The Sun.
London, England, 1868-01-23 00:00:00

THE BIRMINGHAM MURDER.

Some further particulars have been made public with
respect to the murder of Miss Mary MiLbourne, of
Ileneage-street, Birmingham. Shortly before six o'clock
on Tuesday evening, a Mrs. Bullock, residing in a house
close to that of the deceased, was in an outhouse, when
she heard the sound of men's voices in Miss Millbourne's
yard ; she looked through a crevice in the door, and saw
three men, two of whom were about the same height, and
one a trifle shorter, climbing over the wall. The men
became aware of her presence, for one of them said,
" There's a - woman, and she will ' blow' on us."
Without waiting to look into the outhouse, the men ran
up the entry into the street and disappeared: Mrs.
Bullock told her husband of the occurrence, and said she
hoped they had not been to the old lady next door. After
that she and a Mrs. Dickman, another neighbour, went
to deceased's house door and called to her. Not receiving
any reply, they feared some outrage had been com-
mitted, and their statements brought other people to
the spot. The police having been sent for, they found
the front door of the house locked ; they then went
,tho Ugh the gates into the yard and found the back door
open. On the kitchen table a bonnet was found, and a
shawl lay upon the floor. At first the officers saw no trace
of the old lady, but between the kikhen and the front
room stone steps led down to the cellar. At the top of
these steps Brown, the policeman, discovered Miss Mill-
bourne lying on her back, her head resting on the second
step. She was quite warm, but lifeleEs. There was one
mark of a blow on her nose, and finger-marks upon her
throat, plainly showing that she had been strangled. Me
body was brought into the front room and laid upon a bed.
Upon an examination of the house being made it was dis-
covered that it had been completely ransacked. There
were three rooms upstairs, and the contents of the boxes
and beds in all of them were turned over and thrown on the
floor. The bedroom which the deceased woman occupied
had been subjected to a very minute examination ; every
place, likely and unlikely, had been searched. Drawers
were burst open and boxes rummaged, and a part of a
pillow was torn open. The thieves had done their work
cleverly and well, though whether it was remunerative
cannot be told. Not a trace of them in any form was
left behind, sn•l they must have been but a very short
time in the house, as the old lady was but just dead when
the police-officers arrived. Oo the table in the back
kitchen was found a black bag, which, on Mr. Superin-
tendent Sullivan searching, was found to contain a receipt
on Lloyd's Banking Company for the sum of 1:615, de-
posited in January last. Whether placed there by the
thieves or the deceased is not known. It is remarkable
that nothing was seen to excite suspicion by the occupants
of premises immediately adjoining those of the murdered
woman, but at the very time the crime must have been
committed a stranger kept the woman occupying the house
next door for half an hour in conversation. The murdered
woman was not married. The police have a clue which
may lead to some discovery. That such a crime should
have been perpetrated at such a time in the evening, and
under such circumstances, is most extraordinary, to say
the least. It may he added that a yard adjoining the
murdered woman's house also led to a malt-house, in
which three men usually worked, but they were absent at
the time the crime is supposed to have been committed.