The Sun.
London, England, 1861-12-11 00:00:00

TEE INVERNESS MURDER.

A man named Ferguson (a mason), his wife and
two daughters, who lived near the place where the
body of the unfortunate lad Cumming was found on
Sunday morning, have been apprehended on
suspicion of complicity in his murder. The
Inverness Courier, writing of the occurrence, says :
—" At a corner of the yard, near the spot wheel%) the
body was found, a quantity of blood and the apreear-
ance of vomiting were noticed. In the gardeil
behind Ferguson's house, which is of considerable
size, footmarks and a devious track were discovered
leading along the paling as far back as the wall
which divides it from Bell's Park. In one or two
places the bushes along the side of the fence were
partly broken and damaged, and there the marks
of the footsteps were more numerous and compli-
cated—as if the person or persons moving along
had staggered up, and tumbled on the bushes or
had walked in among them. There the track was
lost in harder ground, but some marks were
observed beside a pig stye, which were supposed to
be marks of blood and vomiting. The track was
recovered in the middle of the adjoining garden,
which is partly separated by a fence of one erase-
rail ; it crossed the garden, and in one part the foot
steps were very distinct. The ireck returned in
the second garden to the Bell's Schiele' !van, and
then followed the fence back to the opposite end of
the garden. Here was a filthy corner, alij the
footsteps were traced from it half-way back theist
former course. Again the footsteps turned, and this
time were directed circuitously to a passage leading
into the yard behind Mr. Fraser's house, in which
the body was found. Between the exit fora the
passage the shed where lie lay there is a cessVell,
containing the liquid manure from a cow-house, and
the refuse of the dwelling-house. It is supposed-
by some, who conceive that there was no murder or
even homicide in the case, that the deceased, in the
coming out of the passage from the garden, had.
fayen into the cesspool, one side of which is edged
with sharp mason work, and there received the blow
on his temple ; that when he got up he staggered to
the corner where the blood and traces of vomiting
were found, and, stupified by the fall, and disgusted
by the offensive smell of his clothes, threw them
off and made for the carpenter's shed behind Mr.
Fraser's house, where he died from exposure and
the injury he had received. On the other hand,
serious charges are brought against Nicol Ferguson
and his family. The clothes of the deceased were
found in the possession of Mrs. Judge, Ferguson's
eldest daughter, and the only effects of any value
were concealed in his garden-plot. The testimony
of the neighbours is unanimous to the effect that
great uproar was heard in this family about three
o'clock on Sunday morning. Persons living above
heard two men's voices in the room below, one of
them recognised as Ferguson's. A female voice,
thought to be Mrs. Ferguson's, was heard by one
of the neighbours, and supposed to proceed from:
the back garden, swearing offensively, and very
violent. Another neighbour also heard violent
ejaculations, but conceived that they were in the
voice of Mrs. Judge. Among other expressions
was heard, " The Lord forgive me for what I have
done," followed by the words, " Whist, whist,
whist," in the voice of the father. Ferguson's family
seems to have been an unruly one, and the neigh-
bours were quite accustomed to hear violence and
uproar in their rooms, ( especially on " pay-
nights." On this occasion the noise was greater
than usual, and was remarked by all the neighboure.
Mrs. Hay, who lives next door, and a cousin train
the country who that night slept with her, were sd
much disturbed that the former rose out of bed, and
threw up the back window, whence the noise pro-
ceeded, but the night being very dark she saw no
one, and heard only the voice of Mrs. Ferguson,
who she supposed had been locked out of her house,
and had taken refuge in a small outhouse. Later
in the night she was again disturbed, and con-
ceived that Mrs. Ferguson had got hold of a ladder
and was attempting to effect an entrance at some
of her neighbours' windows. Her husband, sleeping
in a room adjoining, was also aware of the distur-
bance, and at a late hour he heard in the back
garden a man's voice,exclaiming "Geordie, Geordie !"
This cry was also heard by Roderick Mackintosh,
who lives immediately above the Fergusons' room,
but he fancied that the voice proceeded from Rose-
street. The deceased was not known to have any
connexion with the family apprehended, but on this
occasion there was a reason for his being in their
house. On his way from Tomatin he had received
a commission from Ferguson's brother, who was
working at Daviot, to call and send the accused
thither, as there was work for him. It has been
ascertained that before he could have gone to Rose-
street the night was pretty far advanced, and
though when last seen he was certainly not
drunk, he had been drinking with various compa-
nions, and must have been much fatigued by his long
walk from Tomatin after a day's work. He had
called at his employer's house on arriving, and re-
ceived a pound-note on account of his wages. Part
of this had been spent-3s. in tobacco, 2s. 6d. on a
neck-tie, found by the police in Ferguson's-garden,
and a few shillings in treating friends whom he met
.
Inverness. Of the balance less than 2s. had been
recovered. It was a very small sum to covet, but
the Fergusons appear to have been in a state of
wretched destitution. There was a family of six
persons—the father and mother, three daughters,
and the child of Mrs. Judge. They occupied only
one room and a closet, both of which were almost
entirely destitute of the commonest articles of fur-
niture, and did not contain a single blanket. There
was a chaff bed in the principal room, which, we are
told, was usually occupied by Ferguson, his second
and third daughters, girls of about 18 and 13 years
respectively. The closet contained a fixed bedstead,
filled with shavings and straw, but not a particle of
bedclothes. This was the ordinary sleeping place of
Mrs. Ferguson, her daughter Mrs. Judge, and her
grandchild. There was no food in the house on
Sunday morning, except about sixpence worth of
oatmeal—no crockery, no eating utensils—nothing,
in fact, but the two bedsteads, a table, a chair, and
one or two trunks. A more lamentable scene of
squalor, wretchedness, and dirt, could hardly be con-
ceived. The incidents of this unhappy affair appear
in some respects inconsistent with an
any theory that
has yet been suggested, but the case is in the hands
of Messrs. Stewart and Rule, and the public may
feel assured that all the facts will be carefully inves-
tigated and submitted to Cxown counsel.