The Sun.
London, England, 1857-11-05 00:00:00

THE MURDER AND HIGHWAY ROBBERY LA,

ESSEX.

HALSTEAD, WEDNESDAY.
The excitement occasioned by the robbery and
murder of Mr. Isaac Butcher, farmer and cattle
dealer, on Saturday evening, while on his way
from Colchester market to his home at Colne -En-
gaine 0 small village about three miles from this
t )wn), has greatly increased by the result of the
post-mortem examination.
The inquest was held yesterday before William
Code], Eaq., coroner for the northern division of
the county, and a jury of farmers from the neigh-
bourhood.
The most important witnee4, excepting the
medical testimony, was a young man named Butler
under gardener to Robert Hills, Esq., of Colne
Park, the late high sheriff for the county. Butler
states that he left work just after six o'clock, and
when within fifty yards of the lodge gate he heard
a noise as of persons scuffling in the rowl, and a
faint cry of " Oh, dear," or " Oh, don't," followed
by several groans, and a sound like a person chok-
ing. He quicken his pace to about 20 or 30 yards,
through the gate, when ho stopped to list,n, and
distinctly_ heard the footsteps of two or three p r-
sons running away. About 20 yards further on he'
came to a man lying on his back ; and running a
1 ttle further he again heard footsteps in a small
plantation, but fearing he might be himself at-
tacked he gave up the pursuit, and returned to the
deceased, who appeared at that moment to breath
his last. After the deceased had been conveyed
home, his cheque-book and pocket-book were found
in his coat pocket, apparently undisturbed ; and
thelatter, with other papers, contained a receipt far
upwards of 6001. paid sto the Halstead Bank on
the previous day.
Mr. Taylor, surgeon, of Earl's Colne, who had
been sent for when the deceased was first found,
made an immediate examination of the body, but
could detect no injuries beyond a contus on of the
nose and a cut on the inside of the upper lip, as if
from pressure upon a broken tcoih. Of course
neither of these was sufficient to account for death,
and not only report was in circulation that the de-
cetsed died from a fit, but the coroner, upon the
statement of the circumstances made to him, ar-
rived at the same conclusion, and consequently did
not give an order for a post-mortem examinati.
until the morning of the inquest. This was moat
minutely and carefully performed by Dr. Taylor,
assisted by another gentleman of Heist° .d. They
found congestion of the brain, but without any
appearance of injury to the skull. The tongue was
neither protruding or swollen, which might be ex—
pected from ordinary ..atrangulition ; but there
were black patches on both an es above the elbow,
as if he had been pinioned from behin 1, and tbere
Was an oval patch upon the angle of each jaw, re-
s.mbling in shape a thumb and finger, ono being
larger than
_the oilier. Both medical gentlemen
were saeisfied that death arose from asphyxia, the
result of violence, and as far as they could foim an
opinion, it was that a band was presed over the
mouth and nose, so held as to cause suff;eatiun.
The Jury, without hesitation, arrived at a verdict
of " Wilful Murder by come person or persons
unknown. - -
The description obtained by the police of the two
men suspected, and who had been observed at
Halstead fair, on the preceding day, corresponds
very closely with that of two men who committed
a highway-robbery upon a farmer named Palmer,
who had been attending East Harling fair, in Nor-
folk, on the 24th ult. They are apparently rail-
road leboUrers on tramp. The Norfolk arid E'sex
police are acting in concert in the search for them,
but at present, no clue has been obtained as to the
route they have taken, beyond the fact that a man •

res?mbling one of the parties took the train for
London on Sunday morning from the Kelvedon
station.

THE GREAT P R. 71 LAND-ST REET ROB-
BER Y.-G APTUR Ll OF THE POLICEM AN
A.A KEY.

The papers contain accounts of the arrest of a
man calling himself Henry Williams and Matilda
Ross, charged with having committed the robbery
at 68, Great Portland-street, to the value of up-
wards of 1,0001. The following are the particulars
of the arrest :—On Saturday ;he head constable of
Cork received information that the prisoners had
got into the train at Lucan, and travelled by a
third-class as far as Kild.sre, where they gat out,
and Williams stated there that he was going to
Killarney, and would wait for tile mail train, but
when the usual train arrived he took a ticket for
Cork. The two parties put up at the Wellington
Hot I, stating that they intended staying there fur
the night, but they only remained until three er
four o'clock, when they sent for a car, and directed
the ca man to drive them to some village three or
four miles outside the city, where they could be ac-
commodated for the night. In the meantime the
inmates of the Wellington Hotel began to enter-
tain suspicions about tbe pair. The man presented
the appearance of a Londan policeman in plain
clothes, and the youthful and interesting appear-
ance of the young lady induced the idea that an
elopement had taken place—that the female was
some romantic boarding-house Miss who had run off
with him. Information of the circumstance was con-
veyed to head-constable Roe, who, on hearing a de-
scription of the parties, recognised it as answering to
that of the male and female who bad committed the
rcibbery in London ; and, having made out the carman
and ascertained from him where lie had driven
them, he stared for Midleton about one o'clock at
night, in company with sub-constable IW.Manua,
and found the pair in bed in lodgings there. Dis-
turbing their soft repose, he desired them to dress
themselves, and questioned them separately as to
who they were. The female admitted at once that
she was the person described in the Police Gazette,
namely, Matilda Ross alias Duval ; but the male
prisoner, who was described as James Satkey, per-
sisted in stating that his name was Henry Williams.
There could be no doubt that they were the same
parties, for their dress and appearance were exactly
the same as described iu the Gazette ; and though
none of the stolen property was found with thew,
yet a trunk and some luggage fully identified
Sankey. It appeared that the latter had been, up
to the time of the robbery, a London, policeman,
and that having been placed in charge of the house,
which belonged to a lady named Aitkin, he took
advantage of his position to abscond with the pro
Fem.}, mentioned. • A sum of 50/. was offered for
the arrest of both parties, it having been ascer-
tained that the female prisoner had accompanied
bin on his flight, but they bad eluded all search
until head constable Roe got on their track. An- j
other party has els) been arrested in London, on a
charge of having been connected with the robbery.
rhe magistrates decided on remanding the parties
for the purpose of having them sent back to Lon- !
don, the mayor remarking that the head constable
deserved great credit for the activity and sharpness
he had displayed in the affair.