The Express.
London, England, 1867-11-25 00:00:00

BRUTAL MURDER IN STAFFORDSHIRE.

On Saturday morning a murder was discovered
at Mosley, near to Wolverhampton. Morley is about
four miles from Wolverhampton, on the direct road to
Birmingham, and is made up of collieries and ironworks,
and of the homes of the ironworkers and miners. At
about 8 o'clock on Friday evening, Esther, aged 35, the
wife of Moses Bsgott, furnaceman at the Monway Iron-
works, belonging to Mews. Marshall, of Morley, took her
husband's supper and delivered it to his aselstant at the
gate of the works. On her way home she called at a beer-
bonse and drank a pennyworth of ale, and at 9 o'clock,
when nearer to her home, she passed a neighbour, bade her
good night, and said she was in haste. Her husband re-
'turned home at 2 and sought her in vain at her
mother's house. At daylight he went one way
and his father another, both seeking her. At 8 o'clock
the father was called to, as he passed along the high road,
by three boys, who said, •' Here master, here's a woman !
Lying dead in a shallow subsidence in an old colliery field,
not 50 yards from the road side, open to it and nearly level
with it, Moses Bsgott, sera, was shocked to find his eon's
wife whom he was seeking. Her clothes were disordered
and her features were much disfigured with blood, which
seemed to have escaped from the mouth and nostrils. There
was a great deal of effused clotted blood =damns about the
mouth; there wereabruions about the lower jawalikeos the
right and the left aide, and also about the chin. On the
left aide of the throat, too, there ins an abrasion, such as
a finger-nail would produce ; and there were slight
abrasions on each hand. The body was removed to a
neighbouring inn, and superficially examined by Mr. W.
H. Beacon, surgeon, of Bilstou, who describes the ap-
1= COO as above, and gives as the opinion he has
of the cause of death, that it was produced by
violent compreseion of the mouth and nostrils. Upon the
high road, only forty-seven yards from the lame when
the boys accidentally found the body, there was
a considerable quantity of blood, and both there,
also around the body, and between it and
the spot where the blood was lying there were distinct
traces of a desperate struggle having recently taken place.
Whilst it is true that one of the pockets of the deceased
was turned out, still the object of her murder could I
scarcely have been plunder, fur she had a watch in the
bosom of her dress secured by a chain round her neck,
which was still there when she was found. The face of
the watch was broken, and the deceased's bosom
was much bruised as if she had been trodden
upon. She was a robust, well-built woman, and
was evidently able to offer vigorous resistance
to the assassins who took her life. Some time ago she
summoned her husband before the magistrates, and after
that they lived apart for a time ; and they have only re.
cently come together again. The police of the Stafford-
shire constabulary, under Captain Holland, are investi-
gating the occurrence • but at present they are without
any clue likely to legato the apprehension of the perpe-
trators of this outrage. It will have been observed that
the surgeon's examination having at present been only
superficial, the first chject of the murderers can only be
supposed from the condition in which the poor woman
was found, and the means which were resorted to to de-
prier) her of life.