The Sun.
London, England, 1859-12-09 00:00:00

IRELAND.

DUBLIN, THURSDAY.
THE TRAGEDY AT DUNGANNON.
The Northern Whig, which reached town this
forenoon, contains enactedi ample details of
the fearful tragedy at Iftingannon on Mon-

day last :
" DUNGANNON, Tuesday Night.—One of the most
shockine- murders, accompanied by a fearful attempt
to murder, that, it has ever been my duty as a re-
porter to record, took place yesterday in this town,
which has been, in consequence of the foul ando-
perate deeds I am about to record, thrown
hi
state of the mast extraordinary excitement, hese'
,c,r
.
has spread wide unparalleled r.a.pidity to
Sergeant
rounding rural d.;stricts. The victims arestahug' ea-nt
larv,
Robert M'Clellan d, of the county
whose corpse no ev lies in the Pogue-firstcn of this
town, and Mr. Wm- Mathews, a
ector who
ip
y wounded,
has been dangerously wounded—mo.r a_
as I have been informe,d—and who is at the present
moment under treatment in his own house, his
The
dical attendants despoiling of his recovery.
alleged murderer is a member of the constabulary
force of Dungannon, named John Holde have
n. I h
been enabled, after a good deal of inquiry, to
ascertain the following particulars of this most
tragic and painful affair, which has filled the minds
of the people of this town and of the surrounding
localities with horror and consternation :—Sergeant
Robert .M'Clelland was a married man. He had a
wife and two children, and was a native of Bally-
mena. He had been in charge of Dungannon police
station for nearly four years. He was 12 years in
the service, and sergeant for the last four years. He
had received a chevron of merit. The man who
stands accused with the horrible murder of Sergeant
M'Clelland, and with the diabolical attempt to kill
Mr. Mathews, the sub-inspector, is Mounted Con-
stable John Holden, a native of the county of Kil-
kenny. He is about 35 years of age. He has been
15 years in the service. About a week ago he was
reported by his superior officer, Mr. Mathews, on
suspicion of having married without leave. He
denied being married, but stated that the young
woman with whom he had formed an attachment
had had a child by him. I have, however, been
positively informed that Holden had been married
for some time. Holden states, as I learn, that ho
had requested the Inspector-General of Constabulary
to allow him liberty to marry the young woman
alluded to. In consequence of Holden's conduct
towards this young woman, whatever may have
been its character, the Inspector-General thought
proper to reduce him to the rank of sub-constable
for six months. An order to this effect was, I have
heard, read to Holden by Mr. Mathews on parade
on Monday morning, and there were directions
given that Holden should be sent on the following
day to the Newtownstewart district. Holden, see=
ing that he was about to be sent off to another part
of the country, asked Sergeant M'Clelland on
Monday to go with him to the house of the Rev.
Dr. Slane. Roman Catholic pastor of Dungan-
non, for the purpose of procuring from the
rev. gentleman a certificate to the effect that
he (Holden) was not married. M'Clelland being
ill, two of his ribs having been broken, at first de-
clined to accede to this request. Holden then said
id
to him, ' You do not like to serve me, or you wou
come." There is no man in the force I would
serve sooner,' replied M'Clelland. Mrs: M'Clelland
desired her husband not to go. The sergeant said,
'As he is going to Newtownstewart, where I have
acquaintances, he may give me a bad character, and
I will go.' This conversation took place, I am as-
sured, in M'Clelland's room, in the police barrack.
Holden had on a frieze top-coat, which he had bor-
rowed from M'Clelland to go to Omagh, and he
promised to return the coat by the public car on
Monday night. M'Clelland told Holden to come
along with him to the house of the parish priest for
the purpose already mentioned, and, on setting out,
Holden, as 1 have ascertained, took with him two
rounds of ball cartridge, which he had obtained out
of his pouch. This was about 7 o'clock on Monday
morning, and at that hour Holden and M'Clelland
set out for the parish priest's house- The rev. gen-
tleman was not at home at the time, being engaged
in prayer in the chapel. It is believed that, not
finding the rev. gentleman in the house, Holden
induced M•Clelland to accompany him to the resi-
dence of the Rev. Mr. Quain, the Protestant rector,
for the purpose of making some representation to
that rev. gentleman with respect to the certificate
which I have already referred to. When they had,
as is supposed, gone up about 20 yards on Mr.
Quain's avenue, and while they were almost in sight
of the entrance gate, a shot was heard, and imme-
diately after another, following the first in rapid suc-
cession. Holden, as I have been told, had in his pos-
session a large horse-pistol and a smaller weapon of
the same kind. At this point of my narrative my in-
formation is to the effect that Holden discharged two
shots at M'Clelland—a ball from one of the pistols en-
tering the back of the deceased at the right side, and
