The Express.
London, England, 1866-04-10 00:00:00

THE BRIGHTON MURDER.

EXECUTION OF THE MURDERER AT LEWES.
(THIS DAY.)
The last sentence of the law was this morning
carried into effect upon John William Leigh, aged 28, who
was convicted at the late assizes for the county of Sussex
of the murder of his sister-in-law, Mrs. Horton, the land-
lady of the Jolly Fisherman publio-bonse, at Brighton.
The offence, it will be remembered, was committed in
the most daring and deliberate manner. The prisoner
walked into the bar parlour where the deceased was sitting
with two customers, and, without saying a word, dis-
charged two of the chambers of a six-barrel revolver at
the unfortunate woman, one of the balls passing com-
pletely through her body, and the other lodging in the
armpit, whence it was extracted. The prisoner then
ran out of the house, and when Mr. Barnden, super-
intendent of the Brighton police, attempted to take him
into custody, he discharged another of the barrels of the
revolver at him, and the ball pulsed through part of his
clothing, and he bad a narrow escape of being killed. The
only defence that was attempted to be set up for him was
that he was not in • sane condition of mind at the time
the act was committed ; but the evidence that
was brought forward to establish this defence
was that the prisoner had on two occaKons
been attacked by delirium tremens, resulting from drink-
ing ardent spirits to exoem, and the evidence as to in-
sanity failed altogether. After the prisoner was convicted
he expressed • desire to read a long statement which he
had prepared ; but, as this statement merely referred to acts
of alleged misconduct on the part of the deceased and her
sister, to whom he had been married about two years,but who
had separated from him at the time the occurrence took
place, he was advised that such • statement would not
have any good effect, and would rather tend to establish
• motive for the commission of the crime, and he there-
fore refrained from reading it.
The career of the culprit seems to have been s very ex-
traordinary one. It appears that he was the illegitimate
son of a gentleman holding • very respectable position, who
resided at Brighton, and who was a married man, and
after his birth his father seems to have made provi-
sion for him. His wife, however, who had become
acquainted with the fact, an& who bad no children
of her own, appears to have taken the somewhat un-
usual course, under the circumstances, of adopting the
child, and he was brought up at Brighton in every comfort.
His habits, however, appeared to be wild and extravagant ;
he was • constant source of trouble and uneasiness to
the lady who had adopted him, and when he was
little more than 18 years of age he entered the royal navy,
and he served during the campaign in the Crimea as a mid-
shipman. He was on board the Tyrone, one of the govern-
ment transports, at the time of the dreadful storm which,
it will be remembered, took place in the Black
Sea during the occupation of the Crimea by the allies.
The vessel in which he served was wrecked with
• great many others, and the culprit had • very narrow
escape from being drowned. After he left the royal
navy he appears to have stayed for a short time
in London. He then went to China and took
service against the imperialists, and during the
struggle he received several severe wounds, of which he
seemed to be very proud, and he would readily undress
himself whenever he was requested to exhibit them. After
this, it is said, he served for some time on board the
celebrated Confederate cruiser the Alabama, and he was
constantly narrating the daring exploits in which he took
part while he was on board that vessel.
Notwithstanding the desperate and outrageous charac-
ter of the offence of which the prisoner was oonvicted,
a number of respectable persons at Brighton, who
were acquainted with him and with the circumstances
under which he had become connected with the deceased
and her family have interested, themselves in his
behalf ; and a short time back a memorial was sent to
Sir G. Grey praying for a respite of the culprit
on the ground that at the time the act was committed he
was not in such a state of mind as to be criminally re-
sponsible. As usual in all such cases, a communication
was made by the Home Secretary to Chief Justice Erie,
who tried the prisoner, upon the subject, and the
opinion of the learned judge with reference to the
prisoner was asked for, and it is understood that
his lordship in reply expressed himself perfectly
satisfied with the verdict of the jury, stating at the
same time that the evidence that had been adduced on be-
half of the prisoner had, in his opinion, entirely failed to
establish the plea of insanity. The answer that was
sent by Sir George Grey to the memorialists consequently
was that he could not see anything to justify him in in-
terfering with the course of the law.
Although several reports have appeared in some of the
local papers with regard to the levity thathas been exhibited
by the culprit since his conviction, it appears that they are
entirely without foundation. He seems on the contrary to
have conducted himself exceedingly welL He has
paid the greatest attention to the exhortations of the Rev.
Mr. Burnett, the chaplain of the prison, and, according
to that gentleman's opinion, as far as can be judged from
the prisoner's conduct and expressions, he was sincerely
penitent for his crime, and he frequently stated that
he considered his sentence a just one. So far as the de-
fence of insanity that was set up for him it may be stated
that be was no party to that defence, but he did not feel
himself called upon to oppose such • course being taken,
but left the matter entirely in the hands of those who
were defending him.

The only persons who have visited him since his condem
nation were his mother, who,lit will be remembered, woe
examined as a witness on his behalf at the trial, who saw
him last week, and a couple of boatmen from Brighton
with whom he had been in the habit of assert-
ting during his residence at that place. For
the reason above-stated, his relations with his own
mother were not of that tender character that usually
exist between such near relations ; but there appeared to
be a good deal of affection existing between them, and the
culprit expressed his sorrow for the pain he had occasioned
his mother on several occasions while they were
living together ; and the interview was altogether
of a very peaceful character. With respect to the other
persons who visited the prisoner, it appears that he merely
desired to see them for the purpose, as he said,
of exhorting them to depart from all evil courses, and
to lead a religious and respectable life. The prisoner's
I wife, the sister of the unfortunate deceased, went to the
gaol for the purpose of having an interview with the pri-
soner on Monday, but he refused to see her, as he said that
it would uwettle him and disturb his last moments.
The culprit attended Divine service in the chapel of
the prison this morning at 9 o'clock, and he appeared to
pay great attention to the feeling dimmerse that was de-
livered by the chaplain. He was then taken back to his
cell, where he remained with the chaplain until the time
appointed for the carrying out the sentence of the law.
A few minutes before 12 o'clock, the executioner, Cal-
mat, made his appearance ; but the culprit evinced very
little emotion while the ceremony of pinioning was being
performed.
He walked to the scaffold with a flan step, and when
the drop fell life appeared to be extinct after a very short
struggle.
There was a very considerable crowd to witness the exe-
cution, a great number of persons having come over from
Brighton, where the prisoner was, of course, well known.
It is ten years since an execution has taken place in this
town. The last prisoner who suffered was a man named
Murdock, for killing the governor of the gaol at Hastings
in an endeavour to make his escape from that prison.

We read in the City article of the Times :—" A
Faction lately common among scene disreputable persons
engaged in city business of offering the securities and bills I
of large firms for negotiation at heavy rates of discount,
when there are in reality no such bills in existence, has
been renewed to-day, the object being to damage credit u
much as possible, in order to influence prices in the Stock
Exchange. In one case this afternoon it is understood the
offenders have been distinctly traced, with a view to legal
proceedings being commenced against them, and the entire
mercantile community will rejoice if a severe penalty be
hi/tided."

Made radatsch has a caricature this week on the
Schleswig-Holstein difficulty. &Meow* and Holstein are
represented as the two legs of a pair of trousers. In the
first part Prussia and Austria have each got one leg on,
with the remark, " That does not do." In the second
picture the trouser, are divided, and each has one leg.
That does not do either. In Val third, Prusia has got
the whole garment to itself, and Austria is walking off
with a beg of money, and that will do.