The Express.
London, England, 1856-09-10 00:00:00

THE HAMPTON-COURT MYSTERY.

ADJOURNED INVESTIGATION.—CONCLU SION
OP THE CASE.
Yesterday morning, Mr. Watley, the coroner, ac-
companied by Mr. G. T. Brent, the deputy coroner, resumed
end concluded, at the Mitre Hotel, Hampton-ourt, the
adjourned inquest upon the body of Lewis Bolomons, the
.eama Australian gold digger, whose body was found in the river,
near Thames Ditto., on the 28tti of July tut, under Mi-
nium' which have been already detailed to our leaden'
As soon as the jut, bad been reassembled, the Coronet
said that the information which had been given to Inspector
Berm respecting the duelled men having been sun on
the night of the day on which he left home had turned mat
to be Incormett. It must have been on tee Thursday pre-
views. They had therefore no farther evidence with refor-
mism moths% matter; aid he should proceed with the medial
testimony in the case, with a view to bring the matter to a
conclusion.

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The fist witness galled wee Dr. °green, of Thames Dit-
tos, who wild that be made the fint examination of the
body en the 30th of Joty, but it wee every fluty aid super-
Betel one, He made • steed post mortem examination on
the 26th of August, after the body had been buried. He
toned nine theta in the lower part of the left lung, one in
the diaphragm, and another in the intestines. The incisions
la the heart, which on the first ezamination were thought to
hate been 'ciliated by some instrument, bed been eseer-
tithed to have been rents caused by the force of the utile-
aim, and the shot had not traveled those rents That was
ell the evidence he wu able to offer.
The Coroner said that the stomach end Intestines had been
emit to Mr. Bogert, of St. George's Hospital Medial
Babel. with • view to discover by analysis whether any
sersone poison bad been used that might have destroyed
life, end that gentlemen bad reported that nothing of the
kind was to be found. Under these eirthiestaness,
end es the case at presentstood, the jury were now la a po-
sition to proceed to the consideration of their verdict. the
evidesee wee not so clear on many point. as could have boon
wished, but they could not mannfscture witness. There
we. greet credit due to the inspeetor and sergeant of police
for the very creditable way in which they had conducted
the ewe, and grids's' had bees forthcoming which wee of
some uthe. The jury must res.ollect that it had been proved
is 'vide's* that Os body wee found on Monday, the 28th
July, in the River Thames. opposite Theme Dittos. The
filet witness sailed was • watering, named Tegg, who said
that • hand was first seen apposing en the surface of the
water, and then einkieg, and afterwards the body of the de-
mised man which has been proved to bane bees that of Lamle
flielremoss. 'lt apposes that he was 34 years of age, and
in the you 1863 had gone to Australia on a mimics fee
Mr. Davis, • china warehouseman, of Tottenham,
court-road ; and he had returned to Backed between flu
sod sir weeks %ekes &shady had been found. There had
bees various parties before the jury as witnesses who .had
seen him. Both Km Tyler and hoe. Uegley had said that ha
had slept at their boss. He was with hie uncle, Mr.
Arnold, for eve month, end both Mr. and Mrs. Arnold had
said that be left their hones on Thursday morning, the 24th
of July, end that was the lost evidence they bad bad of his
being seen alive. Where he had been and what he had
bees doing from that day until the day bei had received hie
fatal wound there wee no evidence whatever. The Whiten
Jeffreys had bean with him at • public house, where Sole-
ness was sallies for brandy, and drinking excessively. Im-
mediately after having his home on that Thursday morning
he wee seen to poll out a purse swathing fifteen or abases
sovereigns, rod the &spumes'ace of that money, coupled
with the wounds on the body, had led to the impression that
he had been murdered. If these won't& had been caused by
stabs it would then have been gotta clear that the deceased
had let his life by the hand of en tesesein, for it
would have been also quite clear that he oould not have
inflicted those wounds himself, as any one of the these
must have been menet, end slier having Inflicted as
wound, he weld not have hats the power to have inflicted
the second. Dr. Garret had discovered 11 shot, in the lungs
and intestines, and these were to be accounted for. Now,
it appeared tbat the deemed was a men of very unfortunate
habits, as several witnesses had spoken to his Oilskin, to
very great meas. He was coututly di/playlet a dean
end pistol, both of which had been taken from him by Mrs.
Gamy. 1p to the 21st of July be had • pistol sad large shot
In his poseessies, end remarked, when is company with
mese witness, to whom he skewed it, " See, this is tho
way we froloubte travel." His friend, having appetite's-
skim of danger, asked him to fire the pistol off,
which he did. After this it hod been shows that be bad
a powder Auk and twenty shots with him. He had
threatened to take away hie own lire, the life
of his sheer, end that of Mr. Davis, adding to that by
further threatening to "make two widows at ace 'het."
Mrs. Tyler bad stated that the deceased had bun at her
house raving after brandy. He had bitten • pier out of the
tumbler which was before the jary, end chewed and muti-
nied it so much, that his mouth bed bled, thereby showing
beyond doubt that the man was not in a right state of
mind. The man was nothing else than a madman, and
they could come to no other conclusion, at least he (the
Coroner) thought not. Evidence had bran given that the
deceased had died in consequent* of the wounds which
bed bees billeted upon him le the heart. It was im-
possible to say what he might have done with his
