The Sun.
London, England, 1855-03-08 00:00:00

ASSIZE INTELLIGENCE.

HOME CIRCUIT.-CHELMSFORD, MARCH 7.
CHARGE OF MURDER.

Lazarus Kempstectd, 40, was indicted for the wilful
murder of his wife, Anne Kempstead.
Mr. T. Chambers and Mr. Ellis conducted the prose-
cution ; Mr. Hawkins and Mr. Woollett were counsel
for the prisoner.

Mr. Chambers, in opening the case to the jury, de-
scribed it as being one of a very melancholy character,
and he said that when the jury had heard the evidence
he should lay before them, he feared they would be corn-
pelled_to come to the conclusion that the unhappy de-
ceased had met her death at the hands of the prisoner ;
and the only question they would have to decide was—
whether, at the time the act was committed, the prisoner
was in a state of mind to render him responsible for his
actions. The learned counsel then stated the,facts of the
case, and it appeared from them that the prisoner and
his wife lived at Halstead, and that they were both en-
gaged in a silk factory at that place, and resided in the
town with their family, which consisted of five children,
four of whom were grown up, and the youngest was
three years of age. On the night of the 3d of November
all the family went to bed at the usual time, three
of the children occupying a bed-room directly under
the one in which the prisoner and his wife
slept. Nothing particular appeared to have occurred
until about four o'clock on the following morning, when
one of the sons heard the prisoner go out of his bed-
room and proceed down stairs, and he inquired of him
what o'clock it was, and the reply he gave was that it
wanted ten minutes to six, the real hour being four. The
prisoner was heard to go down a second time shortly
afterwards, and then leave the house. When the family
got up at a later hour, upon their going into the bed-
room of the prisoner a dreadful sight presented itself—
their unhappy mother being found lying upon the bed
quite dead, with her skull almost smashed to pieces, and
covered with wounds. It was ascertained that a hammer,
which was usually hanging in the kitchen, bad been taken
away, and there was no doubt that it was with that in-
strument that the deadly wounds had been inflicted,
and it was subsequently found in the garden of a neigh-
bour, covered with blood. A few hours after the dread-
ful deed had been committed the prisoner was found at a
place about ten miles from Halstead ; and it appeared
that he inquired for the parish constable, and upon find-
ing him and being asked what he wanted of him, he said
that he had murdered his wife that morning, and he wished
to give himself into custody. He subsequently said that
he had never been in custody before, but that upon one
occasion his wife had obtained a peace warrant against
him, but he did not go to gaol, and he added that he
thought it would have been a very good job for him if
he had gone to gaol for a month. He continued talking
in a very incoherent manner, and said he did not know
how he came to do it, that he loved his wife, and that
she was as good-looking a young woman as any in Hal-
stead. Some questions it appeared were put to the pri-
soner relating to the crime, and he then said he thought
he had told them quite enough—he bad admitted that
he was a murderer, and that was quite sufficient. As
the prisoner was being conveyed to gaol he again ad-
mitted that he had killed his wife, and said "Now she
is dead, and I have only four months to live, and I must
make the best use of my time." As they approached
the gaol at Springfield, the prisoner pointed to it and
said, " I shall never go out of that again." And when
the constable replied, "Yes, you will," his answer was,
" What, when I go to execution g " All thesefacts were
proved in evidence, but on cross-examination it appeared
that upon two occasions the prisoner had attempted to
destroy himself by hanging ; that he was in the habit of
wandering about all night ; that he laboured under
several delusions with regard to his wife, and it appeared
that the impression among all who knew him was that
he was a person of unsound mind.

Mr. Hawkins made a very earnest and effective appeal
to the jury on behalf of the prisoner, and he said his
learned friend bad rightly conjectured that the defence
he was instructed to lay before them was that the pri.
soner was not in a state of mind such as to render him
responsible for the act he had committed. He remarked
upon the absence of anything like a reasonable motive
for the commission of such a crime ; and he urged that
the very circumstances under which the deed was com-
mitted, and the conduct of the prisoner immediately
afterwards, were sufficient in themselves to raise a
doubt of the prisoner's sanity, and he said that when
they had heard the additional evidence he should pro-
duce he entertained a confident opinion they would re-
turn a verdict that would have the effect of preventing
the sacrifice of the life of the prisoner and would at the
same time protect the public from all chance of further
violence from him.

A number of witnesses were then examined, whose
evidence tended to show that the mind of the prisoner
had been affected for a considerable time before the
transaction, and that a'l the people about him considered
he WPM of unsound mind. It also appeared that the
governor and surgeon of the gaol where he bad been
confined were of the same opinion, and they proved that
during his stay in the prison he bad nearly destroyed
himself by starvation.
The learned Judge having summed up the whole case,
the jury, after a short deliberAtion, returned a verdict
of not guilty, on the ground of insaeit,-, and the prisoner
was ordered to be detained during her Majesty's pleasure.

WESTERN CIRCUIT—WINCHESTER.
(Before Mr. Justice Crowder.)
This morning George lictilett and I enry Vile, who
were yesterday convicted of burglariously entering the
house of Miss Janet lioy-es, at Bitterne, were brought
up for sentence.

His Lordship, after commenting upon the enormity of
the offence, and the evidence that both of them were
well known as being the worst of character?, sentenced
them to be trot sported for life.
Jane Offer, 26, a married woman, was indicted under
the coroner's inqui,ition for the murder of her male in-
fant child, at the parish of St. Maurice, Winchester, on
the 26th of December last.

It appeared that the prisoner was unable to suckle
her child, and that from the fourth day after its birth,
on the 23d of November, she was very low, and said
she wished it was a girl ; the child wasted for the last
fortnight. The prisoner's mother-in-law lived in the
same house, and took charge of it on Christmas-day.
It was given somo gin that evening because it cried so
much. The mother had it during the night, and next
morning the father, when he came home to dinner,
found the child laid in bed, and on examination found it
dead. He called some women, and they found that
some blood was flowing from the child's mouth. Next
day, after the child had been examined by a surgeon, the
mother thaw herself in hysterias, and said, f‘ I Gizanot