The Sun.
London, England, 1858-07-22 00:00:00

DISTRESSING OCCURRENCE.

On Tuesday morning early the town of Paisley
was the scene of a most distressing occur-
reuce, which has created much excitement in
the district. The facts of this case, so far as we
can ascerrain them, would appear to be these :
About ball past 11 o'clock Mr. Wm. Wylie, a gen-
tleman of some 35 years of age, nephew of the
late Mr. Wylie, procurator-fiscal for the county,
and one of the partners of the firm of Messrs.
Rodgers, M'lnnes, and Wylie, called at the In-
firmary in a very excited state, and in his efforts
to obtain admission m ide a great noise, ringing the
bells violently and knocking at the door Mr. Mor-
rison, the house surgeon, disturbed by the noise,
came from his own room into the dispensary,
which adjoins the court, and hearing from the voice
that it was Mr. Wylie remain"d inside, expecting
him to go away, as he had previously made similar
efforts to obt tin admission. While waiting, how-
ever, it would appear that three men who were
passing along the street at the time were also at-
tracted by the noise which Mr. Wylie was making,
and one of them stepped into the courtyard to see
what was the cause. What passed between Mr.
Wylie and this person is not precisely known, but
scarcely a minute had elapsed before a piercing cry
was heard, and Mr. Morrison, on opening the dis-
pensary door, was just in time to see Mr. Wylie
making off, and a man lying in the courtyard. Mr.
Wylie was pursued by the doctor, and also by the
man's companions, but he ran so qu ckly that they
could not overtake him. Oa returning to the yard
they proceeded to rouse the man, never dreaming
for a moment that he was seriously hurt. What
was their astonishment and horror to find, how-
ever, that he was dead, and on a light being pro-
cured it was found that he was stabbed to the heart.
The poor fellow never spoke a word ; indeed, The
is
thought he was dead before ho was touched.
wound was an inch below the left nipple, Just over
the heart, and was inflicted by a dagger-pointed
clasp-knife, which was afterwards found in the
street. The blade was about four inches in length.
It wou'd appear that Mr. Wylie afterwardspro-
cseded to the police office, when be informed the
officer upon duty that he had "done for a fellow
who would not again disturb the public peace."
A. few minuaes afterwards Mr., Morrison ar-
rived at the office with Mr. Wylies hat., which he
hid left behind him,
and Mr. Wylie was placed in
confinement. The man who has thus suddenly
besn deprived of life was,. a weaver, named Robert
Orr, and resided in Silk-street. He was a quiet,
steady, industrious man, 30 years of age, and has
left a wife and four young children. Mr. Wylie is
connected
with a family long known and highly
respectedi n this county, and one universal feeling
commiseration
of is felt in the community for his
relatives and friends. Although nominally a mem-
ber of the legal profession, be never attended much
to business, and since the death of an aunt three or
four years ago, to whom he was much attached, his
mind has been unhinged, and for several months,
we learn, he has been an object of censd,rable
anxiety to his friends. After consulting the best
medical advice for such cases in Scotland, he was
taken to London, and was treated for a short time
under the advice of Dr. Winslow. He recovered
so far that the doctor sent him down at the end ot
June. On Monday he was seen in various parts of
the towa in a very excited state, as if he had bsen
partaking too freely of liquor. His relations,
against whom hi was irritated in consequence ot
the treatment to which they had already subjected
him, were advised to let him alone, ma his friends
in town had no reason to apprehend any danger
till yesterday, though they must have ben satisfied
that he was not recovering. We are informed that
in the afternoon, and again in the eveeir g, he was
taken home and advised to go to bed. His disease
appal ent!y was of that nature that a' times he was
calm and rational, but when interfered with he
became wild, excited, and passionate. We believe
that no blame is attributable to any one for this
tragic wad melancholy affair. We understand that
Mr. Wylie asserts that the three nieu were about
to garotte him ; and it is probable that a delusion
of his kind, acting upon his diseased mind, led to
the committal of this dreadful act. On Tuesday
Mr.Wy tie wra brought before Mr. Sheriff Glasgow
for examination, but be was so excited and out-
rageous that it could not proceed.