The Sun.
London, England, 1870-08-17 00:00:00

MURDER IN WEST BROMPTON.

A shocking murder was brought to light on Tuesday
afternoon in West Brompton. A man named Samuel
Lee, a potman at the Drayton Arms, Richmond-road, had
been missing since Saturday last. Immediately fronting
the Drayton Arms is a large plot of building ground,
known as the Gunter estate, which is being rapidly
covered with middle-class houses, the building operations
giving employment to a large number of working men.
Lee, the man who was missing, had a good many dealings
with these men. Besides the weekly beer score which
many of them ran up at the Drayton Arms, a consider.
able number of men had their dinners every day provided
by Lee, and it was their custom to pay him these
accounts weekly. On Saturday afternoon, about half-
past twelve to one o'clock, the potman left the
public-house to collect from the men the amounts
due to him. He never returned. His absence at first
created no uneasiness, Mr. Harrison, of the Drayton
Arms, having perfect confidence in his integrity, merely
noticed his absence, but made no special inquiries to ascer-
tain the cause. After, however, closing on Saturday
night, Lee's wife came to make inquiries about her hus-
band, and then some alarm was excited. During Sunday
and Monday the estate was searched, except the empty
finished houses, which, being supposed to be locked,
were not explored, but no trace was discovered
of the missing man. On Tuesday afternoon, about
four o'clock, a carpenter named White had occasion to
go into one of a row of these houses, No. 3, Cledhow-
row, and he was horrified by finding the body of Lee in
circumstances which showed at a glance that he had been
murdered. He was lying on his back on the floor of a
back parlour. There was a deep wound in the middle of
the forehead, which had evidently been produced by a
hammer, or some similar weapon ; and three or four other
wounds of a like character on the other parts of the head,
and one very large fracture on the top of the skull. The
blood was sprinkled about the floor, and the brain matter
protruded from the skull. Close beside the body lay
the open account- book which the deceased was accus-
tomed to carry with him when collecting his money. The
carpenter at once gave an alarm at the Drayton Arms, and
the landlord and another man accompanied him to examine
the place. There was nothing to indicate a struggle, or
to show that the body had been dragged thither ; on
the contrary, the appearances pointed to the supposition
that Lee, after collecting his accounts, had retired into the
corner of the room, as he usually did to check the items,
and had been then felled with one blow. He was a cripple
and quite unable to render any resistance. No motive
has been suggested for the crime but greed. Lee was
known to have money, and £lO to £l2, which it is cer-
tain he must have had on Saturday afternoon, had
been taken from him. He was a quiet, good-natured,
and kindly man, and often, it seems, lent small sums
to workmen whom he knew when they ran short.
He was about 40 years of age, and leaves a widow and
three children.

GARROTTING IN Plt OICHAN.—On Tuesday morning,
d 99.11 after one o'clock, Mr. Green, a tradesman, rg
siding in East Surrey-grove, was garrotted in St. George'
road, Peckham, and robbed of a large sum of money. co
'wimp first attacked by one man, who was almost imme -
ately joined by three other villains, when the gentleman
Wag knocked down and robbed. The marauders are tut;
a. to belong to a gang which. has infested the ritic
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