property between the time of nix leavieg home on . the
Thursday morning and his dem:eying himself. Oa that
point there wee se evidence whatever. There bad been no
evidence to stow what bad become of him from
Thuredey, the 24th of July, up to the 28th, the
day hie body bad been found in the River Thames.
He might have destroyed himself before he got
isle the river at all, for such • hypothesis was
feasible enough. He (the coroner) did not suppose that
people were mere morel at Hampton court than they 1111T0
in the metropolis, and he could assure the jury that it was a
very caiman practice in London for persons to sash dead
bodies seder the pretest of endeavouring to discover • card
or eons paper of address, and If any property wee found it
was applied to en improper use and never found its way to
the owner aria. If the deceased hid 161. in money upon
his penes at the time of his death, it Was quite poelibleshat
it had bus takeaway by same one who afterwards pushed
the body tato the water; en the other heed, there
had bus no evidence te elbow that be had property
about him at the period when he died, and although
the witness Jeffreys had told them that he saw the more
when the deceased was drinking brandy with him, still
them were estetherlers ways hy which it might have
been afterwards got rid of by the deemed himself. Haviag
said thus mash upon this part of the ease, be (the Coroner)
would remind the jury that the first thing they had to de-
termine was whether the mss bad destroyed himself. Hi/
(the Coroner's) own conviction was that the man bed died
by his own hand, that he discharged the pistol himself delc
Uinta/. sad with a fixed determination to Ossify hie own
life. Then, it might he said, why did sot the shot go
through the Guernsey shirty In answer to that he would
say that there were such things done by madmen when
gereminisg these rash acts that those peculiarities could not
be accounted for. Every now and then a man would have a
ball-roue, pull off hie beet clothes, and put on his
worst to est his throat. Another would carefully bleed
himself to death ins washhaed bests, because be would not
spoil the carpet or table-cover. There wu no seethating
for this ; it was quite possible that this men had lifted up
his shirt with we hand for the purpose of placing the pistol
nearer the heart, with a view to a more ests'n death. Ho
(the Cosner) therefore did sot thick that there wee any-
thing peculiar le that. There was another eireanstalos
somewhat remarks% le in the man's conduct—namely, that
he had left his waistcoat and watch at home, end Mrs.
Arnold bed stated that be had never done se before. It
apposed to him (the Coroner) that the deceased had left
his watch with a determination to esemt suicide before his
return. It was • relief to one's mind that there
bad been so murder committed at all. He (the
Coroner) could tot, however, avoid reverting to
the testimosy of ihe SPINS Gray. That mon had attempted
to aceonat for hie time during the fear elaye that the de-
ceased had been seised, but it would have been better lithe
evidence bed been more clear ; still there was so lemon what-
ever to impute murder in the cis. Grey's attempt weever,
sesarisfactery, although be detailed his own movements,
spoke of meeting his wife on the Saturday preceding the
finding of the body, of er.vieg her money, and stated that he
had never been at Hampton Court st all. It could not be for-
gotten that it Ind been sworn in evideceo that Gray said,
•Solomon should
him again," end on that very day, the 28th of July, two
days before the body was found, he bat said, in the hearing
of several persons, that " Mrs. &lemons might consider her-
self a widow."
A jaror—But he denied it in evidence.
Several witeeses—We beard him may the words.
The Coroner— He remembered it being distinctly scorn
to at the time ; bet at there things would go for nothing,
sakes there were other Cif relleeter cps of an uselessly na-
ture to splint them. Putting all these matters SOOTS
them, his own essiction war, as he bed already stated,
that the deceased men had destroyed himself by a pistol
discharged into the lour, and which pistil he had on the
night of the 21st io his p session. It lied been proved that
he was • man of • very violent temper, constantly drinking
brandy el excess, and beige for the greeter part of the time
in • state of freney—positively • madman. Haying now made
what observations he (the Coroner) felt necessary, he bed to
tell the jury that they would have first to sender
whether the doused had died by the infliction of
the woes& himself; and, secondly, what was Die
stets of mind when he so inflicted those wounds.
If the jury should not thick that the side's' minuted
them is retuning such a verdict, they recited then consider
whether theme wounds bad been inflicted by any ether per-
eon. If they d a verdi t that the deceased died by
other beads than hie own, thee it might be that an impu-
tation of the most f, skit nature would rest, perhaps, upon
NMI penes who might be entirely innocent of the dee-seed's
death. The jory would have to consider sad decide
upon the whole of the evidence with the greatest nicety;
and he would conclude by 'riles that he fully be-
lieved they would deliver their verdict perfectly unbiased
in that ease.
Upon the conelesion of the coroner's erdresr, the joy
rteetiyreflun.d
to aprilvato cwtatet with a
fir about twenty t
tothemeiffneecttet
stiswhen
hthe
Joey were unaelesourly of opinion that the deceased man
Lewis Solomon had died in cossequesee of wooed- caused
by a pistol shot, bat whether ouch wounds bed teen Sneed
by himself or some other person there was Lot sufficient
evidence to show.
The foreman expressed the admiration of the jury for the
manner le which the police het acted throughout the whole
affair; Inspector Bepesy and Sergeant Churchill buvias