The Sun.
London, England, 1851-10-07 00:00:00

SOUTHWARK.

Elizabeth Hales, a tall, gaudily-dressed woman,
was placed at the bar before Mr. A'Beckett, charged
with stealing a purse containing three sovereigns and
a half and some silver from John Kennedy.
The complainant stated that he is an engineer, re-
siding at Staleybridge, in Cheshire, from which place
he arrived on Saturday for the purpose of visiting the
Exhibition; that on the evening of the day in ques-
tion, as he was walking along Blackfriarn-road, he
was accosted by the prisoner, who induced him to
accompany her to a coffee-house opposite St. George's
Church, in the Borough. Having had refreshment
there, she advised him to pass her off as his wife, and
by that means they would be enabled to remain there
for the night, adding that as her husband was in the
country, she had a good opportunity of having a
" little pleasure " while he was from home. Complai-
nant accordingly made up his mind to remain, and at
eleven o'clock they were shown up stairs to a sleeping
room, the door of which he locked inside and deposited
the key in his pocket for security, having heard strange
tales in Cheshire about the scenes that occurred in
London. He then undressed himself, and before get-
ting into bed, placed all his clothes at the foot of the
bedstead, during which time the candle burnt out,
and the prisoner remained sitting on a chair by the
bedside. The moment the candle was extinguished the
prisoner pretended to be very much alarmed, and
exclaimed that she was convinced they would be
aobbed and murdered if they remained in that house.
Being a stranger in town he felt rather alarmed, as
the room was all in darkness, and the more particu-
larly when he felt the hands of some person outside
the bed clothes as if feeling about in order to stab
him. He hastily rose up and grasped his trousers,
from the pocket of which he missed his purse and
money, and then concluded that the prisoner had pre-
viously tried to intimidate and then robbed him, upon
which discovery he made an alarm, and the people of
the house came into the room. He told them what
had occurred ; and upon examination a portion of his
money was found on the prisoner, and she had
slipped the remainder into one of his boots, which lay
underneath the bedstead. She stoutly denied that
she had robbed the complainant, asserting that the
money found in her pocket belonged to herself; but,
unfortunately for her, there was also found a small
ivory knob, which the complainant proved was in the
same pocket from which the money was taken. This
latter fact strengthened the charge against the pri-
soner, as the coin discovered in her possession could
not be identified by the owner.

The prisoner, who still asserted her innocence, was
committed.

111URDER 1N LINCOLNSHIRE.

A diabolical murder, the circumstances of which
remain shrouded in mystery, was perpetrated on Fri-
day night last in a lone cottage in the parish of Gay-
ton-le-Marsh. It appears that a person who was
passing within about 500 yards of the cottage of a
man named Baker, about half-past eight o'clock in
the evening, heard a single shot fired. Shortly after-
wards Baker presented himself at the house of this
person with his head bleeding, and stated that his
wife had been shot dead through the window, and that
ho himself had been wounded. Mr. Heath, the sur-
geon of Theddlethorpe, examined and dressed the
wounds, but found no shot in them, although the
wounds bore all the appearance of having been pro-
duced by scattered shot. Some circumstances led to
Baker's apprehension on suspicion of having com-
mitted the murder. It was known that he and his
wife had lived unhappily together, and that they had
once been parted. He had wished to go to America,
and had with some difficulty prevailed upon his wife
to advance him 201., which was effected by mortgaging
the cottage and land, which were the property of his
wife. It was considered possible that Baker had
shot his wife, and contrived to wound himself, and
upon these grounds he was arrested. A further
examination of Baker's wounds was made by Mr. R.
West, surgeon, of Alford, who detected a single shot
under the skin of the top of the head near where the
hair is parted. This shot had passed in a direction
from before backwards, and had loiged about a
quarter of an inch from the opening by which it had
entered. Mr. West extracted the shot, and took care
of it. On Saturday morning an inquest was held on
the body of the murdered woman, before Mr. Goe,
coroner for Louth. Mr. Heath, who made a post
mortem examination of the body, stated that the prin-
cipal vessels of the neck were lacerated by scattered
shot, which had passed in from behind. He found
nine shot corns in the neck, and in the shoulder and
back of the woman a great many wounds from scat-
tered shot. A. small piece of glass was found within
her dress, having evidently been driven there with
the shot from the window. A loaded gun hanging
in the house was examined, and presented appear-
ances which proved that it had not been recently
discharged, the cap being rusted on the nipple.
Marks were found in the garden about ten or a
dozen yards from the window, as of the boot toes
and knee of a person kneeling to fire. These marks
were in a line with the opening through the window,
and with what the man stated were the positions of
both himself and his wife when the were shot.
The opening through the window was at the side,
and a few shot corns were picked out of the window
frame. Baker's statement was, that he was sitting
reading with his face opposite the window, and that
his wife was sitting opposite to him on the other side
of the table, sewing the sleeve of a flannel shirt. Sud-
denly he heard the report of a gun, and felt himself
wounded in the head. He rose from his chair and felt
his head down, yvhich was bleeding profusely. He
spoke to his wife, not knowing that she had been
struck, and, when he found she did not answer, he
looked up and found her lying dead on the hearth.
As soon as he recovered from the stupor into which he
was thrown he went and told his next neighbour
what had occurred. The shot corn found in Baker's
head, and the fact that the report of only one gun had
been heard, appeared to corroborate the man's state-
ment. It seemed clear that the wounds on the man's
head were really caused by shot. These wounds were
not only scattered over his forehead and face, but one
was on the very top of the back part of the head, and
the shot corn found its the latter wound resembled
those found in the woman. Baker was immediately
set at liberty by the magistrate who had sanc-
tioned his arrest, and who was present at the inquest,
on entering into his own recognizances to appear as
a witness. It is now supposed by some that the
murderer, whoever he was, meant to shoot both Baker
and his wife, as in order to get them both in a line of
fire he had been obliged to graze the window-frame,
instead of which, if he had meant to shoot only the
Woman, he might have shot through the middle of
the window. Baker's friends consider it a providen-
tial circumstance that he did not escape uninjured, as
in that case he might have had some difficulty in
proving his innocence of this foul and dastardly
murder. Baker does not hesitate to express his sus-
picions of the "friends" of his wife, who, according
to his account, want to get possession of the place—
the cottage, and three or four acres of land near it,
being her property. It may be necessary to add
that Baker and his wife were living together alone,
that they had no window-blind up at the moment when
the shot was fired, and that the window in question
looks into a little garden. A rigorous and searching
examination appears to be required into the circum-
stances of the murder, which has created an im
mense sensation in the peaceful district in which it
occurred.

MELANCHOLY A rpAnt.—On Sunday afternoon,
shortly after four o'clock, two boys, named Frederick Hadder
and John Willgross, who reside with their parents at Hamp-
ton Court-bridge, when one of them threw a stone at a barge
which was proceeding along on its way to Bristol. There
were three men in the barge, in the employ of Mr. Baldwin,
of Bristol, and the captain took up a gun, which was loaded
with shot, and fired at the boys. The :hots took effect, and
it was afterwards found that one of them was dangerously
wounded, and the other but very slightly. Three gentlemen
were passing at the time, and they narrowly escaped from
being shot. The three men were afterwards taken into cus-
tody, and they gave their names as James Clark, James
Evans, and John Croggins. They were examined before the
magistrates at the_Staines Petty Sessions yesterday,:and re-
manded for the purpose of Amami:ling the state of the
Maildlid boy*