The Sun.
London, England, 1846-09-14 00:00:00

TILE MURDER AND MUTILATION
IN DERBYSHIRE.
VERDICT OF WILFUL MURDER.

HASLAND, NEAR CHESTERFIELD, FRIDAY.—After the

account of the adjourned inquest on the remains found
in a mutilated state at Chesterfield Lad been dispatched
on Thursday afternoon,. the fullowicg evidence was
taken :

Henry Knight (brother of the prisoner by the mother't
side), a horsebreaker in Chesterfield, had got the watch
produced from Platts on the :30th of January to pledge.
Witness pledged it in his own name for lls., and gave
Platts both money and ticket. On the 22d of February
bought from Platts the pair of boots produced, which
witness had worn up to Saturday last.
William Beaumont, alias Lanky Bill, denied that he had
ever sold Platts a watch.

James Kirk sworn—l am a butcher in Chesterfield,
and reside in the shambles. Oa the 7th of December I

was sitting in my own house with my sister, between
seven and eight o'clock. My sister came to ire, and
said, "Jem I Jem ! Jem 1 run out, there is somebody
very ill in this shop, come directly." I ran down bang
against the door, and said, " Open the door, you little
beggar, you have got Hannah in." He never spoke,
and I said, '• Open the door, 111 have her ont." He
then opened the door, and came. I said, " Bring her
out," and he said " No, James, she is not in." I said
she was in, and said, " What have you been making
this noise at ? " He said he had been having some
liquor, and had been throwing up. He then went into
my sister's house, and I saw no more of him. When I
ran to the shop the door was bolted.
Ann Platte sworn—l live in Chesterfield, on Durham-
green. My daughter lives with me, and my son, John
Platte, the younger, used to live with me. He is turned
•22 years of age. I have another son, Henry Knight,
who has lately left Chesterfield. Platts gave me a pawn-
ticket, a week ago, to fetch a watch out of pawn. He
gave me 12s. ficl. to redeem it. I went to Mr. Wilcock-
son's to fetch it out. I left it on the dresser of Mr.
Thompson's kitchen.
William Sharp, policeman, Chesterfield, described the
finding of the bones, &c.
Humphrey Belfit, sworn—l am a shoemaker. On the
17th of June I asked Platte where George Collis was,
and he said, " The was gone to Manchester with a
woman, and he had seen him there six weeks ago driv-
ing a cab." Platts also said that Collis owed him V.,
and he wished he had never known him. I asked him if
he would get anything from him; and he said, "Hold
thy noise, I've got a pain in my stomach." He then
looked very ill. I said nothing more to him. He had
not complained of any pain before, but was then all of a
tremble, and seemed a good deal confused.
Ellen Beresford sworn—l saw Collis's watch just before
he left our house; he pulled it out to see what o'clock it
was. It was on Sunday night, and he said he had pro-
mised to meet the butcher, John Plats, at half-past six
o'clock, at the Old Angel. Collis said he was going to
settle with him, and that Platts owed him money. He
said he had promised to pay him this time and the ocher
time; and added, "I'll make him pay me to-night."
The watch produced is the one which George Collis had
when he was at our house on Sunday evening, Dec. 7.
Mrs. Mary Thompson said—Ann Platte was my char-
woman, and was with me on this day week. She
brought nothing in the house that lam aware of. John
Platte called about ten o'clock. He asked for his mother,
and they spoke to each other ; after which she said she
wanted to go on an errand. She was away half-
an-hour. About eleven o'clock he came again, and as
soon as she saw him she said, " Jack, it's on that white
table 1" and he went forward and took something off ; he
then want away. I did not know what it was. I never
saw her bring a watch into the house.
John Metcalfe said—l am constable of' Hasland. Mr.
Bunting has a field in our township. In consequence
of someting I heard, I went to that field on the 2d of
this month, and found a quantity of bones, a coat, two
handkerchiefs, and part of a pair of trousers, braces,
and two garters (one red and the other white). The
clothes are the same as I have shown this day to Ellen
Beresford and Mary Mawkes. I fetched the skull from
the House of Correction, one hat, and one arm-bone. I
have heard Collis say that Platte owed him money.
Mrs. Mawkes was recalled, and identified the watch,
which she said was her lad's watch, and nobody need be
afraid of swearing to it ; she had it many a time. She
never paid John Platts any money, nor did he ever come
for any. He never came to her house to ask for him
after he was missing ; -he had frequently come before
that time, but never since, a rascal. She asked him if'

he had seen Georges and he said, " Yes, but it is a good
bit since." He said, " I want to see him, to have a bit
of settling with him ;" and then he turned his back,
and never said another word.

