The Sun.
London, England, 1857-10-27 00:00:00

LONDON, TUESDAY EVENING, OCTOBER 27, 1857.

THE WATERLOO-BRIDGE MURDER.

THE ADJOURNED INQUEST.

The following appeared. in a part of our impression of
yesterday :
The inquest was resumed this afternoon at the Board
Room of the Strand Union, Bow-street, before Mr.
Bedford, coroner for Westminster.
The first wAness called was
Samuel Ball, He deposed—l reside at No. 10, Grove-
place, and am a general dealer. On Thursday night,
October 8, between the hours of 11 and 12 o'clock,
I passed over Waterloo.bridge from the Strand side. I
paid Errington, the toll-collector, and bid him good
night. When I got to the first recess on the bridge I
palled eut my pipe and went back to the toll-gate for a
light. There I saw Errington and a short female.
Errington said to the woman "If you can't lift
the bag, why don't you ask some one to do it I" I
then saw Errington lift over a carpet bag, but I did not
notice the colour, or whether it had leather sides.
The woman had ale. a parcel with her. I saw
her face distinctly. She was of sallow com-
plexion, with rather sunken eyes, and a mark
like a mole on the left side of the nose. Her hair was
like white, but it did not appear of a natural colour.
The woman, passed me, but I soon overtook her and
passed her. I did not see the woman again. On the
other side of the way at the end of the bridge I saw
a man sauntering along towards the Strand.
By the Jury—The woman had a brown paper parcel,
which she tarried underneath her arm.
By the Coroner—lt appeared like a brown paper par-
cel, but am not certain. I was not close enough to her
t. speak With certainty.
Mr. It. B. Painter recalled, said—Professor Taylor
has been associated with me in examining the remains
since the former examination. On the day after the
last sitting of the jury I made a further examination of
the remains, the chief result of which was, that in ad-
dition to confirming my previous opinion, I discovered
a fact which set the question of deceased's sex at rest.
Mr. Painter having detailed the circumstances that led
to him forming that opinion, added that in order to pre-
serve the remains in an unaltered condition, I placed the
23 portions in an anti-septio solution, but before doing
so I separated a portion of muscle with some of the saline
particles I before spoke of, and placing them in a bottle
retained them carefully in my own immediate possession
till I handed the bottle and its contents to Dr. Taylor
for analysis. The examinations I have made clearly prove
the remains to be those of a male person.
Dr. Alfred Taylor sworn —I am a Fellow of the Col-
lege of Surgeons, and F.R.S. I have made an exami•
nation of the remains of the body shown me by Mr.
Painter, under an order of the Secretary of State. I
have made an analysis and gone into the whole case, and
have drawn up my report on it. It is as follows :
" I made an examination of these remains on three
separate occasions, ♦iz., on the lath, 19th, and 21st Oct.
They were shown to me on each occasion by the divi-
sional surgeon, in the presence of Mr. Superintendent
Durkin. These remains are part of a human body, and,
making some allowance for the missinglportions, they
admit of an accurate adjustment to each other. 20 pieces
of the body were shown to me consisting chiefly of
bones with the flesh adhering to them. The flesh had been
roughly cut from the bones, apparently with the view of
removing as much of it as possible, and the parts had
been cut and Fawn into small lengths, probably to re-
duce their bulk, and to allow them to be packed within
a small space. The trunk, including part of the chest
and spine, has been cut into eight pieces ; the upper
limbs have been cut or sawn into six, and the lower
limbs into nine pieces. The deficient portions are the
head, with the greater part of the spine, namely, 14 out
of 24 vertebras (7 cervicle and 7 upper dorsal) the hands,
the feet, and some portions of the left side of the chest.
The whole of the viscera of the chest and abdomen are
also deficient. [A drawing which accompanied the re-
port, showifig the missing portions, was here put in.]
When compared with the average weight of the body,
the quantity found is small. The 23 pieces produced,
after soaking in brine for some days, weighed only 181 b.
This is about one-eighth of the average weight of the
adult body.

These remains have been examined especially with a
view to the solution of the following questions :-
1. The sex, age, and stature of the deceased.
2. The presence of any physiological or pathological
peculiarities, in reference to identity.
3. The presence of any marks of violence with refer-
ence to the probable cause of death.
4. The general condition of the remains, with a view
to determine whether they are parts of a dissected body,
and whether they had undergone any chemical process
for the purpose of preservation.
5. The length of the period which has elapsed since
the death of the deceased.

