The Sun.
London, England, 1864-12-15 00:00:00

ASSIZE IN TELLIGENCE.

HOME CIRCUIT.—CHELMSFORD, Dec. it.
(Before Baron Channell )
THE MURDER ON CHIDWELL HEATH.

Francis Wane, 44, alias Taddy, a great hulking fellow,
six feet high, with deformed feet, was charged upon an in-
dictment, and also by the coroner's inquisition, with the
wilful murder of Amelia Blunt, on the 27th of September,
by cutting her throat.
Mr Poland and the Hon. Dudley Campbell conducted
the prosecution on behalf of the Treasury, instructed by
Mr Bourne, of Romford) the prisoner was defended by
Mr Woollett.

The evidence in support cf the charge against the pri-
soner was of the most conducive description, and it was
currently rumoured on Tuesday that, although counsel had
been retained by the prisoner's friends to defend him, it was
his determination to plead guilty to the charge. He was,
however, advised not to take that course, as it could not
possibly benefit him, and he therefore pleaded not guilty.
From the opening statement of the learned counsel for the
prosecution it appeared that the deceased was a woman
about the same age as the prisoner, or rather younger.
She had been married, and had two grown-up children,
and upon the death of her husband she had taken up her
abode at Chidwell Heath, in this county, and obtained her
livelihood by going out to work as a charwoman, and she
was always regarded as a sober, industrious woman. She
became acquainted with the prisoner at this place. He
was a labourer, but there seemed to be no doubt that he
was an idle, worthless fellow; but notwithstanding this,
the deceased seemed to have consented to go to live
with him as his wife, and they cohabited together
fur some time, The conduct of the prisoner towards her,
however, appeared to have been so bad that the deceased
determined to break off the connexion that existed between
them, and she left him about three months before she came
to her untimely end, and went to live at the cottage of an
aged man named Warren, at Chidwell Heath, as a sort of
housekeeper. The old man had a son, James Warren, and
an intimacy seemed to have sprung up between the deceased
and this young man, and they were engaged to be married,
and the banns had been published, and the marriage was to
have taken place on the Saturday weak following the day on
which the murder was committed, which was the 24th of
September. The prisoner seemed to have been very angry
at the deceased leaving him, and upon several occasions he
appeared to have entreated her to resume the connexion be-
tween them, but she always refused to do so, and the pri-
soner upon several occasions was heard to utter dreadful
threats against her, and he was repeatedly heard to say that
if she did not live with him again he would have her life.
A. remarkable conversation appeared to have taken place
between the prisoner and the deceased about six weeks be-
fore the murder. The latter, it appeared, had been to a
public-house called the White Horse, which is a short dis-
tance from the cottage where she was residing, and she saw
the prisoner there. He called her out, and he then asked
her whether there was any chance of their coming together
again. The deceased told him that there was not. and said
that he had had an opportunity of making her his wife if
he had chosen to do so, but that now that was past, and he
had behaved so ill to her, sho was going to be married to
another man, and they could never come together again,
The prisoner then said to her, " Milly (which was the name
the deceased was familiarly known by), then you must die,"
The deceased rejoined, " If I do, you will have to die, too"
—and they then parted. The murder, as above stated, was
committed on the 24th September, and between 10 and 11
o'clock in tho morning. The'old man Warren, it appeared,
went out about half-past 10 o'clock for the purpose of fetch-
ing some beer, leaving the deceased in a small washhouse or
building adjoining the cottage, in the act of washing. He re-
turned in the course of a very short time, and went into the
washhouse and saw the unhappy woman apparently in the
act of taking some clothes out of the copper and leaning
over it, He called out to her, '• Milly, dear, here is the beer,"
and was surprised at not receiving any answer. He went up
to her and put his arm round her and, to his horror, she fell
upon him and forced him to the grouhd, and he observed
that her throat was cut, and she gave one sigh and then