coming out through the region of the heart. The ball
from the other shot entered the head at the left side
of the nose, near the eye, and taking a downward
direction carried away some of M'Clelland's teeth.
My information is further to the effect that Holden
had a clasp knife or dagger, with which he stabbed
deceased in the centre of the forehead. There are se-
veral small cuts on the face and head of M-Clelland's
• corpse, which I saw to-day lying on a bed in the
police barrack. The body of the poor fellow has, in
fact, been riddled and mangled. The whole of the
forehead has been smashed in and fractured. Of
course death must have been instantaneous. It is
believed that, after Holden perpetrated this awful
'deed, he dragged the body of his unfortunate victim
into a drain teat runs through the Rev. Mr. Quain's
lawn, where it was found between half-past 10 and
11 o'clock on Monday night, but not until after he
had made the attack on Mr- Mathews, which I shall
presently describe, and which first gave rise to the
suspicion that Holden had murderously dealt with
M'Clelland. I should add that the dead, mangled,
and bleeding body of M'Clelland was found, at the
hour and place I have mentioned, by Town Sergeant
Scully and sub-constable Fitzsimons. After the per-
petration of the tragic scene in the avenue Holden
returned into town. He was observed standing in
the Market-square for a few minutes and, in some
time after, he proceeded down to the gate-house of
Mr. R. Evans, J.P., where he inquired of the gate-
keeper whether Mr. Mathews, the sub-inspector,
was dining with Mr. Evans or not. lie was informed
that Mr. Mathews was not there, and, having been
put in possession of this information, he made his
way to the house of Mr. Mathews, and asked his
maidservant whether he (Mr. Mathews) was dining
with Mr. Evans or not. She said he was not, but
that he was dining at the house of a lady in North-
land-row, and he was to take tea with Mr. Evans.
Accordingly, Holden went to the house of the lady
in question, and leaving there a message for Mr.
Mathews, to the effect that Mr. Evans wanted to
see him immediately, he made his way to the
avenue leading to Mr. Evans-5 house and hid him-
. self among some bushes. Mr. Mathews, believing
he had been sent for by Mr. Evans, came out of the
house where he had been dining, and walked up the
avenue; when lie was attacked by Holden, who was
armed with a horse-pistol and a dagger or knife.
•- This attack was made at a point about half-way
between the gate-lodge and Mr. Evans' house with
dagger and horse-pistol. Holden knocked Mr.
Mathews down with a blow of the pistol on the
head, fracturing his skull. The gentleman, thus
wounded, and, to a great degree, rendered insen-
sible, was of course incapable of rendering any
resistance to his assailant, who followed up the
attack by giving Mr. Mathews several stabs wii_
some sharp pointed instrument on the head and
face. While Holden was thus . attacking his
superior officer he gave a shout. This attracted
the attention of two men who were passing the
gate-house. They opened the entrance gate, and
went in the direction of whence the noise had pro-
ceeded, for the purpose of ascertaining the cause of
it. Holden, it is conjectured, seeing these men so
near him, desisted from his murderous assault en
Mr. Mathews, ran across an adjoining field, got
into some gardens and, betook himself to a part of
the town called Short Highway. By this time an
alarm of the attack upon Mr. Mathews had begun
to spread through the town, and all the police in
the station, with the exception of the barrack
orderly, were summoned to go in search of him.
Nturning Vhile they were actually out from the
barrack on the pursuit indicated, Holden, as
I hare been enabled to gather from the in-
quiries I have instituted into this most hor-
rible and most revolting case, deliberately walked
up . Church-street, and entered the stables adja-
cent to the police-station. Here ho. saddled Mr.
Mathews's horse, and no particular notice ofo tat h
this act
was taken at the time, as suspicion did n
moment lay the horrid crime of murder to the
charge. The stables are some distance at the rear of
the barrack, and this fact, coupled with the cir-
, curnstance that Holden, as I have said, was not sus-
pected at the moment of the alarm, served t o sere( n
hieti for a while from observation, and enabled him
the more easily to effect his escape. He took out
Mr. Mathews'e- horse, mounted, and dashed off at
full speed down Feeney's-lane, which leads out
from the rear of the barrack. Several persons resid-
ing in the lane in question saw Holden galloping
off, and their belief was that he was going out on
duty. The impression prevailing ia the town is
that he took the road leading to Monaghan, and
that, on arriving in Monaghan, lie left by train for
Dundalk, where he was arrested this day at half-
past one o'clock, as announced by a telegraphic
message which reached the authorities of Dungan-
non about half-past two o'clock. It was further
stated in the telegram that Holden would be brought
. .
in as a prisoner by the half-past six train, and the