OF
DciluiellsAtisoEnD•sometimes
raryArltDo szearwitil
It is unnecessary
raised on these occasions, whether the remains or any
of them are those of an animal. Beyond all doubt they
are parts of a human body, and there are no duplicate
portions such as are commonly found when bodies have
been used for the lawful purposes of dissection. The
parts found belong to one and the same body. The sex
is also placed beyond all doubt. The length and mas.
siveness of the bones of the upper and lewer limbs, the
marked characters of the ridges and processor, the
form of the pelvis, the dimensions of the part
called the inlet, the narrowness of the space
in the arch of the pubis, clearly indicate that the deceased
was of the male sex. This is confirmed by the remains
of a portion of the anatomical structure of the male still
adhering to the arch of the pubis on the right side. An
attempt has obviously been made to destroy all traces
of the sex, and this, so far as the soft parts are
concerned, has been effected on one side of the arch
of the pubis, but not on the other. These sexual
parte have not been dissected, but rudely mutilated,
and irregularly cut on the two sides after death.
The firmness, solidity, size, and weight of the bones,
the complete ossification of the ends of the long bones
and the thickness of the shafts of the thigh

compared with the space occupied by the medullary cwri-
tisa, are in a condition which show that the deceased had

reached a full adult age, which I would assign presump-
tively, judging from the appearance of the skeleton,
at from 30 to 40 years.
ll.ted in no part marks of malformation,
e—bror inYe
po
rLeOs Ge InO A L AND PATHOLOCHI AL IDENTITY.
in disease,g
that united
which
hadfrac tbuereens,p
produced
u o e mechanicald after
Some of the joints were fixed with the sawn por-
tions of the bones in an unusual direction.
death injury,h sawing.excpt
The head of the right thigh bone remaining on the hip
joint was placed or bent on the trunk at an angle of
45 deg. ; the knee was also firmly placed on this side at
an angle with the thigh. The left arm (humerus) was
fixed in such a direction as to be widely separated from
the left side of the body instead of lying parallel
to it, and on this side the fore-arm was firmly bent on
the arm at the elbow-joint, at an angle of 45 deg. On
the right side, viewing the direction of the bones, as
fixed by the portions left in the j sints, the fore-arm was
bent on the upper arm at an angle of 80 deg. On
examining the joints, it was found there was no
ossification or other disease to account for this firmly
fixed condition of the upper or lower limbs on the right
side, and the upper limb on the left side. So I infer
from this examination that the limbs had not been
relaxed since they Lad undergone the rigidity of
death, that the body had been cut and sawn while in
this rigid state, and that the mode in which it was sub-
sequently treated, to which I shall presently refer,
tended to preserve the fixed condition of the joints as a
result of cadaveric rigidity in a constrained posture.
The small portions of skia remaining on the wrists and
on the right knee are rather thickly covered with hair.
M.—MARKS OF VIOLENCE.—THE CAUSE OF DEATH.
The cutting and sawing of these remains took place
after death. The cutting has been effected roughly
with a knife, while the sawing has been performed in the
shafts of the long bones with a fine saw. In one portion
of the left side of the chest, comprising the second,
third, and fourth ribs, with one-half of the chest-
bone attached, there is an aperture in the flesh
presenting the appearance of a stab. It is situ-
ated in front, between the third and fourth
ribs, near. their junction with the chest bone. It has
penetrated the cavity of the chest, and presents, as seen
from the inside, an opening of about 6 10ths of an inch
in its longest axis, which is obliquely placed, but in•
dined to a vertical direction. Assuming that this wound
had been inflicted during life, it would have penetrated
the heart, and have produced rapid if not immediate
death. The muscles of the chest through which this stab
had passed were for some space around of a dark red
colour, evidently produced by blood which had been
effused as a result of this wound. This appearance is
unlike that produced by a cut or stab in a cold dead body
in which circulation has ceased. The edges of the wound
are everted, and this fact, together with the infiltration
of the muscles with blood, which even the soaking in
liquid for a week had not removed, lead me to the con-
clusion that this wound was inflicted on the deceased
either during life or within a few minutes of death:—i. c.,
while the body was warm and the blood was liquid.
There is no other mark of violence during life, or any
other appearance in the remains which points to a cause
of death. The deceased may have actually died from a
fracture of the skull, and injury to the brain, or from a
stab in the abdomen affecting some large bloidvessel.
As the organs of the chest and abdomen are not forth-
coming any opinion on the cause of death must be a
matter of speculation. The ribs and muscles of the
right side of the chest (which are complete in 3 pieces),
when placed together and examined, present no marks
of stabbing or fracture—any mortal wound on the chest,
therefore, must have been on the left side. The first,
fifth, and siseth ribs, with their attached muscles,
are wanting on this aide. There may have been

