
the course of the proceeding..
Mi. Palmer attended to watch the evidence for the pri-
mmer. !

The principal witnesses examined were the young man
William Boatman, Mr. and Mrs. French, and none other
persons, hut the only additional fact that came out in their
statements was, that the prisoner went into one of the out-
houses after he had first entered the room of the public-
houoe and had seen the deceased, and deliberately opened
the knife. As before observed, he returned to the apart-
ment, and plunged it into the unfortunate girl. The shawl,
gown, and stays which she were at the time were produced,
and thty bore holes in them corresponding in size with the
blade of the knife.
William Sayer, a licensed hawker, proved selling the
prisoner the knife between 6 and 7 o'clock on the evening
of the murder. lie believed the prisoner was sober at the
time.

Mr. Miller, surgeon, of Eye, stated that he had made a
post-mortem examination of the deceased. He found a punc-
tared wound shout half an inch long, and between tour and
are inches in depth, at the lower part of the left side of tile
chest, between the eighth and ninth ribs. It passed into the
spleen, and into the mesentery. It caused death.
John II iker, a police-offictr, stationed at Mendlesham,
deposed that he was at the fair. About eight o'clock in
the evening he was informed that a young simian had been
stabbed. Went to Barrett's house and found the prisoner
seated ler the aide of John French. Ile told him that he
was chaiged with stabbing the deceased, and took him into
custody. Prisoner said, " You may take me and do what
you like with me. I have done what I intended to do, and
I hope I have done it effectually ; had iny arm been a little
stronger I would have given her three or four inches more
of it. I have always dune what 7I liked with her
since also has lived with me." Witness believed lie
was tipsy at the time. Ile stated that he went to
a stall in the fair and purchased the knife ; he gave 2a.
for it. lie added, that he then went to Barrett's, and when
he gnt into the house Mary Baker, the deceased, said,
" Master, here am I." Prisoner answered, " Ah, you
shan't be lung before yuu have this p,cce of steel." Ile then
went into the back-house, and opened the knife. When it
was open it was like a dagger. Ile also said, "If I have
not killed her uuw I hope she will die. If she don't come
to my proposals, I have gut the bent brace of pistols the
world can produce."

The evidence clusine, the bench fully committed the pri-
soner for trial at the next WiIICS. The coroner's jury came
to a similar determination, and returned a verdict of " Wil-
ful murder."

RESPITE OF SARAH BARRIER.—A messenger from
the office of the Secretary of State reached Nottingham
by mail train at 3 o'clock yesterday (Tuesday) morning,
taking with him a respite for Sarah Barber, under sen-
tence of death for poisoning her husband, to extend over
fourteen days from the date at which her execution was
fixed to take place, this day, the Gth instant. Facts which
have come to light since the trial, tending to show that
she was an accessory to the murder only after the fact, seem
to have led to this respite.

BALLOON ACClDENT.—Yesterday evening occurred
an accident which nearly proved fatal to Madame Palmyre
Garneron, who ascended from Batty's Hippodrome, at Ken-
sington, from whence Mrs. Graham took her disastrous
flight last June. The ascent did not take place till nearly a
quarter to seven. The wind was rather strong at the
time, and blowing south-west, and the moment the
machine was released from its moorings, it rose
very heavily, and barely cleared the Circus enclosure.
Madame Garneron immediately emptied a bag of
ballast among a large crowd, who were watching it in
Victoria-road, hut before she was able to discharge another,
the car of the balloon struck the projecting garret-window
of 'So. 1, Madeley-villas, which is just on the opposite side
of Vietoria-road to the Circus, and in an instant the poor
lady was seen with her feet entangled in the netting at the
side of the half-inverted car, and hanging right out of it
with her head downwards, A loud exclamation of terror
bunt from the frightened crowd, and at the moment when
they expected to see the balloon (out of which a sani-bag
had rolled) rise with its unhappy occupant in that tearful
situation, the netting caught in a stack of chimneys, the
balloon at once collapsed with the shock, and in a few
seconds it was hanging helplessly flapping over the house-
aide into the garden, while Madame Garneron was left
lying on the roof. When she had recovered from the faint-1
ness caused by the sudden escape of such a volume of gas
(the only injury she received), she stood up and feebly
waved her acknowledgments to the spectators below, who
hailed her safety with loud cheers. Mr. Johnson and Mr.
Peter Cunningham (whose houses have a joint root), with
their domestics and policemen, immediately rendered her
every assistance.

Ditzeorot. Lou or LIFE IN RuestA.—A letter
from Moscow states that, on the 20th ult., as the monks of
the convent of Wledisair, a town about 120 miles to the
north-east of that city, :were setting out in procession, to
visit an image of the virgin at a neighbounng village, a
wooden bncige thrown over the moat of the convent (for-
merly a fortress) gave way, and out of 200 of tkie asealts
158 were drowned. This immese law of life was wand ar
the water be 45 Mt deep, and the sides of the mai
being .