The Sun.
London, England, 1852-12-23 00:00:00

ASSIZE INTELLIGENCE.

NORTHERN CIRCUIT—YORK, DEC. 21.
CROWN COURT.
(Before Mr. Justice Williams.)

John Snipe, aged 21, John Smith, aged 21, and Ann
Smith, aged 20, were charged with the wilful murder of
William Francis Maplethorpe, at Hull, on the 21st of
May last ; and Mary Ann Robinson, aged 29, was
charged with harbouring and maintaining the said John
Snipe and John Smith, well knowing that they had com-
mitted they said murder.

Mr. Wa'rren, Q.C., (who was specially retained), Mr.
Peronnet Thompson, and Mr. Pierce appeared-for the
prosecution ; Mr. Dearsley defended Snipe, Mr. Digby
Seymour defended John Smith, Mr. Overend defended
Mary Ann Robinson, and the prisoner Ann Smith was
undefended.

This case has created great interest, from the fact of
its being the first of the garotte robberies, now so com-
mon, which had terminated fatally to the person at-
tacked. All the evidence was purely circumstantial,
and some of the facts were so minute that the case will
be better understood by the evidence, as it was detailed
by the witnesses. The first witness was :
Francis Maplethorpe, who said—l am the father of
the deceased, who resided with me ; be was in the em-
ploy of Mr. Wilson, a colour-merchant in Hull, and was
accustomed to return to my house to sleep, regularly at
ten o'clock. He always carried money about with him,
part of which was his master's. On Friday, the 21st of
May, he came home to tea, and left again at six o'clock.
He wore a watch, with an Albert chain and a key. and
had a tulip in his button-hole. I never saw him alive
again.

Aaron Sawdon—l am a police-officer at Hull, and was
on duty in Prospect-place on the morning of the 22d of
May, between half-past two and three o'clock. I saw
something on the opposite side of the road, which proved
to be a man. I called to him, and received no answer.
I then pulled him from the ditch, and found that he was
dead. His hair had mud on it. His hat was lying
about a yard off, and bis feet were towards the road. I
then called Sergeant Edgeembe, and we fetched Mr.
-Bolter, the surgeon. On examining the flags and across
the road, there were marks of a struggle, as though some
one had turned round upon his heels. From the edge of
the flags across the carriage-road_to the place where the
body was found were two marks, as though some one
had been trailed across. I observed some tulip leaves
upon the ground.
Cross-examined by Mr. Dearsley—l was through
Prospect-place on my beat at half-past nine, a quarter to
ten, at eleven, and several times subsequently during
the night. I don't think that a person standing in
Powell's shop on the night in question could recognise
another at the butcher's shop. The night was very
dark until daybreak. Though I was up and down the
street so often during the night, I only saw the body the
last time, I never saw either of the prisoners that
night.
Benjamin Bolter—l am a surgeon at Hull. I was
called up by Sawdon, and went and examined the body
of the deceased, which was lying in the road. He had
been dead, I should say, five or six hours. There were
a series of marks on the face, going right round it. The
face was dark-coloured and swelled, as if it had been
pressed. There was a wound on the upper lip ; the
tongue projected between the teeth, the jaws being
slightly, open. I think that the marks on the face were
all made at one time, and I should suppose by finger
nails strongly pressed down on the face, and I judge so
particularly from one mark below the chin, which was
curved up, cut, and circular. Such marks would be pro-
duced from an arm being put round the neck and pres-
sure used. At a post mortena examination the body exhi-
bited a total exclusion from the lungs of atmospheric air by
violence. I examined the road in front of Mr. Maplethorpe's
house, and found some petals of tulip flower. I observed
a mark in the road as if some heavy body had fallen down
and left an impression, and immediately from that were
two strokes across the road to the ditch where the body
was found. There were slight scratches on the flags,
near Maplethorpe, which extended ten yards, and at the
end was a circular mark, as if made by a boot heel.
Amongst the tulip leaves I found a piece of fur of a boa,
which I now produce. I showed it to Mr. Sollit and
Mr. Harrison. I examined the ditch and hedge where
the body was found. The road slopes towards the ditch,
at the top of which was an old straggling thorn hedge.
Prospect-place was not a thoroughfare, although people
have trespassed, a plank having been placed across the
ditch in question, and by that means people could get
into the Heddon-road. There was a gap in the hedge
just where the body was found, and a very fair tread of
one footmark, deeply impressed in the clay on the oppo-
site side of the ditch in the centre of the gap. The ditch
is a common sewer of the district. It had been recently
cleaned out. The smell from it on the morning in ques-
tion was so bad that it nearly made me sick.
Edward Hunter—I was fellow-clerk with thedeceased,
who was with me on the night he was murdered, and left
ny house about half-past nine. I identify the key which
was found. The deceased had a tulip and wallflower in
his button-hole, and had about 171. in his pocket, and
wlibn we parted he said he wished to be at home at ten.
David Musson Jackson—l am the governor of Not-
tingham gaol. I know the male prisoners, and also
Ann Smith. I lost sight of them at Nottingham on
the 3d of May last, on which day the female prisoner
was discharged from my custody. Snipe fetched her,
and went away with her.
Cross-examined by Ann Smith—l saw a man named
Macdonald that morning.
Thomas Hayes—l am assistant to Mr. Jackson, a
grocer at Hull. I met the deceased at the corner of
Lowgate, on the night in question, at a quarter to ten,
going towards his home.
Henry Richardson—l keep a public-house near the
North-bridge, at Hull.- On the 21st of May two men
came to my house and stayed a few minutes, and left
about nine. After I heard of the murder I went to the
Mansion-house, and recognised the prisoner Smith as
one of the men who were at my house. He approached
me and said, "Do you say I was in your spirit vaults
that night ?" I said, "How do you know I said so, or
how do you know I keep such a place ?" At that time
I had not said that I kept a spirit vault, or that I had
seen him. Snipe was like the man I saw in my shop
with Smith.
Esther Bateman—l keep a beershop in Heddon New-
road, near Popple-street. On the evening in question,
at live minutes to nine, a man put his bead in, and,
and tables here." Snipe
went towards th
looking- round, "There.. is nothing but d— d chairs
back of Prospect! fiSmpe is the man who said that. He
eld, by which he could get into the
think is the prisonPersesiiith. They went into the field at
He had a companion, whom I
Cross-examined
the back of Prospect
Dearsley—l had seen Snipe
before that. I have said that I had never seen him
before.
glive In Whiting-place, near the
Peter M`Kenzie—ini
ythbeetef he was coming from Heddon.
the 21st May I met Smith;
ofOmn
tlaostthwetnbeesssi
It was about half-past ten, man. could come from

