The Sun.
London, England, 1859-03-10 00:00:00

DREADFUL MURDER AT ALDER-

SHOI'T.

On Sunday afternoon, about three o'clock, a
dreadful tragedy was committed in a house in
North-lane, Aldershott, by a soldier of the 9th,
named Henry Benjamin Haynes. The house in
question was once a beershop called " the London
Tavern," but, inasmuch as the soldiers were har-
boured there after the time allowed them, pickets
were placed at the doors to prevent soldiers enter-
ing, since which the place has been what "unfor-
tunate girls" call an " accommodation house." On
this occasion some soldiers were in the house, and,
loud screams being heard from one of the many
rooms, a rush was made to that room, and there
was Haynes seen with a razor in his hand, and a
young girl named Mary M'Gowan, a native of
Leeds, on her knees exclaiming, " Lord have mercy
upon me ! I hope my poor mother will forgive
me for what I have done ; I have been a
wicked sinner !" and in a minute or two
she died. The soldier Haynes was taken by
some other soldiers, and on Tuesday an inquest
was held on the body before Mr. Chandler, of
Basingstoke, deputy-coroner.
The first witness, Charlotte Davies, a girl living
in the same house, said—l am a single woman. I
lodge at the London Tavern, and knew the deceased,
Mary M'Gowan, for about three days. She had
been staying some time before at the house. On
Sunday afternoon, about three o'clock, I was in my
bedroom, when I heard loud screams of " Murder,"
and I ran to the door of the room they seemed to
come from, which was the next room to mine, and
I saw a soldier named Henry Benjamin Haynes
take his hand, in which there was a razor, from the
throat of the deceased, and put the razor on a table.
The deceased was then standing against the win-
dow, and just as I caught sight of her she fell on
her knees, with her hands clasped together, and
exclaimed, " Lord have mercy on me ! I hope my
poor mother will forgive me for what I have done ;
I have been a wicked sinner." As soon as Haynes
had put the razor on the table he went out of the
room and leant against the bannisters at the top of
the stairs. I then saw him go into the further-
most room—not where deceased was. I believe
Haynes to have been sober. I only saw him drink
two glasses of ale all the day. I last saw M'Gowan,
before hearing her scream, at half-past one o'clock.
Henry Ferris, of the North Down Rifles, a very
young man, said—On Sunday afternoon, about three
o'clock, I went into Charlotte Davies's room, and
stopped while she was dressing herself. I heard
screams of " Murder" from the next room, and we
rushed out, and saw Haynes standing near the de-
ceased with a bloody razor in his hand. The de-
ceased was on her knees and exclaiming " Lord
have mercy on my soul ! I hope my mother will
forgive me ; I know I have been a wicked sinner !"
I saw Haynes put the razor on the table, and the
case into his pocket as he was walking out. I
went into_the lobby to prevent his running away,
but he made no attempt to escape. A man of the
Ist Royal Artillery and some of the Military Train
assisted to take him into custody. I never saw
Haynes before, and never was in the house before.
I saw blood running from the woman's throat, and
a pool of blood was on the floor. Haynes looked pale,
but sober, and walked steadily out of the room.
Wm. Trevanner, of the 4th Battalion of the
Military Train, said—On Sunday afternoon last I
was walking near the London Tavern about three
in the afternoon, when I heard screams of " Mur-
der" coming from a room upstairs. I ran into the
house, and upstairs, and saw a woman lying on her
back with her throat cut. She was not quite dead,
and the wound was bleeding. She died soon after,
while I was looking for the provost. A girl named
Charlotte Davies was in the room at the time, and
when I asked who had done it she pointed out the
man Haynes who was leaning against the bannisters,
and I told his comrades to take care of him while I
went for the provost. We took him to the police
station, and as we were going he said his mind had
not been easy since he came from America, for what
he had done there. I asked him his reason for
murdering the girl, when he replied, "Poor girl !
she didn't do me any harm, and I didn't do her any
harm." He said she never spoke to him, and he
never spoke to her. I told him it was his intention
to kill somebody, because he had his razor with
him ; and he said his reason was she had caused
him to have a bad disease, and sent him to the
hospital, and he meant to have his revenge, but
that he meant to murder Margaret Chilton. I then
asked him what made him murder another one, and
he replied, " The Devil done it." He appeared
quite sober. I thought at first he had been drink-
ing, but afterwards he appeared in his right senses.
I know there is such a girl as Margaret Chilton.
Mr. John Shoolbraid, surgeon, of Aldershott,
said that he was sent for to see the deceased on
Sunday afternoon, and he found her lying oR the
floor quite dead, and the room covered with blood.
A wound was in her throat, commencing underneath
the chin at the left side of the windpipe, extending
to the right side in a direction downwards about
four inches, and cutting the principal vessels on the
right side of the neck. There had been excessive
hemorrhage, from which death resulted. Deceased
appeared about 20 years of age.
A comrade of Haynes, named Robert Kalender,
of the Ist Battalion of the 9th, said—Haynes
worked in the tailor's shop with me. We left
the camp about 10 o'clock on Sunday morning
and went to the London Tavern, and stayed
there till half-past three, and had two glasses of
ale each. He was not the worse for liquor at all
during the day. We were both absent from the
camp without leave. I heard some person scream,
and on going to the spot I said, " For God's sake,
what have you done P" He didn't reply, but shook
his head. I was acquainted with him in the Crimea.
I have known him confined for being absent from
work, but never knew him do any violence to any
one. He was a well-behaved him.
The coroner shortly addressed the jury, remark-
ing that there appeared a total absence of motive ;
he seemed determined to commit some deed ; but
the reason given by one of the witnesses was cer-
tainly not sufficient to account for such an act. It
was very rare that such crimes were committed in
the presence of others, but in this case there was
no difficulty in proving who was guilty. They
knew nothing of the antecedents of Haynes to
account for it, and he appeared rational enough at
the time.