stabs in the spaces between these missing ribs which
would have involved the large b'oodvessels of the chest
or the heart itself.
4.--GENERAL CONDITION OF THE REMAINS.
The portions of the 23 pieces of the body presented
no appearance of having undergone dissection for the
purposes of anatomy. The muscles, bloodvessels (which
were not injected), and the nerves had been cut through
without any reference to relative positions, or the
respective courses of the vessels and nerves. The spinal
marrow had been violently torn out of the vertebral
canal, and left hanging by its sheath to the vertebra.
The joints had been sawn through, evidently with great
trouble, at points where a scalpel in the hands of even a
young anatomist would have speedily effected the sepa-
ration of the limbs. The acromean process of
the rig ht scapula or bladebone had been
sawn through in order to remove the shoulder.
The right clavicle was left attached to the upper rib on
that elde---the sternum or chest bone was sawn in a right
line through its centre, while the cartilages of the re-
maining ribs, which are always cut for the convenient
examination of the chest, were uncut. The left scapula
or blade bone had been roegbly sawn through, so eel
to leave the cavity of the shoulder joint (glenvid
cavity) with the neck of the blade bone still attached,
to the head of the humerus, or long bone of -the arm ;
and the ribs and processes of the vertebrae of th e spine
were sawn and cut without reference to theg anatomical
bearings. The pelvis was sawn into two pieces through
the centre of the sacrum. In short, the clearest exa-
mination, coupled with the knowledge derived from an
experience of seven years spent in the study of ana-
tomy by dissections, leads me to the conclusion
that these remains have not been employed for any
Anatomical purpose whatever. . On the contrary, I be
lieve that, from the peridetat which the rigidity of death
took place, they have been rendered utterly useless for
any such purpose. The flesh left upon the bones was
brittle, and of a brownish• colour. A portion of
this, as removed from the bones soon after
their discovery, was delivered to me by
Mr, Painter, and I made a chemical
examination of it in his presence. It had not undergone
putrefaction, and had the smell of salted muscle. It
was submitted to analysis for the detection of those sub-
stances which are used for the preservation of animal
matter--namely, arsenic, corrosive sublimate, common
salt, nitre, alumina, and chloride of zinc, with the result
that the only substance present was common salt. This
was separated from the muscular fibre, and obtained in a
crystalline state. The thicker portions of the flesh re-
maining on the bones of the pelvis, when cut into, was
of a slightly reddish tint. This red tint was probably
partly owing to the effects of salting. The superficial
portion of flesh in the remains presented a brownish co-
lour and softened and corrugated appearance, produced
by exposure to boiling water. The ligaments, tendons,
the exposed portions of cartilage of the joints, and the
skin on the wrists and right knee presented such ap-
pearances as exposure to boiling water for a short period
would aloce account for or explain. The cuticle of the
skin which was not in a state of putrefaction could be
peeled off. The bare skin itself was swollen, gelatinous-
looking and curved inwards at the margin where the
feet had been removed from the cellular membrane
beneath. Such would be the effect produced by boil-
ing water. An examination of the swollen
shafts of the long bones clearly shows that
the marrow has been melted out and removed
by boiling water from the medullary cavities at each ex-
posed extremity. The boiling has not been continued
for a length of time, since the deep-seated portions of
muscles do not show the changes which would have
otherwise been produced in them, and the marrow is
not removed from the centre of the long bones. The
divided ends of the arteries, and the divided portion of
the spinal marrow with its sheath, also show such effects
as boiling water would produce. The cut portions of
the arteries are opaque, hardened, and averted.
To this exposure to the action of boiling water, while
the separate portions of the body were in a state of
cadaveric regidity, I attribute the peculiar fixation of
the thigh, knee, and arms in a flexed or bent condition.
The ligaments appear to have contracted as a result of
the action of hot water and thereby to have
retained the sawn portions of bone re-
maining on the joints in the position which they
had acquired as the result of rigidity. The appearances
are such as are produced by boiling water on dead
animal matter. There is nothing to show that boiling
water has acted on any living structure, while it is ob-
vious, from the effects produced on the sawn bones,
ligaments, and arteries, that the body must have been cut
up before the parts were exposed to boiling temperature.
It is my opinion that the remains were exposed to boil-
ing water before they were salted. In reference to the
portion of flesh which I examined, the salt was in such
quantity that it was easily dissolved from the outside
by cold distilled water ; and I am confirmed by Mi.
Painter that, when first examined by him, parts of flash
presented solid, gritty particles like salt. These facts lead
to the inference that the saltingtook place after the partial
boiling of the remains. The object of these two opera-
tions being probably the same ; namely, to prevent
putrefaction, and the probable discovery of the remains
by the escape of putrescent effluvia. The piece of flesh
which I examined, as taken from the remains by Dr.
Painter,had
offensive
kept