Prospect-place the way he was coming, by jumping over
the ditch and crossing the field.
Peter Capes—l am a shipwright, in Church-street,
Drypool. On the night in question I saw Snipe in
Popple-street, from ten minutes to half-past nine. He
was walking backwards and forwards, 100 yards from
where the murder took place.
Thomas Swift—l am a shipwright, and live at 15,
Prospect-place. As.l was going home to dinner on the
21st of May, at half-past twelve, I saw the prisoner
Smith coming out of Prospect-place into Church-street.
James Powell—l am a private in the 23d Regiment,
quartered at Hull, but, being married, sleep out of bar-
racks. On the day in question I lived at 23, Prospect-
place. As I was going home from the barracks, at half-
past
nine in the evening, I saw two persons, one stand-
ing in Prospect-place the other by a tobacconist's shop
in Church-street. The one in Prospect-place was the
prisoner Snipe. I crossed to speak to him, as I knew,
him, and passed by him, but he shunned me, turning
his head on one side, inclined not to speak. Yis arms
were folded. The other man was like Smith. When I
got a little way on I heard footsteps, and turned round
and saw Snipe following me. When I got home he was
at No. 18 or 19 in the row. He then went back towards
Church,street, where he was joined by another man, and
afterwards he came down again towards me. It was
about 40 minutes past 9 when I got home. At 10 o'clock
I shut my shutters, and when I went out to do so I saw
a man like Snipe walking in Prospect-place. He was
joined again by another man. I lay in bed reading, and
I heard footsteps on the pavement, quite quick, on and
off the pavement. On Sunday in the gaol I saw five or
six persons together, and I recognised the prisoner.
George W. Peck—l am a master mariner in Church-
street, Drypool. On the night in question I was at the
butcher's shop at the corner of Church-street and Pro-
spect-place. I saw a man walking with his arms folded
along Prospect-place, and a second man walking to the
corner of Prospect-place, along Church-street, who
turned back when he got to the corner. I afterwards
saw the men again •in Raikes-street. These men re-
sembled the prisoners.
Robert Button—l am a shoemaker in Bishop-lane,
Lowgate, close to Whitefriars-gate. I was in the Queen
coffee-house on the night in question a little after eleven,
and left at fifty minutes after eleven. Two strange men
were there. They left a quarter of an hour before me.
Snipe was one—l talked to him. Ido not identify
Smith.
Thomas Hewitt—l am a cab-driver. On Friday night,
the 21st of May, at 11-50, I was in Whitefriars-gate,
driving a fare, about two minutes' walk from Bishop's-
lane. I was hailed by two men, who asked me what I
would take them down Beverley-road for, and I said I
would take them to the College for is. They then got
up outside, and drove with me till I had put down my
inside fare at Green Ginger-end. One then got inside, the
other continued to ride outside ; but the man who was in-
side said that the outside man must come in, and the out-
side one got inside. The man outside had a speckled
neck handkerchief on. I drove them to the College.
We passed West-street, but they said nothing about liv-
ing there. When we got to the College I pulled up, but
they told me to drive on, and I went to the Bull Inn.
Here they asked me if any one was up, and I said yes,
and they said drive on, and when I got a hundred yards
on they got out, giving me 2s. I believe the two pri-
soners to be the men. I have no doubt in my own mind.
The place where I set them down is about a mile from
West-street. I gave information to a policeman from
suspicions I entertained.
Robert Watts—l am a detective officer. At eight
o'clock on the morning of 22d May I went to prisoner
Robinson's house, at No. 23, West-street. Snipe was
in one bed, and Smith and Ann Smith in another bed,
in a room on the third floor. They appeared to be asleep.