died. As soon as the poor old man had recovered from the
shock he gave an alarm, and Mr Bowers, a surgeon residing
at Romford, was soon upon the spot, and upon examining
the deceased he discovered she had received three frightful
wounds on the throat, one of which had divided the carotid
artery, and must have caused almost instantaneous death,
and the injuries were of such a character as to preclude the
possibility of their having been inflicted by herself. It was
evident that a foul and brutal murder had been committed,
and suspicion at once fell upon the prisoner as the perpe-
trator of the crime. The facts which were disclosed left no
doubt that this suspicion was well founded. It appeared that
on the morning of the murder, and very shortly before it was
committed, the prisoner met a man named Turner, and after
some conversation had passed between them, the prisoner
made use of the observation that " he would hear of some-
thing presently," and he then went to the hedge and took
out what appeared to be a knife, and the evidence left no
doubt that h , must have proceeded almost immediately to
the cottage and watched until the old man left, and then
rushed upon the unfortunate woman while she was in the
act of washing, and have cut her throat before she had
any opportunity to give an alarm, and he then made his
escape, leaving her in the condition in which she was
found by the poor old man when he returned with the beer,
and the medical man was of opinion that no struggle what-
ever took place. A police-constable of the K division,
named Dunmow, who had been sent for, upon examining
the garden, saw marks of footsteps of a peculiar description
which were at once recognised as those of the prisoner,
and the constable and several other persons at once
set off in pursuit of him. The footsteps led them
to a pond, about a mile from Warren's cottage, and on the
banks of this pond there were indications of a man; wearing
corduroy trousers similar to those worn by the prisoner,
having kneeled down, possibly for the purpose of washing
himself, and in this pond a cap, belonging to the prisoner
was discovered, with some marks on it which were believed
to bo blood, and which had been thrown into the pond with
a brick in it for the purpose of making it sink. About 30
yards from the cottage there was also picked up a knife,
such as is commonly used to kill pigs with, which turned
-out to have been in the possession of the prisoner on the
morning of the murder. This knife was very sharp and
covered with blood, and it was clear that it was the weapon
with which the prisoner had committed the crime, and that
ho had thrown it away after he left the cottage. The pur-
suit of the prisoner was continued; and after Dunmow and
the others had gone a considerable distance they saw the
prisoner jump over a hedge into a plantation, when the con-
stable followed him, and the prisoner was discovered con-
cealed under a hedge. The first question that was put to
him was, whether he had been at Chadwell Heath that
morning. He replied that he had not ; and the officer then
said that he should take him into custody on suspicion of
having murdered his old sweetheart, Ho made no answer,
and upon his his clothes being examined, it appeared that
they were wet up to tho chest, as though he had been in a
pond ; his waistcoat and trousers were very bloody, the cuffs
of his jacket were torn off, and he had no cap. These cuffs
were afterwards picked up in a field through which the pri-
soner had passed during his flight, and they were found to
be completely saturates with blood. The above were the
principal points in the case, and it will bo seen that they
tended most conclusively to establish the charge against the
prisoner.
A great many witnesses were examined for the prosecu-
tion. One of them, named Rogers, deposed to the following
extraordinary facts :—He said ho was in the habit of at-
tending Rumford market, and he did so one Wednesday in
the month of August last, which was about three weeks
before the murder was committed. On his way home he
stopped with his horse and cart at the White Horse public •
house on Chadwell-heath, and he saw the prisoner there and
asked him to mind his horse and cart while he went into the
house to have some refreshment, and he sent the prisoner
some bread and cheese and porter. When he went out he
noticed that the prisoner seemed to be very dejected and

