The Sun.
London, England, 1858-07-31 00:00:00

HORRIBLE MURDER.

EmsroL,
Friday. Mr. Bruges Fry, coroner for the
eastern division of the county of Somerset, held an in-
quest last night at the Butchers' Arms Tavern, Neilsen,
on the body of a little boy, named James Curr, who was
murdered by his mother under circumstances of an un-
usually painful character, The unhappy woman by
whom the fatal deed was perpetrated, and who very
nearly succeeded in depriving herself of life immediately
after its committal, is E:iza Curr, and ehe is the wife of
George Curr, a collier employed at one of the pits in the
Nailsea c. alfi-ld. Mrs. Curr, who at the time the fatal
crime was committed had s x children living, resided
aith her hu-ban'l in a cottage in the village. It is stated
that they had live.] latterly very unhappily, although no
one suspected for a moment that her state of mind was
so desperate as to lead her to contemplate, as beyond
doubt she did, the sacrifice of her own life and at least
three of her children. It appeared from the evidence
3f her little girl, six years old, Melinda Curr, and the
other witnesses, that cn the day in question, after her
husband had gone ~ut, the unhappy woman sent her three
eldest children out of the houie, and then took the witness,
her deceased brother James Curr, who was four years old,
and a ynut,ger child up into the bedroom. She then seized
hold of the little fellow, James, who resisted and cried out
piteou-ly, "Oh, don'tee, mother, don'tee !" and with a
razor cut his throat with such despera ion as to nearly
sever the head from the body. She was about to perpe-
trate a similar crime on the other children, but happily
their cries caused an alarm, and, fearing that she would
be interrupted, the desperate woman hurriedly cut her
own throat with the same instrument with which she
bad mu.dered her little boy. The cash which she in
fitctsd upon herself was a very deep one, but happily
the large blood-vessels were not divided, so that the
medical gentleman who was caled in seems to have con-
siderable hope that she will ui:itnately recover. lof ,r-
-rnation of the dreadful tragedy was given with all
promptitude to the police, and police-c netable Pigeon
of the SLtmereetshire constabulary was quickly in atten-
dance at the cottage. The sight which met his eye was
a truly horrifying ore. The body of the poor little
child, with his throat shockingly mingled, and with his
clothes saturated with blood, lay in one spot, while in
another las the mother, in an almost eqnally lifeless
state, and with the evidences of the double mime rf which
she bad been gull y all around her. After the several
witnesses had been examined and had deposed to the
foregoing facts, the coroner Hummed up the evidence at
considerable length. He charged the jury to dismiss
from their minds everything which they might have
heard out of doors, and to be guided by the evidence
alone ; and with reference to the state of mind of the
accused at the time when she committed the fatal act,
that was a matter which they had better leave to be in-
vestigated by another court. The jury returned a ver-
dict of wilful murder against the mother (Eliza Curr),
and, as soon as she has sufficiently recovered to admit
of her removal, she will be committed to await her trial
for that crime.