The Sun.
London, England, 1825-02-10 00:00:00

MURDER O A MAN BY fIIS WIFE.

[Further particulars.'
CORONER'S IsQw.EsT.!--rVi.strrday morning at.
ten o'clock a. Coroner's Inquest was taken at St. Giles's Infir-
mary, before'. STIR r.i NG, EMI. on the body of Joseph Kea-
ton, when the following evidence was given :
John Taylor, is shoemaker, residing in the room over that
occupiedlby deceased, at No. 5, Laseelles-court, Broad-street,
St. Giles's.- On Sithday morning last heard deceased and
wife talking angrily ; shortly after, some person left their room,
and went out of the house, shutting the street door; heard some-
thing fall and break after the apparetecixarrel ; also heard
some one say the man was in a gore of blood ; went doivri
stairs to the room of deceased a little before two o'clock ; the
man was dead and his wife in custody ; the surgeons were
then there • I did not feel very well, and rather wished not to
see so horrid a scene ; for this reason did not go down at an
earlier hour.

I, Mary Taylor (who first gave her name as AlTartney) is the
wife of the last witness ; knew deceased ; was acquainted with
his wife; had been often into their room; never heard so much
as " you lie" pass between them ; they lived comfortably ; saw
Mrs. Keaton on Saturday night ; thought she was a little in
toxicated, as was also deceased ; it was near twelve at night that
I saw them ; as I was going out to market deceased's wife called
me to have a drink of porter, hut I would not until I returned,
from fear the shops should be shut ; when I came back again I
had a drink of porter with her, and another w:th her husband ;
they were sitting one on either side of the fire-place, with a table
before them on which were two loaves and two quart pots, one
of them was half emptied, the other full; I went up stairs to
my own room, and shortly afterwards heard deceased and his
wife talking loud and apparently quarrelling ; something seem_
ed to fall upon the floor of their room ; a woman's voice called
out that the man was in a gore of blood, and his wife clapped
her hands and exclaimed that she had killed her husband ' • our
door was shut, but the house being very small we could dis-
tinctly hear what passed in the room below ; I did not go down
for some time; the watchmen were then there; the surgeons
had not arrived ; the woman was crying bitterly, wringing her
hands, and exclaiming that she had murdered her husband ; her
hands were bloody ; I went down stairs before my husband, and
returned to my room in a:short time. The woman gave me the
first drink of porter • she did not appear offended when her hus-
band gave me a drink ; site afterwards very pleasantly bade me
good night.
By the Jurors-1 did not hear any cry of' murder, except that
of the woman, when she called out that she had murdered her
husband : I did not see any weapon in her hands; I did not go
down until a quarter of an hour had elapsed front the first
alarm given by the wife; I thought nothing of the quarrel, as
they were often at words • I never heard her say any thing
which could induce a belief that she was jealous ; 1 do not
think that deceased lived with any other woman ; 1 am the wife
ofJohn Taylor. _

Coitown—llad. you reason to think the deceased's wife
was mad ?

Witness—To be sure she was, or she would not have mur-
dered her husband ? 1 could not but think so afterwards.
Juror—What did she strike her husband with ?
Witness—l tun sure I don't know ; I did not see her strike
her husband.

