The Sun.
London, England, 1868-03-05 00:00:00

servant an ihsy.lf,oelaitoetdh
ocfotptaegeee;ni
Buiss. The woman, who occupied with her son and a
wesber
laalsotn:wialet
nhtohmeeacocnustedh:
lf by
to give
mclln(rideo:erecaereis:l6o;
tdilacrlitogt2Tiebtedll:l,liew(d)oihrcs3niiddimeloaolfs,wsvi:s, iein, lie cltnai
stiletto
fire.sidsnwoinmdohi
reiaeld
jeatnghdi
rm,ae,
remained
droirbinfnclet::o"eil,ytttri-
mplltwsevevhays,:l):llsem.
trnot:aiihfoniaalfgeiedc!
ilnstsottoieleanlft:erilorlreytdtai
h a
aclaine
that she
some minutes' conversation he rose as if to leave, and
she had. On her refusing he said, " You are a dead
through her half-closed eyes was able to see the man take
a light and go and search all the cupboards for money,
twice returning to see whether _ she stirred. Finding
nothing, he seized the widow by her and
a: hough leiicvhi her to be dead, dragged her
across the • - yard, and threw her down a well and
then made off. The water was about 13ft. from the
top, but the woman was able to climb up the chain, and
get over the brink of the well, when she fell on the ground
iasensible, and remained in that state for more than
two homes. On recovering, she made her way to a neigh-
bour's house, where her wounds were dressed, and informa-
tion having been given to the police, Verdova was arrested.
The accused was also proved to have only a few days
before attacked a man on the high road at night, and,
by menacing him with the same poignard, had forced
him to give up what money he had. None of the
wounds received by Madame Garin were very deep, and
she has now recovered and appeared on the trial, in
court, where the impassioned manner in which she gave
her evidence breatcd a great sensation. " God," .he said
in terminating her account of the crime, " has spared my
life that the guilty may not go unpunished-;" and then,
with 'a gesture of indignation, she pointed to the prisoner,
who quailed before her look, although until then he had
manifested a cynical indifference to the proceedings, simply
opposing a denial to the charge brought against him. The
jury returned a verdict of guilty, without the admission of
extenuating circumstFees, and the -judge passed sentence
of death. On hearing the judgment the prisoner turned
pale, and sank back on his seat, completely paralysed with
terror, and had to be assisted from the court.

71IE MURDER AT TODJIORDEN.

--.--

As briefly reported yesterday, a murder of singular
atrocity was committed on Monday night at the parsonage
House attached to the parish church of Todmorden. The
inmates of the parsonage were the Rev. Mr. Plow, Mrs.
Plow (scarcely convalescent after confinement), a "monthly
nurse," and three domestic servants, one of whom (the
housemaid) went by the name of " Jane." Between
ten and eleven o'clock Mr. Plow, who had returned late
from a parochial visit, was preparing to go to bed, when
he heard a violent knocking at the back door. On
teveral previous occasions he had been annoyed by the
visit of a young man named Tiles Weatherhill, a check
weaver, to whom he appears to have given some offence
by forbidding him the house. Weatherhill had found
a sweetheart in one of Mr. Plow's former servants, who
had been in consequence sent home to her friends
near York. Since her dismissal Weatherhill had
frequently threatened to have his revenge, and he had
so pertinaciously annoyed Mr. Plow by hanging about the
place that a private watchman was engaged for a time to
watch the house, and prevent him from intruding upon
the grounds. Hearing the disturbance at the back door,
Mr.-Plow-suspected another visit from Weatherhill. He
bade the servants remain in the house while he himself
went out at the front door to see for himself. On going
round he saw Miles Weatherhill standing against the
back door. The moment Weatherhill caught sight
of Mr. Plow he cut, with a small axe he had in his
hand, a cord which he had fastened round the handle
of the door to prevent the door._ from being opened
from inside. This done, he drew 'a pistol from his
belt and snapped it at Mr. Plow, but the cap miss d
fire. He then struck Mr. Plow on the head with the axe,
unlatched the door, and dragged Mr. Plow into the lobby.
While Weatherhill was still dealing desperate blows with the
axe; the three women servants came to the assistance of their
master. They seized Weatherhill by the hair, and so held
him while Mr. Plow, who seemed stunned with the blows,
and was staggering with loss of blood, escaped by the
front door. One of the servants ran out at the same time
to fetch assistance. Of the two other servants Weather-
hill singled out the housemaid Jane, whom he accused of
"telling tales" about his sweetheart and himself, and
whom he had previously threatened he would be revenged
upon. After locking the hall door, and then fastening the
back door, he attacked the young woman with an axe,
cutting her in so fearful a manner that one of the blows
nearly severed her hand frosts the wrist. She ran scream-
ing into the dining-room, and endeavoured to close the
door against Weatherhill, by pressing against it as well as
and Weatherhill,
contriving to -insert his arm betweertalia
lintel, shot her dead will g plstajaaa-axae as=a!VTrVoila.
sessaming in the utmost terror, while Weatherilill cried
out " Where's lay Sarah ?" The doors of tha p-rsoaage
were fastened at the front and the back, and no habitation
was within hearing d:stance. At this stage of the tr.ige4
Mrs. Plow's nurse, looking over the balusters dawn irate
the lobby, saw Weatherhill reloading his pistol. After
looking for the axe (whiCh he appeared to have mislaid)
he wem.t into the kitchen, and when he came again into
the lobby the nurse saw he had a poker in one hand and a
pistol in the other. He put out the gas in the lower rooms,
and went upstairs, still tauntingly repeating the question
about his " Sarah." The nurse met him at the bedroom
door, and tried to stop him, saying " Those you want are
downstairs, to which he replied, "I have finished them,
but you needn't be afraid, for you've done me no harm."
He pushed her on one side, went into the bedroom, and
attacked Mrs. Plow. He drew of the bedclothes, fired a
pistol at her where she lay, and, the shot not taking effect,
he began to batter her about the head and face with the
poker. lii the midst of the attack the parish clerk (George
Stansfield) and two gentlemen whom the servant .who
had escaped had called upon for asistance, and whom the
surviving servant down stairs had let into the Louse; made
their appearance, seized Weatheehill with the Poker-hi his
hand, and so rescued Mrs. Plow from imminent death. It
was found that the bullet had passed through the bedding,
the wadding remaining on the sheet. The pillow, with all
the upper part of the bed, was covered with blood.
Mr. Plow, on escaping by the front door, went to the
house of Mr. Greenwood, the organist to the church. TWs
house is about 50 yards from the parsonage. At that ti
Mr. Plow had, a pistol in his hand. The cap had been
snapped, but the pistol had not been discharged. Before
Mr. Plow could tell all that bad occurred he fainted
through loss of blood. Mr. D. N. Cocker ft, the surgeon
to the family, was sent for, and with the assi tance of Mr.
W. Longbotham, who was also called in, the wounds were
dressed. There we :e two large scalp woond.4, 01 c on tile
top an 1 the other at the lea kof the head. t; hto was