The jury at once returned a verdict of wilful
murder, and the prisoner was committed to take
his trial at Winchester.

BRUTAL MU.RDEI? ON THE HIGH SEAS.

LIVERPOOL, MARCH 8.

During the whole of this morning much excite-
ment has been manifested among the seafaring
population in consequence of the apprehension of
the first and second engineers of the mail steamer
Bogota, from Valparaiso, Rio, &c., which arrived
in the Mersey on Sunday last, and who are charged
with the murder of one of the stokers on board on
the voyage homewards. The name of the murdered
man is Thomas Landen, aged 45, and a native of
Cornwall. The names of the accused are John.
Buchanan, first engineer, and Archibald Mitchell.
This day, at noon, after the usual morning cases
had been disposed of at the Police-court, the two
prisoners, both of them most respectably dressed,
were placed in the dock before Mr. Mansfield, the
stipendiary magistrate.
Mr. Aspinall, instructed by Messrs. Lowndes
and Co., appeared to Conduct the case on behalf of
the prisoners. Mr. Clough, the indoor Superinten-
dent, with Inspector Kehoe, of the police force were
in attendance to watch the case on behalf of the
prosecution. Prior, however, to any evidence
having been taken,
Mr. Aspinall said that he thought it would be
desirable that some legal and professional gentle-
man should be present to prosecute. He thought
it would be an advantage to the prisoners, the pro-
secutors, and the public, as it might prevent the
exaggerations so often made in these cases going
forth.

Mr. Mansfield
.said that he agreed with the sug-
gestion, and in such an important case thought
that such a course should be pursued.
Mr. Tindal, solicitor to the Board of Trade, said
he had no objection, if his services were required,
to render his professional assistance to Mr. Clough,
although he had not received any instructions from
the Government.
It was then decided that Mr. Tindal should
watch the case for the prosecution, and then make
his report to the authorities.
The case was then proceeded with, the first
witness examined being
Inspector Mawdesley, of the Liverpool police.
He stated,—From information I received on Sunday
morning, I apprehended the prisoner Buchanan, the
chief engineer of the mail steamer Bogota. I
apprehended the other prisoner Mitchell, the second
engineer, this morning. I told the first engineer
the charge, and he took me down to the stokehole
of the packet and said, " The man would not work,
and I ordered him to be tied to the ladder." He
then showed me the ladder, and pointed out how
the deceased had been tied. The ladder was about
2 feet 11 inches from the first furnace, and 4 feet 4
inches from the second. It was between two fires.
When the deceased was tied to the ladder he would
be about 2 feet 6 inches from the former, and 3 feet
5 inches from the latter flirnace doors.
By Mr.. Aspinall—The men who had to supply
the furnaces would be nearer the fires than the
deceased. There are six fires in the hole. There
is a small passage between them,
William Buchanan (no relation to the accused)
said,—l shipped on board the vessel on the 25th of
December Rt VAlpeattj9; P 4 we went frem here