The Sun.
London, England, 1864-07-30 00:00:00

SURREY SESSIONS-July 29,

At the Surrey SesE ions, yesterday, before Mr J. E. John-
son, chairman, Henry Nash, a well-attired and respectable
looking middle aged man, was indicted for having, the
6th July inst., committed an indecent attempt upon Miss
Mary Moody. In a second count the defendant was charged
with a common assault.

Mr Robinson, with whom was Mr Ribton, appeared

(instructed by Mr L, Crombie, the solicitor to the London
and South-Western Railway Company) for the prosecution
—the accused was defended by Mr Sleigh and Mr J.
Thompson, instructed by Mr Eve, of Aldershot,
Mr Robinson, in opening the case on the part of the pro-
secution, stated that complainant was the daughter of Mr
Moody, the curator of the Museum at Winchester. She
was on her return home from a visit into Suffolk, whither
she had been for the benefit of her health, when the assault
complained of was alleged to have been committed.

The prosecutrix, apparently 19 years of age, having been
sworn, stated, in reply to interrogatories put by Mr Ribton,
that on Wednesday, the 6th inst., she left the Waterloo
station by a second class carriage of the HO train. The
defendant entered the same carriage shortly after she had
taken her seat and offered to place the parasol she held in
her hand on the seat opposite that she was occupying. She
declined to allow him to do so, and the defendant then
opened a conversation with her by asking her the reason
she wore spectacles. She replied that she had always done
so. A woman got into the carriage, and defendant appeared
to have dropped off to sleep, and nothing further transpired
until the woman left the train at the Surbiton station. The
defendant then questioned her as to how old she was, but
she did not answer the inquiry. The defendant then laid
himself at full length on the seat opposite to her, and there
remained staring her full in the face. The prosecutrix
then stated that she began to feel nervous, and rose
from her seat to open the window of the carriage with a
view to get out, the train at that moment having scarcely
got into motion. The defendant said, "Do not get out,"
and she closed the door and resumed her seat. The defen-
dant wanted to close the window, but she objected, and
stood up to prevent his doing so. While she was making
the attempt to open the window she felt the defendant's
hand upon her shoulder. She moved, as if annoyed, and
immeeiately afterwards she felt his arm around her waist.
She moved again, and then ho put his aim quite round her
waist, and then she felt her dress quietly raised in front.
She then turned round, and, taking up her parasol and bag,
opened the carriage door and got out upon the ledge that
runs from one carriage to another. Some one pulled her by
the waist, and she found herself in another carriage, but

that was after she had been carried a considerable distance,
hanging on by the ironwork of the carriage, and held up by
Mr Stokes, and he and a young man named Young gave an
alarm ; and the traia was stopped by the guard, and she was
put into another carriage. On arriving at the Farnborough
Station she gave the defendant into custody on the charge
of an indecent assault.

The Chairman summed up the evidence with his usual
care and minuteness, and the jury retired at five o'clock,
and after a deliberation of 20 minutes returned into court
with a verdict of Guilty on the second count of the indict-
ment--that for a common assault.

The Chairman sentenced the defendant to be imprisoned
and kept to hard labour for the term of nine calendar
months.

ASSIZE INTELLIGENCE.

NORFOLK CIRCUIT-CA3IBRIDGE, July 29.

William Morley Wallis was indicted for the wilful mur-
der of Maria Hunt, at Cambridge, on the 28th of February,
18G4. There wero also two other indictments against the
prisoner—one for an assault on Maria Hunt, with intent to
murder, and another for an assault upon Sally Harris
Walker, with intent to murder.

The counsel engaged upon the charge of murder were Mr
Sergeant Tezer, Mr Newton, and Mr Abdy for the prose-
cution; for tho prisoner, Mr Naylor. Upon the other two
charges Mr Sergeant Tozer and Mr J. Hillam Mills for the
pros&ution ; Mr Naylor for the prisoner.
_

The trial excited very great interest ig this town from the
peculiar circumstances of the case, from the position of the
parties, and from the nature of the evidence proposed to be
offered.

