The Sun.
London, England, 1853-03-23 00:00:00

ASSIZE INTELLIGENCE.

OXFORD. CIRCIIIT—STArronD, MARCH 22.
(Before Mr. Justice Talfourd.)

THE MURDER AT ASH FLATS.
After three days' protracted sitting, the trial of the
perpetrators of this barbarous deed was brought to a
close late last evening. The prisoners were Henry
Blackburn, Charles Moore, and Edward Walsh, who
were severally charged with the wilful murder of John
and Jane Blackburn, on the morning of the 25th of
October, at Ash Flats, near this town. Peter Kerwcin
was also arraigned upon the coroner's inquisition, the
grand jury having ignored the bill, but no evidence was
offered against him, and he was subsequently discharged.
The coroner's jury • had in their verdict exculpated
Blackburn, who was a son of the deceased, from any
participation in the crime, but the magistrates having
committed him, and the grand inquisition having found
a bill against him, he was accordingly put on his trial.
The hearing of the evidence lasted two days, nearly
fifty witnesses being examined. The following, how-
ever, will be found to contain the main facts which were
adduced.
The deceased, John Blackburn, who was 78 years of
age, was formerly a malster, bad retired from business,
and, with his wife, aged 73, lived in a place called Ash
Flats, about two miles and a half from Stafford. Al-
though possessed of some property, having 60 or 70
act es of freehold land, their cottage was but very meanly
and dirtily furnished. They kept no servant, and lived
by themselves, sleeping in different apartments. They
were miserly in their habits, and old Blackburn was
known to have considerable sums of money in his place
at times. TheY had a large family grown up, some
being married. The last time the old couple were seen
alive was on the evening of Sunday, the 24th of October,
when they were observed to be in good health. On the
following morning, about half-past seven, a gentleman
named Spilsby was going by the cottage, when 'he per-
ceived smoke issuing from the roof. He obtained assis-
tance, and the door was broken open by a crowbar,
which happened to be on the spot. After some time the
fire was subdued ; and on going up stairs to the old
man's bedroom, a shocking spectacle presented itself.
On the burnt bedstead were lying the bodies of the old
couple ; they were charred considerably, and the fire had
almost made them trunkless. The man was lying on his
back on the top of the bed, and the woman across the
bottom of the bed. A brief examination sufficed to show
that the old people had died by violence, and not from fire,
The head of the old man had been severely wounded in
several places. There were two places near the eyes where
the skull.had actually been forced in ; there was a large
wound on the right side of the forehead, and a severe
wound on the top, of the head. On the body of Mrs.
Blackburn there was a severe wound on the right eye,
and also on the back of the head, and it was clear that
something hid been tied round the throat as if to cause
strangulation. Her bed-room was but little disordered.
A pool of blood was discovered at the bottom of the
stairs leading to her door and blood on the wall of the
staircase, and it would seem that the old lady was in
bed at the time, and hearing a noise she came out and
encountered the wretches, who afterwards took her
lbody upstairs and threw it on the bed where it was
found. There was a strong smell of resin and pitch in
the cottage, and the bodies appeared to have been be-
smeared with such inflammable matter, so as to hasten
their destruction. Mr. Richards, the superintendent of
the Salford' (town) police, and other officers of the con-
stabulary, were quickly apprised of the tragedy, and on
reaching the scene a careful examination of the place
was made. A well outside the cottage was searched,
and in it was found an axe, with blood and hair upon it,
and a dog with his head smashed in. The animal be-
longed to the prisoner Blackburn, and he had taken it to
his parents' abode about three weeks previous. A flat
iron besmeared with gore was also found in the house.
The fact being clear that the place had been entered,
that the deceased couple had been barbarously murdered,
and that the guilty parties contemplated destroying all
trace of the crime in the conflagration of the entire
building, the police directed their attention to the per-
petrators. On the morning of the murder, some few
hours after it had been discovered, the police were in-
duced to arrest Henry Blackburn, who himself had ex-
pressed some belief that Moore, who was in the service
of the deceased, had some hand in the horrible deed.
Some days transpired, and nothing satisfactory was
elicited until the receipt of some anonymous letters by
Mr, Richards, of the Stafford police, and Mr. Hatton,
the chief of the county force. The letters described how
the murders were committed, and who were the guilty
parties. They were peculiarly worded, and evidently
showed the writer to be a very illiterate person. At the
examination of Blackburn, Moore was examined as a
witness, and on his signing the deposition Mr. Richards
was struck with the similarity of his writing to that of
the letters. Moore had also made use of the words,
" The man that helped Philip to mow the hay," which
were in one of the communications, and this more than
