The Sun.
London, England, 1858-12-07 00:00:00

gap without going into the field in which the_shed
was. There was a gap in the hedge of the field ad-
joining which led into the road, so that a person
might get from the road and through one gap to the
other without goinginto the field in which the shed
was. I examined the clothes of the deceased; the
coat and undercoat were both unbuttoned, the
second button from the top of the waistcoat was off,
but in other respects nothing observable. I had the
body conveyed to the union, where I examined de-
ceased's pockets. I found £3 12s. 6d. in money,
there was no copper money ; I also found a silver
watch with gold chain attached, eyeglass, papers,
knife, bunch of keys and other articles. I could trace
no signs of a struggle near where the body lay. The
body. was found lying in such a state as of a man
running or walking and having received a blow from
behind. The face was bruised very much. The
papers I found on the deceased I handed over to
Mr. Loscombe by order of the coroner.
By Mr. Poland—The legs of the body were to-
wards the shed ; the field was a stubblefield ; I
could trace no steps to the body, only those from
the body to the shed. The walls of the shed are
chalk, and a small portion had fallen down near
the gap. The body could be seen from the road.
There is a lane called Mead-heges at the bottom of

the field which leads to Clatford. lam not aware
whether there is a gap in the hedge there • the
hedge is a low one, and so it is in the field adjoin-
ing. There would be no difficulty in a person get-
ting over either of them.
Jabez Henry Elliott—l am a surgeon, residing
at Andover. On the morning of the 23d of Novem-
ber, being sent for, I went to Mr. Footner's field,
in the Salisbury-road. I there saw a body which
I was afterwards assured was that of Mr. Par-
sons. He was lying .on his face, with the head
towards Mead-hedges. The right arm was ex-
tended and the left lying by the side. The body
was stiff and frozen over, and mtist have been dead
some hours. He had on an overcoat, which was
covered with frost, and the stick now produced was
lying near the body. From the position in which
the body lay and the blows on the head it appeared
that the blows were inflicted from behind, which
had caused him to fall down, and several blows
were inflicted afterwards. The body was then
taken to the Union Workhouse, where I made an
examination. The right arm was extendedforward
and partly bent, the hand clenched, and the left
by his side and slightly bent. Marks of blood on
the waistcoat. The overcoat and undercoat were
both open. There was some hair on the trowsers
in the front, and some dirt marks on the knees.
The shirt was spotted with blood, as were also
his stock and collar. The left side of the face
was flattened, the nose was flattened,' the car-
tillages were detached from the bone, and
broken and turned to the right side. The eyelids
were closed and the pupils dilated ; the face was
covered with blood and stubble. There was a
mark as of a blow on the forehead over the left eye,
but the skin was not broken. There was an exten-
sive contusion on the left forearm extending al-
most from the wrist to the elbow ; there was a
slight graze on the left knee. On the head there
was a semi-circular scalp wound on the right side,
extending in the direction from the ear to the top
of the head ; there was an oblique scalp wound on
the top of the head in the direction of the right
eye to the left ear ; behind this was another scalp
wound, ragged in appearance, across the head, and
about three inches in length, a very extensive
wound at the back of the head, and a portion of
the scalp almost detached. There were "several
portions almost detached, one of which was nearly
three inches long, beneath which the skull was
fractured in several places—the extent of this
wound was four and a-half inches across, and
three inches from above downwards. Lower down
was another wound, beneath which the skull was
also fractured. The membranes of the brain could
be felt through the fractured skull. These in-
juries, in my opinion caused the death of the de-
ceased. At the post mortem examination, on re-
inoving the scalp, there was an extravasation of
blood on the left side of the forehead, which would
proceed from violence during life. On removing
the bones of the skull the longitudinal sinus was
ruptured. On removing the membranes of the
brain there was an effusion of blood over the entire
surface, more especially on the right side. The
right hemisphere of the oerebellum was- ruptured,
and there was also a considerable effusion of blood
on the base of the brain. The heart and lungs were
healthy. The under lip was drawn up under the
teeth of the upper jaw. The mouth was closed.
This might have been produced by a fall on the
ground. Death, in my opinion, was produced by
injuries arising from blows inflictad by such a wea-
pon as the one produced, and would cause death. A
considerable quantity of blood flowed from wounds
on the head. There was some hair on the coat.
