The Sun.
London, England, 1859-01-11 00:00:00

DREADFUL MURDER.

The usual quiet of the metropolis has been dis-
turbed .by a frightful murder, which was perpe-
trated on Saturday night by a man named Thomas
Black, a painter, residing at No. 3,,Dean-street, in
the Liberty, on his wife, Margaret, who is de-
scribed as an extremely well-looking woman, of
about 30 years of age. The facts are thus stated
in this morning's papers :—" Shortly after • 10
o'clock yesterday morning the neigbourhood of the
scene of the frightful tragedy was thrown into a
state of the greatest excitement and alarm on its
being made known, for the first time, that Mrs.
Black had been butchered during the night by her
husband, and that the murderer had absconded.
Information was conveyed to the detective office,
and Sergeants Craven and Myers, of the G division,
proceeded without delay to the lodgings of Black,
which are situate in the top back room of the house
above-mentioned. The sergeants on entering
the apartment witnessed the sorry sight of
the unfortunate woman lying on her bed in a
pool of blood, which had collected under a
ghastly wound in her .left side beneath the
ribs. At the time the constables first saw the
body it was covered with the bedclothes, just as the
murderer had left it, but, on removing the cover-
ing, they found that the entire of the night dress
of the deceased had been torn from her body and
thrust under the bed, and it is supposed, in her
struggle with the assassin, her night clothes were
torn in pieces off her person. The wound is about
an inch wide, and from the blood being almost en-
tirely confined to the portion of the bed which was
immediately under it, it is thought that after re-
ceiving the stab from a knife or some other sharp
instrument, the murderer held her in one position
until she died of hemorrhage. This supposition is
further confirmed by the fact of the neck, chin, and
mouth of the deceased being all black and blue,
giving painful evidence of the iron gripe which
must have been kept on throat and mouth to pre-
, event her calling for assistance to her sister and her
brother-in-law, who slept in the next room, only
divided from the one in which the murder was
committed by a thin partition. On the sergeants
making inquiries into the particulars of this re-
volting tragedy, they were informed by Mrs.
Quinn, sister to the deceased, who lived with her
. husband in the adjoining room on the same floor,
that Black returned from his work at eight o'clock
on Saturday night, and after remaining at home
for a short time, he took the deceased out with him
on a car. He stopped at a shoemaker's shop and
purchased a pair of boots for her, and then proceeded
with her to a publichouse in James's-street, where
he had been paid for some painting work he had
completed that day. Black and the deceased had
some drink, after which they returned home on a
car and went to their room about 10 o'clock. Nothing
transpired until about 11 o'clock, when Mrs. Quinn,
who was out making some purchases, returned.
On going into her room she was surprised to see
the son of Black a fine little boy of about 9 years
of age, sitting in her apartment. She asked him
why he was not in bed at that hour, and the
little fellow said that he was afraid that his father
would kill him, as he saw him kicking his mother
in a terrible manner. Not wishing to interfere, as
she was aware that Black was a very hasty and ill-
tempered man, she put the boy to bed, and after
some time, not hearing any noise, she went into
Black's room. The candle was extinguished, but
there was sufficient light to enable her to observe
Black standing in his shirt at the side of the bed.
The deceased was lying on the bed partially naked.
She went over and put her hand on the breast of
the deceased, and it occurred to her at the time that
she felt cold. Black did not address her on coming
into the room, nor did she make any obserlition to
him, and she retired to her own apartment, believ-
ing that all was right, and that any difference be-
tween Black and her sister had ended. She went to
bed, and did not get up until 10 o'clock yesterday
morning. Hearing no one stirring in the next room
she directed the boy to go into his father's room at
half-past 11 o'clock and ask his mother for a loan of
her cloak. The child did as he was directed, and re-
turned in a short time convulsed with fear at the
horrible sight which it had witnessed. The door had
not been fastened, and when the boy entered the
room he found his father gone, and on going to de-
liver his message found his mother dead and deluged
in blood. From what Mrs. Quinn could glean from
the child she ran into the room where the murder
had been committed, and found the child's story to
be too true, and gave the alarm. Hundreds of per-
sons from the neighbourhood flocked about the
house, and nothing could exceed the excitement of
the people when the police arrived. The general cry
was, Where is the murderer ?' but he was nowhere
to be found. He was last seen between 8 and 9
o'clock yesterday morning leaving the house in
which he had played so fearful a part. Heproceeded
along the streets in the coolest manner with a pipo
in his mouth. He went into a barber's shop where
he got shaved, and after washing himself, he ob-
served to the barber that he had been out for a
jacket (which he produced) which he had forgotten
in a house the night previous, and he was then
returning home with it. After leaving the shop
he proceeded down New-row (south), and up to
an advanced hour last night no tidings of the
murderer had been received, although the
police are en his track. There appears to be but
one opinion among the police, that Black had com-
mitted the murder before the time Mrs. Quinn went
into his room, and that he had remained there
during the night alone with the corpse of his vic-
tim. The assassin is described as a person of about
40 years of age, five feet seven inches high, broad
shouldered, black curly hair, and whiskers turning
to grey, sallow complexion and sunken cheeks, and
one of his front teeth lost. ; His dress, at the time
of his leaving, consisted of a shirt, black frock coat,
moleskin trousers recently- washed, Wellington
boots, a faded woolleg plaid scarf, and a grey
tweed cap. The body of the murdered woman re-
mains in charge of the police, awaiting an inquest,
which will be held this day. The excitement of the
people in the vicinity last night was intense, and it