The Express.
London, England, 1866-04-13 00:00:00

THE MYSTERIOUS MURDER IN CANNON-
. szgacr.

•
• THQDMIT.—(THDI DAY.)
This morning Mr. W. Payne, coroner for the
city of London, opened an investigation, in the vestry-
roost el the church of filt, Antholin, Watling-street, into
the circumstances of the murder of Sarah Hillman, on the
promises of Messrs, Bevington, in Cannon-street, on last
WeinesdeY night.
The Coroner, having sworn in the jury, directed them
to pressed to view the body of the demesne& which lay in
the deed how of the church of et. Mary Aide:miry.
He said that they would perceive the head and face to be
covesed with wounds. He had himself visited the pre-
mises of the Mews. Bevington, in Cannon-street, and he
had mole a sketch which he handed to the jury. The
piss in question showed that the body was found in a poe-
tics el the pump cut off from the outer lobby by a pair

of—niag glee; door and just at the foot of the stein.
Yr. aoperinteadeat Foster was preeent to watch the

raw ca the part of the City police authorities.
The Coroner, upon the return of the jury, inquired
whither the police, in searching the boxes of the deg:tamed,
bad found anything which could throw any light upon the
matter ?

Mr. Foster maid that nothing had as yet been found

rebating to the matter in question in my way.
Elisabeth Loves was then sworn. She said—l am cook

to Mr. Bevington, at No. 2, Cannou.street West. The
Maws. Bevington are wholeade leather sellers. I have
been ten years in their service. Sarah Mlllsonwas in their
sondes for the same time. We want there together. She
warn housekeeper. I did not know her before she went
there. Them were se ether essTante there. The house

• Own of !miner—not s reddenee. !As never gave ms •
hitter, of herself. Her husbead owes to the pawn with her.
The deceased's hiukaud was • warehouseman. He died
_ _

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it rem ago. They lived comfortably while he warn alive.
lived with her in the house. Ido not know of any one
_ .

min his addreseee to her anew her husband', death.
she used to receive letters They 1101/18ii131011 came from
ha Mem or her sister and sometimes from permits
I and not know. She had a desk and a box and a chest

of drawers, and a few japanned cameo. She was generally
in good spirits. She told me that she had been mar-
ried to her husband seven years when she first cams. She
did not tell me that ohs bad been married before.
The time for shafting up the premises was 7 o'clock is
the mooing. After that hour the only entrance to the
balm woo by the front door in Cannon-Amt. People
need very often to oome atter that hour. Mrs. Milton
generally opened the door. She generally preferred to
do so, tying the people were for her. I have sometimes
opened it when she was not well. Miss Cox used to come
sod sometimes her mother. I never let in any male
person but anon That was three years ago.
Ido not blow who he was. I saw him neither before nor
sine to my knowledge. He left no name, but as Mrs.
Elson was out, he said he would call again. He was
a abort stout man. I told Mrs. Milton about him when

she mine in, and she seemed to know who he wee, and mid
" Oh, very well." She never mentioned him since. On Wed-
nesday evening she let Mr. Kips, the last person who left the
house, out at ten minutes peat 8 o'clock, and she brought
up the key, and said to me that they were all gone. I sat
talking with her until 20 minutes past 8, when I went into
my bedroom. I left her in the dining-room, and I did not
go back there till 10 minutes past 9 o'clock. She was not
there then. Just before I left my room the bell was rung,