Looking at the wounds and blood on the ground I
should not expect to find any other quantity of blood
from such wounds. The wounds could not have
been inflicted by the deceased himself, and must
have been, with one exception, inflicted from be-
hind the deceased or after he was' on the ground.
There were five wounds behind, and several blows
must have been struck to produce the large wound.
By Mr. Poland—Great force must have been
used to produce these appearances at the back of
the head. Repeated blows on the back of the head
on a bloody surface might in all probability have
caused blood to spirt out, but I did not observe
anything of the sort in the morning. The bruises
on the left arm were caused by one blow, from ap-
pearances. The second finger nail on the right hand
was broken. The deceased was a muscular man,
but I cannot say whether he was more so than the
prisoner. I know the wife of the the prisoner ; she
is enciente. I have been engaged to attend her at
the end of this month.
Re-examined—As far as my observation went,
there was no blood scattered but that on the ground
and on the clothes of the deceased. It would be
difficult to detect small spots of blood on the ground
after a time had elapsed.
Henry Day, a lad of diminutive size, was then
examined. He said—l live with my mother in
Chantp-street. I.know Mr. Footner's field, in Sa-
lisbury-road. I went there the morning after the
body was found. I picked up some halfpence near
the shed, at about half-a-yard from it ; there were
six penny pieces and two halfpence. I pointed them
out to Police-constable Abbot, who picked them up.
Cross-examined by Mr .Poland—They were on
the side of the shed near the hedge.
George Abbot—l am a police constable, and was
in the field where the body was found at about 10
o'clock in the morning. I saw the witness Day there,
and he pointed out some copper money lying on,
the ground. There were six pennies and two half-
pence. They were between the shed and the body,
at about two yards from the shed. If a scuffle had
taken place they were in such a position as to have
fallen from a person going from the shed to the spot
where the body was found.
Cross-examined by Mr. Poland--The halfpence
were found at that portion of the shed furthest
from the hedge, and were scattered about.
George Pearse—l live at Waterloo Foundry, in
Upper Clatford parish. On the night of Monday,
November 22, I was at the house of Chas. Lewis,
Waterloo-terrace, Upper Clatford. Geo. Butcher
and others were there. We all left within a few
minutes of each other. It was Just 20 minutes to
110. I looked at the clock when I got outid the
house, Butcher being close behind me. heard a
noise as if some one was attacked. It was a hol-
loaing, but I could not distinguish any words. I
called Butcher's attention to it. I heard the
noise three or four times, and then it appeared as
if a man was groaning loud. I heard a noise as if
some one was beating a carpet at a distance off.
It was four or five blows one after another from
the direction of Merd-hedges ; the wind was north-
east, and would blow the sound from that point. I
should think the noise did not last more than three
minutes from first to last, and then we went home.
Cross-examined by Mr. Poland—l was then in
the high road. I know the field where Mr.
Parsons was found. I should think it was three-
quarters from that spot. Butcher and myself did
not go to find out what it was, but went home.
Lewis's is a private house. I never had any com-
munication with the police on this matter. I spoke
of it the next morning to my shopmates. -
George Butcher—l work at Waterloo Foundry.
I was at the house of Charles Lewis on the night
of the 22d of November with the last witness, At
20 to 10 we left together. When we got outside
the house I heard a man halloo, as loud as he could,
and said to Pearse "-Did he cry Murder ?" I said
so because I fancied it sounded like murder. I
could not compare it to any other word. I could
not distinctly heard the word, I heard it three or
four times. We were stopping listening. It ap-
peared to last about a minute. l'earse remained a
short time after me, and I went home. I knew the
sound came from the direction of Andover.
- Cross-examined by Mr. Poland—l know the field
where the murder was committed. It is about "
three quarters of a mile from where we heard the
sounds.
Mary Hawkins—l am wife of Thos. Hawkins,
of Abbottsam. I was washing at Mrs. Tasker's at
Waterloo Foundry'on the 22d of Nov. last. I left
there at half-past nine o'clock. Little Ann was on
my way home, and I then turned into the Salis-
bury-road. Then I heard some one hallos, and I
stopped and listened. I heard some one dis-
tinctly say, " Oh, don't ! don't murder her !" I
hurried on faster, but I still, heard the noise until
I got to Poplar Cottage. I heard the words but
once, but I still heard a noise. I looked at the
clock before I left Mrs. Tasker's, and it was half-
past 9. I cannot say the distance from Mrs. Tasker's
to the spot I heard the noise, or how long it would
take me to walk it. It was a beautiful
,mooulight