The British Press; or, Morning Literary Advertiser.
London, England, 1824-08-27 00:00:00

OXFORD CIRCUIT.

• fIONMOUTII ASSIZES, Avourr
•
Erfurt Mr. Jounce PAaa.
MURDER.
llirliard Williams, a decent-looking mentrrnen, arid *God
Mary Marron, single woman, a person wholly devoid a paresaal
attractions, aged 26, were ihtlicted for the wilful murder of Wm.
Evens.

Mr. RUSSELL stated, that on the night of the fifth of April,
Win. Evans, who was an acquaintance of the prisoner Williams.
had been drinking with him, but It° sort of enmity subsisted be-
tween them ; and at eleven that night the two prisoners, the de-
ceased, and a girl hawed Nixon, were in ceitipaoy together at •
place called Kimson ; there was also near them a man in a white
frock. The prisoners proceeded forward, and soon after the de-
ceased and Nixon followed. lie might now state, that both Nixon,
whom he should call as a witness, and the female prisoner. were
women of the town. After they had proceeded a little way, Nixon
and the decanted turned off the road, sad went into a saw-psi, and
in a few moments a large piece of timber was thrown down into this
raw-pit, and fell on the head of the deceased ; it instantly killed
him, and the woman Nixon, who was standing near the deceased
in the pit and speaking to him, was also considerably injured. The
iece of timber was a very heavy ;lank, weighing about three hun-
dred weight. He should prove that it could nut have fallen into
the pit by accident, and a witness named Davis, who was in a host
near, would prove that he heard the timber fall, and the ley of a
woman. He would also prove, that he saw a man and antler wo-
manZtanding near one end of the pit, and on hearing the ay, that
man ea standing, instead of going to the end of the pit nearest to
where ht was, went round the pit and got into it at the other end.
IHe shoe el also prove that the female prisoner was on terms
' with the girl Nixon, and had often expressed herself in a violent
way towards her; and after the occurrence, Nixon desiring her to
get a liAt and give het assistance, she, instead of doings*, went
home and smoked her pipe ; and on a girl named Phillips, also a
woman of the town, asking her why she did not assist, she said,
"Do you mean to take het part ? If you do, you shall be served
the same, for whoever did it they did not mean to hurt the man, it
was Romer (a nickname by which Nixon went) that they wanted."
The male prisaner got into the pit to assist the WOllll%/1 Nixon, and
he lifted her out of the pit, and though the pit was of so small di-'
,!
marshes., that it appeared impossible lie should not have known
the of the deceased, he di.l not appear to know of his being
that ; but the titan in the white frock came up and said, " What
ix become of the man ?" and the prisoner Williams made no reply.'
He should also put in the statements made by the prisoners before
the Magistrate, as in such a case it was rupee that every thing
should be laid before the Jury.
Elizabeth Nixon stated—l live at Newport, and en does the Ire-
male prisoner, who is celled "Cardiff Mary"; we lodged at the
same house. On the evening in question 1 went out at eleven'
o'clock ; I went to Kimeon, that is, a public-house, by the canal
aide, out of the town of Newport. I saw Cardiff' Mary and Richard ,1
Williams (the two prisoners), and the deceased and a man in a
white frock. The female prisoner said to me, " What the devil do!
you rant here ?" I said, " Are you drunk or mad ?" She said,',
"Go to h—l." On the night before we quarrelled about her bring-
ing a young man into lief lodgings. She said she would be up to me.
The two prisoners went on beyond Kionson, and I stayed with Wm.
Evans, the deceased. Our lodgings were only a few yards off; the
deceased proposed mgo there, but I would not take him. He pro-
posed going to the Red Cow. I said, "Go onand 1 will follow
you " mid he did so, and we then met the two prisoner. The
female threw her semi round the neck of the deceased, who, how-
ever, told her to go away, and the deceased and I went into the
saw-pit, which is three or four yards off; it is a sloping descent,'
that yon may walk down into. it at one end, by the assistance of
some steps in the wan of the saw-pit. When we went into the saw-
pit we left the prisoners taking near the Red Cow. It was dark,
but the prime. wswet have seen us. We were standing in the
saw-pie tool the daelesed had his hand on my shoulder, when the''
piece of tfiti‘ea came down. It struck me on the right side of my
face and on the aide. It struck me down. I never heard the de-
ceased cry out. I was senseless, but for what length of time I can-
not tell ; but when I came to my senses again I was lying in the
pit, with the timber at me. I could not get up.—[ Here the female'
prisoner fainted. As soon as she recovered the examination was
resumed.)—l cried out fur help, and Mary Morgan, the prisoner
me up and said, " What the devil is the matter with your anti
ca
asked her to get some help and a light, to see what was the mat-
ter. She, however, neither came back nor sent any lig:it ; but in a
few minutes the male prisoner came and lifted the timber up and
got me out of the pit. and the man in the white frock helped 'him,
and the prisoner Williams took me home. The men in the frock
asked me, " Where is the man who was with you in the pit ?". I
said I did not kopw, unless he was gone away, and I believed that
he was gone beibre the timber came down. I heard no noise Of any
one near the pit. When I got to my lodgings I was very bloody.
I saw the female prisoner, who said nothing; and I uld, " Mary,
I will never forgive you : it would not have been too much for you
to bring a light and see what was the matter." She was then
sinokine. We had lodged together for about a month, but had
not been on good terns*, because I informed against a house fur
taking a men. I went before the Mayoral Newport about it, and
she was put in prison about it. She often said she would be up to
me.

