The Sun.
London, England, 1857-01-22 00:00:00

THE DOUBLE MURDER IN WALWORTH.

CONFESSION OF THE PRISONER.

Yesterday Mrs. Martha Bacon, the unfortunatA
woman who has been in custody since Tuesday, the 30th
of last month, on a charge of tatting the throats of her
two children, was again brought up from Horsemonger-
lane Gaol for further examination at Lambeth Police.
court.
At i o'clock, the other business of the Court having
been disposed of, the prisoner was taken before Mr.
Elliott, and, as on the former examinations, was accom-
modated with a chair at the solicitors' table, and in
front of the Bench.
Mr. Woodward, of the firm of Taylor, Collinson, and
Woodward, solicitors, Bedford-place, was in attendance
to watch the case on the part of the accused and her
husband.

Inspector Young, in reply to a question from the
magistrate, said that, in reference to the Si. note men-
tioned on the last examination, arid which was the only
one of four received by Bacon, the husband of the
prisoner, which bad not been traced, and which was
supposed to be the one stolen from his house at the
time of the murder, be bad received some information,
but was not in a position as yet to produce it. The
information respecting it, however, enabled him (Mr.
Young) to say that it bad no: been passed away by
Bacon on the Ist of December, some four weeks before
the murder or the alleged robbery took place.
Sergeant William Broad, 24 L, said—l produce a
silver Geneva watch, No. 32,793, which I received from
a person named Davis, who told me that it had been
picked up on the morning of the sth instant from the
doorstep of the house No. 4, Rizabeth-street, Trafal-
gar-street, Walworth, wrapped in a piece of paper. It
was shown to Mr. Bacon, who said he had no doubt it
was his, and the one stolen. The number is the same
as that which he gave of the missing watch, and the
number also given by his brother in George-street,
Northampton-square, from whom he said he had pur-
chased it.
Mr. Elliott—When the watch was shown to Bacon
did the person showing it mention where it had been
found 1
Sergeant Broad—No, sir; he did not mention the
street, but said it had been picked up at a doorway.
Mr. Elliott —How far ie it from the house lately oc.
cupied by Bacon, and where the murder had been con-
' nutted, to the place where the watch was found t
Sergeant Broad—l should think about a quarter of a
mile.

Inspector Young was here sworn, and said,—Since
the last examination of the prisoner I have been to
Stamford, in Lincolnshire, and with the kind assistance
of Mr. Read, the chief officer of the police of that place,
have been engaged for the greater part of three days.in
prosecuting the necessary inquiries in this case. Your
worship will recaect the description which Mr. Bacon
gave of the suit of clothes he alleged to have been stolen
from his house, aad his saying that for 20 years Mr.
Dixon, a tailor at Stamford, was the only person who
had made clothes for him. I have seen Mr. Dixon, and
he declares in the most positive manner that he had
never made such a coat for Bacon as that which he de-
scribed the greatcoat to be. I have learned from Mr.
Dixon that Bacon, when in Stamford, about three weeks
ago, had a conversation with him respecting his missing
clothes, and said, " If the police find them, they won't
know they are mine, as they have got no marks on
them." Mr. Young, in conclusion, repeated the nu-
merous and contradictory statements made by Bacon in
reference to the alleged robbery, the description of the
property alieged to have been stolen, and his strange
prevarication respecting the time he had last seen the
money safe and inflicted the cut on his finger. The
latter was very remarkable. Bacon first accounted for
seeing the money—a Si. note and two sovereigns—safe
before leaving home on the morning of Monday, the
29th of December, by saying he had to go to a box
is which it was placed to get a piece of cotton to apply
to a wound on his finger, which he had cut in the act
of " whittling " (cutting) a stick. When asked to
show the cut, Bacon presented his left hand, and be-
tween the first and second joints of the first finger
was a very deep as well as an extensive cut, extending
nearly to the bone. The inspector remarked on the im-
probability of such a out having been caused by the mere
cutting of a stick, and he then gave a different version,
saying that he did it while carving the dinner on the
Sunday by the knife slipping. He was then asked how
it was, if this last version was true, he did not get it
dressed on the Sunday, and not leave it without dressing
until the Monday morning, when, as he alleged, his
wife sat up in the bed and tied a piece of cotton on. Ba-
con did not seem to relish this style of interrogatory,
and did not return an answer to or make an observation
on it, but turned the conversation to something else.
Bacon, who was present, was asked by the magistrate
if he wished to make any observations on the statements
of Inepeetor Young respecting the clothes and money
which he alleged had been stolen from him, and respect-
ing which he had given so many vague and contradic-
tory statements. He replied that his mind had been so
affected by the loss of his children that he might not
have given the correct statements at all times, though
it had always been his wish to do so. It was his habit,
he said, to keep the money he received from Mr. Atter,
his attorney at Stamford, by itself, and not to mix it up
with his other moneys. The former he always placed
in a small fancy box, which was kept in a workbox, and
the latter he put into a jar. The workbox, containing
the 51. note and the two sovereigns, was places on the
drawers in his bed-room, which was the front room on
the first floor, and he was sure it was safe when he left
home on the Monday morning at o'clock. He did not,
he said, see his children on that morning, as they slept
in a different room from his, but he saw his wife, spoke
to and kissed her, and before leaving she tied the piece
of cotton rag on his finger. The suit of clothes stolen,
and which were his beat, or Sunday clothes, and which
he had worn on the day before, he had placed on the
balusters, in front of his bed-room, and they were
there en his leaving home. It was his custom of a
Sunday morning to see and put his money to rights,
and on the Sunday morning, the 28th of December, be-
tween the hours of 9 and 10 o'clock, he saw the Si.
note and the two sovereigns safe, and this was the last
time he actually saw them. On the Monday morning
he had opened the outer box to get a piece of cotton rag,
and, seeing the other (the second box) inside, he con-
cluded all was safe. On the Sunday night, about 11
o'clock, he wound up the watch now produced by Ser-
geant Broad, and placed it on the drawers.
Mr. Elliott—Did you take the time on the following
morning from this watch ?
Bacon—No, sir. I had a watch of my own, from
which I took the time, and carried it with me. This
watch belonged to my Wife.
Mr. Elliott—Holy long might you have had the great
coat you speak of as having been stolen !
Bacon—Well, it may be five or seven years. Bacon
went on to say that on leaving home be left loose* in a
drawer two sovereigns, and his wife had money besides.
These two sovereigns he found safe, and received from
Mrs. Payne, his aunt, his wife's purse, containing
half-a-sovereign and ss. in silver. When further pressed
about the clothes Bacon flatly contradicted himself by
saying the missing clothes were not his best, though he
bad repeatedly stated the contrary, but added that his
best clothes were locked up in his drawers.
This having concluded his statement, Mr. Elliott,
addressing the prisoner, asked if it was her wish to
make any statement or say anything to the charge
against her.
Co
i'gaoler)
—The prisoner tells me, Sir, that
she doesk (theot feel equal to the task of addressing you ;
on
piece of paper, which she
but
wishesahe
yhoausr handed
tom e
rt
ehai sd
Mr. Elliott (looking at the paper handed to him) said
" She wishes me to read this paper, does she ?"
Cook—She does, Sir.