Dr, H. E. Walker, surgeon, in Chesterfield, said—A

Mr. Bunting's request, I went to his field on the 2d inst.,
and found a spine, pelvis, and bones of the extremities,
except the hands; at that time, also, one foot was want-
ing. I observed them to be the bones of a human
skeleton. From the lower bones of the body I have no

doubt it was that of a male. It must have been above
23 or 24 years of age, from the development of his
teeth. The teeth in the front part had been extracted
the day before. Had the teeth been left, the body
might have been recognised. What remained of the
soft parts of the body were converted into a substance—

a fatty substance—and was chiefly attached to the spine
on the left side of the pelvis. The bones were quite dis-
jointed. The ligaments had given way, but not from
any violence. Neither the ribs, nor long bones, pre-
sented any marks of violence. On examining the head,
it was separated from the spine—the soft parts were in
a great measure removed by decomposition, except in
the orbits in the eye sockets and Roma cavities at the

base of the skull. - That in the right orbit was further
advanced, and in a different kind of decomposition.
On the inner or nasal edge of the right eyebrow
was a large fracture, half an inch in length, and in
direction upwards, and towards the left side ; the
edges of this fracture were separated about the
eighth of an inch, as if something had passed in to a cer-
tain extent. From this fracture were three others of
smaller extent, one extended into the right orbit above
the eye, a second passed
in across the forehead into
the left eye, and the third passed up the fore-
head, about five inches extent. The small bones
forming the nasal side of the eye-socket were very much
broken—much comminuted; the brain was in a very de-
composed state, a semi-fluid. The inner surface of the
frontal bone—a portion of it—was depressed about one
inch and a quarter in length and an inch in width; it
separated or dropped out when I washed it; when re-
placed position, the centre would nearly
•ci fracture over the right eyebrow.
ir respo in
Half way across the base of the brain was another frac-
ture
extending half way across the base of the skull. It
would require great violence to commit such an injury
on the skull; it must have been of long standing; from
the discoloured state of the contents of the right eye-
socket, I should surmise that the fracture was caused
previous to death. The edge of a butcher's axe would
be sufficient to inflict such a wound; such a blow would
render a man insensible, and I should say he would
never be conscious afterwards. It was quite sufficient
to cause death. The head might have separated from
decomposition. The hands, the ribs, and part of the
vertebrae are still missing. I am of opinion that the
bctly was not cut up before death, and that it was
thrown into the soil with the trousers on, from the fatty
substance adhering to the inside. From the length of
the thigh-bone, the man would be about the middle
height.
Charles Cotterill, inspector of police at Chesterfield,
said—Jo this day week, when the inquest was adjourned,
John Platts, the prisoner, overtook me on the road, and
asked me if I knew how they had groin in.? I told
him it was adjourned to that day week. Isq.* " John,
when was the last time you saw Collis?" ana lie replied,
On the 6th of December, that was on Saturday in the
afternoon, when he came to my stall, and asked me to
let him have 2/. 10s., and I let him have it; he also came for
two pounds of steaks, and I let him have them." He
wished Platts to go and have some with him at night;
he added that they had agreed to meet at Franks's on
Sunday night, to have a settling; and that he had gone
and waited up in a room with the ringers, and was never
out of the house within the time he was there, which
was from six o'clock to eleven. I asked if Collis met
him there, and he said " No, I never saw him." I said,
" If you had met and settled your accounts, how would
the balance have been?" and he said, " I should have
to receive from him—be owed me 9/." Wilcockson
said, " How came you to lend him 2/. 10s., if he owed
yi,u 91.?" He said. " I thought he was honest, and
would pay me again." I said, "If he were living now,
how much money would he owe you?" and he said,
" fake 2/. 10s. from 91." and Mr. Wilcockson added,
" There remains 61. 10s." Prisoner said, " That's
what he owes me now" (having evidently deducted
the 2/. 10s., instead of adding it to the 9/.). From
suspicion I entertained I apprehended him, and he
said, " Oh, I can prove where I was." I went to search
his box on Monday, and observed a purse similar to one
which belonged to the deceased, and on the following
day it was gone.—(A juryman observed that at the first
purtion of the inquest Platts was in an adjoining room.)
The purse had a division in it, and a pawn-ticket, for
which the watch is as pledged for lls. I searched again
en Friday morning, and the purse was gore.
Richard Parsons said—l am a blacksmith at Chester-
field. I remember being at Terry's public-house in
December last, and Harvey coming in and telling me a
story about some noise he had heard in Platts' shop.
Next morning I saw Platts himself ; he came into my
shop and brought two locks to be repaired. I said,
" Jack, there is strong suspicion that you murdered
some one last right." He said, " Who told you so ?"
and I said, " Tom Harvey." He said " I had some meat
in the shop and opened the shutter, and was going to
put it down again, when it overwhelmed me, and I fell
down, and cut my hand on the lantern ;" he also said
he had 3d. worth of rum at the Old Angel, and it made
him rather sick ; he said lie had made some kind of a
noise that caused people to suspect him ; he blushed
very much at tl:e time, but I thought him then innocent.
, This concluded the evidence, at about half-past se v( n
erhit le in the evening.
File jury, after deliberating about 20 minutes, returned
a ye: diet " Wilful Murder" against John Platts.

DREADFUL AND DESTRECTI VE FIRE AT GREENOCK.
—LIVERPOOL, FRIDAY NIGHT, ELEVEN O'CLOCK.—
The Princess Royal steam-ship, which arrived this
morning before nine o'clock, after a splendid run of
fiftt.en hours and a half, from Greenock, brings intelli-
gence of a sad disaster. Fairrie and Co.'s sugar-house,
Cartsdyke, Greenock, took fire yesterday morning, at
two o'clock, and the greater part was consumed. The
damage is estimated at from 50,000/. to 80,000 L The
sugar-house was situated contiguous to several streets,
and a building-yard, where two of the new Atlantic
steam-ships are building. One life was lost.
FOREIGN WALNUTS.— On Friday, several hundred
baskets of walnuts, imported by the Wilberforce from
Antwerp, were sold .by auction, at Adams's, Pudding.
lane. quanatY 'of 'foreign filberts and walnuts im-
ported this season exceeds that of any former year.