The Sun.
London, England, 1859-03-28 00:00:00

ASSIZE INTELLIGENCE.

HOME CIRCUIT.—LEWES, March 25.
(Before Mr. Justice Wightman.)
T.HE MURDER AT RYE.

John White, 48, was charged with the wilfu'
murder of his wife, Susannah White.

The prisoner, who, when he was committed for
trial in August last, was a strong, hearty man,
appears to have suffered much mental agony sin ce
he has been in confinement. When he was placed
at the bar he appeared hardly able to stand, and a
chair was placed for him to sit upon in the dock.
Ile clasped his hands convulsively, and raised his
face in an imploring attitude, and remained in that
position during the whole trial, and whenever his
children were mentioned he burst into tears.
Mr. Barrow and Mr. Merrifield conducted the
prosecution ; Sergeant Parry and Mr. G. Denman
defended the prisoner.
It appeared that the prisoner married the de-
ceased, who was a widow, and who was described
as a remarkably fine, handsome woman, several
years ago, she having at the time two children by
her first marriage, and having born six others to
the prisoner. The prisoner was formerly in the
service of Messrs. Lee, the contractors for the Go-
vernment harbour works at Dover, by whom he
was employed as a sort of overlooker • but shortly
before the occurrence in question took place the
prisoner had left Messrs. Lee's service, and had
gone to Rye, where he was employed to superin-
tend some works connected with the harbour, in
which they were also engaged. It would seem that
the prisoner and his wife lived very unhappily
together, and there was no doubt that he was
jealous of her, and they frequently quarrelled in
consequence. The murder was alleged to have taken
place on the 27th of July last year, and it appeared
that on the morning of that day the prisoner and
his wife had a quarrel, and the deceased said that
she would go to Mr. Druce, the foreman of the
works at which the prisoner was employed, and get
him to send her and her children back to Dover,
and the prisoner, in reply, said that if she did so it
would be the worst day's work she ever did. A
few minutes after eleven o'clock the same morning
the deceased was seen going in the direction 'of the
works, and the prisoner was observed going after
her, and the unhappy deceased was never again
seen alive. On the following morning a boy named
Bush, who was going to Rye to fetch letters, saw
some object floating in a ditch close to the town,
but took no notice of it at this time ; but seeing the
same object on the following morning, he went to
the spot and saw that it was the body of a woman,
with one hand and part of the nose above the sur-
face of the water. An alarm was raised, and upon
the body being taken out, it turned out to be that
of the deceased, and upon Mr. Adamson, a surgeon,
at Rye, examining it, he ascertained that the im-
mediate cause of death was suffocation, but there
were also a number of slight cuts, apparently made
by a knife, about the face and body, and the hands
were also severely cut, apparently through having
seized hold of the instrument while struggling
with her murderer. There were marks of
a violent struggle near the spot, and it
was also evident that the murderer, whoever
he was, had been into the ditch as well as the
deceased, and footsteps were traced for a consider-
able distance in the direction of an old " ruin"
called Cambar Castle, a few miles from Rye. The
prisoner was seen on the same day lying on the
ground near this spot, and at this time his clothes
were completely covered with mud, and it appeared
that he was wandering about until the following
Saturday, when he was taken into custody by
Butcher, one of the constables of Rye, in a nearly
exhausted state, at a place called Rolvenden, in
Kent. The prisoner at this time was still nearly
covered with mud, and upon the constable telling
him that he took him into custody for the wilful
murder of his wife, he replied, " How do you know
I murdered her ? Did anybody see me do it ?" The
constable told him that he had better be cautious
what he said, as he might have to repeat it against
him, and the prisoner then said, " Where are my
dear children ?" The constable replied that they
were taken care of, and the prisoner then asked him
where he had taken his wife to, and Butcher told
him she had been taken to his house, meaning the
gaol, where he resided. The prisoner then said,
" This is a very bad job. What has taken place
between me and my wife has all been caused by a
man named Barlow. It would not have happened
if I had been punished for something that happened
in the bay of Dover six months ago." The prisoner
did not explain what he meant by this last obser-
vation, but as the constables were conveying him
back to Rye, he said that Barlow had taken impro-
per liberties with his wife in his presence, and that
he used to insult him by asking him questions
about his wife while he was at work. The con-
stable afterwards asked the prisoner where he
had left his wife, and he said in the ditch close by
the tramway leading to the works at Rye. He was
then asked whether he had a knife ; and he said that
he had one on Monday the 26th of July, the day
before the murder, but that he had lost it since and
did not know what had become of it. The shoes of
the prisoner were subsequently removed, and they
corresponded with the footmarks that were observed
near the place where the murder had been com-
mitted. These were the main points of the evidence,
but it appeared that while the prisoner was being
conveyed to Lewes gaol, after his committal, he had
a conversation with Johnson, an officer who accom-
panied him, respecting the murder, and, in the
course of it, the prisoner said, " She agitated me—
she agitated me to the last moment, and I took it
all in good part, and if she had been persuaded by
me and gone home, it would not have happened. I
told her to go home and mind the children, and
she would not." The prisoner then said that after
the affair had happened, he went over several dykes,
and fell head-over-heels into one of them, and if
there had been a little more water in it, he should
not have got out again, and after this he exclaimed
in a passionate manner, " Oh, if they would but
forgive me, what would I not do for my children."
The above facts having been proved,
Sergeant Parry addressed the jury for the defence.
The jury found the prisoner guilty of man-
slaughter, and

