The Sun.
London, England, 1858-06-21 00:00:00

SHOCKING MURDER.

An inciniry of a very painful and distressing cha-
racter took place before Mr. T. Sword er, the coroner
for Hertfordshire, -at Cheshunt, on Friday, into the
circumstances under which a highly respectable
young lady, 25 years of age, named Sarah Jane
Butler, met her death. The jury having performed
the painful du,y of viewing the body, which pre-
sented a dreadful appearance, the head being
frightfully contused, and the skull fractured in
several places, a number of witnesses were exa-
mined, and the following facts were disclosed.
It appeared that the deceased young lady had
gone to visit a married sister, Mrs. Braye, the wife
of a chemist at Cheshunt, and on Tuesday afternoon
the two ladies went out fur a walk, and paid a visit
to a friend named Prior, who lives near the Brox-
bourne railway station. They set out on their
return home about half-past eight o'clock in the
evening, and had gone about a mile when the
tragical occurrence took place. On their way from
Broxburne to Cheshunt the ladies had to go for
some distance by the side of the river, and they
then passed several cottages, and a short distance
from this spot there is the high road. When they
had passed a few yards from the last of these cot-
tages, which is occupied by a person named Carter,
the ladies saw a man approaching, and it would
seem that his appearance excited some alarm, for
Mrs. Bray', proposed to her sister to turn back, but
tie young lady replied that it was daylight and
there was no necessity for being alarmed, and they
proceeded on their way. The moment they cam*
close to the man, it appeared that without saying
a word he attacked Miss Butler with a bludgeon,
struck her first a tremendous blow on the side of
the face, and then beat her upon the head until she
fell senseless, and he then walked away. It ap-
peared that the man did not attempt to offer any
violence to. Mrs. Braye, and that lady was at first
so dreadfully terrified that she was unable to scream
or to give any alarm. Carter, the occupier of the
cottage, however, happened to come the moment
the assault was being committed, and procured the
assistance of a police constable, and went in pursuit
of the man as he waswalking on the high road, and
he was secured without offering any resistance.
The poor young lady was taken up in an insensible
state, and covered with blood, and as soon as a car-
riage could be procured she was conveyed to her
sister's residence, and Mr. Dixon, a surgeon, resid-
ing at Cheshunt, and some other, wofessional gen-
tlemen, promptly attended upon hex," but it was
evident, from the fearful charactet 6r- the injuries
she had received, that the case warsl6/9eless, and
she remained in a state of insensibiiiiitiitil about
11 o'c!ock at night, when she expired. The mall
who had committed the outrage was taken to the
police station at Hodde' den, and he appeared to be
quite calm and collected. He was asked if he knew
what he had been doing, and he replied, "Yes, 1
have been hitting a woman on the head, but I hope
I have not hurt her." He was afterwardss,sked heir
he would like to be served in the same manner, and
he laughed and said, " Not at all." Ho vol
afterwards told that the young lady he had
struck was dead, and he made no reply.
On the following day one of the attendants be-
longing to the Horton Lunatic Asylum arrived et
Hoddesden, stating that he was in search of a Ps'
tient, named Henry Arnold, who had made 1115
escrpe from that establishment a few days before,
and upon his going to the lock-up he at once idol'
tified the man who had committed the outrage as
that person. He at the same time expressed his sur-
prise that he should have been guilty of such anent
of violence, as during the time he was in the asylum
he was looked upon as perfectly harmless, and had
been allowed to do some work about the building'
which gave him an opportunity of making his
escape, and it is supposed that he was on his way to
his native village, a place called Newton, in Cam'
bridgeshire, at the time he committed the dreadful
deed.

The jury after hearing all the evidence, said there
was no doubt that the prisoner was insane at the
time he assaulted the young lady ; but the Coroner
explained to them that they had no power by laA
to enter into the question of the state of mind 0'
the party by whom the death had been occasioned'
which could alone be disposed of before another
tribunal, and that upon the facts before them the
only coursethey could take was to return a verdict of
" Wilful Murder." The jury accordingly returned
a verdict to that effect, and the coroner at once
issued his warrant for the committal of the prisoner
Henry Arnold, to take his trial at the ensuing Buoy
mer assizes for thr county of Herts.
It is almest needless to add that the melanchell
occurrence has created the greatest possible alarm
and excitement throughout the whole neighbour'
h. od.