as
t the benchn
llowi,n
The moot intense anxiety was here manifested. on the
directed t
countenance of every person in the crowded court, and
Elliott rose from his seat, and with some emotion
read
aallol uedyeFf rowme rt
he e paper
in hie
gvi sh teaur t In
rg.
: handrd
he f
statement
innocent er on and he
who committed t
the dreadful deed n
is P 8
my husband • and
there was no money on the drawers. He took the 'little
boy
down stairs, put him in a chair,
and there cut his
throat. He then went up stairs and
ut the little baby's
throat.
MARTHA BACON."
It would be idle to attempt a description of the scene
of horror which this fearful announcement of the
"dreadful deed," as the unfortunrte prisoner and mother
described it in her own handwriting, and the guilt of the
husband, produced on the minds and feelings of alt pre-
sent. A thrill of horror seemed to pass through the
court, and a loud outburst of unmistakeable disgust and
horror followed. Bacon, who stood behind Mr. Wood-
ward, instead of meeting the accusation by a declaration
that be was not guilty, notwithstanding the accusation
of hie wife, written and signed by himself, recoiled at the
charge, and would have fallen backwards had he not
been supported by the front part of the dock which was
immediately behind him. When the excitement had in
some degree subsidei,
Mr. Elliott, addressing Bacon, said—Your statements
respecting the alleged robbery have beet so vague,pre-
varicating, and unsati,factory, that not a person who has
heard theta can for a single alowent believe that they
contain a syllable of truth ; and I, for my part, should
have telt it to be my duty, even in the ab,ence of any
such statement as that just now made, to order you into
custody on suspicion of being a party to the dreadful
murder of your infant children. You will now, however,
be taken to the station-house and charged in le regular
way with the crime of murder
The prisoner was here taken charge of by Mr. Young,
and escorted by a posse of constables to the police-station
adjoining the court. So strongly marked wag the
indignation against Bacon, that had he not been so well
guarded, violent hands would have been laid on him.
In a short time after he was brought back to the court,
and placed in the felons' dock on the following charge :
—Thomas Fuller Bacon, 15, Anglesea-street, Mile-end,
with wilfuily murdering his two children, Edwin Fuller
Bacon, aged two years and a-half, and Sarah Ann
Bacon, aged 11 months, on the 29th sof December, 1856,
at the house, No. 4, Fouraere-street, in the parish of St.

Mary's, Newington.
Inspector Young said that after he had taken the
prisoner into custody, and in going along to the station-
house, he said, " Oh, Mr. Young, is it not shocking
that she should say I did it ? My poor boy, I loved
him so well that I could not hurt him. lam not afraid
of the truth ; it will always go furthest."
The depositions, so far as they affect Bacon, were then
read over, an 1 he was asked, after the usual caution,
whether he wished to say anything.
The prisoner, who is rather a slight man, of about 6
feet 6,
and of insignificant appearance, and who seemed
more composed,
replied, by the advice of Mr. Wood.
ward, that he did not, and was remanded to a future day.
After his removal Mr. Elliott give directions to Mr.