The Sun.
London, England, 1849-08-24 00:00:00

LIVERPOOL MURDERS.

In our yesterday's edition we gave, by electric tele-
graph, the verdict of Guilty in this case. In passing
sentence of death,
His LORDSHIP addressed the prisoner thus :—John
Gleeson Wilson, you have been tried, and you have
had a very patient and attentive and cahn trial. The
facts have been brought forward, and have been given
in evidence in a manner which is very rarely the case
—that everything in connexion being ao clearly
traced as it has been on this occasion, no man living
who has heard this trial can have the slightest doubt
that those unfortunate persons fell by your hands.
You have been tried for the murder of Mary Parr, and
it is quite clear you killed not only her, but Mrs.
Hinrichson, and her two unoffending children. There
is no doubt about it. Nobody can have the slightest
doubt who heard the evidence.

The prisoner here began to be very much excited,
and interrupted his Lordship. When silence was
restored,
His LORDSHIP continued—You had better not
conduct yourself in the way in which you were
just now doing, but attend to what I say. Your days
are numbered ; •there is no hope for you of mercy at
all on this side of the grave. You must suffer the
extreme penalty of the law for the very sad and
atrocious offence which you have committed. You
have sent four persons out of the world, all of a
sudden ; two of them grown up persons, with all their
sins, if they had any, upon their heads, and two of
them little innocents, hardly old enough—one of them
certainly not old enough—to have committed a sin.
It is for you now to apply yourself, for the short re-
maining period of your life, with all such assistance as
I am sure will he most kindly given to you in the
gaol by the chaplain, to prepare yourself to meet your
God. (The prisoner again became restive, and seemed
desirous of speaking, but was restrained.) Ido not
pretend to say you may not have mercy. I cannot
look at your heart, nor can I tell whether there will
be sincere repentance there at all, or whether you will
appeal to Him for pardon through the merits of the
Saviour or not. I can only earnestly implore you to
do so, for there is no possibility, as far as I can see,
that your life can be spared. If such an offence as
this were not to be punished with the extreme severity
of the law, there would be no security whatever for
the lives of her Majesty's subjects. And the laws of
this land have distinctly provided that persons who are
guilty of murder shall be punished, and it is not in the
power of the judge, who, after all, is but the instrument
of the law—it is not in my power to hold out to you any
possibility of your not suffering that extreme punish-
ment ; and, therefore, I once more earnestly exhort
you that you will employ the only few remaining
weeks, or days of your life in seeking for that pardon
at the hands of the Almighty which human laws
cannot afford you. It only remains that I shall pass
on you the awful sentence of the law, which is that
you be taken from hence to the place from whence
3ou came, and that you be there hanged by the neck
until you are dead, and that your body be buried
within the precincts of the prison; and I pray God to'
have mercy on your soul.
The prisoner, in a loud and confident tone, ex-
claimed,
" He has mercy already, my Lord."
He was then removed from the bar. A rush was
then made from the crowded court, and the result of
the trial was made known outside the court, where
an immense concourse of people congregated. When
it was known that sentence of death had been recorded
against Wilson, a loud shout rent the air, and must
have grated harshly on the ears of the convict as he
passed through the dock. The court was deserted
in a few minutes, and as Mr. Justice Patteson got
into his carriage and was driven to his lodgings he was
loudly cheered by those who had assembled outside
the court.
The trial terminated at nine o'clock.