The Sun.
London, England, 1861-07-20 00:00:00

ASSIZE INTELLIGENCE.

HOME CIRCUIT.—CHELMSFORD, JULY 19.
(Before Mr. Justice Williams.)
MURDER.—Martha Spencer Weaver, 42, was
charged with the wilful murder of John Gibson, a
child two years and a half old, by strangling him
with a shawl.
Mr. Shaw conducted the prosecution. The pris-
sonar had no counsel, but, at the request of the
Court, Mr. Peirce kindly undertook to watch the
case on her behalf.
It appeared by the evidence that the prisoner is
a married woman, but separated from her husband,
who made her an allowance of 7s, 6d. per week,
and she had been for a few months previous to the
death of the child residing at the village of Dan-
bury, near Chelmsford, of which place she is a
native. On the morning of April 15 the prisoner
and the mother of the child had been out in the
morning picking up wood, and they returned home
to Danbury, where they occupied two cottages close
to each other, about 12 o'clock. Shortly after this
the prisoner went to the child's mother and asked
hor to give her a hicifer match, and she told her to
let the deceased go and fetch a box for her from a
shop in the village. The prisoner, it appeared, had
always seemed to be very fond of the child, and
frequently sent him on errands, and the mother
readily consented to the request of the prisoner,
who gave the child some money, and he went away.
In the course of a short time his mother saw him
going towards the prisoner's cottage, and he called
out to her, "I have got the lucifers, good bye
mother ;" and she told him to make haste home as
his dinner was ready, and the poor little child was
observed to go into the prisoner's house, and was
never again seen alive. An hour or two having
elapsed, the mother became alarmed, and went
to the prisoner's cottage, and found the door
locked, and upon her knocking
i a uithe sptrpsoifineedr
state,came
down, apparently half asleep and n
and in answer to,the inquiry of the
he
eotwhears
ow n where
her boy was, the prisoner said that
green playing. Tne mother asked on what green,
and the prisoner said she did not know, and she
then shut the door, and locked it, and was heard
to walk upstairs to the bedroom. Not being able
to obtain any tidings of the child, the mother went
again to the prisoner's cottage, accompanied by a
neighbour, named Neville, and found the door
locked as before. Upon her knocking, the prisoner
opened her bedroom window, and she was then ap-
parently in the same condition as before, namely,
half asleep, and she rubbed her eyes, and seemed
as though she had just woke up. The mother
again inquired where her child was, and the priso-
ner replied, " I know nothing of your child, he is
not here," and then shut the window. The mother
then applied to the Rev. Mr. Thorp, the curate of
the parish, and told him the circumstances, and that
gentleman having procured the assistance of the
parish constable, proceeded to the cottage of the
prisoner which still remained in the same state.
Having knocked, and receiving no answer, a man
got in at the window and opened the door. They
then proceeded upstairs, and upon going into the
prisoner's bedroom, the first object that presented
itself was the dead body of the child lying on its
back in the middle of the room, with the end of a
shawl tied so. tightly round its neck as to produce
suffocation, and the prisoner herself was lying
upon the bed apparently in a deep heavy sleep.
It was with considerable difficulty that she wes
awoke, and she then talked in a very incoherentg
manner, and upon her being accused of
had
been
the child, she made no reply. After she
officer,
taken into custody, the prisoner said to
to do for
" I don't mean to live long, buTth
meanconstable then
some of them before I die.t'o'
fix beer spite on the
asked her how she came
who the question,
sftitonhe,
said, "Never mind
child, and the prisoner, in answer to
laudanum,
effme,et and
she told her neighbours that appeared that the prisoner was
world as in it." It
in the constant practice eoaftakiit taking
dlaut
n
quieting
i her nerves ; several bottles that had con-
tained laudanum were found n her bedroom, and
there was no doubt she had taken a considerable
dose on the morning of the fatal occurrence. It
also appeared that the prisoner and the child always
seemed to be very much attached to each other, and
there did not appear to be the slightest motive for
the commission of the dreadful deed by the prisoner,
and according to the testimony of all the witnesses
she was at the time of the occurrence in a half
stlipified and unconscious state, and did not appear
to know what she was about. The death of the child
appeared to have been occasioned by the end of a
large shawl being tied tightly round its neck, and
the remainder of the shawl was tied round its body,
and it then appeared to have been laid on its back
in the position in which it was found by the
witnesses.
Mr. Peirce made an earnest appeal to the jury on
behalf of the prisoner, and after observing upon
the absence of any motive for the commission of such
a barbarous crime, and to the fact that the prisoner