The Sun.
London, England, 1851-10-17 00:00:00

THE MURDER AT DAVENTRY.

NORTHAMPTON, TIIESDA.Y.AI2 elderly woman,
named Pinkhard, wife of a small farmer at Thrupp
Grounds, near Daventry, has been committed for trial
at the next assizes on the charge of murdering her
mother-in-law, under circumstances of the most atro-
cious character ; indeed, a more cold-blooded, deli-
berate act of murder has not come before the public
for some time, the apparent motive for perpetrating
the deed being the obtainment of a legacy of 1,0001.,
upon the interest of which the deceased and her aged
husband were partly maintained.
The facts, as elicited before Mr. Hicks, the
district coroner, after two days' searching in-
vestigation, furnish the following details of the
horrible affair :—The unfortunate victim, whose
name was Elizabeth Pinkhard, was upwards
of 60 years of age, and, as before stated, was the
mother-in-law of the accused, lived with her husband
in a lonely cottage, on the Long Buckley-road, about
a mile from :Daventry. They resided alone in the
cottage, and with the interest of the legacy, and some
slight trading which the old man did at the local
markets, they maintained themselves in a very re-
spectable way. They lived most happily together:
The deceased had excellent health, and, although ad-
vanced in life, was unusually active in her habits.
near Daventry,
The accused is a woman of rather masculine deport-
ment, and is also up in years—being,,. nearly 50. Her
afterhom marriage,
e
eJuothryn lalnuwdttoohneingmkhard, held a small farm
named,
agma ce yd atanheir
who had
the only issue of the de-
ceased'sluta dnh
dc oomfd et h into
prisoner possession
ad ofb
et
eh
ne
hhad devised
been left her by an uncle
amoogit hehru.childreisne at her
it should be distri-
butedaernlefoerred.tehaethw.bnyeinakmboauredt,
jun., being the only child, th
otrenning.olf Friday, the
leftock ,hold Mr.
would fall to him. On the
3d instant, between nine and
Pinkhard, the husband of the deceased':
the purpose of. going. to Daventry well-known cattle
fot
and cheese fair, taking with him a horse for sale.
The deceased when he quitted was in her usual good.
state of health, and there was nothing like depression

of spirits about her. Indeed, it was observed that she
was more cheerful than otherwise. They had no
words together, and nothing transpired that would
tend to excite her, and induce her to commit suicide.
Whether by any previous arrangement or not we are
unable to say, but the son accompanied the father to the
fair, and continued with him the whole day and up to
the period of learning of the death of his parent.
Late in the afternoon of the same day a man named
Bird happened to pass the cottage with a horse which
he was driving to a neighbouring meadow, and seeing
the door open he thought of going in and seeing how
the old lady was, with whom he was acquainted.
Oa entering, his astonishment may be imagined
on finding the unfortunate creature in a sitting
posture on the floor, in one corner of the front
parlour, with a piece of something like tape secured
round her neck, the end of which had been fastened
to a hook iu the wall. She appeared to be quite
dead. Bird immediately called in the aid of several
neighbours, and it would seem that the first glance
at the deceased led them to believe that she had com-
mitted self-destruction. A subsequent and more
minute examination was made. The piece of tape
which was found round the neck was not more than
a yard and a half in length, and of the description
usually used for apron strings • and although its
'
somewhat slight texture, and the peculiar
manner in which it had been attached to
the hook, excited some suspicion, yet it was imagined
that she could have effected her strangulation by
placing herself in the position in which she was dis-
covered. The old man at length returned home, and
expressed his decided opinion that his wife had not
committed the act herself, but that she had been mur-
dered. He searched over the house, but could not
find that anything bad been carried away. Some
spats or smears of blood on the floor, and other
marks on the wall, prompted more inquiries, and
the body was subjected to a close examination by
Mr. Sharman, surgeon, Mr. Marsh, of North-
ampton, and Dr. Watts, of Daventry. They per-
ceived marks of violence, as if from blows,
on the arms and thighs, and other appearances
indicated that she had been engaged in a severe
struggle just before death. There were also signs
of blows on the forehead, and the lacerated appearance
of the throat, caused by the tight manner in which
the tape had been drawn, showed the force that had
been used, and which it appears could not have been
produced in the position she was discovered. The in-
ference was that she had been first strangled on the
fluor, and then hung up to the hook in the wall, in
order to favour the impression that she had committed
self-destruction. Medical testimony was adduced to
show that it was impossible for the deceased. to have
done the act herself.
A variety of circumstances tended to fix consider-
able suspicion upon the wife of the son, and eventu-
ally she was arrested by the po:ize on the charge of
being concerned in the murder of the old lady. Two
labourers who were working on the road near the
cottage spoke of seeing a woman coming from the
Buckley line of road, and entering the deceased's
place. That was about a quarter past ten iu the morn-
ing. They heard some loud talking in the house, and
the woman left shortly after eleven, after waling up and
down the road to see whether she was bting watched.
A labourer of the name of Hadlend, employed at
the younger Pinkhard's farm at Thrupps-ground de-
posed to his mistress leaving home just before ten on
the morning in question, and proceeding in the direc-
tion of Daventry and the deceased's cottage. He saw
her return in the same direction about a quarter to
twelve o'clock, and he noticed that her gown was torn
out at the gathers. She remarked that she had done
it while gathering blackberries. lladland was in the
way when a labourer named Letts came and informed
her that her mother-in-law was dead, and had been
found hanging. She appeared much alarmed, and
nearly fainted, and observed, " God bless you, my
dear; don't you leave me this night." It also
seemed that the female servant went out just
before ten to get some bread, at the accused's direc-
tion, and when she returned the girl also noticed her
mistress's dress torn. On the violent character of
the death of the deceased being evident, Mr. Shar-
man waited upon the prisoner, and expressed his be-
lief that her mother-in-law had beers murdered. She
replied that she was quite satisfied that that was so.
He inquired of her whether she had any suspicion
of sny one. She answered that she had no reason to
suspect any one, as the deceased was a quiet
peaceable woman. There were many other
circumstances elicited in respect of the move-
ments of the prisoner on the morning the murder
was committed; and Reynolds, a police officer,
spoke positively of seeing her just inside of the door
of the deceased's cottage about twenty minutes past
eleven o'clock on the Friday morning. It transpired
that Pinkhard the younger was considerably in arrear
with his rent, and that since the arrest of his wife an
execution had been placed on the farm. This perhaps
may furnish a reason for procuring the value of the
legacy. The coroner's jury returned a verdict of
wilful murder against Elizabeth Pinkhard, and, as
before stated, the wretched woman was duly com-
mitted on the coroner's warrant for trial at the
spring assizes. She is considerably older than her
husband.