low-spiritei, and he observed to him that he appeared to

have something on his mind, and he replied that he had.
He pressed him to disclose to him what it was that troubled

him, and the prisoner then said, " Well, I have been looking
for a woman for a rnontl, to have her blood. I saw her

mme, hut I was too drunk to attack her, and I thought that

if I did title would he able to give as alarm." The witness,
who is a member of the Jewish persuasion, urged the pd.

goner not to entertain such feelings, observing that ho never
heard of their people (the Jews) doing such things.' The
prisoner then said—l have sworn to do it, and do it I will.
110 witnees then said that perhaps he would think better
of it, to which the prisoner replied, " Look here, Sir, I have
had a meuth to consider ct it, and sure►y if in that time 1
don't reflect on it, I shall not now ;" and he then pulled out
a knife, and wished him to look at it, but he refused to do
so, end as he was going the prisoner said, " Good bye, Sir.;

God bless you; if you are in any part of England and per-
use the papers within a month, you will see that I have had
her blood." The witness added that he thought no more
of what had taken place until he read an account of the
murder in he newspapers, and he immediately went down
to Ilford and informed the police of what had taken place
between him and the prisoner, and recognised him as the
man with whom he had had the conversation.
Some other evidence that was adduced was also of a re-
markable character. This was a proof of statements repre.
rented to have been made by the prisoner to two men, named
Hart and 0 wtrim, who were at the time in confinement in
Ilford Gaol, one for an assault, and the other for stealing
some grass. The prisoner was placed in the cell with these
two men while he was under remand, and it seemed,
oddly enough, that he was under the impression
that murderers wero always confined together, and that
;hese two prisoners were charged with that crime, and that
consequently they were at liberty to say what they ['leased
to one another. Acting upon this impression, it appeared
that the prisoner in the course of conversation told those
men that he was charged with the murder of a woman he
had lived with two years, and that she had broken up his
home and refused to live with him again, and he had cut
her throat. He said he was sorry for what he had done, and
the thought had only come into his head about 10 minutes
before he did it. One of the witnesses asked him how he
thought he should get on, and he replied that he did not
think he had a chance, as so many people got round him
directly after it happened that he was not able to got away.
The prisoner also appeared to have said that ho met the
woman on the morning of the murder, and that she refused
to speak to him, and that shortly afterwards he saw a man
named Turner, and told him what he was going to do, and
he was afraid that this would go very much against him.
After the prisoner was apprehended ho was .taken to the
place where tho deceased was lying dead, and upon some
one observing that he should not 1 ke to touch the poor
thing, the prisoner exclaimed, " I should not mind touch-
ing her 40 times."
John James Warren, a labouring man, apparently about
40 years old, the person to whom the deceased was to have
been married, proved that the banns of the marriage had
been published twice at Dagenham Church, and that they
were to have been published for the last time en the Sun-
day, the day following that on which the murder was corm
mitted.

Mr Woollett put several questions to the different wit
nesses in cross-examination, but was unable to elicit any-
thing that at all tended to shake the evidence given by them,
or to alter in any way the complexion of the case as it af-
fected the prisoner.
The learned counsel for the prisoner made an able address
to the jury in his behalf, and endeavoured to show that he
was not in a state of mind to be responsible for his conduct
at the time the act was committed.

The learned judge having summed up,
The jury retired at half-past 4 to deliberate upon their
verdict, _ _

They returned into court in less than a quarter of an hour
and gave a verdict of guilty.

The learned judge having put on the black cap, proceeded
to pass sentence of death upon the prisoner. He said he en-
tirely concurrel in the verdict, and it appeared to him to be
impossible, upon the evidt.nce that had been adduct.d, for
them to have arrived at any other conclusion than that he
was guilty of the crime of which he had been accused. He
then proceeded to pass sentence of death in the usual form.
The prisoner did not exhibit the slightest emotion during
any period of the trial, and when the learned judge had con-
cluded, ho turned round and walked deliberately away from
the bar.

The trial lasted nearly seven hours.
Henry Augustus Munns, who was convicted of wounding
a young woman named Charlotte Turimr, in a transport of
jealousy, with intent to do her grievous bodily harm, was
brought up for judgment late on Tuesday evening, and
sentenced to ten years' penal servitude.

NORTHERN CIRCUI r,-LIVERPOOL, DEc. 13,
CROWN COURT.
(Before Plr Justice Mellor.)

Sarah M'Carthy, a married woman, was charged with
having caused the death of her mother, Catherine Rice, a
woman upwards of 70 years of age.
Mr Peel prosecuted ; prisoner was undefended,
On Aug. 13th a surgeon saw the body of the deceased,
who had died during the previous night ; he found eight se-
vere bruises about the breast, neck, and shoulders, and also
that the collar bone and six of the ribs were broken, four of
the ribs being broken in several places. These injuries were
sufficient to cause death, and must have been produced by
kicks or blows from a heavy instrument, and in the sur-
geon's opinion could not have been inflicted more than 48
hours before death.

A police-constable was called, who proved that in the
month of July, being attracted by the moans of the old
woman, he entered the house and found the prisoner using
most revolting language towards her mother, and kicking
her violently about the breast, shoulders andabdomen ; she
was also striking her severely with a thick stick. He fur-
ther proved that some days previous to Ler death the old
woman made complaint to him of the prisoner's violence.
His Lordship directed the jury that however strong the
suspicion against the prisoner might be, and however much
they might desire that she should be punished for her re-
volting conduct, yet in the absence of evidence that she had
beaten her mother within 48 hours of death, they must ac-
quit the prisoner.
The prisoner was then acquitted.

