The Sun.
London, England, 1864-11-10 00:00:00

PRICE

STAMPED ....51

Yesterday, at the Stratford Police-court, before Mr John
Gurney Fry and Mr Raymond Pelly, presiding magistrates,
two persons, who were arrested on the previous evening on
suspicion of being concerned in the murder of John Fuhrs
hop, whose headless body was found, as already reported,
on Plaistow-marshes, were brought up for examination.
The names of the accused, as stated in the charge sheet,
were Ferdinand Edward Karl Kehl, of 4, Hay-street, Plais-
tow, sugarbaker, a native of Holland, and Hannah his wife,
an English woman, to whom the male prisoner had only
been married about five weeks. The prisoner Kohl is a dull
heavy-looking man, about 27 years of age. He did not seem
in the dock to pay much attention to the proceedings. His
wife, on the other hand, a girl of 18, showed that she acutely
felt the position in which she was placed. She is the daugh-
ter of poor but respectable parents at Plaistow. Superin-
tendent Howie and Inspector Nightingale, of the K divi-
sion, and Sergeant Clarke, of the detective department of
metropolitan police, attended to conduct the case. The
court was densely crowded.
Upon the prisoners being placed at the bar the Chairman
inquired whether any legal adviser appeared on their behalf,
and was told that no one did.
The following evidence was then adduced :
Richard Harvey, of Crispin-street, Poplar, a shipwright's
apprentice, said—On Tuesday afternoon, about half-past 1,
I was going along the river bank near Plaistow-marshes,
close to Silvertown, accompanied by Josiah Gaster and some
other persons. One of the men belonging to the party sent
me among some reeds to drive up the birds for him to shoot
at, he having a gun. As I was walking through the reeds
I noticed the dead body of a man. I was about five yards
from the corpse when I first saw it. Iran out of the reeds
and told my companions. The body, which was lying on
its back, had no head. The right hand was lying on the
breast, and the left arm was lying by its side. It was about
50 yards from the river wall or bank, There is a bleed
reed shore at this point, and the reeds growing there are
about seven feet high. Gaster, upon hearing what I said,
went for a constable. The body was dressed only in a pair
of black cloth trousers and Wellington boots. There was a
small piece of a white shirt on the left arm of the body, no
other portions of the shirt remaining.
The male prisoner, in reply to the Chairman, said he had
no questions to ask this witness.
Josiah Gaster, 7, Bromley-street, Poplar, confirmed the
account given by the previous witness of the discovery of
the body. He said the rats had eaten the flesh off the hands.
The body was lying on its back, the right hand was lying
across the breast, and the left hand and arm were lying by
the side of the body. 1 immediately went in search of a
police-constable, and found one. I brought him to the spot.
I found that the deceased had upon him a pair of black
trousers opening in front, and a pair of Wellington boots
outside his trousers. There was also a part of a white
shirt on the left arm. I met a police-officat and told him
what I had seen, and I accompanied him to the spot. We
then searched the pockets, and found a farthing in the right-
hand pocket of the trousers and wrapped in a piece of paper.
Nothing else was found on the body of the deceased,
We searched for the head among the reeds, but could no
find it. The head was cut off across the neck.
The male prisoner said he had no question to ask of the
witness, and the female prisoner said nothing. She seemed
quite overwhelmed with grief, clutched the rails of the dock
and sobbed convulsively.
Mr Edward John Morris said—l am a surgeon, and re-
side at Plaistow. I was called to see the body of the deceased
at about half-past 11 o'clock last night. I went to the Gra-
ving Dock Hotel in Silvertown. The body was without a
head, and the muscular portion of the neck right down to
the bone had been eaten away by rats, which swarm among
the reeds. My opinion is that a knife and a chopper had
been used in severing the head from the body. There were
several marks where chops had been made in the vertebra,
One blow had partially divided one of the cervicals, and an'
other had completely done so. The flesh of the left hand
had all been eaten away, and, that of the right was partially
eaten off, The left shoulder had also been attacked by the
rats, as was shown by the muscular fibr a. The same was
the case with the right arm. Taking into consideration the
coldness of the weather and the thy place where the body
was found it is quite possible the deceased might have been
dead four or five days. I examined the chest and abdomen,
and could not find any marks of violence. I saw the clothes
described by the witnesses. The boots were over the ankles
of the trousers, as if he had been walking in the mud. It
was the body of a well-fed muscular man. I have not made
a post mortem examination.