perary.
,‘ Crimes so horrible as those which I have de-
tailed above have not been committed in the county
of Tyrone for many long years. The deceased,
Sergeant M'Clelland, was much respected. He was
a man of great prospects in the force. It was not
until the alarm of the attack upon Mr. Mathews
had generally spread through the town, and of
Holden's participation in it, that the suspicion
that M'Clolland, who had been missing for some
hours, had been unfairly deal with ; and this
having gained ground, Major Knox, Mr. Brookes,
J.P., Mr. Evans, J.P., Mr. Lyle, J.P., with many
other persons of respectability from the town, went
in search of M'Clelland, whose dead body was
found in the situation I have already described.
The constabulary exerted themselves in a most
praiseworthy manner to bring she offender in this
J.P., de
shocking case to justice. Mr. Brookes Cookstown,
spatched sub-constable Farrell to
acting-constable Kearns if) Dublin, sub-constable
Ritchie to Belfast, and sub-ccinstable Gallaher to
Derry, in pursuit of Holden.
" To-day the local magistrates, with Mr. Caul-
from
son, R.M., and Mr. Manby, county inspectCY,
Omagh, assembled for the purpose of inquiring Lato
the circumstances of the murder and attempt to
murder. Mr. E. K. Tener, coroner, also attended,
and a jury was, I understand, sworn before that
gentleman for the purpose of investigating the
facts ; but, reference having been made to the tele-
gram announcing Holden's arrest in Dundalk, and
his expected arrival in Dungannon this evening,
it was deemed advisable to adjourn the inquiry
until next day, and it was accordingly postponed
to 10 o'clock to-morrow morning, when the case
will be fully gone into,—l presume in the presence
of Holden.
" Crowds of people might be seen in the streets
all day discussing the circumstances of the murder,
and, as the hour at which the arrival of Holden
was expected—half-past six o'clock, p.m.—drew
near, hundreds of people proceeded to the railway
station in the hope of getting a sight of him. How-
ever, in this they were disappointed, as he did not
arrive by the train which reached Dungannon at
the hour alluded to. A strong guard of police was
drawn up at the railway station, but, as they had no
prisoner to escort, they returned at once to the
barrack. A report was then spread that Holden
would certainly arrive by the next train, at half-
past nine a.m;
Much sympathy has been felt for the wife of
M'Clelland and her two children, one of which is
very young, and was only baptised last Sunday
week.'

ASSIZE INTELLIGENJE.

