The Sun.
London, England, 1869-04-19 00:00:00

THE NORWICH MURDER,

Up to Saturday no reprieve bad been received for the
convict Sheward, now lying under sentence of death at
Norwich for the murder of his first wife, Martha
Sheward. There bas been an impression in some
quarters that this reprieve might possibly be granted
in consequence of the state of the convict's health.
He is not looking so well as when he was first

brought down to Norwich after his first confession early
in January, and he is also suffering from rheumatisAi
in the ankles, which renders walking a matter of diffi-
culty to him. The prison surgeon (Mr. Day) has not
deemed it necessary, it is understood, to make any special
official report upon the case. Since his conviction Sheward
has been attentive to the religious instruction which he has
received from the chaplain (the Rev. R. Wade), and his
- general conduct in the prison has been quiet and docile.
In his amplified confesssion he states that he and his wife
had a violent quarrel on Sunday, the 15th June, 1851, and
that the quarrel ended by his cutting her throat, so that
the act.was unpremeditated, and the culprit sought to
lead the public to suppose that be had not committed a
wilful, deliberate murder, although lie had been hurried
on by passion to`perpetrate a frightful crime. The house
in which the convict and his first wife lived in June 1851
is rather a large one, and it has only a dead wall opposite,
so that it would not be much observed. Further, the con-
vict and his wife kept no servant, and had no child, while
Sunday was probably a day of the week on which the
neighbours would be many of them away from home,
either at church or on some pleasure excursion. Sheward
statetl that he kept the body of his murdered wife until
it began to become offensive, and then he cut it up
and distributed it about the suburbs of Norwich. To
avoid identification of the features of his wife, he cut off
the " golden hair " (of which so much has been said
durir g the progress of the case) and burnt it. He also
boiled the head, smashed it up into small pieces, and
distributed it about the town. The convict further states
that. he burnt the clothes of the murdered woman,
and so destroyed all -traces of her. The execution will
be carried out to-morrow according to present arrange-
ments.

LAW AND POLICE.

- 1. -

A THEATRICAL DISPUTE.—In the Court of Queen's
Bench, on Saturday, an action was brought by Mr.
Dominick Murray, the comedian, against Mr. Webster,
of the Adelphi Theatre, for a breach of contract during
the time that Mr. Webster was lessee of the Olympic.
Mr. Murray agreed to play " first low comedy" and Irish
characters, and was to have a clear half benefit during the
season. Towards the end of the season Mr. Murray was
called upon to play the part of Buffies in " The Two
Puddifoots " but he declined, on the ground that
the character did not belong to " first low comedy "
but to "old man." Mr. Murray complained that
Mr. Webster did not allow him the clear half
benefit, and had refused to pay him his last week's
salary. Mr. Webster relied on the rules of the
theatre, which provided that anyone refusing to perform
any part at the appointment of the manager shall forfeit
six nights' salary. The case was tried in the Bail
Court, when a verdict for £7 upon the money counts, and .
£5O damages for the loss Of the benefit was given. A new
rule was obtained on the ground that the verdict in
the first count was against evidence, and also that the
defendant had made the plaintiff an offer of a
benefit. After the case had been argued on both
sides the Lord Chief Justice said he thought the best thing
would be for the plaintiff to give up the .£5O on the defen-
dants paying the costs of this rule, the plaintiff keeping
his verdict for the .f.. 7. The plaintiff's counsel accepted
those terms, but the defendant's counsel asked for time to
consult his client.