The Express.
London, England, 1865-12-30 00:00:00

TER MURDER AT DEVONPURT.

An inquest was held on Thursday, at the Military
Hospital Inn, Lower Stoke, Devour's, before Mr. A. S.
Bose. carouser, on' the body of John Thanes Johnstone,
private, of the 65th Regiment, who had bean murdered
on
the previous day by • comrade. The jury baying viewed
the body, which was lying at the Royal Military Hospital,
Stoke, the inquiry was adjourned to the Petty Sessions
room of the Devout:Port Town.halL The unwed. Thomas
Lynch, who was placed in the dock, looked crestfallen, and
evidently felt the serious position in which he was placed.
Mr. John Beer, of the fires of Beer and Randle, solicitors,
attended on behalf of the War Department.
William Pickering, private, of the 65th Regiment, eta.
Honed at the Reese star acre, said—Between eight and nine
o'clock on Tuesday evsaipg the prisoner and deceased
were brought to the guard-room. They were both drunk,
Lynch more so than the other. The men sat down. Lynch,
who was bleeding from one eye, said that the deceased bad
struck him. Deoessed told Lynch to go away from him, as
he (Lynch) was an old man. Lynch did not attempt to
strike the deceased then. They afterwards lay down on
the guard bed. Witness was in the guardroom from seven
o'clock in the evening of Tuesday instil ten o'clock the next
morning. Apparently both of the men went to slee
the
p.
Witness continued—At about • quarter to three on)
morning of the '..7tis I was walkicg about the guard.
room as sentry. Pinioser got up and went over to •
corner of the mon neat where the deceased was lying
ca... . I had otaerved the handle of a scrubbiorbrush
(produced) iu the corner. Lynch took the stick in his
hand and struck &mewed two blows on the hied. Deceased
never spoke, and I do not think he moved. Lynch did
not speak at the time, but was at once seized by a soldier,
of the 62nd Regiment, with the stick in his hand. 1
shouted for the guard to come, and wept to the deceased
and felt his pule% which was booties strong ; his pulse
gradually lessened until he died, about three o'olock.
about
an hour. lie examined deceased and pronounced him dead ;
the deceased being at that time nearly cold. About half-
put five o'clock the body was removed to the Royal
Military Hospital, Stoke.
By the coroner bud jury—l know nothing of any previous
quarrel, exceptiog what Lynch said. When the two men
webe lying down they were not ekes together; other prime
tiers were between them. When Lynch went over towards
the deceased be still appeared under the influence of drink.
William Palmer, private, of the 62nd Regiment, said—l
was in the guard-room from Sao o'clock of the morning of
Tuesday until ten o'clock of Wednesday yawning tut Ide
not know what condition the prisoner and deceased were in
when brought to the guard-room ; but they set down before
the fire and were talking, but I do not know what they were
talkieg about. After some further remarks in which he
apparently contradicted the previous witness in one or two
unimportant particulars, the witness proceeded—About •
quarter to three o'clock I beard the sound as of a blow with
a 'dirk. I turned round, and saw Lynch, with • stick
uplifted with both heeds, strike • heavy blow across the
head of deceased. I seized Lynch. The corporal of the
guard took Lynch away. The blow I saw struck made a
wound on the ear, from which a little blood flowed from
the outride of the ear and ran down dectued's face Rad

