The Northern Daily Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1856-08-09 00:00:00

I THE MURDER OF .THE TWO SISTERS

NEAR FOLKESTONE

The inquest on the bodies of the two illfated young
females, who were murdered on Sunday morning last,
commenced, on Thursday, before Mr. T. Delassaux, one of
the coroners for the county of Kent, and a highly respectable
jury. We may premise that the spot where the deed was
clmmitted is singularly adapted for such a purpose. It is
a small glen immediately facing the sea, and surrounded on
each side by cliffs, so that it is entirely secluded from public
observation. A small footpath leading round the cliffs
passes through the glen, and here the crime was perpetrated.
The murderer is still living, and progressing favourably.
The first witness called was a carpenter, named Thomas
Girling, who, upon being sworn, said : I regard my oath
more as a civil than a religious act. On being questioned
by the coroner, Girling said that he was of no religion, that
he did not believe in the existence of a Supreme Being,
but that he was determined to speak the truth. The
Coroner : After thirty-six years experience as a coroner it
is the first time in my life that I have had a witness before
me having no belief in Supreme Being, or in a punishment
hereafter. I am, however, bound to receive his evidence,
and you, gentlemen of jury, pay just as much respect to it
as you think it is entitled to at your hands. The witness
then deposed as follows : On Sunday morning last I left
Folkstone, shortly bet-ire six o'clock, and proceeded towards
Dover. Having passed the spot • where the bodies• were
subsequently discovered, I went towards the edge of the
cliff, where I sat down and perused a newspaper. I remained
there about half an hour, and then got up in order to proceed
to Folkstone. I endeavoured to find a pathway leading to
the beach, and on my way I discovered the bodies of the
deceased females lying in a glen, called Steddy-hole. The
clothes of one of them were much disordered. The bodies
were about fifteen yards from each other. They were
subsequently removed to a cottage close by the place.
—Mary Back, the mother of the deceased, deposed : The
deceased females were my daughters. Caroline was aged
eighteen year•, and Maria sixteen. lam well acquainted
with private Dedea Redanies. He is a servant to Lieu-
tenant Salter, of the same regiment, now stationed at
Shorncliffe. He came to my house about half-past eight
o'clock on Saturday night last, for the purpose of seeing
Caroline, to whom ha was paying his addresses. About
t-n o'clock the same evening he requested that she might
accompany him to Shorncliffe the next morning, as he
had a sister who wished particularly to see her. He
added that he had plenty of money, as his sister had
given him £lOO. After some further conversation, it was
arranged that both the deceased girls should go with him,
and he was to call at three o'clock in the morning for
them. He came at the time agreed upon, and after
having breakfasted, they all left the house together. A
miniature likeness of Redanies had been presented by him
to the eldest girl, and which he asked for on Saturday
night. She gave it to him, and he immediately broke
it, and threw it into the fire, saying that he would obtain
a larger one for her. My daughters became acquainted
with Redanies in consequence of my washing for the
military hospital and the castle at Dover, While my
daughters were taking their breakfast I was in bed, and
heard them talking, together. Redanies also conversed
with me, and bade me good morning before leaving on Sun-
day morning. They were in good humour with each other.
John Back, the father of the deceased, deposed to the same
effect as the preceding witness. William Bateman,
surgeon, of Folkstone. deposed to having examined the
deeeased females, and described the nature of their wounds.
The younger girl's dress was but little disordered. She
had on her gloves and bonnet, and the front of her dress
buttoned tight up to her neck, and was saturated in blood.
There' were four incised wounds in the chest, each about
half an inch in length, and penetratieg deeply. into the
chest. There were two wounds on each side of the chest,
between the second and fourth ribs. From the direction
the wounds took he was of opinion that the arch of the aorta
was wounded, and that death must have been almost
instantaneous. The persons of the deceased had not been
violated. The clothes of Caroline were not much dis-
ordered. There were three wounds on her chest, one on the
right side, which had severed the cartilage of the third rib
and passed into the cheat. Another wound had passed
through the breast bone. On the left band there was a
wound, which bad struck her knuckle and then glanced off.
The knife =produced was precisely the description of
instrument calculated to produce the wounds inflicted
on the' bodies of the deceased. The bodies were warm when
witness first saw them, and their chests full of blood

George Fryer, constable, of Thanington (near Canterbury),
deposed: From information which I received, I proceeded
on the Ashford road towards Chatham, and when passing
over the viaduct near Milton Chapel, I saw a soldier draw
his right hand from big breast, and throw down the knife
produced. I ran np to him and caught bold of him, and
another labourer had then got hold of him. We placed
him in a cart, having previously obtained the aqsistanpe of
Mr. Bond, a surgeon, and took him to the Kent arid Can-•
terbury Hospital. He had two capes round him. There
was a purse in his pocket containing 3s 4d in silver and 32d
in copper. There were three wounds on his left breast.
Superintendent Clements produced the two capes which he
took from the body of the soldier Redanies. There were

marks of blood on one of them. Elizabeth Attwood, wife
of a shopkeeper at Lower Hardres, deposed to a soldier
belonging to the Foreign Legion coming to her house on
the previous Monday, and asking for some writing paper
and envelopes. He then sat down and wrote two letters,
which he subsequently placed in envelopes. The letters
produced were those which he so wrote. Witness had since
seen Dedea Redanies in the Kent and Canterbury Hospital,
and believed him to be the man who wrote the letters. He
enclosed a duplicate in one of the letters. (It was for a
watch pledged at Folkstone). T4e two letters were here
read to the jury. They were written in German, and were
as follows :