NORTHERN CIRCUIT.—YORK, Dec. 7.
(Before Mr. Justice Wightman.)
Abraham Binney, an edge-tool grinder, of Shef
field, was indicted for the manslaughter of his wife
Hannah Binney, on Tuesday, the 6th of Sept. last
Mr. Blanshard and Mr. S.D. Waddy were coun-
sel for the prosecution ; the prisoner was defended
by Mr. Campbell Foster.
It was shown that on Tuesday, the 30th of Aug.
the prisoner and his wife went to reside at a place
called Delphhole, Garden-street, Little Sheffield.
They lived in a very quarrelsome way together, the
deceased being frequently drunk, the husband ir-
regular in his habits, and both mutually jealous.
On Monday night, the sth of September, the pri-
soner returned home late, and found that his wife
had in his absence disposed of their bed, and she
told the prisoner to " Go to my sister Mary's and
live there together." Next morning another quarrel
took place and a struggle ensued, in which the wife
seized the fire poker and the prisoner had recourse
to a large and heavy hammer used for crushing
sand to strew on the stone floor of the house. Ellen
Shirt, a neighbour, hearing the screams of Binney's
children, came to the door of her house, where she
saw the prisoner, who was in the act of putting on
his coat, having closed his own door: He then
walked rapidly away, and Shirt went to his house.
On opening the,door she saw Hannah Binney lying
on the floor near the bottom of the stairs, partially
dressed. She was moaning, and her head lay in a
pool of blood. Shirt calle in another neighbour
(Sarah Swift) to her assistance, and they raised the
bleeding, woman and laid her on three chairs. A
surgeon was sent for, and the deceased was conveyed
to the Sheffield Infirmary. In the meantime the
husband had gone direct to the Town-hall and
given himself up to the police. At the same time
he made a statement to the effect that he had struck
his wife with the sand hammer on the top of the
head, and that she had not spoken since, to his
knowledge. As the woman appeared to be dying,
Mr. Jackson, the chief, constable, procured the at-
tendance of a magistrate, and her deposition was
taken. This was put in by the counsel for the pro-
secution, and was as follows :
"I am the wife of Abraham Binney. He is an edge-tool
maker. This happened when I came down stairs. He
talked to me i.s if I was a bad woman. I said I was not.
He struck me twice with the sand hammer. I could not
speak to him afterwards. I fell down at the foot of the
stairs. It was done a little after 8 o'clock this morning.
Neighbours came in directly afterwards. It was on the
head where he struck me. He had been ' agait 'of me all
night. lam very bad. I don't feel that I shall get better.
" Cross-examined by the prisoner—l took the poker up,
but I did not touch you. You struck me twice with the
sand hammer. You have been ill-using me this week
past."
The deceased lingered till the 22d of September,
when she died. A post mortem examination was
made, and it appeared that she had received several
severe injuries. One of her fingers was broken ;
she had three wounds on her head, one on the top
and two at the back. The skull was broken at the
top, and also at the back. Several portions of bone
had been removed during her illness, and the medi-
cal testimony proved that death was caused by in-
flammation of the brain consequent on the fracture.
Mr. C. Foster endeavoured, in cross-examina-
tion, to sur,gest that the injuries might have been
inflicted by a fall down the stairs, at the foot of
which the deceased was found lying almost sense-
' less ; but as this failed, he abandoned the defence
and addressed the Court in mitigation of punish-
ment, urging that the intemperate habits of the wife
had led to frequent quarrels, that her sending away
the bed and Whir, her husband to go and live
elsewhere had greatly provoked him, and that
while in that state of irritation she had still further
provoked him by taking up the poker apparently to
attack him. Unhappily, in sudden passion, he
had then seized the hammer which was then lying
on the floor, and had inflicted the injuries of which
unquestionably the woman had subsequently died.
The prisoner's regret for the act he had done was
best evinced by his going direct to the police office
and surrendering himself into the hands of justice
Ile now cast himself on the mercy of the court.
The jury found the prisoner guilty, but recom
mended him to mercy.
The learned Judge promised to take this recom
mendation into consideration, and deferred his sen
tence.
h

. /sTyVCASTITTIM.7-TYNE, DEC. 7.
(Before Mr. Baron Martin.)
John Watson Moody was indicted for the wilful
murder of Daniel Witham on the 16th of August
last.
The Hon. Adolphus Liddell and Mr. Blackwell
appeared as counsel for the prosecution ; Mr. J. R.
Davison and Mr. Robinson Fowler for the prisoner.
From the opening statement of the learned coun-
sel it appeared that the offence was committed on
an American ship, called the Mary, which was
lying in the Northumberland Dock. The prisoner,
an American, was second mate, and the deceased
man, Witham, one of the seamen, on board the
Mary. The circumstances of the case will bo best
gathered from the lengthened details of the evidence
below.
William Black, seaman on beard the United
States' ship Mary—There was a seaman on board
named Witham. The prisoner was second mate.
The Mary arrived in the Tyne on the Ist of August,
in the Northumberland Dock. On the 11th of
August the prisoner, deceased, and myself were on
board. Deceased and myself slept in the starboard
forecastle, which is level with the deck. Witham
slept in a berth nearest to the door. I slept in one
opposite, and could sce into Witham's. On the
morning of the 11th the crew had been ordered to
he called at 230 a.m. to move the vessel. I was
asleep in my berth. Witham was in his. There was
a ligt.t in the forecastle. I was awoke by a noise
about 2 30. I had not heard any call before this.
I saw the prisoner have hold of the deceased by the
hair of his head, trying to pull him out of his berth.
I got out of my berth and went between them, and
asked him what was his reason for doing so. He said
it was not me he was speaking to. I said I was
aware of that. I went back to my berth to put my
shoes on. Prisoner gave deceased one sudden pull
and dragged him out of the forecastle door. He
said he would see if he could not get him out—a
son of —. Witham had said nothing as yet--he
was not well. I got in between them and separated
them, asking what he meant by such violence, as
we had had enough of that on the voyage before,
and, if I could help it, we would have no more.