The Sun.
London, England, 1867-07-10 00:00:00

SHOCKING MURDE It.

On Sunday morning a dreadful murder was com-
mitted at llowlais, which is part of the town of
Merthyr Tydfil, in South Wales. A woman named
Ann Murphy, who is between 60 and 70 years of
age, and whose husband is employed under the
Dowlais Iron Company as a watchman, keeps a
private lodging-house, and among her lodgers for
some time past were two single men named Saun-
ders Henderson, 38 years of age, and Thomas
Watkins, 40. She had also a lodger named John
Silk. It is said that for some time previous to Satur-
day night Henderson and Watkins had been on too
familiar terms with their landlady, and, if not mutu-
ally suspicious of each other, it is tolerably certain
that Watkins was suspicious of Henderson, and,
in fact, jealous of him. On Saturday night
Murphy, the husband of the landlady, who
is an old man bordering on 70, was on night
duty. Watkins and Henderson came in about
11 o'clock, and had supper together. Mrs. Murphy
then went out and returned about 12 o'clock. She
found that Watkins had gone upstairs, leaving
Henderson apparently sleeping on the chair in which
he sat. The old woman then went to bed—her
bedroom being on the ground floor. About five
minutes after she had been in bed Henderson went
into the room and got into her bed. She rose up,
and as she did so heard Watkins coming down-
stairs. She then got out of bed and was going
out of her bedroom into the kitchen, when she
met Watkins at the door with a poker in his
hand. She was then stunned by a blow which he
struck her on the head, but recovered in a few
moments. Watkins passed on into the room, but
the old woman did not hear either him or Henderson
speak, and she also heard no blows. When Wat-
kins returned from the room he said nothing, but
went and called a neighbour, a Mrs. Rees. He
then went back to the house and called up the
lodger Silk, to whom he said he " thought he had
killed Saunders, or had done for him." Two or
three persons went into the old woman's bedroom,
where they found Henderson lying in a pool of
blood on the floor by the side of the bed. The bed-
clothes and pillows were all spotted with blood, and
blood was still flowing freely from wounds on
Henderson's head. Henderson was quite dead.
A policeman then came, and he took Watkins
in custody on the charge of causing Henderson's
death. Watkins said he had been charged him -
self with being too free with the landlady, but
he had caught the
surgeon, came in just afterwards, and found that
Henderson had his skull fractured very badly in
two places, and lacerated and contused wounds
besides. The poker was found under the
grate with fresh blood stains on it, and it was bent
in the form of a bow. It was straight a few hours
before. Watkins was taken before the magistrates
on Monday, and charged by Mr. Superintendent
Wrenn with the wilful murder of Henderson. Wit-
nesses deposed to the facts which arc stated above,
and the prisoner manifested the utmost indifference
during the whole hearing.
and the injuries which were found replyto the charge
was that he never struck II eenuduedr s
uo
un
hisw i with
head
poker,d must
u s t
have Seen caused by his falling *if the bed. This,
the surgeon said, was impossible. The prisoner
was then committed for trial on the capital charge
at the next assizes at Cardiff, to open on the
16th instant.