The facts, as detailed by the learned Sergeant, were those :
—That on the 28th of February (Sunday) Mrs Hunt and
Mrs Walker, two old women of the age of 78 and 70 re-
spectively, who lived together in a cottage called Prospect
Cottage, situated between Prospect-row and Melbourne-
place, on the north side of Parker's place, were in the house
about half-past 7 in the evening, Mrs Walker being upstairs
in a bedroom and Mrs Hunt downstairs, their servant girl,
aged 16, having just gone down from Mrs Walker's room to
see after Mrs Hunt, and having very recently fastened the
front and back doors of the cottage. While the girl was
thus engaged Mrs Walker, who was in the room above,
heard a noise as of some one ascending the stairs and called
out, " Whoever you are, don't frighten me," upon which
Mrs Hunt said to the girl, "Take her up a candle ; she's
frightened," and then Mrs Walker heard steps as of some
one descending. The girl on opening the door found a man
with his face covered with black, who rushed into the room
with something bright in his hand, pushed the girl out, and
then commenced a murderous assault on Mrs Hunt, as de-
tailed by the medical evidence, from the effects of which she
died on the 18th March. He then proceeded to attack Mrs
Walker in the way detailed in her evidence. The girl ran
to call assistance, and the neighbours on coming in found
Mrs Hunt on the ground covered with blood, and in the
house were found a man's hat, with an oilcloth mask, and
another piece of the same oilcloth inside it, and also a knife,
and an undertaker's cloak. Footsteps as of a man without
his boots were found in a garden adjoining to Mrs Hunt's
house, and a bludgeon loaded in a peculiar way was found
in a passage near on the Monday morning. The evidence
against the prisoner went to show that he returned to Cam-
bridge from Granchester about 6 in the evening of the 28th,
having a cloak on his arm, and was seen in prospect-row
about half-past 7 with the same cloak. At a quarter past 8
a young man without a hat was found hiding in the pas-
sage of a publichouse in Prospect-row, and on being inter-
rogated walked away, but so noiselessly that the witness
imagined he had no boots on. Another witness about half-
past found a young man strongly resembling the prisoner
in a passage leading out of the East-road, close to the pri-
soner's father's house, where the prisoner lived. The young
man was without a hat, and was stooping down in an odd
way, and, after several inquiries which the young man
evaded, the witness at last found out he was fastening his
boot. At the house of the prisoner's father were found
several pieces of oilcloth, which corresponded with the oil-
cloth mask found in Mrs Hunt's house, and a rough crape
mask with two eyeholes. Thera was also found a ladle and
lampblack and a piece of lead, with regard to which a curi-
ous piece of evidence was brought to light. The bludgeon,
which was found, had been leaded by being drilled down
the centre, and by two saw cuts at right angles being made
down it, so that the lead was of a peculiar shape. His Lord•
ship had the outer wood removed by a carpenter in court,
and the shape of the lead on the bludgeon exactly corre-
sponded with the piece of lead found, as if the piece found
had originally been at the end of the bludgeon. The pri-
soner, whea in gaol, had sent a letter to his mother con-
cealed in the cork of a beer-bottle, containing the words,
" Try and procure a witness that was at our house at 8
o'clock 1"

Mrs Walker, who was assisted into court, and was placed
on the bench between his Lordship and the jury, said,—
When the servant-girl went downstairs with the candle I
heard some one heavy coming upstairs. On my calling out,
I heard the steps going down quicker than they came up,
and then Mrs Hunt shrieked, and the girl ran out calling
murder. I managed to get round to the window from my
chair, and I called out for help, and then I felt a heavy
blow at the back of my head. I got behind the curtain,
and the man continued beating me, and hit me again over
the head, and then I sank down in the chair till the neigh-
bours came in.

Mr James Carter, a surgeon, practising at Cambridge—

[lad attended Mrs Hunt occasionally. She was a healthy
wcman, aged 78. On the 28th of February I was sent for
to see her, and found she had received severe bruises in her

head and on the upper part of the chest in front. Thero

were several wounds on the face and on the head. There
was a very severe contusion on the right side of the chest.
On the face the wounds consisted of a cut across the nose
and two on the lips and one upon the scalp. These were
bleeding profusely, The right hand was very much s ,vollen,
and at the back of her head were punctured wounds. The
ulna was fractured near the wrist joint: Certainly some, if
not all, the wounds about the face were produced by some
such blunt instrument as the bludgeon produced. The
punctured wounds might have been produced by the knife
now produced. She had lost a good deal of blood. I appre-
hended a fatal result, and continued to attend her, and con•
sidered her life in danger for some days. Her condition then
improved, and by my sanction she was examined before the

magistrates in bed. She was not injured by the examination.
I saw her the day following, but not again till after her