The Sun.
London, England, 1859-06-07 00:00:00

"OMICIDE

EXTRAORDINARY CASE OF
AT BIRMINGHAM,

A sad catastrophe, attended by circumstances of
an extraordinary and somewhat mysterious nature,
occurred in Birmingham on Friday night. It seems
that for some time past Mr. George Bugg, head
master of St. , Philip's National School, Lichfield-
street, has with his wife oecupied apartments at the
house of Mr. Cope, 6, Howe-street. Mrs. Bugg was
superintendent of the girls' school, and though we
have no information on this point, we may presume
that both were regarded as well conducted respect•
able persons, enjoying the confidence of the Hon.
and Rev. Grantham Yorke, Rector of St. Philip's.
Mr. Bugg is a gentlemanly-ilookingr
or man,so younger,is aui
26 years of age ; his
and rather prepossessing in appearance and manner.
At the house of Mrs. Stanley, in A B Row, Coleshill-
street, and closely adjoining Howe-street, lodged a
young man named Alfred 'Payne. He was a
native of London, but for the past six months had
been working as a journeyman hairdresser for Mr.
Moorley, of New-street, by whom he was Mich
liked, though of somewhat rollicking and careless
habits. The back door of each of the two houses
opened into the same yard or court, and for
some weeks past the neighbours have noticed an
intimacy betwixt Mrs. Bugg and young Payne,
Which some of them did not scruple to hint to her
was scarcely such as a married woman ought to
encourage. There is no evidence, however, that
Mr. Bugg knew of his wife being the subject of
this gossip, or that he had ever seen Payne and
her together. He, it seems, had never spoken to
Payne until Tuesday or Wednesday last; his in-
tercourse, indeed, with those living in the yard
being of the slightest possible character. On Fri-
day night, towards 11 o'clock, Payne and a fellow
lodger were standing at the back door, when Mr.
Bugg, smoking a cigar, walked from his own house
to the end of the entry. Asking Payne to join him,
he, was heard to propose that they should go some-
where and have a glass of ale together. It appears
that they went to the Howe-street wine vaults, and
had each a glass of beer, and it is presumed it was
then proposed to go elsewhere, as Payne returned
to his lodgings, borrowed a shilling, said he *as
going to have another glass with Mr. Bugg, and
that he. would be home in twenty minutes, or there-
abouts. Passing many public-houses on their way,
the two appear to have gone direct to New Vaux-
hall, a distance of three quarters of a mile from
their lodgings, where, having called for a glass of
gin and a glass of beer, they were served at the bar
window, and while drinking stood in the passage
chatting together in a pleasant friendly manner.
It would seem that the tavern and gardens have
been recently re-opened by Mr. Wilder, a well-
known local pyrotechnist. During the two months
he has been there the premises have been twice
entered by burglars, and for the last week or two
he has been in the habit of keeping a shot-loaded
rifle in his bedroom, firing it off in the garden just
before closing for the night, and then re-charging
it. Mr. Wilder's object was to show thieves who
might be lurking about that there were firearms in
the house. Being himself from home on Friday
night, his barmaid brought down the rifle from the
bedroom, in order that one of the men servants
might fire it off, and this man being engaged in some
other way at the moment, she laid down the gun in
the passage, resting the muzzle against the frame of
the smoke-room door, until she could summon a waiter
or some one else to discharge it. Bugg and Payne
stood close by at the time, having then been in the
house about five minutes. The barmaid had turned
her back upon them, and was in the act of opening
the parlour door to call 'the waiter, when a loud
report was heard, Bugg was seen with the rifle in
his hands pointed towards his companion, and at
the same instant poor Payne fell to the ground a
corpse. The charge, fired at a distance of not more
than a couple of feet, had entered immediately
beneath the unfortunate fellow's right collar-bone.
As may be imagined, the scene that ensued was a
most painful one. Bugg exclaimed, " 0 God I have
I shot him ?" and appeared to be in an absolutely
frenzied state; The necessity of fetching a surgeon
being spoken of, he rushed from the house in search
of one, and soon returned with Mr. Hadley's assis-
tant, Mr. W. W. Philips, of Great Francis-street,
Mr. Davies, of Ashted-row, arriving soon after-
' wards. Medical aid, however, was of no avail, the
position of the wound showing that death must
have necessarily instantaneous. When Payne fell
the blood gushed from his body as though it were
being pumped out. Bugg, it seems, while search-
ing for a surgeon, also ran home and told his wife
what had taken place, the account of the sad affair
which he gave being that it was accidental. He
said he merely pointed it at Payne in sport, not
thinking it was loaded. However, he must not only
have pointed the gun, but raised the hammer, as
the latter was in contact with the capped nipple
when the barmaid brought the piece from the bed-
room. Though the catastrophe seemed, prima facie,
one of those accidents which are so frequently the
result of culpable carelessness, a police-constable
deemed it his duty to apprehend Bugg and take
him to Duke-street station. He remains in custody,
and will be brought before the coroner at the inquest
which is to be held to-day at New Vauxhall.
The investigation will probably be a lengthened
one, owing to the existence of certain circumstances
which tend to impart an aspect of suspicion to the
affair. We believe it will appear that on Saturday,
when the body of Payne was searched b3rthe police,
a number of letters were found in his pockets,
signed " N.," the initial of Mrs. Bugg's name,
Nelly, and believed to be in her handwrit-
ing. These were couched in the warm terms pecu-
liar to lovers' billets-doux, one or two of themabteitnhge
evidently written under the apprehension h
husband (spoken of as "
G.") mightdiscover the
intrigue which was being carried on.ln theocket
p ml ,
owfasaa found a
deceased'sis workieitntger coat, .eft
t, jesfatmaathMr.aad handwriting,
isn,
which the writer said that if she and Payne were
doomed neverwould to mmeet ieet agnainheav on
enthis
This earthlette, sher
hoped they .
must have been written on the =ruing of Friday,
and it is ascertained that Payne and a lady similar
in appearance to Mrs. Bugg were seen at the
Shakspeare-rooms on Thursday evening. These
are the facts bearing on this point, so for as we are
at present justified in divulging them. Of course
it is possible that explanations may be given which
will clear the case of all suspicion, and show that
the death of Payne was purely accidental. The first
thought which naturally strikes one is the seeming
impossibility that the gain could have been used by
premeditation, for although Bugg has been seen at
New Vauxhall, there is no reason to believe that he
knew the landlord was accustomed to, fire off a,
loaded gun towards half-past 11 every night. Even
had he been aware of this, it is difficult to see how
he could have calculated on obtaining possession of
it on its being brought , down stairs. All these
matters will no doubt be carefully inquired into by
Dr. Birt Davies and the jury.
A 'cursory examination of the wound by Mr.
Philips, on Saturday, proved that the trachea had
been shot away, the carotid and subclavian vessels
divided, the collar-bone and upper ribs fracturfd,
and the upper portion of the right lung much in-
jured. The charge of shot (No 6) is beliezfic,d ttoahta
sv
00
weighed nearly an ounce, and taking e ect
mass.
short a distance, entered the body in a compac
an orphan.
Deceased was 23 years of age,
His lively disposition made him
aMfavAcifiloorley's cue-
his acquaintance, and also witlitantel
may be men-
tomers. One singular circumstance and
wasite with all
sMoorley's assistants
tioned, He made one of .
lyßuparggt,
his confidant as to the
he shouldn't be d
the past week,
and while talking on thes:uidj,, t winiththeMerasr.
sur-
prisedwas
a the husband, who
Take care 'it
to the recent notorious
reply of his friend, t f
n —Birmingham Daily Post.
doesn't turn out anroet_ehrriernSgickles affair," Was Ike bigger got a
nnitgliimmfbra:::;f." ~
murder at Washing o .