I woke them, and observed some clothing on a chair—a
coat, with scratches, as from briars, and a torn sleeve ;
and under Snipe's bed was a pair of boots, which were
wet, and one covered with mud. I asked him how he
accounted for his clothes and boots? he replied that he
had been fighting with little Billy, whose name is Mac-
donald, against the Queen's Theatre, in Paragon-street,
and that he had fallen into the gutter. That he had been
fighting about his woman, Black Rose (the female prisoner),
and that a pohceman came up and ordered them to go
away; and that he got to bed at 10 o'clock that night. I
then charged them with robbery, and Smith trembled very
much, and Snipe broke out in a perspiration, and ap-
peared very much confused. I then took them to the
station-house. That morning I went to Prospect-place,
and took some mud from the ditch, part of which I gave
to Mr. Sollit. I afterwards clipped a boot in the ditch,
which I gave to Mr. Sollit. Snipe's left arm had a
bruise between the hand and the elbow, and a scratch
on the back of his left hand, as if from a finger nail.
The prisoners had shirts on, apparently about half dirty.
Snipe's left hand wristband had a spot of blood on it.
Mary Ann Robinson was at the house when I took the
prisoners. She had no communication with them.
When they said they had come back at ten Robinson
was in the room. The same day I saw her again, and
asked her if she could tell what time the men came in.
She replied, about twenty minutes to twelve ; that if she
knew anything about it she would tell us, but that she
knew nothing about it. She had said in the morning
that they came in at half-past ten.
Cross-examined by Mr. Overend—When we went to
Robinson's she said that we were welcome to search any-
where.
William Mason—l am a detective officer, and went
with last witness to Robinson's. Searched Smith, and
found a handkerchief, which appeared as if it had been
folded for the neck. Snipe perspired and danced about
the room. I heard what he said about the fight. I
afterwards brought some of the mud from Paragon-street.
The prisoner Robinson subsequently stated that the men
had come in at a quarter to twelve, and at another time
at eleven ; and that Smith and Ann Smith went up-stairs
together, and that Snipe went out again, and she did
not know when he returned.
Edward Robinson—l am inspector of police. I went
to the prisoner Robinson's house. She said that the
other prisoners came in about eleven o'clock; that
Snipe went out again, but Smith and the woman went
to bed, and that she did not know what time Snipe re-
turned afterwards.
Cross-examined by Ann Smith—l remember going to
see you at Driffield on the 3d of June. I asked you for
a victorine boa. I asked you whether it was the boa
you had on your neck at Hull. You answered "Yes."
I said, " Is that the one with the fov‘iails ?" and Tot.}.
said "Yes." I might have said that you had it at the
Nottingham House of Correction, and you might have
said "Yes." I examined the victorine along with Egg,
a constable at Driffield. I did not perceive anything the
matter with it.
Re-examinedi—Mrs. Egg examined the boa also. I
thought it was a complete one.
The boa of Ann Smith, produced in court, it was con-
tended had lost two tails.
Francis Johnson, constable at Hull, proved that on
the night of the murder there was no disturbance in
Paragon-street, and that he saw Smith a little after
eleven o'clock, about ten minutes' walk from the Queen
Coffee-house, in Bishop's-lane.
Cross-examined by Mr. Seymour—Smith spoke to me,
and made some remark, which I forget. He passed
close to me, and I had a full view of him.
John Hewett recalled—The handkerchief shown me
very much resembles the handkerchief worn by the man
who sat with me on the box, whom I say is Snipe.
Eli Fletcher—l am in the Hull police, and was on
duty on the night of the murder on Paragon-street beat.
I did not see or hear any row in that street during the
night.

