The Sun.
London, England, 1864-11-21 00:00:00

The Plaistow Murder.

On Saturday last, at the justice.,room of Ilford Gaol, Fer-
dinand Edward Karl Kohl, the man charged with the mur-
der, under the most atrocious circumstances, of Theodore
Christian Fuhrhop, was brought before the local magistrate
for re-examination.

Mr John Gurney Fry presided, and with him were Mr
Henry Ford Barclay, Mr Raymond Pelley, and Mr Na-
thaniel Powell.

Mr Giffard, who had been instructed by Mr Poland, on
behalf of the Treasury, to prosecute, addressing the:Benoh,
stated that it was his intention to ask that the evidence of
Mr Superintendent Howie should be read over and the case
then remanded for a short time. He had been given to un-
derstand, he said, that there was likely to be some further
evidence of an important character brought forward if a
little time were given, and it was also necessary that the
Solicitor to the Treasury should have time to look into the
depositions already made, under which circumstances he
did not anticipate there would be:any objection to the course
he suggested being adopted.
The evidence given by Mr. Superintendent Howie on the
9th inst. was then read. It was as follows :—" On Tues-
day, the Bth inst. (the day.on which the body was found),
at about 7 o'clock in the evening, I went to the house of
the prisoner, at No. 4, Hoy-street, Plaistow, where I saw
the prisoner, the prisoner's wife, and his brother-in-law, I
asked the prisoner if a young German was missing from the
house ; to which he replied tha t a young man whose acquaint.
mace he had made during a recent passage from Hamburg
was missing. He told me that the missing young man,whom
he called John, was a lodger with him, and that he had pre-
viously lodged at the house of Mrs Warren, at No. 3, Nel-
son-street (which is close to Hoy-street). He further stated
that when the young man left Mrs Warren's he had no
money and had pawned his clothes; that on the previous
Thursday, the Od inst., he and the young man went together
to the London Docks for the purpose of looking far a ship ;
but there being no ship of the sort they wanted they went
into the upper part of the Commercial-road, where they
arrived at about 1 o'clock in the afternoon; that he (pri-
soner) then went into a sugar bakery, leaving the young
man in the street; that when he returned John was missing!
that though he had searched after him he could not find
him, and that he had not seen him since. The prisoner
afterwards said he had been to Silvertown and had seen the
body found in the reeds, but was not sure that it was John's,
as it had no head. The trousers, he said, were like those
which John had on. I then sent the prisoner and his wife
in a cab, accompanied by Mr Inspector Nightingale, to meet
me at Plaistow Police-station, where they were detained in
custody."

The prisoner's wife was discharged.
The Chairman asked ➢Tr Superintendent Hovvio if he
had anything further to add to his evidence ?
The Superintendent replied that he had not on that occa-
sion, but if the Bench would order a remand for a week he
had reasons for believing that farther and important evi-
dence would be forthcoming.
The Chairman said he should grant the application made
by the learned counsel for the prosecution, and the prisoner
would be remanded back to gaol for a week, Then addres-
sing the prisoner the Chairman said—You understand, pri-
soner, you are remanded for a week.

The prisoner said, " No, no," and motioned that he did
not understand.

A German constable belonging to the division, who has
often been engaged in interpreting, was called to tell the
prisoner the order of the Court ; but the Chairman's words
having been slowly repeated in English the prisoner signi-
nified that he understood their import and left the dock.

On Friday last Dr Cappel, the minister of the German
Lutheran Church in Alie-street, Goodman's-fields, who at-.
tended Muller to the scaffold, was sent for by Mr Stringer,
the Governor of Ilford Gaol, at the prisoner's special re-
quest, The rev. gentleman arrived, and was in communion
with the prisoner for about an hour. The prisoner has also
been visited by the Prussian Ambassador, who stated to the
prison authorities after the interview that the prisoner was
not a Prussian subject, and pronounced him to be a Hano-
verian. The papers relating to the prisoner now in the
hands of the police would seem to point to a different con-
cluseon. No Legal Protection Society has yet taken any
steps to provide fur the prisoner's defence.
A fresh point of interest has started up in connexion with
the white-handled knife picked up on the reeds the day atter
the body was discovered, and with which it was sought to
establish that the head of the man was dissevered four days
after the murder. It is stated that this knife was missed
from the place where the prisoner was employed as horse-
keeper, and will be ident;fi-.d by the butcher who employed
hi.n, and who is also a German, as one which was lost
while Kohl was in his service. Kohl loft this work about
August last and obtained employment in a largo 'sugar
bakery at Plaistow, which ho left for some unknown reason.
He married about six weeks since, and had not done any
work during that time.
An internal post-mortem examination of the head has
been made, and in addition to the injuries apparent on the
external examination there has been found a very extensive
fracture of the left temporal bone ; so extensive as to readily
admit three fingers into the cavity of the skull. The bone
was found to be completely smashed, and the weapon in-
flicting this injury must have been the back part of a ham•
mer, or else a hatchet. This injury was of itself sufficient
to cause instantaneous death, The medical examination
also shows that the head was not cut off until after the body
was quite cold. The body of the murdered man was buried
on Wednesday last at West Hana Cemetery. The corpse
was conveyed in a hearse from the deadhouse at the Bell
and Anchor Tavern, and was met in the Barking-road by
Inspector Nightingale, who had just received a message
that Dr Letheby reqired some of the deceased's hair for a
particular purpose. The hearse was stopped, and the coffin
having been conveyed to the Barking-road Police-station
was there opened, and Dr Morris received a sufficient
quantity of the hair. The coffin was again fastened and
was conveyedto the
bed
e9meterY,where it was interred.
Yesterday the reed where the body and head were
found was visited by a large crowd of persons, The spot is
immediately opposite Charlton, and no wilder or more dreary
place can be conceived. The spot can bo approached only
by the embankment of the river, and is about 15 or 20
minutes' walk from Hoy-street. The reeds are upwards of
10 feet in height, and present an almost impenetrable mass,
with the exception that there are one or two narrow lanes,
to which access is gained over t. deep ditch by means of a
plank. Very often this bed is submerged, so that but for
the accidental discovery of the body at the time by the lads
out shooting the crime would probably never have been
traced. The only persons who frequent the place are la-
bouring men and lads. It is considered not improboble that
the deceased and his murderer were out shooting birds with
a pistol, and it is said indeed that a few days before the
crime was perpetrated the prisoner and the deceased were
together in the same place engaged in that sport, and that
the deceased was wounded with one or two small shots in
the ear. From the general tone of the workmen engaged
about Plaistow it may be gathered that Mr Superintendent
Howie's disinclination to bring the prisoner to Plaistow was
founded on a very good reason, for it cannot be disguised
that there is a very strong feeling
against the prisoner
among all classes in this thickly populated neighbourhood,
which was some time since brought prominently before the
public under the title of " London over the Border."