W---- - ----.--
E AN BONDHOLDERS.—The following is from
n,,X, lc
Itoo of Mexican Bondholders :—" The Com-
the `-hnarnvel received" advices from Mr. WLitehead, dated
T-11,,...„ritete:e:0,
tthe 4thhe ohfedlareye.'eivTedhefdr.ea4ly afetuerr his letter lnettsterinbvy theera
tureci. pac-e. .
Cruz 35,265 dols. in bills on Mexico for the dividend fund.
There are, therefore, now 191,786 dole. in the capital; be-
sides 5,499 do:i. in ports of the Pacific, and 7,217 dole. in
Tampico, or altopther 204,503 dols. ready for shipment to
London when the opportunity to do so occurs. A letter from
her Majesty's Minister in Mexico, Mr. Otway, to the British
Consul there, Mr. Glennie, dated the 4th of April last, was
lately published, to the effect that her Majesty's Govern-
ment had, for sufficient reasons, determined to enforce at
Vera Cruz, as far as possible, payment of all outstanding
claims of British subjects in Mexico, and calling for state-
ments of such outstanding claims. Mr. Whitehead had.
in consequence, furnished Mr. Otway with a statement of
what was due to the bondholders of the Mexican National.
Debt contracted in London, and Mr. Otwsy had forward.ed:
it by the Legation messenger to Capt. Frederick, the senior
officer of her Majesty's naval force m the Gulf of in
with the
cruz re,qauneds t a tot
the lay i t
samebefore
ti
met the pdreeemilrsennotaniGuie.otvheiewrnlolie:o:
possible payment of the dividends 4312._ a
__untirte to
January, 1854, to the let of January, Iso9, lu°
£1,597,6?7."