Y.--PERIOD BINSE DEATH.
On this point only a speculative opinion can be given.
As the remains have been partly boiled and salted those

changes in animal matter on which we are accustomed
to rely for evidence of the period of death have been
suspended. Still, on examination of the deep-seated
parts of the flesh, and of the right hip joint, which had
not been opened or disturbed until the 21st instant, has
led me to the conclusion that the person of whose body
these remains were a part may have been dead three or
four weeks prior to that date. This would carry the
probable time of death to the last week in September or
to the first week in October. Toe period may have
(seen shorter than this—that is, that death may bays
taken place more recently, but considering that the
weather durirg that time was mild,
humid, and favour-
able to putrefaction, I do not thick that it was longer.
Had death occurred at a more remote period, I should
have expected to find some visible changes indicative of
putrefaction in the interior of the right hip-joint, and on
the disep-seated portions of flesh oa the bones around the
joint.

CONCLUSIONS.
en
The conclusions which I draw fr 3— this examination
are—

1. That the remains are those of
t least five feet nine
sex, of adult age, and in
stature o 8.
inches.A parson of the male
f

2 That they present no olivai°logical or pathological
peculiarities by t'fi d•
which they can be iden e• The only
fact observable under this head is that the portions of
skin remaining are thickly covered with dark hairs on
the wrist and right knee and that the decease,' was
therefore, probably a dark, hairy elan.
3 That the remains no mark of disease or of
violent injury inflicted during life) with the exception
of one stab in the space between the third and fourth
ribs on the left side of the chest. This stab was
present
in a situation to penetrate the heart and to cause death.
It presents the character of a stab inflicted on a person
either living or recently dead.
4. That these remains have not been dissected or
used for the purposes of anatomy. All those parts
which are useful to the anatomist have been roughly
severed and destroyed by a person or persons quite
ignorant of the anatomical relations of parte. They have
been cut and sawn before the rigidity of death had
ceased, i. e. in from 18 to 24 hours after death, and in
this state have been partially boiled and subsequently
salted. The body of the deceased has not been laid out
or attended like that of a person dying from natural
whose body might be lawfully used for anatomical
causes
purposes.
That the person of whose body these remains are a part
mayrio have been dead for a period of three or four weeks
i to the date at which they were examined by me,
pnamely, on the 21st of October.
REPORT ON CERTAIN ARTICLES OP CLOTHING POUND
WITH THE REHAINS.
On Monday, October 19, arid on Wednesday, Oct. 21,
various articles of clothing, stated to have been found in
a carpet-bag with the remains, were shown to me by
Superintendent Durkin, at the Bow-street police-station,
in the presence of Mr. Painter.
Overcoat—The lining of the left sleeve in the arm-pit
col-
lected much
with blood.l
se It appears to have col-
ve is cut or torn up in its
length. On the collar behind and towards the left side
there is a cut, or stab, as from a double-edged knife.
-Under-coat (Frock-coat)—This is completely cut up
the back from behind, and in the hollow corresponding
mehthesr tea.ineidheright
to the left arm-pit there is a deep stain of blood. On the
left side of the collar behind is a stab or cut as from a
double-edged knife, apparently corresponding to the cut
on the collar of the overcoat.
Waistcoat—This is torn up the back. There are
stains on the left side from blood (inside) apparently
diffused by wetting. On the top of the collar behind,
there is a cut or stab as from a double-edged knife,
corresponding in form and direction to the cuts in the
collars of the over and under coats. In the waistcoat
this cut was found to be in its long axis five-eighthe of an
inch in length.
Trousers—These are torn up at the back. There is
no appearance of blood inside or outside. There are
some stains of dirt and otber matters.
Shirt—The right sleeve is torn up. On the left side
in front there are eight cuts or stabs corresponding in
number and apparently in situation to cuts or stabs in
the under shirt. There was no appearance of blood
about these cuts, either inside or outside ; but the front
of the shirt, at the upper part, presented a generally
diffused
diluted with ess, such as would be produced by blood redn
water.
Under Shirt (merino)—This is torn in its length
at the side and behind. On the left side,
and in front, there were eight cuts or stabs near to
each other leaving the long axis upwards and a little
slanting. The largest of these was three-quarters of an
inch in its long axis, and the smallest one a quarter of
an inch. There were no marks of blood about these
cuts either inside or outside ; but the shirt was much
stained with blood just above them both inside and out-
side in a direction towards the left shoulder. The blood
appeared diffused as if
.by wetting, except under one of
the buttons where it had osnulated, as it d h
oes w ea it

