The Sun.
London, England, 1857-10-12 00:00:00

ANOTRER MYSTERIOUS AFFAIR.

For several days past the City authorities have
been engaged investigating an affair 'of a most
mysterious character, and it is anticipated that by
the publicatson of the details some means will be
afforded of fixing the identity of the party, who is
supposed to have come by his death in some foul
way. Last week several labourers were employed
in the cellar of No. 28, Aldgate, one of the old
houses at that end of the City which escaped the
grent fire in 1666, forming a drain from the back
part of the premises to the main sewer in the street.
The cellar was partly paved with stones and red
brick, and a small part had two or three planks of
flooring resting on two joists. On rsisi'ig these
the men came upon a layer of lime, and un-
derneath it they discovered, to their astonish-
ment, the remains of a skeleton. The bones were
in a far advanced state of decay, arising from the
action of the lime. Nothing in the shape of wear-
ing apparel could be found, except an old shoe.
At first it was supposed that it was the remains of
a person buried in an old monalery, on the site of
which, it is alleged, the house had been built. The
ward authorities immediately investigated the cir-
cumstances of the discovery, and'Mr. B. Child, of
Finsbury-pavement, surgeon, was- directed to exl-
mine the skeleton. He did so with Mr. Gibbons,
another surgeon, and on examining ti.e skull they
discovered an extensive fracture, -which they were
of opinion produced death. The remains were
those of a male, and from the posiiiou in which
they were found, the injury on the head, andother
circumstances, they had no doubt the man was
murdered. The skull isin possession of Mr. Child,
and the ward officers have obtained a list of the oc-
cupiers of the house for the last 40 yeare, and from
the inquiry which has been set on foot it isenore
than probable that some clue will be obtained to
unravelt he mystery which surrounds the affair.

The hopes which
exist of the carpet-bag being
ep-er,
traced are founded upon the fact of its being acom-
paratively new and very 1 peculiar one, with the
trade mark of a ehopke
figures on the hi]nd
--". Th e bag itself, though
nearly new, is extremely old-fashioned with regard
to form, being nea.ly three feet deep
a ~ 4s. Bd." in ink
and two wide ;
in fact, itsgreat size andpeculiar appearance would
place its identification by those who had once seen
it beyond the possiblety of doubt. That this
bag containing the remains was the ono
which was
carried on to the bridge by au elderly woman on
Thursday night is distinctly established by the
statement of Etberington the toll-taker. Ethering-
ton was himself formerly a constable in the A
division, and remarkable for his shrewdness and
caution, and this feet, coupled
with the peculiar
circumstances which he mentions, apparently
place the accuracy of his testimony beyond a
doubt. Ho states that the woman
came from the
MiddleseX side of the water, and paid the toll at
the western tollgate. He took the toll, and saw
that she had with her a brown
paper parcel tied
with cord ;
it was, long, bulky, and apparently
heavy. She had also the carpet-bag in which the
remains were afterwards found, and which also
seemed full and heavy. His attention was parti-
cularly directed to the woman in consequence of
her turning the turnstile twice while endeavouring
to get the carpet-beg through. He spoke to her
about this, said that he would have to pay the
money himself, and that she should have be el more
careful. The woman did not reply, but looked at
him steadily while he lifted up the carpet-bag for
her and placed it on the top of the turnstile. She
then muttered something in a very gruff voice to AND FURTHER PARTICULARS.
the effect that it unild not be helped, took the car- On Saturday forenoon, at half-past eleven, Breni
pet-bag and walked slowly away. As it was thought Brent, E,q., the coroner, held an inquest at the
possible from the gruffness of the voice that it Royal William Tavern, Lower-road, Isliugton,
might have been a man in woman's clothes, upon the body of Martha Davis, 36, some of the
Etherington has b en questioned on this point, but particulars of whose brutal murder by her husband
a woman, as he saw her appeared in this journal on Thursday last.
furthermore that he re- The case has excited considerable interest, not
. . .
marked she was short even for a woman. only amongst the immediate neighbours of the
ifsac peomsiotsivtedi as
distinctly, to
The police who are engaged in endeavouring to unfortunate woman, but in a majority of the gen-
penetrate the mystery which surrounds the whole teel families in Stoke Newington and Ball's-pond,
ct
liyt s,
and be ing
case believe that a woman so unequal to carrying to whom she was well known and much respected
a heavy weight as the woman at the bridge evi- in her avocation as an occasional servant ; indeed,
dently showed herself to be must either have been so much so, that one of the families have afforded
assisted by male accomplices, or have driven to the accommodation to some sisters of the deceased,
neighbourhood of the bridge in a cab. Against the who, upon hearing of the melancholy event came
former supposition is the fact that none of the up with a brother from Gloucestershire.
police in the vicinity of Wellington-street have seen The Jury, having been sworn, proceeded to view
persons carrying bundles such as described, though the body, which lay in the front parlour of the
the carpet-baet could not have escaped. attention house in Dorset-street, where it appears that the
and remark badb it been to conveyed. On the other husband, though by trade a carpenter, carried on
hand, the most minute inquiries have been set the business of a hairdresser and picture frame-
on foot among the cabmen throughout the metropo- maker. The place, although very poorly furnished,
lis as to whether any one answering the description bore evidence of the deceased being a very decent
of the woman with a carpet-bag and bundle, or any woman. ,
one at all with a carpet-bag and brown paper parcel, The first witness called was Henry Byles, a re-
was set down in the neighbourhood of Waterloo- specteble-looking farming man, wl:o stated that he
bridge on Thursday night. As yet these inquirie' bad come up from Benningfield, in Glocestershire,
have elicited nothing, though it is stilt hoped that, as soon as the melancholy news reached him. The
as the details of the atrocity committed are widely body, which the jury had just viewed, was that of
6poad, information on this point may be obtained. his sister, whom he had not seen for ten years.
The police are inclined to the opinion that in case She was married to Wm. Thomas Rob rt Davis.
of no cab having been employed the murder muss Police sergeant Bovis, in addition to what he bad
have been perpetrated at some of the houses of IP- stated before the magistrate, said, that, from fur-
fame, which are numerous enough almost within a ther examination which be had made, he found
stone's throw of that end of the bride-e. that the poor woman must have been first attacked
Of course the most vague and contradictory while near the cupboard, and then struggled with
rumours have been circulated everywhere as to the her murderer, as there were traces of blood from
discovery of the other portions of the body. Though her bands upon the wall of the passage, and also
some of these reports and rumours were in the last upon the barber's pole, which was lying there.
degree absurd, they were all carefully sifted and Sarah Strome, in addition to her former evidence,
inquired into, and some of them certainly bore stated that she bad often heard the husband threaten
most unexpected fruits, We may here mention to murder the deceased. It was generally after they
that the police entertain little hopes of recovering had gone to bed. She used to hear it through the
the head, hands, or feet of the body. In their. wall, and had heard deceased beg thlt he would

THE LATE CASE OF BRUTAL WIFE-
MURDER AT BALLS-POND.

INQUEST UPON THE BODY.--ADDITIONAL EVIDENCE