The Sun.
London, England, 1861-08-07 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, WEDNESDAY EVENING, AUGUST 7, 1861.

ASSIZE INTELLIGENCE.—(This Day.)

CROWN SIDE.
(Before Mr. Justice Blackburn.)
TIIE KINGSWOOD MURDER.

John Charles Franz, 24, a German, described as a shoe
maker, was indicted for the wilful murder of Martha
Halliday.

BRIGHTON RACES.—(This Day.)

Mr. Sergeant Ballantine was specially retained with Mr.
Robinson to conduct the prosecution. The Hon. G. Den-
man, Q.C., also specially retained, through the instrumen-
tality of the Sazon Embassy, with Mr. W. M. Best, de-
fended the prisoner.

(BY ELECTRIC TELEGRAPH.)
THREE-YEAR• OLD BIENNIAL.

This case occupied the court a great many hours yester-
day, and was adjourned till to-day, but as the facts have
all been given very fully, and very recently in the report of
the proceeiings before the magistrates and the coroner,
it will be unnecessary to give the evidence in
detail. The unfortunate deceased was an elderly
woman, and was the wife of a labouring man who
is in the service of Mr. Alcock, M.P. It appeared that
during the absence of the rector she was employed to take
charge of the rectory at Kingswood, near to which place
Mr. Alcock resides, and she was so engaged at the time she
met her death, which was on the evening of the 10th of
June last. There appeared to be no doubt that, by whom-
soever the crime was committed, the object in the first in •
stance was plunder, and that although in carrying out that
object the life of the deceased was sacrificed, all the facts
a ent to show that this event was not contemplated by them.
The murder appeared by the evidence to have been com-
mitted on the evening of the 10th of June, but no
discovery took place until the following morning, when,
upon an alarm being given, some persons belonging to the
neighbourhood obtained access to the house and found the
deceased dead. She was in her bedroom, in her night
clothes, and had evidently been disturbed in her sleep by
the intruders. Ths cause of death was suffocation. It
appeared that a stocking had been forced down her throat
so violently, as to carry along with it her tongue, that death
must have taken place almost immediately, and it appeared
that in order to avoid the possibility of her giving any
alarm her hands and her feet also had been tied with a piece
of strong cord. No property, or at all events only some
articles of trifling value, appeared to have been removed
from the premises, and the suggestion to account for this
was, either that the robbers were disturbed, or that, finding
the unhappy woman was dead, they became alarmed, and
precipitately retreated, without carrying their original object
into effect,but upon the room where the bodywas found being
searched there was found a pocket-book containing papers
that had evidently belonged to a foreigner, whose name was
represented to be John Charles Franz, and also a letter
showing that he had made an application to Mdlle. Tiet-
jens, the eminent vocalist, for assistance to enable him to
return to his own country, and that she had, very kindly, di-
rected him to make an application to the proprietor of an
hotel in London, who, on her behalf, would have assisted
him to carry out his wishes. This formed an important
point of evidence in support of the prosecution. The evi-
dence in support of the charge against the prieoner con-
sisted of a number of minute circumstances,' all of which,
according to the theory of the prosecution, tended to show
that he was one of the parties concerned in the murder.
The first portion of the evidence was brought forward
with a view to show that on the same day the murder
was committed the prisoner and another man, both
of whom were recognised as foreigners, were seen
in tke neighbourhood where the crime was committed, and
evidence was given that on the same day the murder was
comuitted the prisoner and another man went to the shop
of a tradesman at Reigate, which is about four miles from
Kingswood, and purchased a ball of string. The prisoner
was positively sworn to as being one of the two men who
made the purchase, and it was proved that the string with
whick the hands and feet of the unfortunate woman had
been tied by her murderers corresponded exactly with the
stringso purchased: The evidence then went to show that
the prisoner Ind his companion had wandered to London
where they took up their abode at a lodging-house at the
east erd of the town, the prisoner giving a false name. Here
the parties seemed to have separated, and nothing more was
heard of the prisoner until several days afterwards, when
he was taken into custody by a constaele of the City of
London police named Underwood upon the charge of being
secretet in a house in Old Broad-street with intent to
commit felony ; and it appeared that he then gave the name
of Saltimann. Of course, by this time, the subject of the
murderhad become matter of notoriety, and a reward had
been ofered in the Police Gazette for the discovery of
the mwderers, and a description was given of their
persons, and a suspicion, it appeared, at once
arose tkat the prisoner was one of the men concerned
in the warder, and after one or two examinations, the wit-
nesses were brought down from Reigate, and he was iden-
tified by them and committed for trial. After the prisoner
had been removed to Reigate, in consequence of information
received by the police, inquiries were made by them with
regard to the pocket. book that had been found in the room
of the murdered woman, and it appeared that the prisoner
at length admitted he had given a false name when he was
first taken into custody, and that his real name was Franz,
and had at the same time said that his papers had been taken
from him, and it also appeared that ke had made the serve
statement previously to his being given into custody.
He did not seem to have, at any time, made an admission
that the papers that were found in the pocket-book belonged
to him, and he accounted for having given a false name
when he was first arrested by stating that ho had heard that
a reward had been offered fur the apprehension of a man of
the same name as his own, and he was afraid that he should
be supposed to be the guilty party. There were a variety
of other little circumstances that were relied upon by the
prosecution asr
h showingwhich
hMdlle. Tietjens was called as a witness to prove the circum-
stances e the guilt of the prisoner, and
application for relief was made to
under
nd
ewthe
her, and to identify the document that was found in the
tut she was unable to prove any-
thingbed- r bed-room
that
o tendeddeceased,
to show
that the prisoner was the person
by whom the application eras made, and the probability
the murder it was his companion who applied to this lady.
On
n appearedthe to be, t
s, e
mhba
lti
ni thefg of prisoner was realty concerned in
the Court this morning,
Mr. Denman, Q.C., in an able speech, addressed the jury
for the prisoner. He contended that the evidence adduced
for the prosecution entirely Failed to connect the prisoner
with the murder, and that the prisoner's statement as to
his losing his papers had been borne out by the evidence 1
for the prosecution.

