The Sun.
London, England, 1848-11-03 00:00:00

SOUTHTVARK.

John Mahony, an Irish labourer, was brought before
Mr. Cottingham, charged on suspicion with having mur-
dered Mary Riordan, in the parish of Halstead, Kent,
Inspector Yates, M division, described that a woman
was found murdered in the parish of Halstead, Kent, in
a field upon the London and Hastings road, on Wednes-
day, the 18th ult. She was apparently about 40 years
of age, and had all the appearance of having been pre-
viously engaged in hop-picking. Her body was lying
near the side of a ditch; and, on examination, her head,
face, and shoulders exhibited one mass of bruises, the
blood from which had completely saturated her clothing,
and here and there ou the ground were pools of blood,
which, coupled with the strong fact that the turf
and ground about the spot were trodden down, bore
a conclusive proof that the wretched creature
had had a deadly encounter with one or more
parties. Close to her feet was a bundle, which was
found to contain a handkerchief, a man's dirty cotton
shirt with linen front, a black-handled table-knife worn
down at the blade, and an old tobacco-box filled with
tobacco. A large flint stone was found underneath her
right urn], and from the marks thereon it is supposed
that it was used by the murderer. The inspector then
proceeded to detail the circumstances which gave rise to
the supposition that the prisoner was the man who had
perpetrati d the deed, by stating that a woman, named
Ann Riordan, living at No. 6, King's-row, Horselydown,
had within the last few days given such inf,rmation at
the station house of the R division as to lead to the be-
lief that the murdered woman was her own sister. Her
statement with reference to that impression arose from
the fact of her having read in the Hue and Cry a
short account of the circumstances of the murder, toge-
ther with a description of the deceased, and that it cor-
responded with her sister, who had lost some front
teeth, and who left London about four months ago in
company with the prisoner Mahony, and that he re-
turned a few days since without her, and on being ques-
tioned on the subject he gave such an unsatisfactory ac-
count about her that it was considered advisable to take
him into custody. Inspector Yates added that the sup-
posed murdered woman's sister was then in attendance.
Ann Riordan was then called forward, and, on being
sworn, her statement was to the effect that her sister and
the prisoner had been living together for some length of
time, and that about four months ago they left London
together, for the purpose of seeking harvest work in
Kent. That since that period she (witness) had never
heard from either of them, and that at the beginning of
last week she happened to see an account of the murder
of a woman near the village of Halstead, in'Kent, and
that the description of the deceased so closely resembled
that of her sister, both in point of features and dress, that
she was fully impressed with the conviction that was' the
murdered person. That she (witness) immediately set
about making inquiries relative to the prisoner, to ascer-
tain whether he had been seen in town by any of his
acquaintances, but found they were all equally ignorant
as herself as to where either he or her sister were; the
only fact known respecting them being that they left
them four weeks ago, and had not since returned. Yes-
terday morning, however, as the witness was walking
along Tooley-street, she met the prisoner, who endea•
voured to avoid her; but she went up to him, and inquired
!healer her sister was in London. He replied to the ques-
tion in a surly tone, saying that she was not with him.
The next question was, " Where did you leave her when
you went into the country together!' His answer was
that she left him at Croydon, three days after they
quitted town together, and that he did not know where
she was. In reply to further interrogations on the sub-
ject, the prisoner said that it was not likely witness
would see her sister the next Sunday, or the next after
that; and added that, in fact, he did not know where
it was likely she would be seen in London again. The
witness added, that the prisoner then left her; and after
hearing the very unsatisfactory account hahad given of her
sister, she was more than ever impressed with the belief
that the unfortunate woman found murdered near Hal-
stead, in Kent, was her sister; and she, therefore, pro-
ceeded to the
,station-house, and having mentioned the
grounds of her suspicions against the accused, he was
accordingly taken into custody. She further said, that
being very poor she was not in circumstances to go down
to Halstead, otherwise she would have proceeded there
to identify the body of her sister, if it was she that had
been murdered.

A police-sergeant of the R division stated, that he saw
the body of the murdered woman the day after it was
found, and thst he had an opportunity of witnessing her
features, which very much resembled those of the woman
whe had just given her evidence.
Mr. COTTINGIXAM inquired if any of the unfortunate
woman's clothes were in court, as upon their production
the witness Riordan would be enabled to idt-ntify them,
it they belonged to her sister? Inspector Yates replied
that all the murdered woman's garments were in the
possession of the constable at Halstead. The inspector
added that he considered it important to mention that
when the prisoner was taken into custody, he was fol-
lowed by a countryman of his own, and that on the way
to the station-house, addressing the latter, the prisoner
asked him in the Irish language whether Mary Riordan
was buried yet or not. The policeman who had charge
of the prisoner, being an Irishman himself, understood
the nature of the question, and he therefore communi-
cated the fact to him (the inspector) when he arrived at
the station-house.

Mr. CoTTINGIIAN, addressing the prisoner, said
that at the present stage of the examination he was
not called upon to say anything in reference to the
charge, as the body of the woman found mur-
dered had not yet been identified. That the woman
Riordan's description of her sister resembled that of
the female who was discovered murdered in a most
brutal manner in a field near Halstead, and the circum-
stance of her sister having left London for Kent with
the prisoner, his coming back without her, and the ex-
traordinary account he had given when spoken to on the
subject, altogether threw such a degree of suspicion upon
the prisoner as to justify his being taken into custody.
The prisoner, who manifested no eoncern while at the
bar, said that he had nothing further to say than that
he knew nothing of a murder at Halstead until be
heard it spoken of. That with respect to the woollyn
with whom he left town to go harvesting, they parted
with one another at Croydon three days after they le3
London, and that he had never heard of her since, bet
supposed she would be making her appearance again one
of these days.
Mr. CoTTINCHAM said that he should remand the pri-
soner, and he at the same time directed that the clothes
found upon the person of the murdered woman might be
sent down for to Halstead, in order to be produced in
court for the inspection of the witness (Ann Riordan)►
who would be in a condition to identity them if they be-
longed to her sister.