strengthened the belief of the officer that he was the
party who wrote them. Mr. Hatton, the chief of the
constabulary. was consulted, and Moore having been
spoken to respecting some material difference he' had
made in his evidence, he desired to make a more length-
ened statement in writing, and, in doing so, sufficient
was traced to warrant his arrest, when he admitted
writing two of them. His place was searched, and a
child's rattle was found, the end of which had been used
in sealing and stamping the letters. Moore then made
some other statements, in which he observed that he
had been engaged by one Podmore to write them.
The truth is, I put my arm through a broken pane in the
window next to the door, and unfastened the catch.
Walsh was put through the window, when he opened the
back door, and let Peter Kerwan in. I went to the
end of the house next the road to watch, and on looking
through the window I sayr Peter Kerwan, with a can&
in one hand, knock down the old woman with his other
hand at the bottom of the stairs. I did not see whether
he had anything in his hand or not. I afterwards saw
Kerwan and Walsh go through the orchard, and through
the field at the end of the orchard, and returned to
Stafford and went to bed. Other circumstances then
arose which led to the apprehension of Walsh, whpse
daughter cohabited with Moore ; he made a statement
showing a knowledge of what was going to be done at
the Ash flats. He stated that Moore had told him—
" If you will come with me to-night, we shall get what
will put as over the water comfortably. The place I
mean is the Blackburn ; they are a very old couple, and
have no servants, either boy or girl, in the house ' • their
son Henry left for Wolverhampton on Saturday, and
will not be back until Monday, and shall be certain to
get from eight to ten sovereigns, the price of the cart
they are about to buy ; at all events, we shall get some
money, and if all fails we shall be sure to get a bit of
bacon." Walsh also mentioned that Moore stated,
" This will stop them from telling tales," and he held up
a knife in his hand to which he had put a new handle,
which was made of a portion of the handle of a hatchet.
On Walsh's left hend was noticed the marks of a burn-
ing, and on his trousers were traced the stains of blood.
It also appeared that Moore wore a kind of red plush
waistcoat, the materials of which corresponded with a
piece of stuff found on the broken window of the de-
ceased's cottage. Other statements which Moore had
given of the transaction were then detailed by several
witnesses, and they all set forth different stories. Walsh
was missed from his abode early on the morning of the
murder, and Moore and he were found to be in sudden
possession of money. As regards the case against Henry
Blackburn, it would appear that it mainly rested upon
some remarks which had fallen from him previous to the
murders, that ho would come into possession of some
property on his father's death, and that he was picked
out of a batch of prisoners as having bought several
pounds of resin at a shop in Wolverhampton on the
Friday previous to the perpetration of the atrocious
crime. Moore had endeavoured to fix him in his state-
ments, but there was nothing like consistency in his
representations. Mr. William Webb, the surgeon of
Hatton Infirmary, detailed at some length the injuries
inflicted upon the deceased couple. There were three
wounds on the head of John Blackburn—one between
the eyes, another on the right side of the forehead,
and a third on the head. The bones were driven in.
The axe produced would inflict such wounds. The axe
had hair upon it corresponding with the hair on the
man's forehead. The blows were decidedly inflicted be-
fore death. The deceased man must have been in a recum-
bent position when the blows were struck. The body of
the woman was much more burnt than that of the man.
The scalp was completely carbonised. There was a frac-
ture of the right eye extending backwards, and there
was another fracture at the back of the head. Believed
she was in an upright or semi-recumbent position when
she received the blow.
The case for the prosecution haring closed,
Mr. Serjeant Allen addressed the jury at great length
for the prisoner Henry Blackburn. Mr. Serjeant
Thomas and Mr. C. Evans followed for Moore and
Walsh.
Mr. Justice Talfourd then summed up, and having
pointed out the evidence as it affected the different pri-•
soners, left the jury to determine their guilt.
The jury then deliberated, and found the prisoners
Charles Moore and Edward Walsh guilty, and Henry
Blackburn not guilty.
His lordship then assumed the black cap, and in a
most impressive address, pointing out the enormity of
the crime which the wretched men had committed,
passed sentence of death upon them, holding out not the
slightest hope of mercy.
The two miserable convicts were then led away. In
the course of the evening it was stated that after they
had returned to the gaol they made a confession of their
guilt.
In closing our notice of the trial, it is only fair to re-
mark that the conviction of the culprits Moore and
Walsh, was in a great measure to be attributed to the
zeal and activity of Mr. Richards, the chief of' the Staf-
ford police, who was the first to detect the fact of Moore
writing the anonymous letters, and who arrested both
prisoners.