and she said, " That's for me," and passed downstairs:
There is a lobby inside the street-door, and it
is separated from the counting-house by ghee
swing doors. To go to the stairs you have to
turn to the left after entering the house. There is a large
ewe (30 or 40 feet) between the glass doors and the foot of
the stairs, and packing cases are about in it. You cannot
hear in the dining-room what is going on in the lobby or
at the foot of the stairs. I saw nothing and heard nothing
until a quarter past 10 o'clock. I then took the
candle and went down. When I got two or three
stairs from the bottom I saw her lying in the
lure space with her feet towards the stairs- I
Her feet were about two feet from the stairs, and she
was lying on her back. Her head was towards the glass
doors. I took hold of her hand, and called her, but she
did not answer. I ran to the street door. The swing'
doors were shut, and I had to open them to pass through.
I found the front door shut and fastened by three spring I
fastenings, but the chain was not up. Anyone going
oat oould have shut the door after him, and leave it in
the date in which I found it. I had seen that there was
blood all about the deceased. When I opened the door I
found that it was pouring ruin, and a young woman was
standing there in the shelter. I asked her to come as
there was a person in a fit. She said, "Oh dear, I can't
come in," and she ran away directly. I waited there until
I saw a policeman, and I called him in. I went back
with him to the housekeeper, and he told me to wait till
he ran for a doctor. When the doctor came they washed
her face, and they took her away. (The witness who had
been much affected while giving her evidence here became
quite hysterical.)
The coroner, after a pause, asked whether the witness
knew of anything that could explain the occurrence. I
The witness said that she did not. There was no sus-
Riede of any robbery. The deceased did not take any light
down with her. The gaslight over the door was out when
vides' went down. It was left lighted by the man who
left at 8 o'clock. It was usually left alight till 10 or 11
o'clock, snd then turned off at the meter.
Police-constable Stephenson, 467, said that he was called
to Mr. Bevington's last Wednesday night by the last wit-
nen, at half-past 10 o'clock. He fetched Dr. May to the
demised. He saw that the deceased was cut about the
hoe The street was dark about Means. Bevington's pre-
mina There was no indication of a struggle ; the blood
was sot splashed about.
Police-sergeant Ogden said that be entered the ware-
dam at twenty minutes to 11 o'clock on the night in
question. He saw the deceased lying on her back. He
bond seven wounds on the head and face. There was a
very deep wound in the skull on the left side of the
head, another on the forehead, and four stabs on the face,
arm underneath the left eye, one on the right cheek, and
me close to the right ear. He could not recollect
where the other wounds were. He believed the injuries must
have been done with a heavy iron, such as a
null crowbar. He considered that the injuries on the
bud were done with the heavy blunt end of the instru-
ment, and the stabs in the face with the sharp end. There
vis a crowbar near the deceased, found on the packing-boxes
ear the body, but it had neither hair nor blood on it. It
vas used for opening cases. Such an instrument was, no
doubt, the one with which deceased was killed.
The Coroner desired that the crowbar mentioned should
te sent for.
A Juror—Have you ascertained whether a crowbar is
missing!
Witness—Yes, air ; one is missing from the premises.
One of the firm of Bevington and Son said that the por-
ters stated that only three out of four crowbars were to be
found, but they could not state when they had last seen
the four crowbars together.
Adam Mefferd, police inspector was then sworn.
The Coroner—Now, if you in searching the deceased's
boxes, found anything that it would be desirable for the
ends of justice to keep secret, you can keepitso. I willleave
the matter to year own discretion.
Witness—There are some things that it will be necessary
to inquire into. There is • marriage certificate abowang
that Sarah Swan, widow, aged 38 years, was married in
Clerkenwell, to Edwin Willson, a commercial clerk, in 1853.
A small crowbar was here produced by Sergeant Ogden.
It was a very heavy instrument, some 18 inches long, with
a' claw "at one end, and • chisel at the other. Such an
implement was obviously one that could have produced the
wounds found upon the head and face of the deceased.
The Coroner recommended that every effort should be
made to ascertain whether the fourth and miring crowbar
could be traced as having been in use lately.
Mr. W. C. May, surgeon, said that he was called in to
Messrs. Bevington's at half-past 10 p.m. on Wednesday. He
made an examination superficially of deceased and pro-
nounced her dead. The body was quite warm. The body
was removed to the dead-house, and he there examined
it more minutely. He found a large number of wounds on
the head and forehead. Both eyes were much swollen ;
Or: were what might be termed " black eyes ;"
and dere was a bruise on the nose. On the
left lower eyelid there was a small wound of no great depth,
and on the same eyelid a deep wound, an inch in length,
sod apparently produced by • sharp instrument. There was
another wound between the left eye and the ear, pen.-
toting to the bone. There were 12 wounds in aIL There
warm wood which penetrated the cartilage of the left ear,
• severe wound neariyin the middle of the forehead, and an-
other of the same size and character, a little further to the
left, badbeen indicted by a sharp instrument. On the side of
the head above the left ear was a veri large jagged, bruised
rtiold,b4,:luasing fractal. re of the skull, In the some part
sages,
There was a sharply
u 011euSthe top of upwards
head with zei
sages, std a similar one was nearlyparallel to it. There were
two wands with smooth edges above the right ear. The
erwhorproduced was the sort of instrument that would
Mine rah injuries as those described. The heavy end
would cluse the brained wounds, the chisel end might pro-
'duss tie cut wounds. The injuries could not have
seen sof inflicted. The injuries were sufficient to
kill three or four people. The deceased lay in a pool
if blood, and under her was found her cap, of course sato-