Henrich Zutch—l am a shoemaker, and live at No 2,
Hoy-street. Last evening, about 8 o'clock, I went to the
Graving Dock Hotel and identified the body from the boots.
Although I bad not heard the name of the deceased, I had
known him for several weeks. He had shown me his boots
and asked if I could do anything in the way of repairing
them. The left sole was worn. He lodged at No 4, Hoy-
street, in the same house as the prisoner Kohl.
Eliz tbath Warren, wife of James Warren, labourer, of 3,
Nelson-place, Plaistow, said—The male prisoner used to
lodge at my house, and then he went to Germany. and
when he returned ho married the young woman at the bar.
When he came back from Germany he brought to my house
a young gentleman, whom we used to call John. This
young man accompanied him from abroad to my house to
lodge. The person whom I believe to have been the de-
ceased lodged at my house for 13 days. He left about a
month ago. He was 21 or 22 years of age, and was a very
handsome young man. I have seen nothing of him since
he left my house. He could not speak good English. I
never saw him extravagant. When the deceased was brought
to my house the prisoner said he had £2OO a year, and was
bound to New Yolk. When he first came to my house the
young man gave me six sovereigns to take care of for him.
as he was going out. He also gave me a silver watch, gold
Albert chain, and ring. I returned them all to him, in-
cluding the money, a few days after he had intrusted them
with me. The ring was a large plain gold ring, with a
blank gold shield, without any stone or figure on it. He also
had a gold handkerchief pin, with a piece of red coral in it,
which he left at my house and came for the day afterwards.
I never noticed his linen was marked. He had one coloured
shirt. He had several other shirts and collars. The collars
hal a mark on them. When ho left my house I saw that
he had four sovereigns and some silver in his hand, and
when he came to settle with me he said if he changed
another sovereign he would nbt have enough money to go
to New York. I had received 25s from him, and I charged
him £2. The male prisoner came with the
young man
when he left. He was also accompanied by two lads and
a German they called "Butcher." The prisoner wished
him to retain the four sovereigns, and both he and the
young man objected to what I had charged. I claimed
15s more than they had paid me, and detained the young
man's portmanteau, a box, two pairs of boots (one pair
with laced sides), and two hatboxes, containing a beaver
hat and a felt, narrow brimmed, skull-crowned hat, Ho
also had a large overcoat and a travelling wrappet, red
on one side and black on the other. He had two pairs of
black trousers and a pair of gray ones in tTh heGberman, whom
oxes. I gave
the things up on the following day. e
he called Butcher, paid me the 15s, and I delivered the
goods. I have seen this man Butcher about the marsh. It
was about a month ago that he loft, and on a Tuesday. Ile
offered me 7s 61, which I refused. He said the ship in
which he was to proceed to New York was to sail on the
following Tuesday or Friday—l could not say which.
The prisoner Kohl said he had no question to ask the
witness.
Mr Daniel Howie, superintendent of the K division of
the Metropolitan Police, said—On Tuesday evening, the
Bth inst., about 7 o'clock, I went to the house of Ferdinand
Edward Karl Kohl, the prisoner, at 4, Hoy-street, Plaistow-
marsh. I there saw the prisoner and his wife, the female
prisoner, and Joseph Williams, her brother. I inquired of
them if a young Oerman, was missing from the house. The

male prisoner said a young man whom they called John,
and whose acquaintance he (the prisoner) had made during
a recent passage from Hamburg to London, was missing.
He told me the missing young man was a lodger with him
and that he hid previously lodged at the house of Mrs
Warren, the last witness, which lodgings he did not like.