OXFORD CIRCUIT—.WORCESTER, Dec. 14.
CROWN COURT.
(Before Mr Justice Byles,)

George Smith and Charles Carr were charged with bur-
glary at the house of George Evans on the 30th July last,
at Shelsley Kings, and stealing articles of clothing there.
Mr Best was for the prosecution. The prisoners wore not
defended.

Ater the prosecutor and his family had retired to rest on
the night of July 30, about 1 o'clock, the prosecutor heard
a noise in his shop, He armed himself with a revolver and
went down. He there found the two prisoners packing up
some trousers and other things in a bundle. He showed
them his revolver and threatened to use it if they offered re-
sistance. .smith clime towards him and struck him, upon
which the prosecutor fired off his revolver, and struck him
several times on the head with it. Carr then came towards
him and he also struck Carr with the revolver, and ulti-
mately gave them into custody. The prisoners seemed to
consider that as they had not carried off the goods they
could not be guilty of stealing, but after his lordship
summed up,

The jury found a verdict of guilty against both prisoners.
His Lordship sentenced eaci of them to five years' penal
servitude'

Edward Wilkes was indicted for damaging the dwelling
houses of one John Haywood, at Queen's-cross, Dudley, on
the 11th October last, by the explosion of gunpowder.
Mr Motteram was for the prosecution. The prisoner was
not defended.

The prisoner is a collier at work at Spring's Mire, under
Lord Dudley, at Dadley, and was working at the time of
the explosion at reducsd prices, The prisoner was on strike.
Hay wood went to bed at about 10 o'clock at night on the
10th October. The house was a four roomed house, and
contained besides himself his wife and eight children. At
about 10 minutes past 4 o'clock in the morning the was
awoke by the sound of smashing glass. He then saw
ishes from gunpowder, and heard an explosion and the
sound as of footsteps running away. He lit a candle and
went down. Before going to bed he had put up the shut-
ters of the window of the ground-floor room. The shutters
did not reach the top of the window, and when he came
down ho found a pane of glass above the shutters broken,
and that tho mortar had been scattered under the window.
Ho also found a hat, a cork, in which was a hole for a fuse,
and a match which had been lighted. There was also
found, within a few yards, part of a breakfast-can, which
had contained powder, A Married daughter of the pri-
soner was at her father's house on the night in question ;
and she stated that about 3 o'clock in the morning her
mother and the prisoner came home, and after they had
been in a short time two men, named Jervons and Foxall,
came and said, " Come, let us go and get a -- up in time
this morning ;" and then her father put on hie boots and
went out with them and did not return until half-past 5
o'clock. A man named Frank Bennett was taken up on
suspicion of being concerned in the outrage. On the 13th
of October the prisoner stated to a relative of Bennett's
that Bennett was innocent, and that the hat that was found
was his, and that ho had lost it at the bother at Queen's-
cross, but that it (the bother) was not done to hurt the
man, but only to frighten him, The prisoner stated to
Police Superintendent Burton how it had happened that he
had gone with the two men; and added that he should not
have gone if he had not been drunk. The prisoner now
stated in his defence that when he started with the two men
he only went out for a walk, and had no knowledge of their
intentions until they got near to Haywood's house, when
one of them produced a bottle with gunpowder in it, and
that then he refused to go any further, and when ho heard
the explosion ho was frightened and ran away, and in so
doing his hat flew off, which he was too alarmed to pick up.
The prisoner had borne a good character hitherto.
His lordship left it to the jury to say whether the
offence had been committed, or only an attempt made to
commit it, and whether there was any intention to damage
the house, persons being therein, and, if so, whether the
two men, Jervons and F )xall, had that intention, and then
whether the prisoner participated in it.
The jury found a verdict of Guilty of the attempting to
commit the felony.'
Sentence deferred. •

MIDLAND CIRCUIT.—YoRx, Dry. 13.
(Before Mr Justice Keating.)

Last night tho jury, titter an absonca of three hours and
a half, returned a verdict of Guilty, with a recommendation
to mercy, against Alice Wilson, who was tried on the charge
of having murdered her son. His lordship passed sentence
of death, but said ho would forward the recommendation of
mercy to the proper quarter.

A tew other cases were tried to-day of no public interest,
and thus ended the business for the North and East !tidings
of Yorkshire,

LADY FRANKLIN.—The widow of the celebrated
Arctic explorer .and diec:verer is residing at present at
Barcelona.