The learned judge ordered him to be kept in
penal servitude for life.

SOUTH WALES CIRCUIT.—BREcoN, March 24.
(Before Mr. Justice Hill.)
David Morgan, haulier, 18, was indicted for the
wilful murder of John Davies, by stabbing him
with a knife, at Ystradgan:ais, on the 26th of
February last. He was also charged with the like
offence upon the coroner's inquisition. The
prisoner, who had a very boyish appearance,
seemed much affected, and sobbed convulsively
during the trial, the audience in the densely-
crowded court evidently compassionating him.
Mr. Giffard and Mr. Rees appeared for the pro-
secution ; Mr. T. Allen for the defence.
Mr. Giffard proposed to put in a deposition made
by the deceased before his death.
Mr. Allen objected to its being read, because it
was not taken upon oath.
The Judge, after some discussion, ruled the de-
position admissible as evidence, and it was read as
evidence :
" On Saturday night last, the 26th of February, I was
sitting at supper in my house, in the parish of Ystradgan-
lais, in the county of Brecon, when the prisoner, David
Morgan, who stands before me now, came to the door and
asked me to give him a light for his pipe. I told him he
should not come in, but I would give him a light if he wanted
one. I then went out of my house and latched the door,
and went into the adjoining house, occupied by a widow
named Rebecca Phillips, who was there then. The priso-
ner followed me, and began blackguarding me. I told
him to go home peaceably, and Mrs. Phillips also
told him to go out, and he told her to hold her tongue, or
he would strike her. She then caught hold of him, and
pushed him out. I then came to the house where I lodged,
and am now. When I got into the yard in front of the
house the prisoner said to me, have hold of you again
when you are by yourself, and in company with me.' Eliza-
beth Griffiths, who was present, said to me, How can you
suffer such language from a boy ?' I then went after David
Morgan to send him away. I told him to go home quietly,
and I went down by the stile just under Job Griffiths's
window. Before I got quite down to the stile the prisoner
returned and struck me in the lower part of the bowels. I
felt as if a knife had pierced me. The instrument with
which I was stabbed was not very sharp, and seemed to rip
me. I turned into Job Griffiths's house, and the prisoner
followed me ; as I turned into the house I observed another
person, whom I did not know, as it was dark, and I couldnot
see his features. Boththeso persons followed me to Griffiths's
house door, and as I was going in there I received a cut
with a cutting instrument over the left eye and temple. I
then went into the house and Mrs. Griffiths closed the door ;
the shirt, trousers, and vest now produced are those I wore
when I was stabbed ; and the holes in them are those
made by the instrument with which I was stabbed. I
heard Job Griffiths's wife call out to open the door, as they
had knives. I swear that David Morgan is the man who
stabbed me, because he was alone when I received the first
stab. I knew him by his voice and his dress, and I dis-
tinctly saw his face by the light of the candle in Rebecca
Phillips's house, when he went there fora light. I had the same
feelings, when I was stilbed in the eye, and temples, and
bowels. My aunt (Elizabeth Rees) told me that night not
to let the prisoner in. Job Griffiths's wife was outside hQr
door, which was closed, when I was stabbed. Upon exami-
nation I found I was stabbed in the bowels,
eye, temples,
and shoulder. Cross-examined by the prisoner—Now, John,
did I do anything to you before you touched me ? Answer
—I did not touch you."
Corroborative evidence was called, and a large
number of witnesses proved that the prisoner was
there with a knife in his hand, and that he was the
first to rush upon the deceased.
Mr. Price, surgeon, deposed—l was called to the
deceased on the night of the 26th February, and
found him lying on his back with his clothes open.
His bowels were protruding from the lower part of
his stomach from a wound about an inch and a-half
in length, produced by some cutting instrument,
such as the knife produced. There were two other
similar wounds on the abdomen, but of a slighter
character. I observed two wounds on the left