He said when ho came away from Mrs Warren's to lodge
with him he had no money, and had pewned his clothes.
lie said that on Thursday last, the 3d inst., he left home
with him in the morning, and went to the London Docks for
the purpose of looking for a ship, but there was no ship there
of the kind they wanted. He then said that after leaving the
London Docks they (pr:soner and the young man) went into
the upper part of the Commercial-road about 1 o'clock in the
afternoon. Prisoner proceeded into a t.rigar bakery there,
leaving the young German in the street. On returning to the
street he missed him and made a search after him, but could
not find him, and had not seen him since. He afterwards said
he had been to Silvertowu and seen the body found in the
reeds, and was not sure it was that of " John," as it had
no head. The trousers, he said, were like his. I then
sent the prisoners in a cab, accompanied by Mr Inspector
Nightingale, to meet me at the Plaistow station.
Henry Lee, a youth about 18. was the next witness. He
said—l live a: No. 2, Hoy-street, Plaistow-marsh, and am
a labourer. Last Thursday morning, the 31 inst., about 10
o'clock, I was at work at Plaistow, and I saw the male pri-
soner and the young man John, whom I believe to be the
deceased, walking along the river wall, near the sugar:.
house, towards Silvertown. That was in the direction from
London. I made a remark to the man who was working
with me that these were the two men whom I had seen at
Zatch's, where I lodged. I have not seen the young man
since. He had on a dark dress and was of fair complexion.
I knew him by sight. I have frequently spoken to the pri-
soner at the bar. It would be about four minutes' walk from
the spot where I saw the deceased and, the male prisoner to
the reeds where the body was found. I saw the prisoner in
the afternoon of the same day, and he toll me that the young
man was missing. I replied to him, " I saw you and the
young man this morning about 10 o'clock walking by the
river bank." The prisoner said nothing in reply. He after-
wards told me he had gone to London in the morning to a
sugar-house—that he left the young man outside—that
when he come out the young man was gone, and ithat when
he returned home he found his clothes also gone.
Sergeant Brigley, 65, K division, was then called. He
said—At about a quarter to two yesterday afternoon I re-
ceived information of this affair, I went to the river bank
opposite the graving-dock on the North Woolwich-road, and
saw the body. There was a mark or indentation in the
soft earth as if where the back of the head had been, and
there was a small portion of the brain on the ground near
the mark where the head had been, and close to where
the neck must have lain. The mark I saw on the earth
would be where the head had rested before it was cut off.
I examined the body, and searched the pockets. In the left
hand trouser pocket I found a farthing wrapped in a piece
of paper. In the other pocket there was a small piece of
paper, upon which there were some German words. There
was a small piece of white shirt lying under the body, by
the left arm. On the shirt was marked "O. 8., 6." I
had the body removed to the Graving Dock Tavern, and
the prisoners were arrested on the charge of being concerned
in the murder of the man. The male prisoner was cautioned
in the usual manner. He said, " I know well where I was
on that —."
The Chairman—Did he not say the hour or etly ?
The Witness—He did not. The prisoner's clothes were
then removed, and a fresh suit given to him.
The Chairman (to the prisoner)—Will you ask this wit-
ness any questions ?
The male Prisoner—No (shaking his head).
The Chairman inquired of the police whether the head of
the dead man had been found.
Mr Superintendent Howie said that the head had been
found at 8 o'clock that morning about 30 yards from where
the body was found. They had not had time to have the
head examined, but the medical men would make the usual
post mortem examination in due course.
It was stated that the head was buried a few inches under
the ground, and discovered by Inspector Good, of the
Thames Police, and that there were several rat holes in the
immediate vicinity.
Sergeant Clarke, of the detective department of polio
was then called as a witness by the Bench, but stated that
his evidence was incomplete, as he had not had sufficient
time to investigate the matter, and that he hoped his testi-
mony would be postponed.
After some brief conversation,
Mr Superintendent Howie suggested that, as there was
no evidence to criminate the female prisoner, she should be
discharged.
The Chairman concurred, and said she would be at once
discharged, but with regard to the male prisoner, he would
be remanded to Ilford Gaol for further examination.
The prisoner, Karl KOhl, in broken English, was under-
stood to say, " What for ? Can't it be settled now ?"
The Chairman—You, Kohl, are charged on suspicion of
having caused the death of the deceased man John Fuhrhop,
and we remand you for further inquiry upon that charge.
The female prisoner was carried away in a swoon by her
brother, who fondly kissed her, her mother being also pre-
sent.