neck.
Dr. John Mackenzie. assistant-surgeon of the 62nd
Regiment, said—At about four o'clock on the morning of
the 27th instant I was iu bed at my residence, at Stoke,
when I was called up to come to the Raglan Barracks.
I immediately went to the guard.room, whets I new the
deceased. He was dead when I arrived. I found a wound
on the right ear, the edge of the cartilage of which was
slit ; the part appeared to be bruised, end the injury to
have been Inflicted with • blunt instrument. A little blood
was oozing from the wound and passing down the cheek. I
found also • depression of the skull between the temple and
the net. On the body being removed by my directions to
the Military Hospital, I made a poet mortem examination.
I then found a wound on the scalp near to the right ear,
about half an inch in length, which woof through the scalp.
I found also a circular wound about two and a half inches in
diameter ; the bone is one place was separated from the
table of the skull. This would be the result of a very heavy
blow. The fracture implicated two bones, the temporal
bone and the parietal bone ' • it extended scrota the
hue of the skull as well. The scalp surrounding
the wound and fracture was considerably bruised, the
wound on the ear nearly communicated with the bruise,
no if a blow had been struck it was in that direction.
There was a considerable effusion of blood at the base of
the brain and on the surface of the brain. I am of opinion
that whatever canoed the external wound caused also the
effusion and produced death. I found no laceration of the
membranes of the brain.
John Lilly, a private in the 65th Regiment, deposed to
Lynch coming into his (*Beer's) room in the barracks
between 9 and 9 o'cicck on Tuesday evening. Shortly afters
werdsg
deceased came ia and asked Lynch what be was
abeut, to which Lynch replied that he was not
talking about decreased, on which the latter called the
former a liar. Further words ensued, and whilst Lynch
was sitting on the foot of the bed the deceased struck him.
a struggle took place, and ultimately the sergeant present
had both of them taken to the guard-room. When Lynch
received the blow he asked deceased why he did it.. Both of
the men were much intoxicated.
Thomas Pollock said—l ant a private in the 62nd Regt.
I was also a prisoner in the guard-roem on the night io ques-
tion. Deceased and Lynch were perfect strangers to me.
After they were brought to the guard-room they were
walking about the room for about en hour and a half ;
deceased and Lynch bad angry words together the latter
calling deceased a rogue and vagabond. Der;thsed said,
" I know you of old, when you came after me with a
fixed baynnet in New Zealand." Demand told Lynch
several times to go away, as he did not want to have any-
thing to do with bier. Whilst Lynch was standing with
hie back to the fire, and deceased sitting on the form with
others in front of the fire, I heard Lynch say, " Your life
is short, and so is mice." I could not undertake to
swear to whom Lynch spoke these words. Deceased,
Lynch. and myself, went and Lid down on the guard bed.
I went to sleep. Some hours afterwards I heard the sound of
two heavy blows. On going to see what was the matter. I
saw Lynch in charge of the sentry, and blood flowing from
the deceased's ear. 'The cape of a soldier's great coat was
drawn over deceased's bead.
Mr. J. Lynn, Superintendent of Police, said—On Wed.
Demise, I proceeded to the Raglan Barracks, where I saw
Thomas Lynch, the prisoner, and being informed of what
hail occurred I charged prisoner with the murder, when he
replied, " I never intuited to kill him." He OM going to
say more, but I stopped him, observing, " It is a very se-
rious crime with which you are charged, and you need not
say ;teething unless you like, but what you do say may be
given in evidence against you." Lynch then said, " We
had a fall nut in the barrack-room, and the blackguard
struck me ;" and referring to his eye, said "That is the
place where le struck me." I then took Lynch into custody
on the ,Large of murdering the deceased.
The Coroner then proceeded to sum up the rue, and after
giving a summary of the evidence adduced, lucidly stated
the law, [miming out the distinction between wilful murder
and nisnslaughter. All homicide was presumed to be mali-
cione until the contrary was theism by evidence sufficient to
justify the act. To reduce an offence from murder to mao-
elanthter the act most be committed under the influence of
provecatith. If there should be enfficient time elapse between
any Arts of provocation for deliberation and reflection. then
the come would he merrier. But when there was a suspen-
sion of reason and reflection, arising from fits of peesioo,
and a fatal blow was then given, the crime would be one
of mansle,:ghter. What the jury had to try then
was, first, whether the wound in the head of deceased, and
which resulted in death, was produced by a blow at the
hands of the prisoner, and tbeo whether the crime was one
or inlnslenghter or murder. To decide the latter point
they would have to consider whether there bad sufficient
time elapsed from the period of the provocation offered
by deceased to the time the act was committed for any
heat of passion of which the prisoner might be the
subject to cool down ' • if so, their verdict would
he Met of murder; and they would have to re-
member that the matter bad extended over several
hours, and the parties had actually lain down to sleep.
If is had been one continuous act—the provocation ,
and the blow—u he had already intimated, it would have
been the lesser offence. After citing several cases to
illustrate the state of the law as he bad laid it down, the
learned coroner said that he was bound to tell them, con-
sidering the whole of the facts, that it appeared to him to
be a ease of murder.
The jury, after examining the stick with which the blow
was hulloed, retired, and io ebont half an hour returned
into court with a verdict of "Wilful Murder" against Thos.
Lynch. who was formally committed to Exeter to take his
trial at the ensuing emus for the county.

THE HOT.ELY-'n, POOR At-T.—Mr. El. B. Farnar
the Poor.law inapeeter for the metropolitan district, ban
convened a meeting of the guardians of the different unions
sad parishes in his district to discuss the subject of a
unifi.gra aystsm ef dietary and letour, and the carrying
into more affective operaticg the provisions of "The
Iletropnlitan Honaelers Poor Act, 1664."
DEATH FROM FlEF..—Yesterday morning an
inquiry wan held by Dr. Lankester at the Buffalo'. Head
Tavern, Slarylehoue-ioad, touching the de.th of Sarah
Williams, aged 77, who died last Sunday in the infirmary
of the tilarylebene Workhouse. From the evidence of
Edward Walton. aged 76, husband of the deceseed, it
appeared that the old couple, who had been married 53
I years, lived together at 4.1, QueetHitreet, Marylebone. On
Sundry morning, about four o'clock, the deceased got up
and lit the fire to prepare a cup of coffee for her hus-
band, and while in the act of doing so her clothes became
ignited. Her screams brought a lodger to her amistance,
who burst in the door sod pulled the clothes off the
unfortunate woman, but Dot before she habeas fearfully
burned on the face, died, error, and back. The deceased
was brought to the Workhouse infirmary, where she died
is two hours. The jury returned a verdict of " Accidental
death."
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