The Sun.
London, England, 1839-05-30 00:00:00

THE MURDER AT AVOOLWICH.

CONFESSION OF THE MURDERER,,.
On Tuesday. afternOon .the prioner _taetire Willis,
At the termination of the 'Coritner's Inrniest Ofni again
Oiathined heilore Sir John Webb, Captain Fead, R.N.,
and Adam Young, Esq., on the charge of murdering
his sergeant-major, William Shepherd, and the evidence
adduced was to the same effect as that given befOre the
Coroner:. This xteP iras 6Onsidered tiecessary in conse-
qileb'ee or the prisoner having in the first instance been
examined before Sir John Webb previous to the
Coroner issuing his mandatO or an, inquest to
be held on the body of Shepherd. Willis declined
Makin* ail), defence before the Magistrates, and
at the conclusion of the examination they made
out his commitment to Newgate, and it was placed in
the hands of Mr. Watts, the High Constable, who also
held the Coroner's warrant for Willis's committal, liiut
he could not legally be removed by the authority of the
latter as from the time he was delivered over by the Mi-
litary to the civil power he had been in the custody of
the Magistrates. At five o'clock a carriage with pOt-
horses was as privately as possible drove in at the back
entrance of the Rent Ordnance Hospital, and the pri-
soner, w;th his wrist handcuffed, was assisted into the
vehicle by Mr. Watts, and two constables of Woolwich,
named Jarratt and Samuel Watts, who accompanipd
the prisoner to town.
By some means, as the carriage containing Willis was
leaving the hospital, the crowd got intimation of it, and
the scene that ensued defies description. It was fol-
lowed by thousands of the civilians and military for
nearly a quarter of a mile, and the prisoner was assailed
with loud hooting and yelling. The indignation thus
expressed by his former comrades and the public did
not in the slightest degree affect the prisoner Willis, who
frequently spoke with the constable, Samuel Watts, about
persons residing at Lymington, to which place both the
prisoner and the constable formerly belonged. It will
have been observed that there was no evidence brought
before the inquest to show whether the musket was
loaded by Willis, or anybody else ; and on their way to
town the high constable observed, " Willis, you haye
not told us how you loaded the piece ;" and the prisoner
then stated that he, with the rest of the gunners.
quartered in No. 11 Barrack-room, all came on to
the parade together on Sunday morning, and that after-
wards he returned to the room, and no other person being
present, he loaded his musket, and while he was doing
so he heard his name twice called over on the parade
by the orderly. He added that he shot the deceased,
because he thought he was against him, but denied
speaking to him or. the parade, as stated by the orderly
M'Gorary. He stated that his father and brother were
both living, and resided at Lymington. He had also an
uncle and aunt, who keep an inn at Dorchester. Wil-
lis represented that he enlisted at the same time, and in
company with Charles Chiddy, the artilleryman, who
blew his brains out in so determined a manner. about
a month since. The prisoner followed this up
by saying that it was his determination to have com-
mitted self-destruction after he had affected his pur-
pose, if an opportunity had presented itself. A few
minutes before six o'clock, the prisoner arrived at
Newgate, and was delivered over to Mr. Cope, in the
lobby of the prison. During the few seconds occa-
sioned by his alighting from the vehicle, a crowd of
persons gathered round, anxious to catch a glimpse
of 'the prisoner.

THE LATE REV.
ALISON.