The Sun.
London, England, 1851-08-01 00:00:00

THE EAST WOOD MURDER.

Sarah Barber, the woman condemned to be exe-
cuted on Wednesday morning, the 6th instant, in
front of the County Gaol, Nottingham, for wilfully
poisoning her husband, Joseph Barber, on the 24th
of March last, since _her condemnation has become
extremely penitent, and appears disposed to confess
to the crime with which she is charged. Indeed,
is understood that already she has divulged some
particulars, sufficient to satisfy her prosecutors
and the jury as to the correctness of their
conclusions; but the precise nature of these
disclosures, as well as of any others that may subse..
quently be made, will, by command of the High
Sheriff, be kept strictly secret until after the exei:u-
tion. The chaplain to the gaol (the Rev. W. Butler)
and the Rev. H. W. Plumptre, rector of Eastwood,
the parish in which the culprit has passed the greater
part of her life, are in constant attendance upon her,
and by their exhortations to repentance and scriptural
teachings, appear already to have wrought a marked
change in her behaviour. Previously she was frivo •
lous in her manner, and extremely indecent in her
language, in consequence of which, previous to her
trial, she was placed in a solitary cell. The unfortu-
nate woman, who is but 23 years old, has passed
through a strangely varied existence from the time
she was a child ; nevertheless, she is good-looking,
and her manners appear prepossessing. She has
ever been remarkable for her unusual stature,
her gaol admeasurement now being slightly over
6 feet 1 inch. One of the morning journals
announced that the execu-
tlaiosut Mo nwouldday,
take
mistake,
pluce
on the Wednesday next
ensuing, instead of Wednesday week, and this mis-
take having been copied into the other daily news-
papers, thousands of the people of Nottingham on
Tuesday afternoon thronged the front of the county
gaol, where they remained till nearly midnight, in
spite of all the efforts of the police to
disperse them, or persuade them to go home. The
early trains on Wednesday brought into the
town many others from a distanoe, all doomed
to disappointment. No female has been
hanged in Nottingham since 1802, and only two
others during the century previous, consequently the
excitement in anticipation of the event is very great,
and grave fears are entertained as to the consequences
to some of the multitude from the vast crowd that
will no doubt assemble on the occasion. In antici-
pation of this the High Sheriff of the eounty and the
Mayor of Nottingham have caused the whole district
to be placarded with announcements in the following
terms, and which are also advertised in the news-
papers :

- "EXECUTION OF SARAH BARBRR.—CAUTION.
" The High Sheriff of the county and the Mayor of
the town of Nottingham hereby warn all persons of the
danger which may result from joining in the crowd on
the above occasion, and more particularly females and.
young people.
" At the last execution in Nottingham,
sows! persona
were crushed or trampled to death.
" No precautions which can be adopted will effeetua..lly
prevent danger; but should there be any outcry ot
crush and pressure in the crowd, all those on the out•
aide are particularly urged to withdraw.ri
i
mghor.Sheriff.
" Nottingham, July 30."
:WjOIIILLNIADIFRAFNECLKLIVIIN: Mayor.

has been the scene of a
-------;117 AT MALTA.
itfUll.-;
city
HORRID
MALTA, JULY 24.—Ttbwid by a Turk of Susa, lately
horrible murder, cemuraggheihe Church, of the name of
baptised in the BonThe unfortunate victim was a woman
Paolo Azroppardi.o Maria Baldacchino, aged 24 years.
of ill fame, by name having stabbed his victim in 18
The murder,
attempted to hide the body in the well of the
places, 4"--fiLidiag the mouth of the well too small to
house, but, .
admit it matire, he divided the arms from it at the
houlders.
s neighbours, upon hearing the cries, instead of
The nei
proceeding at once to the house to render assistance,
t for the police, who, finding the door fastened upon
'aenrriving, entered by the window, and seized the mur-
derer, hid under a sofa, with the Turkish knife with
which he had perpetrated his horrid crime concealed in
his shoe, and the woman's jewellery on his person.
This morning the magastrate, Charles Harper, Esq.,
assisted by the Doctors Culleja, Pisani, and Ziongo, held
an inquest on the mutilated remains, and decided that
the unfortunate woman died from the wounds received.
The prisoner is a young man, 24 years of age, and so
great was the rage of the mob against him, that the
populace did its utmost to force him from the police,
and to take summary vengeance upon him. He will be
tried at the next session.

A YOUTIL DROWNED IN TRYING TO SAVE HIS
COMPANION.—An inquest was taken yesterday before Mr.
W. Carter. the coroner, at the Red Lion Tavern, Paradise-
street, Rotherhithe, as to the death of William Gomery, aged
seventeen. The deceased was an apprentice on board the
Louisa brig, of Sunderland, and on Wednesday week, while
the vessel was off Mill Hold tier, Church-stairs, Rotherhithe,
a lad endeavoured to reach a pail of water from the side of
the brig, when he fell overboard. The deceased, who wit-
nessed the accident, jumped into the river to save his coin_
panioq, when he disappeared, and was drowned. The boy
was saved, but the deceased was not found for some days
afterwards. The jury returned a verdict of akst*Loto
death."