The Sun.
London, England, 1860-12-18 00:00:00

ASSIZE INTELLIGENCE.

OXFORD CIRCUIT.—STAFFORD, Dec. 17.
TRIALS FOR WILFUL MURDER.
Samuel Twigg, bricklayer, 33, was arraigned for
the wilful murder of Mary Twigg, his wife, on the
25th of July, 1860, at Bilston.
Mr. M‘Mahon and Mr. A. S. Hill were for the
prosecution, and Mr. Motteram defended the pri-
soner.

Samuel Twigg, the younger, aged 16, deposed
that at about one o'clock in the morning of the
25th of July he heard his father knocking at the
front door, and shouting, " Now, Polly, get up
and loose me in." He heard his mother go down-
stairs, and then he heard also the voice of a strange
man in the kitchen, and his mother running back.
Afterwards he heard his father call to his mother
to come down, but she refused, until " the strange
man was gone." The prisoner then said, "If you
don't come down and cook we some steaks, I'll cut
her throat from ear to ear." He heard the man
say he would go, and afterwards the door closed.
He then went down and found his father lying on
the screen. His mother followed him down and
shut the door. Prisoner refused to go to bed, so
they put a jacket under his head, took his shoes
off, and put. a chair under his feet, and left him
asleep. In about a quarter of an hour afterwards
he heard the prisoner cry out, " Sam, get up, and
get me a light; I want to go to bed." He asked
his mother to go down, as he had to rise early in
the morning to go to work. His mother went
down, and he heard her poking the fire. While
she was doing -so, prisoner said, " Gie us a kiss,
Polly." Immediately after this he heard a clasp-
knife closed, and the prisoner say, " Now, I am
satisfied," and his mother came to the bottom of
the stairs and said, " Oh, Sam, I am stabbed."
His mother then went out at the door. He went
down immediately, and found his father lying on
the screen.
The deceased, it appeared from other evidence,
had been stabbed in the left side of the abdomen,
and died on the following night.
When the deposition of the deceased was read over
to him, the prisoner said—" I was drunk at the time;
she was a very good' wife to me." Before the magis-
trates he said—" I was very helpless drunk indeed
I had no occasion to set about her. She was a good
wife to me."
The Judge summed up the case as one of wilful
murder.
The jury after a brief deliberation returned a
verdict of that nature.
His lordship was about passing sentence of death,
when the prisoner's mother shrieked out in the'
gallery, and had to be removed. At the same time
the prisoner fell upon his knees in the dock and
began to shed tears. He was lifted up by the
gaolers, and ceasing crying received the awful
sentence of death in the usual form„
The unhappy criminal, as he was led out of the
dock, found vent for his feelings in tears.
The next prisoner charged with wilful murder
was Ann Williams, aged 31, who had been com-
mitted for the murder of her infant child.
Mr. M'Mahon prosecuted, and Mr. Scotland was
instructed by the judge to watch the case for the
prisoner.

The evidence showed that about the end of last
September the prisoner left her home at Willenhall,
with her child in her arms very early in the morn-
ing. She was missed for some time, and the canal
was Searched for her. Subsquently she was found
at the house of a relative some few miles away,
without her babe, and apparently of unsound mind.
On being brought home, she said the child was in
the canal. By one witness she seen carrying the
child along the bank, and by two other witnesses
she was seen the same morning standing on a bridge
which crosses the canal, still with the child in her
arms. After she had been on this, bridge she was
seen to be without the child, whose body was sub-
sequently found in the canal not far from the
bridge.
The surgeon who was called in to see her when
she was brought home was of opinion that the
woman was insane. There was reason to believe
that her insanity was occasioned by excessive
nursing.
The jury returned a verdict of Not Guilty.
His lordship asked on what ground ?
The foreman did not seem able to give a satisfac-
tory reply ; but one of the twelve said they were
not satisfied that the prisoner threw the child into
the water.
His lordship made no reply, and ordered the
woman's discharge.
Stephen Dickenson, 40, was then arraigned for
the wilful murder of Elizabeth Dickenson, on the
sth of August, 1860, at the borough of Newcastle-
undertLy me.
Mr. A. S. Hill was instructed by his lordship to
watch the case for the prisoner.
The evidence showed that the prisoner was in-
sane, and that the deceased was his mother. He
had been visited by a parish surgeon two or three
days before, and instructions given for the removal
beyond his reach of any cutting instruments. On
the day in question his mother was taking him up
medicine,, when on the top of the landing he met
his mother and struck her on the head with a large
wooden stand called a candle-block, that the pri-
soner had been accustomed to use when working►
by night as a shoemaker.
The judge stopped the case, and put it to the
jury if it was necessary to proceed with it ?
The jury found the prisoner guilty of wilful
murder, committed when he was in a state of in-

sanity.
His lordship sentenced the prisoner to confine•
moat during her Majesty's pleasure. •

NORTHERN CIRCUIT--LivEtrooL, Dec. 17.
(Before Mr. Justice Keating.)
WIFE MURDER IN LITERPOOL.
Thomas Newsham, 38, was charged with the
murder of his wife in Homer street, Liverpool, on
the 18th of September last.
It appeared from the evidence that the prisoner
and his wife had lived together for some time on
tolerably friendly terms. On the day of the occur-
rence in question there was a quarrel between the
w parties, ►hen the deceased, being drunk, was heard
to use very improper and provoking language,
which very much irritated her husband. In the
course of the squabble i the prisoner used a knife
u
and stabbed his wife n the left side, the wound
causing death. For the defence
telyithe wwaass
contended that there was no deliberate
malice on the prisoners part, and
found guilty ofmanslaughter, and sentenced to penal
servitude for life.

MURDER ON SHIPBOARD.
A Norwegian seaman, named Henry Lawson, was
triedforthe murder of Charles P. Wallace, boat
swain of the American ship Lombard. On the 22d
of August last, while the Lombard was lying in
the Liverpool Docks, the prisoner went to his bed
and refused to work.
This led to a fight between
the prisoner and deceased, in the course of which
the latter was stabbed by Lawson in the neck. The
wound partially severed the windpipe, and the
boatswain ultimately died on the Ist of Sept.
The jury
slaughter, and
found the prisoner guilty of man-
Mr. Justice Keating sentenced him to penal ser-
vitude for life.
Mr. Justice Blackburn commenced trying civil
cases in the Nisi Prius Court. The cause list is
email, and the cases of little public interest.