Northern Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1859-10-27 00:00:00

ffitness slept:till four o'clock, when he. w.as aroused by __
kir. Sharp, the chief mate, to relieve watch. He got
The prisoner.was at that time sitting on witness's •
hest putting on, his clothes. Witness went on deck
.as soon as he was dressed, and saw prisoner go to
.he galley about ten minutes after Sharp -had turned
.n. The prisoner went into the cabin where they
lived. On coming out again, he went forward on
he starboard side and turned round, apparently to
See whether witness was watching him. When he
>aw witness looking at him, he went back to the ,galley.
Witness walked to and fro, and the prisoner went for-
yard on the port-side. He went forward for a minute
talk to the men, and he heard a scream. On going
to the direction' from whence it proceeded, he saw the
, prisoner with a five-barrelled revolver pistol in his
hand, holding it up. He had a knife in his mouth.
He was standing near the door of the cabin where the
men lived. Cumming was standing at the door. (The
revolver and the knife, which was a cook's knife, were
produced.) Cummings was covered with MOO on the
fore part of his shirt and his cheek. He said, " The
villain is murdering us." Witness then ran into the
cabin to rouse the captain. He called out " Captain
Barker " twice, but he received no answer. The door
was open—it had been open all night. He went in,
and on taking hold of his leg he felt the blood run
under his feet. He then 'looked to the captain's face.
His throat was cut, and his head was nearly off his
body. The body was uncovered from the chest up-
wards. He then went to call the chief mate, and found
his door shut. He then called out " Mr. Sharpe"
twice, and he answered. He said he was locked in,
and witness found it to be so. There was no key in
the door. He burst the door open. He noticed marks
of blood on the keyhole. He looked for the key but
could not find it. When the chief mate came out he
saw the prisoner standing at the midship talking to the
men. He and the chief mate went into the captain's
cabin, and when they saw the prisoner corning aft
they shut the door until they got something to arm
themselves with. The prisoner had the revolver in his
hand at that time. There were no other firearms on
board than the revolver. Witness took a screwdriver
and the chief mate a sword, and they went on deck
to secure the prisoner, who was there threatening to
shoot the men who hadi been on the watch below.
Witness got the men of his watch together, and armed
them as well as he could. The prisoner then ran into
the cabin and they shut the door, keeping him in. The
men armed themselves with anything they could. He
saw him break the captain's drawers open, also two
writing-desks. The chief mateilwas at this time
looking through the skylight watching the prisoner's
actions. The mate broke two or three panes of glass,
and threw the glass in the prisoner's face. The prisoner,
snapped the caps of the revolver at him twice. The caps.
went off. The mate said, " Ah, you villain, it's not
loaded." The chief mate called upon witness to look
out, as the prisoner was going to the door. Witness.
opened the door, and the prisoner came out, and threw
his arms up with his back towards the cabin. He said,
"Me kill the captain—me kill no more people." net
prisoner was then secured. He had a sash round his
waist. He searched the sash and found a knife con-
cealed. He also found pistol balls and percussion
caps concealed in the folds of the sash. In the captain's
room they found a blue frock belonging to the
prisoner. He had worn the frock that morning.
Witness showed. the prisoner the two knives, and
asked him which he killed the captain with. He said,
" The big one." He asked him what he was going to
do with the small knife found in his sash. He said, to
stick some people suppose they struck him. The knives
were ship's knives, one a carving and the other a table
knife. They had both been fresh sharpened on the
grindstone. At the same time ho showed the prisoner
the blue frock, and asked him how it became torn and
lying in the captain's cabin. He said—" When Igo to
cut Joe's throat (Cummings), Joe tear him." They
buried the captain on the fourth day, and sailed for
Falmouth, The ship, during the time he had men-
tioned, was iTon the high seas.
Cross-examined by Mr. Metcalfe, who appeared for
the defence—They had sailed from Lisbon eleven days
When this happened. They were going to North
America. They went back to Falmouth after the murder,
because it was the neatest English port. The captain
was very kind to the prisoner and to the crew generally.
He never said the captain spoke crossly to the prisoner,
but he was very particular. The prisoner after the
murder was placed in the long boat for two days. The
Prisoner never appeared to be excited, except when he
was smashing the drawers and the desk in the captain's
room. He Knew ef no cause for the prisoner's conduct
towards the captain. He never saw any Symptoms of
insanity about him; He always gave proper answers,
and attended to his duties.
Re-examined—The revolver was not loaded, but it
had caps on.
An interpreter was called, and translated to the
prisoner the whole of the evidence from the judge's
notes.
The prisoner said—Me liked the captain very much.
The chief mate struck me, and me went to tell the
captain. Me told him mate call me bad names, and he
prevented him. Me no kill the captain. Me no break
nothing.
After a lengthened trial, the prisoner was found guilty
of the charge of murder, and sentenced to be executed.

sporting