issues from the body of a living person. There was also
much blood (diffused) on the wrist of the left sleeve.
The Drawers—These were cut up the back. There
was a diffused stain of blood on the right side. In the
waist, in front, there was a punctureor stab, about three-
eighths of an inch in its greatest length, such as would
be produced by a sword cane. This apparently corre-
eponded to apertures in the trousers and on the shirt.
The Socks—One of tkese presented on the inside
diffused marks of blood. On one there was a distinct
spot of blood sear the toes.

- Half of a black satin neck-tie—There was a sligh
reddish stain on the lining.

CONCLUSION.
The examination of these articles of clothing leads me
to the conclusion that the body of the person who wore
them must have been subjected to great violence. The
stab penetrating from behind the double collar of the
overcoat must have been inflicted with great
force, as it extends through the collar of the
undercoat and waistcoat. It is chiefly on the inside
and on the left side, towards the left arm-pit, that the
principal stains of blood are met with in the overcoat,
undercoat, and waistcoat. The only wound found in the
remains is a stab en the left side, which, by its situation,
might have led to the effusion of blood. Assuming that
the clothes belonged to the deceased, these facts
appear to receive an explanation. The clothes
have, however, been exposed to wet since they were
stained with blood, and this creates a difficulty in form-
ing an opinion. The cutting and tearing of the coat,
trousers and drawers at the back, and the cutting and
tearing of the right sleeves of the overcoat, undercoat and
shirt, are consistent with the assumption that the
body had become rigid after death in a distorted position,
and that the clothes were violently torn from it. This
position is indicated in the remains, especially on the
right side, by the flexed or bent condition of the hip and
elbow joints. Some of the stains of blood present the
appearance of having flowed from a living person, and this
renders it, therefore, probable that the clothes were on a
living body when the wounds, producing such effusion
of blood, were inflicted. While there is nothing to prove
directly that these clothes were worn by the deceased,
they have, in my opinion, been worn by some one who
has sustained sErioue personal injuries. Their con-
dition, however, is consistent with the supposition that
they were actually worn by the deceased individual with
whose remains they were found.

(Signed) ALFRED S. TAYLOR, M.D., F.R.S
15, St. Jainee's-terrace, Regent's-park, Oct. 23.

This being the whole of the evidence,
_ _

The Coroner addressed the jury, observing that be
thought they had sufficient evidence on which to arrive
at a verdict, leaving it to the police to discover if the
party was murdered, and by whom it was done. All
the coroner's jury had now to find was th• cause of
death, sex, age, and occupation of the party. What he
now asked them to consider was the cause of death,
proba, le age, and the sex of the party, because they had
no means of arriving at his occupation.
The jury, after a short consultation, returned the fol-
lowing verdict :—" That the remains were those of an
adult male person who had been wilfully murdered by
some person or persons unknown."
The inquiry then terminated.