It was here discovered that the male prisoner was a Welshman,
and did not understand English (as is the case with many thou.
sands of the Welsh). An interpreter was sworn, and the evidence
of Elizabeth Nixon read by the Learned Judge fromtis notes, and
repeated in Welsh to the prisoner.
Examined by-the Learned JUDOZ—I can fern holdea al how
long I had been insensible. The prisoner Williams helped me out
of the pit, and took me home. lie said, " What the devil is the
matter with you ?" When he got me out of the pit he seated me
on some other timber which was near.
Eleanor Phillips stated—l am not a married woman. I lived in
the same house with the prisoner and Nixon. I went home to my
lodgings after having been in the streets on the evening in question.
I saw the female prisoner, Cardiff' Mary. I saw her smoking her
pipe. She asked to " Are_you alive ?" I said, Did you hear
I was killed ?" and the only laughed. I saw Nixon come in about
ten minutes titter, very bloody. I said. " What's the matter?"
and Nixon said, "-Oh, Mary, you have served me pretty well to-
night ; I would not have served you so. It was not much to bring
a light and see what was there ; • and the prisoner said, " D'ye
think I would bring a light and be killed myself?" I asked
Nixon how it happened, and she said she had gone with a nun
into the sawptt, and sonic one had thrown a piece of timber upon
her. I said to the prisoner, " Mary, where were you ?" and she
said, " I watt not far off;" end she said she saw sonic one near the
sawpit, and knew them very well. I asked who they were, and
she said, " I won't tell you to-night ; I will tell you to-morrow
morning." I went out with the prisoner on our nightly walks, and
asked her why she did not go to the sawpit on hearing 'Nixon call'?
and she said, • If you are going to take her part you shall have
the same ourself, fur that is nothing to what she shall have; that
L only a .nning." The other prisoner was at the door, and
asked me ow the girl was. I said, "Do you know something
about the girl?" " Yes," he said, " I went to the pit and helped
her home." I was in prison with the female prisoner at Newport
Dridewell, and I said, " We hare bleu ht ourselves into a pretty
hobble." She said, " Yes, all through Betsey Rosser," which la
another name for Nixon. I said, " You told me that you knew
those who were about the sawpit." " I thought so, ' said she.;
" It was not their intent to kill the man, but to kill the girl."
Nixon and Cardiff Mary were nut friends.
Elizabeth Nixon Trailed—The prisoner Williams took me home
to the door, but did not air to go in. I remember the keeper of
the house shutting the door, but 1 don't remember bet telhog him I
lie must not conic in.

David Thomas, a boatman, stated—My boat was in the canal
near the place in question, and I was on board. I was as near the
aawpit as the length of the court, but there was a blockmaker's
shop between me and the pit, but I could see the path leading to
the pit, and could, from the stern of my boat, 'hem I stood, see
the end of the pit. It was a dark night. I heard a ni.ise like two
planks falling on each other. The sound came from the pit. I
heard afterwards a moaning; it seemed to be a woman% voice. and
I saw a man and woman either at the lower end of the sawpit or on
the trammed near it. I had heard the moans before this. I saw
the man go to the further end of the wtwpit, and get into it, and
the woman stood at the door of the Rcd Cow. The person in the
pit cried out ...Mary" twice, and the woman called to said. •` Why
don't you get out ?" I did not see the man in the white frock. I
went to the aawpit next morning. between five and six o'clock, and
I saw the deceased lying in it. Many pigeons were assembled by
that time.

John Young stated.-1 am a timber-merchant, and live within
fifteen yards of the sawpit. As I was going to bed I heard a
woman cry out. I feared she had fallen into the canal, but after-
wards heard her cry out, " T.iere is a piece of timber on me." I
opened the window and found that the cries came fmm the sawpit.
1 saw a woman near the Red ( ow, and 1 saw a man conic from
the direction of the canal, and go up to the pit ; he had a flannel
frock on. The woman in the pit cried out, " For God's sake,
3lare, bring a light."
Thomas Phillips stated—l measnred the place in question ; the
distance from Kimson to the sawpit is 77 yards, from the Red Cow
to the pit 62 feett Mr. Young's bowie is .5..1 feet front the pit, and
the stern of Davis's boat 72 feet. The length of the pit itself is
lY feet, depth six feet, and breadth four feet.
' Thomas Waters stated-1 am a sawyer, and worked at the pit
in question. I remeniber leaving my weak at six o'clock on the
evening in question. (In one side of the pit was a slab of timber,
it was fourteen inches from the edge of the pit ; it was laid length_
wise at the side of the pit ; it had been there' week ; it wits of
oak, seven feet long, and twenty-two inches broad, and about eight
' inches thick at the thickest part, but it ran taper mahout sit inches
thick, it weighed 324 pounds ; it could not fall in of itself; I put
it for my own safety, as 1 worked in the pit. At six o'clock the
neat morning 1 found a dead per, vn in the pit, with a slab upon
him. One person could have shoved it in, as it lay "on edge"
against two posts ; one person might have turned it over into the
pit, it lay so near. As it stood, to have turned it over into the pit
would have taken a strength of about 80 pounds. 1 have replaced
it as it stood, and tried it in that way.
Thomas /tierce' stated—l am a pilot, and live at Newport. I
was at the aaw.pit at about half-past four the miming alter: I
saw the dead body, and 1 saw also the prisoner and a man named
Green. I went into the pit, and found the dreamed lying thereon
his left side, with the plank against him. I said, •• this is Jack
of lilannionorth." The prisoner did not say anything. I did nut
take the timber of the deceased, and the prisoner did not speak.
David Francis stated-1 am a carpenter at Newport. I saw the
body; it was the body of %Pm. Evans. There were "
that is hatchet marks and splinters—on the mid of the timber,
which answercil the wounds on his head. _ _