The male prisoner was then handcuffed and taken to
Ilford Gaol in a cab, in charge of Inspector Nightingale and
constable 312 K. A large crowd was in the vicinity of the
court, and it was with some difficulty that the prisoner
could be conducted to the cab.

DISCOVERY OF THE HEAD AND THE SCENE
OF TILE MURDER.
The circumstances of horror surrounding the perpetration
of the murder and the decapitation of the unfortunate Ger-
man (Fuhrhop), have created such extraordinary excitement
in the neighbourhood of Silvertown, that a number of per-
sons, estimated at 4,00), yesterday went to view the body.
They were in most instances permitted to see the remains,
not only to endeavour to corroborate the identification by
means of the clothes (for the head was found only yesterday),
but also to give an opportunity of ascertaining whether any
person had seen him walking with his murderer towards the
river bank through the marsh on the day of the murder.
1 Up to a late hour last evening, however, no one had been
found who could add anything material to the testimony of
the boy Lee against the accused, Kohl.
A discovery of some importance was made yesterday
afternoon by some residents in the neighbourhood, and when
the police authorities are made acquainted with it, it will
no doubt lead to the finding of the weapon with which the
crime was perpetrated. It was at first supposed that the
murder was effected on the spot where the headless body
was found, but a careful examination of the ground insti-
tuted towards evening yesterday has disproved this suppo-
sition.
The North Woolwich-road, which runs past the Victoria
Graving Dock, is parallel to the river as it approaches Silver-
town. The quarter of a mile of marsh land which lies be-
tween the road and the Thames, is for the greater part
covered with reeds 7ft. and a half high. A narrow path-
way, not more than 18 inches in width,leads from the direc-
tion of the road through the rushes towards the river. Any
person walking along this track would find on his left hand, I
about hallway through, a still narrower path going towards
another part of the river bank, but to get on to it he would
find it necessary to cross a ditch 7ft. wide and three cr four
feet deep, the bottom being covered with thick mud rather
than water. This was the exact spot where the murder was
committed, the body decapitated, and whence mangled re-
mains were conveyed to the place where the headless trunk
was afterwards found, and which is about 15 or 20 yards
further up the second path.
In the course of the search that was being made this little
path, almost entirely obscured by the overhanging of the
tall reeds, was struck upon, and upon the persons coming
to the ditch which has been mentioned, they were horrified
at seeing at the bottom of it a pool of blood 4ft. long by lft.
broad. The marks made by the victim's boots as he stood
in the ditch, evidently with his back to his murderer, and
also the marks of the feet of the murderer when he was lift-
ing up out of it the lifeless body of his victim,wero distinctly
visible. A trace of blood was found among the middle of
the rushes from this spot to the place where the body was
carried or dragged, About two-thirds of the distance along
the path was seen a circular patch of blood, such as would
have been caused if the dissevered held had been laid down
there for a moment by its still bleeding on the surface.
The consideration of these facts, and of others to be men-
tioned presently, showed at once how the diabolical crime
had been effected. The murderer and his victim must have
left the road and struck into the first pathway to go towards
the river. One must have walked behind the other, for two
could not have found room to walk abreast. Upon coming
to the ditch which had to be crossed before getting into the
second path, the murdered man without doubt descended
into it first. Before he could have got cne step aeross he
evidently received a tremendons blow on the left
temple and over the eye (the marks of this blow are clearly
present on the head), and ho was thus thrown backwards
against the slopping bank in a such a manner that the heels
of his boots were driven into the yielding clay at the ditch
bottom. No marks of a struggle are to be found: The
murderer, having stunned his unsuspecting victim by a
blow which broke in the skull, obviously continued on the
vantage ground of the bank, and with a knife—a large-
bladed one, as the gashes show—severed the heed from the
body. From the large quantity of blood found in the shal-
low pool in the bottom of the ditch and the mere trace of it
along the path, it was evident that the body must have been
iu the ditch a Baffle ent time to allow all the blood to drain
from it. No doubt some considerable time was occupied in
hacking the vertebra of the neck with a knife not particu-
larly sharp. The deep indentation made by OA; boots of the
murderer when he stood in the centre of the. ditch to lift
out the body of the deceased in order to hide it in the rushes
was quite plain, Having got it upon the further bank, it
partly dragged, partly lifted through the 'narrow path for