The Sun.
London, England, 1862-01-24 00:00:00

MURDER NEAR DUMFRIES.

The Dumfries Courier of Tuesday contains an
account of a supposed murder in the Valley of the
Glenkins. It appears that the name of the mur-
dered woman, who kept house for her two brothers
(farmers), was Ann Hannah; and the woman ap-
prehended on the charge of murdering her is Mary
Timany, the wife of a labourer on the roads. From
the medical examination, it appears that no doubt
exists that the deceased died from violence. The
Courier says :—" The accused is a woman of about
27 years of age, black-haired, of active habits, and
not unprepossessing in appearance. She is a Scotch-
woman ; her husband is an Irishman. They have
four children, the two eldest being daughters, of ten
and seven years of age respectively. The deceased
was a powerful, strongly-built woman, with whom,
in a fair encounter, the other would have had no
chance whatever. The house in which the accused
and her husband resided belongs to the Hannahs,
and it is believed that the occupants were about to
receive notice to quit on Whitsunday, as the two
women were often quarrelling. We believe the
authorities are in possession of a considerable amount
of evidence, showing that on repeated occasions the
prisoner had threatened to take the life of the de-
ceased. It has been alleged that the prisoner was
jealous that her husband was too intimate with the
deceased, but on what authority we have not ascer-
tained. On one occasion when deceased refused to
lend some tea to Mrs. Timany, the latter is said to
have threatened that she would one day give her
what she would not recover from for seven years ;
and at another time, when speaking to a visitor of
Ann Hannah, it is said that she used the words,
' I'll dae for her yet ; I'll gang in and leave her a
corpse some morning.' The visitor thereupon told
her, To use her tongue and hands as she liked,
but to take.no weapon.' This last story is not quite
credible, but we give it as we have heard it. One
point that tells strongly against the accused is,
that while she alleges that on the day of the mur-
der she had not worn a tartan dress found
stained with blood, and hidden away on the loft of
her house, it can be proved by at least two witnesses,
not of her own family, that she was seen wearing
that very dress on the morning of the 13th. The
authorities are actively engaged in the investiga-
tion of the case, both at Kirkcudbright and in the
neighbourhood of the scene of the murder. We
believe that on Friday night the chief constable
proceeded to Edinburgh, and after consultation with
the crown agent and Sheriff Hector, placed in the
hands of Dr. Douglas Maclagan various of the pro-
ductions showing stains of blood, with a view to
their being scientifically examined and reported
upon. The prisoner still resolutely denies the crime
with which she is charged, and in the meantime her
children are under the surveillance of the police.
While being conveyed to Kirkcudbright, the pri-
soner's principal anxiety appeared to be as to who
should look after her pig. The funeral 11)f the de-
ceased took place on Saturday last, and was nume-
rously and respectably attended. The body was
interred in the churchyard of Dairy."