The Sun.
London, England, 1858-03-01 00:00:00

TEE HAYMARKET MURDER.

In our late edition of Saturday we announced the cap-
;lire of Lani, the Italian, who is charged with murdering
'he woman in the Haymarket. We now give some addi-
tional particulars.
When the first intelligence reached Mr. Hannant, at
half-past nine o'clock on Wednesday night, the facts could
mly be obtained in an imperfect manner through the aid
of interpreters, and the description of the supposed asses-
sin wes necessarily incomplete, all the parties who were
questioned declaring that he was a foreigner, and that he
had never been seen in the neighbourhood until the night
of the murder, or at furthest on the Monday evening pre-
viously.
Notwithstanding these manifest difficulties, Mr. Han-
, nant applied himself PeißUDi teorotrhee ernasiesneadt of
the most strenuous exertions,al b
description of the suspected person, with a list of property
missing, was circulated throughout all the stations of the
metropolitan police, as well as those within the district of
the city of London. '
Thus, on Thursday morning, the police throughout Lon-
don were on the alert, and before the close of the day a
highly-important clue to the suspected man was obtained,
through the intelligence and skill of Sergeant Huggett, a
well-known officer of the 'detective police attached to the
City of London. As soon as news of the murder had been
,eceived. in the City, Inspector Hamilton and Sergeant
lluggett set about making inquiries, and the latter very
quickly found that a person exactly answering the descrip-
,ion of the missing man had been lodging for about a fort-
night at Klein's private hotel, a highly respectable esta-
blishment much frequented by foreign visitors to this
country, at No. 38, Finsbury-square. The inquiries Hag-
gett made soon satisfied him that he was on the right
track, and after consulting with his inspector, the result
was communicated to Mr. Hannant, of the C division, who
at once desired Inspector Parke to accompany Huggett to
the hotel in question.
On arriving in Finsbury-square on Friday morning, Mr.
Klein desired his servants to give the officers every pos-
sible information ; and from the head waiter, an intelli-
gent man, who has been in Mr. Klein's service several
years, Mr. Parke obtained the following facts :—That, on
the 4th inst., a young man, whose name was understood
to be Giovanni Lani, had arrived at the hotel from Italy
with the avowed attention of proceeding to Monte Video,
in South America—that he resided at the hotel uninter-
ruptedly until the night of Tuesday, the 23L1 inst. (the
night of the murder), during which he was absent, and did
not return to the hotel until four o'clock on Wednesday
afternoon. On then entering the waiter remarked that
Lani held a pocket handkerchief to his face, which appeared
to have been scratched in several places. The waiter
added that he had himself remarked to Lani that his face
appeared to have been injured, upon which he replied in
Italian, "Yes ; I have been playing with the cat on board
ship, and she has scratched my face." The waiter play-
fully rejoined—" I think it must have been a human cat,
sir,"—an observation which appeared to annoy Lani con
siderably, for after going upstairs to his bedroom he paid
his bill, and shortly afterwards brought to the door a cab,
in which he left the hotel, taking his luggage with him.
Nothing had been since seen of Lani at the hotel, but most
fortunately, Mr. Klein was able to give the police infor-
mation of the name of the ship in which his lodger had
engaged a passage to Monte Video.
On boarding the ship the officers found Lani and other
male and female passengers at breakfast in the.cabin. On
perceiving strangers entering Lani appeared anxious to
avoid their observation, but on being tad that they were
officers, and that they desired to inspect his luggage, he
offered no objection, and quietly stood by Huggett while
Mr. Parke prepared to examine his baggage. This con-
sisted of a small leather portmanteau, of foreign manufac-
ture, well fitted, and secured with leather straps; a foreign
hat-box and an accordion in a mahogany case. The port-
manteau was first opened, and on raising the lid the rose-
wood cotton and needle box, above described, containing
the portrait-brooch belonging to the deceased, was dis-
covered immediately beneath. The officer, after examin-
ing the contents, held up the box to the ob ervation of
Lani, who merely remarked, in broken English, "Me
bought it—me bought it." Mr. Parke and Huggett
were now quite satisfied as to their man, and ex-
pressed to the mate . heir intention of taking Lani
into custody. When this was explained to him, Lani
declared in Italian that he would not go with the offi-
cers, adding, that if they attempted to take him he
would drown them before they got ashore. The pri-
soner's observation was translated by one of the female pas-
sengers
to Mr. Parke, who thereupon exhibited a pair of
handcuffs, which hal a wholesome effect on the prisoner's
behaviour afterwards, and he went ashore quietly.
On being identified at Vine-street Lani quietly observed
in Italian, " Yes, I was there. I did sleep with madame."
The prisoner was now formally charged with the murder
of Heloise Taubin. On being asked his name, the accused
handed to Mr. Hannant a Sardinian passport, in which he
is described as " Giovanni Lard de Antonio, the va
Monte Video, South America." His personaldescription
in the same document is as follows :—Ago, twenty-one
years • height, 5 feet 10 inches ; profession, tinsmith,
and Corn at Domo Dossolo, on the Lake of Como. The
passport was vised ,by the French consul at Genoa, " bon
arrivedpo
urtrianveLrsoenrdolna
oFnrathnecel,4"thonuittihmeo. 27th
u
pon his January,
p 'erasnond
were found a number of letters, hearing initial signatures,
in which he is addressed as " Carissimo A.mico," evidently'
written by women of his acquaintance, and among his
papers is a stamped receipt for 301. in gold, paid to Messrs.
Alex. Howden and Sons for his passage to Monte Video
person
was Buenos Ayres. The only cash found upon his
was half-a-crown and Id. in coppers, and none has been
discovered in bis boxes.
The accused is a remarkably fine young man, and there
is nothing in his countenance betraying a ferocity of dis-
position. His features are good, and his complexion, un-
like Italians generally, fresh coloured. The perfect cool-
ness with which he listened to the dreadful charge made
against him, and his subsequent apparent indifference at
the awful position in which he stands, is the worst phase
which his case presents to an indifferent observer.
It has transpired that a person answering the descrip-
tion of Lani offered for sale on Thursday afternoon at the
shop of Mr. Massy, a jeweller, in Leadenhall-street, a
watch which is believed to have been that of the deceased
woman. This watch is missing, and, as the reduced state
of the prisoner's finances leads to a fair presumption that
he has sold it, the ends of justice would be greatly facili-
tated if any persons to whom the watch may have been
offered will come forward in order to see if they can iden-
tify the accused. It is also desirable that the driver of the
cab who took the prisoner from Finsbury-square on Wed-
nesday afternoon should come forward and state where he
was discharged.
In previous reports it has not been mentioned that the
key of the room in which the deceased was murdered is
missing. This is an important fact, and shows that the
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