The Sun.
London, England, 1858-06-21 00:00:00

SHOCKING MURDER.

An inquiry of a very painful and distre7sing cha-
racter took place before Mr. T. Swor ler, the coroner
for Hertfordshire, at Cheshunt, on Friday, into the
circumstances under which a highly respectable
your; lady, 25 years of ago, named Sarah Jane
Butler, met her death. The jury having performed
the painful duly of viewing the body, which pre-
sented a dreadful appearance, the head being
frightfully contused, and the skull ftaeture,l in
several planes, a number of witnesses were exa-
mined, and the following facts were disclosed.
It appeared that the deceased young lady had
gone to visit a married sister, Mrs. Braye, the wife
of a chemist at Cheshunt, and on Tuesday afrernoon
the two ladies went out for a walk, and paid a visit
to a friend named Prior, who lives near the Brox-
bourne railway station. Tney set out on their
return home about half-past eight o'clock in the
evening, and had gone about a mile when the
tragical occurrence took place. On their way from
- Broxburne to Cheshunt the ladies had to go for
some distance by the side of the river, and thsy
then passed several cottages, and a short distance
from thin spot there is the high road. When they
had passed a few yards from the last of there cot-
tage, which is occupied by a person named Carter,
the ladies saw a man approaching, and it would
seem that his appearance excited some alarm, for
Mts. Brays proposed to her sister to turn back, but
tLe young lady replied that it was daylight and
there was no necessity for being alarmed, and they
proceeded on their way. The moment they came
close to the man, it appeared that without saying
a word he attacked Miss Butler with a bludgeon,
struck her first a tremendous blow on the side of
the face, and then beat her upon the head until she
fell senseless, and he then walked away. It ar-
peared that he man did not attempt to offer any
violence to Mrs. Braye, and that lady was at first
so dreadfully terrified that she was unable to scream
or to give any alarm. Carter, the occupier of the
cottage, however, happened to come the moment
the assault was tieing committed, and procared the
assistance of a police constable, and went in pursuit
of the man as ho was walking en the high road, and
he was secured without offering any resistance.
The poor young lady was taken up in an insensible
state, and covered with blood, and as soon as a car-
riage could be procured she was conveyed to her
sister's residence, and Mr. Dixon, a surgeon, resid-
ing at Cheshunt, and some other professional gen-
tlemen, promptly attended upon her, but it was
evident, from the fearful character of the injuries
she had received, that the case was hopeless, and
she remained in estate of insensibility until about
11 o'clock at night, when she expired. The man
who had committed the
outrage w
police station at Hoddee den,he a taken
appeareds t
to theo b e
and
quite calm and collected. He was asked if he knew
what he had been doing, and ho replied, " Yes I
have been hitting a woman on the head, b
it I hope
,
I have not hurt her." Ile was afterwards askedt how
he would like to be served in the same manner and
he Lingual and said,
" Not at all." H ,
afterwards told that the young lady hoe Ilittase
struck was dead, and he made no reply.
On the following day one of the attendants be-
longing to the Hoxton Lunatic Asylum arrived at
Hoddesden, stating that he was in search of a pa-
tient, named Henry Arnold, who had made his
escrpe from that establishment a few days before,
and upon his going to the lock-up he at once iden-
tified the man who had committed the outrage as
that person. He at, the same time expressed his sur-
prise that he should have been guilty of such enact
of violence, a s during the time he was in the asylum
he was looked upon as perfectly harmless, and had
been allowed to do some work about the building,
which gave him au opportunity of making his
escape, and it is suppceed that he was on his way to
hs native village, a place called Newton, in Cam-
bridgeshire, at rho tittle he committed the dreadful
deed.

Tbe jury after flooring all the evidence, said there
was no doubt that the prisoner was insane at the
time he assaul'ed the young lady; but the Coroner
explained to them that they had no power by law
to enter into tt:e cilF•ston of the state of mind of
the patty by whom the death had been occasioned,
which could alone be disposed of before another
tribunal, and that upon the facts before them the
only couraethey could take was to return a verdict of
" Wilful Murder." The jury acc,rdingly returned
a verdict to that Effect, and the coroner at onto
*lamed hia warrant-for the committal of th© prisoner
rnoll, to tile his trial-at the-ensuina 5U1:11*
G+ex azauea for the county of Wife.