--John Butler, sergeant of police—Was in Paragon-
street six or seven times during the night in question.
I heard of no row or fight, and no report of one reached
me.

John Dosson, surgeon at Hull—Was at the station-
house on the morning after the murder, at a quarter-
past ten. Snipe was brought in. On the back of his
left hand was a small semi-circular punctured wound.
I had no doubt that it had been done by a human nail
being pressed downwards into the back of the hand, and
made a punctured wound which bled. His left arm had
two marks, one between the wrist and the elbow, the
skin being torn off; the other mark was caused by a
grasp. I examined his boots, and on the right boot
there was a peculiar smell. The fore part of the right
boot had been put in mud, and the whole of the boot
had been in water. The coat was streaked with mud,
particularly the inner part of the skirts ; the mud was of
a similar character to that on the shoes. The coat was
as if it had been dragged through a hedge.
Cross-examined—The odour appeared to be from the
wet part of the boot. When I smelt these things, I
had heard of the murder, but did not know that it had
been by strangulation. I stated in the station-house
that the coat had been injured by thorns. The wound
on the hand might have been done by anything with a
circular or semi-circular edge.
Elizabeth Swift—l live at 15, Prospect-place. Went
the morning after the murder to the spot, and picked up
a piece of fur, part of a lady's boa.
Benjamin Bolter recalled—l received a piece of fur
from the last witness, which I put in my waistcoat
pocket and lost it.
Alfred Sheppard, Governor of Driffield House of
Correction—l took the boa produced from the prisoner
Ann Smith.
Cross-examined by Ann Smith—The boa and the piece
of fur produced appear to be of the same kind, but I
think there is a difference in the colour. I think that
it does not belong to the boa, but I have no knowledge
of furs.

John Dawson Sollit--I am head-master of the Gram-
mar School, Hull. On the 29th of May, Mason and
Watson brought to me a pair of boots and a coat
now produced. I took 'mud from the boot and
coat, and Watson showed me some mud in a
paper ; • also some mud from Paragon-street. I
examined the mud from the boots, and made a mi-
croscopic analysis of it. It was mud from a ditch. It
contained infusorial shells, and remains of vegetables,
and a particular kind of blue fibre, an aquatic vegetable
• which is exceedingly rare. I met it before in a ditch in
Lincolnshire four years ago. It also contained hairs of the
common nettle, and globules of soap, and also a small
aquatic plant called confervaa, also hairs from the seed of
groundsel. I produce a drawing of the appearance of the
different objects of which I have been speaking. The
mud on the coat was identical vith the mud on the boot.
The mud on the boot which had been dipped by the
officer in the ditch was also identical. The mud from
Paragon-street was as widely different as it was possible
for any two substances to be, and was such as would be
found in a street with a large traffic. I have examined
every ditch in Hull I could meet with, and I can't find
the same mud. I have examined the piece of boa pro-
duced with the microscope and the boa itself, and they
are identical. The piece of boa did not appear to have
been dyed. I think that' the naked eye can see where
the piece of fur comes from the boa.

Cross-examined by Mr. Dearsley : I have not made
any chemical analysis ; it would be of no use. It re-
quires long practice to use the microscope with proper