Mr. Jarnn ilawiths, a surgeon, stated•—L tun a surgeon, at
Newport. I examined the body : on the right side of the head
were wounds to the extent of two inches each way ; theta were
four or tire cirzults punctures just above the car. L took off the

'op of the skull. sod found several pieces Oben' driven in p the
Ault was fractured to the length of live inches la various dins-
tons ; a piece of bone had been driven late the beim I ow-
alder lids to have caused his death.
Phillips, the Town Clerk of Newport, put in the ensuing.-
then of the pnaotters, as it was taken betire the Mayas of that place.
The male prisoner wan esarnined in Welch ; but the answers were
translated into English, and written down.
The examMaglon of Richard Williams stated rearly the same
facts as proved by the witnesnes ; but he denied his guilt, and did
not eggplant any .1 the circumstances.
The female prisoner's ratanient was read : it was very l.mg. and
denied a good deal of the evidence given by the women, bat stand
no new fact.

Maher of the primness made any defence.
Mr. Justice PARK, in his summing up, observed, that this was
an inquiry of the deepest consequence; that the deceased came by
his death by the mode charged .weeined clear, but whether the tint.
her was thrown down by the prisoners, or either of them, was the
question the Jury had to tee. The law was, that if a ream doing
an unlawful act, intending the hurt of another, and death ensued.
though death was not intended, the crime would be murder or man-
slaughter. according to the circumstances of the case, such as the
natureof the instrument with which the injury ices inflicted. And
it had !mix been held, that if the instrument used was of such a
nature as must cause great injury, and it did cause death, the crime
was murder. It could hardly be supposed that malice mild have
actuated the parties at the outset ; for he must say, that he never
saw 'deliberate murder attempted to be committed ty such means.
It was an important question, for he would say that it was a case or
the greatest nicety. The two women did not appear to be on good
terms; and, according to the evidence of Elizabeth Nixon, had
vowed revenge. (His Lnalshio then read over the *bole of the
evidence, and commented on it at he proceeded.) Ili. Lordship
then left it to the Jury to say whether either or both the prisoners
had committed this act, and, in ,oncluainn, Laid, that tht
obsena-
:iors in favour of the men were very strong indeed ; and, with re-
gard to the wimtati, it seemed difficult to supplest that she
could commit the otenre alone. it should be OA...wed, too.
that the witness Nixon spoke under a feeling of Irritation ;
and she, as well at the witness Phillips, were women of such
habits of life as would not entitle theta to plummier credit;
but at the same time he far tone would never advise a Jury, merely
because women had thrown orall moral and religious obligations,
that they were therefore not to be believed under the soleino sans_
Lion of an oath. Another question would be, if they thought the
prisoners guilty, tehether they committed the otfinice
and knoring that the deceased was in the pit? As against
the male prisoner there was not the slightest evidence of it lice,
and as againsk. the woman the expressions of malice appeared
to be the speeeries of a person of most depraved habits, and If they
thought it wit done foolishly and out of wicked spurt, and sot in-
tending to kill, the crime would then be matialaughter. Hut. on
the whole of this case, they would say what was their spinion.
The pritionetwarould not have gone there intending to kill, because
they did notsorry the timber with them; and they could not have
known that the deceased or the witness Nixon would 113Vtgose into
the pit at all.
The Jury, after deliberating a quarter of an hour, found the pri-
soner Riches, Williams Not GaWy, and the prilaner Mary Met-
gen Guilty of .4feestostelater.
Mr. Justice PARK addressed the female prisoner, and explained
himself highly satisfied with the verdict of the Jury. He rejoiced
that time was spared to her to repent of her life of miseuntiuct, a
life spent in drinking, shearing, and debauchery. Of this man's
death she was clearly guilty, though it appeared the her bad in.
tentiuns were directed against another. He was bound in justice tie
the country to prevent a person of such unbridled passions from
doing more injury. His Lordship then sentenced her to be trans-
ported for the term of her named life.