The Sun.
London, England, 1868-03-04 00:00:00

MUCKING' M URDLIC.

One of the most bloody and atrocious murders that has
been heard of in this country since that committed by
Rush, perhaps, was committed on Monday night at
Todmorden by a weaver of checks named Miles Wetherall.
It seems tsat for some time past Wetherall had been
paying his addresses to a servant-maid living at the par-
sonage (the Rev. Mr. Plows's), and in consequence of his
visits the girl had been discharged, and went back to
York, where her parents lived. On Saturday and Sun-
day Wetherall went to York, on a visit to her. On re-
turning he appears to have resolved on taking fearful
vengeance upoti her late master and mistress, and upon the
housemaid, who was supposed to have told of his visits to
her fellow-servant. About half-past ten o'clock on Monday
night Mr. Plows, who was preparing to retire to his bed-
room, heard a noise at the back door. Ire went out by
the hall door and proceeded to the hack of the house, where
he saw Wetherall with a hatchet in his hand, and who
iminediately snapped a pistol at him, lint it missed fire.
Wethcrall next attacked Mr. Plows with the hatchet.
but Mr. Plows closing with him, they went backwards
struggling into the lobby of the house, through the backdoor.
The noise alarmed the servants, and the housemaid, cook,
and nurse came to see what was the matter. Some of
these seized Wetherall by the hair and clothes to hold him
back. The result was, that Mr. Plows escaped by the
front hall door, but not until he had received two long scalp
wounds at the back of the head and another at the top of
the head, several vertical cuts on the forehead, one ear
torn from top to bottom, and other wounds. The women
also got out of his way for the time, but having locked
the front and back doors, the housemaid sought shelter
in the dining-room, and for a time kept him at bay
by placing her back against the door. Wetherall,however,
managed to get his right arm through the door, and dis-
charged a pistol at her, shooting her dead. He next went
into the kitchen and armed himself with a poker, and pro-
ceeded upstairs to a bedroom in which Mrs. Plows was lying,
and where she had recently given birth to a child. The
nurse told him he could not go there, but he told her not
to mind, as he had finished those below, and forced his
way past her. Stripping down the bed-clothes he fired at
Mrs. Plows, but the ball did not take effect. He next
attacked her savagely with the poker, inflicting some severe
scalp wounds, breaking her nose and otherwise injuring
her. Whilst in the act of striking another blow at her his
arm was arrested by a man named Stansfield, the church
organist, who had seen Mr. Plows, and who was accom-
panied by two other men. By these men he was re-
moved, and given over to the police. It appears that he
was armed with three pistols and a hatchet when he went
to the house. He behaved with remarkable coolness when
in custody, remarking, " I have done it—l meant to do it,
and am only sorry the pistol (that aimed at Mr. Plows)
did not go off better." The lobby of the house was
marked with blood like a slaughter-house. The housemaid
was found dead behind the dining-room door. Mr. and
Mrs. Plows are lying in a precarious state.