Richtird Ogle, Surgeon, of No. 85, Great Russell-street,
Bloomsbnry, put in a written deposition, stating, that, having
been -required by the Parish Officers of St. Giles, Bloomsbury,
to attend at the Infirmary for the purpose of ascertaining by ex-
amination the cause of death to a man whose body had been re-
moved from his lodgings in Lascelles-court, he attended with
that view on Tuesday. On examination of the head he found
two large wounds on the upper part of the skull, one of which
was a fracture of an inch and a half in length by an inch in
width ; a portion of the bone of the dimensions stated appeared
to have been forced with great violence upon the brain ; as there
was no appearance in the room that the wounds on the head
could have been occasioned by a fall, particularly as the injuries
received were on different par::: of tlic head, :IA even to have
bean inflicted with considerable violence, I conclude that some
in:trumat must have been used, and with blows, from which
the injuries were caused ; I found one of the blood-vessels of
the head ruptured, and there were several ounces of extrava-
sated blood upon the brain : these, I have no doubt, were the
immediate causes of the death of deceased. Witness produced
a piece of the skull 1 inch by 1 inch.
-- Stephenson, surgeon, of No. 40, High-street, Blooms.
bury—About half-past one o'clocklon Sunday morning last I was
called upon to attend deceased ; he was lying on his back in his
apartment ; he was quite dead, and appeared to have been so for
some minutes; the upper and back part of the head were con-
siderably injured ; one of the wounds was sufficient to cause
death ; the wife had been removed before I arrived ; I observed
a considerable quantity of blood among some coals in a corner of
the room ; the principal wound, anti I only observed that one,
seemed to have been inflicted with a sharp instrument, as it
was rather cut than bruised; I did not examine minutely the
implements on the table; I think the large shovel or spade most
likely to have been used. No assistance could have been of any
avail from the nature of the wound ; some person had endea-
voured to draw blood from the arm by the incision of a lancet
before I arrived, but it was useless. and indeed would have
been improper. From the post mortem examination 1 think
the large fracture sufficient to have caused,death.

Charles Webb, assistant to Mr. Ireland, of Hart-street,
Bloomsbury, surgeon—Was sent for to attend deceased about
one o'clock on Sunday morning ; no medical gentlemen had
arrived previously; the man was quite dead, and appeared to
have been so at least a quarter of an hour; in compliance with
the'general wish of tho►e present, although I was well aware
that it was useless, I attempted to bleed deceased, but Mr.
Stephenson arriving soon after, I left the house. I did not see
the woman ; she had been previously removed by the watch-
man ; there was much blood on the floor; no attempt to staunch
the wound appeared to have been made.
A fter severalother witnesses bad been examined, theColtosEtt
shortly addressed the Jury. That the deceased had given the
first blow might, he thought, be taken as conclusive, and also
that the prisoner immediately struck him with the broom ; that
such blow had caused death there could not be any doubt. Two
circumstances weighed vet), heavily against the womara:—lst,
The circumstance of there being more wounds than one on the
head of deceased ; and, secondly, that the fact of blood and
human hair being found on the spade, poker, and shovel.—
They would view the body, and decide upon the case as one
of murder or manslaughter; tbr his part he was very much
dissatisfied with the evidence as exculpatory, and thought it
was for the prisoner to prove a better case to the satisfaction of
another Jury.
The Jury having rettumed from viewing the body of the un-
fortunate deceased, returned a verdict of " Wilful Murder
against Mary Keaton."
By the removal of the fractured bones, the greater part of
the brain was exposed to view.

CANTERBURY CATHEDRAL.—The repairs con_
tinue prosecuting in our Cathedral, under the superintendar e 3
of Mr. iIEPPEit, at the instance of the Dean and Chapter;
who have evinced an extraordinary degree of liberality in re-
storing the interior of this building to its primitive state.
Becket's Chapel is completed, with the exception of renovating
taste. The beauty of the screen,
the arched windows. An excellent succedaneum for 'Caen
and the fresco painting have been obli-
terated, has been used in the repair of the pillars, of an iron-like
t white-washe
r a
substance, and these now have an appearance of pristine beauty:
the beautiful ceiling has undergone the process of having the
removedayt:,
modern
or entrance to the choir, has been considerably heightened by
the attention bestowed upon it ; an iron rail has been -
erected,
to prevent the appr,oach of the curious, and consequently n,„„
te d t o
act of spoliation. 'I he nave and aisles are ' --'
preparing to under-
go the same process; and a suitable scaffolding, noticeable f' or
r
its architecture, is erected ; here the workmen are busilyto
ployed repairing the dilapidations which the hand 0. C time em.
has
produced.