Bally Edmond

Doncaster

The learned Judge having summed up the evidence, the
jury, after an absence of one hour, returned into court at
five o'clock, and gave a verdict of " Not guilty."
applause and clapping of hands followed the an
nouSnoraceem
ent.

POLICE INTELLIGENCE.—( This Day.)

MARLBOROUGH STREET.

A LAMENTABLE CASE.-3lrs. Elizabeth Butler, the wife
was charged with assaulting and threatening her husband,
51) Wells-street, Oxford-street,
From the statement of Mr. Edward Lewis of Great Marl-
-6:11.7
jeaamtinesg-Bhuotuleser.keeper,
the defendant had given way to
eared for Mr. Butler, it appeared
violent, and, in fact, out of her mind for days, throwing
while in that state was very
murder him. husband, and threatening to
thatbharb
steelsi ut
fsogarht ofsome.
asintoxication,ntrdee tt'assaultingi mwhe pasta pa' nd
her
0' Shaughnessy, one of tile officers of the court, said
when he took the prisoner into custody on the warrant she
was extremely violent. He found a comfortable home pro-
vided for the prisoner.

Mr. Tyrwhitt said he was afraid he must order her to
find bail for six months.

Defendt.nt, who was in a state of excitement, the effects
of drink, said she had a child in the country.
Mr. Lewis asked that she might be remanded for a few
days,
Mr. her to her brother's to her
childwithyr
v;
iljet
tv
consentedview of sen. ding
tot s
course.

THIRD EDITION.

SUN OFFICE, Seven o'clock.

Squiro Percy
Young Viscount
BRIGHTON STAKES.

Starke

Blue Jacket .
.... .. _

3
Five ran.
BRISTOL PLATE.

Miss Emma ........
Sehekallion .....
Seven ran.
NURSERY STAKES.
Queen of Spain
• • 1
Beachy Head
Baliverne.

3
Twelve ran.
MARINE PLATE.

Sweetsauce 1
Lopcatcher
Thirteen ran.
SOUTH-DOWN STAKES.

Dr. Pusey
Liberality
St. Bernard