The Sun.
London, England, 1855-09-07 00:00:00

THE CUDHAM MURDER.

Robert alias Thomas Paling, the person ssopected of
having been guilty of the murder of Jane Bagley, was
traced by an officer of the detective force, named John-
son, to the village of Whitfield, in Gloucestershire,
where he was apprehended on Wednesday last. He was
at once brought back to Bromley, where he underwent
an examination before Mr. J. Wells, one of the magis-
trates of the county, yesterday.
The following evidence was taken :
George Bagley stated that the deceased, Jane Bigley,
was his wife. On Saturday morning, the 25th ult., he
went out at 20 minutes past 5 to his work, and returned
about 7in the evening. He fouid the house abut up as
he had left it in the morning, and upon listening at the
door he heard some one groaning iu the cottage. He
got in by the window,*and he found his mother weltering
in her blood. He then went to the room where his wife
slept, and found her lying dead in the bed, the bedclothes
which were covering her body being deeply stained with
blood. His son was with him at the time, and be im-
mediately despatched him for assistance, come neigh-
bours arriving soon afterward% He afterwards found
the pair of tongs produced in the kitchen. They were
covered with blood and hair.
William Bagley, the deceased's eon, corroborated his
father's evidence. On searching the cottage he (witness)
missed, after the murder, a jacket, waistcoat, and a pair
of trowsers. Those produced are some of the missing
articles. They had been in his (witness's) possession
six months before the murder, having been given to him
by his brother, who had entered the army about that
period.
Jessey Freeman, farm labourer, residing at Cudham,
deposed that on the morning of the 25th inst. he was
with other men mowing in a field adjoining Bagley's
house, when they saw a man running away from the
direction of the cottage, about 21 minutes past 6 o'clock.
The man wore a dark coat, dark trowers, and black hat,
and had a bundle under his arm. The distance of the
man from where they were mowing was about 120 yards.
He believed the prisoner was that man. He was of just
the same description, and same height. Generally
-peaking the prisoner had the same appearance as the
man who ran across the clover field from Bagley's
house.

James Johnson, police constable, 108 R, stated, from
information he received, he apprehended the prisoner on
Wednesday morning, at the house of Mark Wheeler, at
Whitfield, near Bristol. The prisoner was in bed at the
time. The clothes identified by the witness Wm. Bay-
ley as his, he found amongst the prisoner's clothes is
the same room.

William Crane, who was at work with the last wit•
ness un the morning in question, and saw the man run-
ning across the clover field, corroborated Freeman's evi-
dence, and identified the prisoner as bearing a strong
resemblance to that man. He did not See the features
of the man running away from the cottage.
Mrs. Jemima Blake, who kept the Black Horse pub-
lic-house at Biggin's-hill, identified the prisoner as hav-
ing been at the Black Horse, a mile and a half from
Bagley's house, on Friday, the day preceding the mur-
der, at half-past 12 in the afternoon. He left the house
about twenty minutes to 2.
Mr. Inspector Bagster informed the bench that that
was all the evidence to be produced that day against ti :e
prisoner. If the accused were refnauded for a week
the evidence would be by that time complete.
•
The 1;4114 accordingly remanded the accused.