also a deeply-cut vertical woend between the to !p7cs•
There were several lesser won; ds trul contusi,,ns aooot the
face and body, and the left car was torn from top to bottom.
The rev. gentleman was conveyed back to the parsonagt,
where he and Mrs. Plow now remain, both of them bang
in a very critical state. Mrs. Plow is a daughter of the
Rev. Dr. Molesworth, vicar of Rochdale, and patron of the
incumbency of the parish church of Torniorden.
As to Weatherhill, it is said that he had spent Saturday
and Sunday in visiting his sweetheart at York, end it is
supposed that after that interview he returned to Todmor-
den with the intention of perpetrating his terrific crime.
He bought the axe on Monday.afttraoon at the shop cf
it.i ironmonger. named William Schenck], who has since
identified it as the one he sold to Weatherbill. The pur-
chase excited no suspicion in Mr. Schofield's mind, a 3
Weatherhill, who was well known in Todmorden, was
thought to be a young man of good character and
conduct. lie used to interest himself in the Sunday
school, and thus it was he became acquainted with his
sweetheart, then in servize at the parsonage. After his
e
eqlt:istte
Irescioutv 16.iteitis,cedfcoldo;ieniriIi
arrest in Mrs. Plow's bedroom, when he was being taken
ll
of
downstairs, he seemed toiotcliiicsaelt'
posure, and shcwed remarkable der
,e,
lofmuanycoasnelevrenli
iliinevetoaoksmao\,,iepe;
Ifrosumpih,oissep
know what I've done I shall swing for."
sons who had him in custody was Mr. .TOonsee
ph
formerly a schoolmaster, to whom the prisoner now' said,
" I was one of your pupils, Mr. Gleddill, and you thought
me a good grammarian, but you didn't think I should
come, to this." Astonished at his coolness, another of
those present asked him if he was aware he had killed
the housemaid,
leefbullets
to whichin
fieerregeied ,
w"eAmyet,woin she's
every
pistol." pistol." repeatedly said they hadre no need to bold him,
as he had no wish to escape, and would go quietly to
the police-station. He said, "I wish to harm nobody who
hasn't harmed me." This conversation took place in the
e
kitchen, and theeprisoner, as if possessed by a mania for
destruction,
kicked over the kitchen table with his foot, am!
had to be restrainedy
from committing further violence. On
being subsequentl takento
a b
theet,
tiedpolice-station
behind a p
searchedie
piece
ho was found to be wearing e
of cord, and apparently made for the purpose he was about
to execute-. There were four slit-holes in it, in which he ear-
ned the pistols. It seems, on a comparison of the statements
of the several witnesses, that he must have had four pistols.
Two were found at the rear of the parsonage (where tl ey
probably fell during the struggle with Mr. Plow), a third
was wrested from him by Mr. Plow in the lobby, and with
the fourth he shot the housemaid, and reloaded it before
going upstairs to attack Mrs. Plow. On a further search
the police found in his pocket a quantity of gunpowder, a
I,t of bullets and caps, and scum loose shot. He himself
assisted the pace in the search, and F'oduced voluntarily
a photograpu c) the young woman n hoes ,he called "his
Sarah," and a'eo a portion of a link of jet necklet.
The link appo ar -d to have been broken in two, half being
probably reta ne.l by Weatherhill, and the other by his
sweethea,rboas a " love-token." When the money he had
in his possessi, n was being taken from.him, he expressed
a wish it might be given to his mother, with whom he lived,
and whom he seemed now to remember suddenly. He said
to the constab-e," Let's have an understanding about this
money—let's see how much there is. The amount was
17s. 5Ad. Ile then said, " Please tell my mother what
has happened, and tell her as kindly as possible. Say I
shan't 1)e home to-night." - He appeared to be under the
in peession that he had caused the death of Mr. and Mr:=.
Plow, as well as of the housemaid. Referring to this, he
said, " I've clone all I wanted to do. I'm only sorry the
pistol did not go off better,"