The Sun.
London, England, 1826-05-29 00:00:00

HORRIBLE MURDER AT WINTON.

PURTHIM PARTICULARS.
(From the Manchester Gazette.)

appParti, too, that Alexander M'Kean was in Hulme, a town.
ship immediately adjoining Manchester, about seven O'clock on
chi following morning, and received 61. from a man there, whom
lot had bean in the Custom of employing as a hawker of cotton,
silk,' and other goods. 'Where or how they changed their clothes
is Out known. Both of them must have been covered with blood,
Alexander, in particular, because of the mortal struggles he en-
vountered with the poor girl that he murdered. From various

circumstances it i; evident that the villains contemplated the
murder of every inmate of Mr. Blears' house; fur it appeared
that they haul supplied themselves with knives previously to their
Tutting out from home, which they did on the evening of the day
in question.

A young gentleman, a surgeon, named Hancock, lodged in
their house in Byron-place, anti it appears from the evidence
given by him before the coroner, an the inquest held on Weil-
motley afternoon, that they dined at home at four o'clock, and
that afterwards they invited Mr. Hancock to go with them into
Safford. When they arrived at the corner of the New Bailey-
street, and opposite the Brown Bull public-house, they requested
Mr. Banco& to step in and dun a Mrs. Sharpies, a person who
lived there, for half a crown, which they alleged she owed to
them, and whilst Mr. Hancock did so, they went into a public.
house on the opposite side of the street, kept by Mr. 'Boardman.
Mr. Hancock, not having succeeded in obtaining the half crown,
joined them at Mr. Boardman's, and drank a glass of porter with
them. All three then came ant of the house. Mr.- Hancock
went towards home, and the two MtKeans towards Pendleton.
'lt appears, also, front the evidence of Mrs. Sarah Stewait,
who lasepa a hardware shop in Smithy Door, and has known
Michael Mc'Kean fie several years, that on Saturday last,
. slot had a sale of hardware, and that Michael assisted in putting
down the prices at which the goods were 'sold. On this
occasion, a quantity of knives, of a desceiption similer to
the kaite which was found sticking in Mrs Mears' face, were
finind spread out in the shop, and Michael hid full opportunity of''
Nsiriessing himself of some of them without her knowledge. Pions
Wige fhith of the gashes on the left cheek of Elizabeth Bate, it is
OP/41)I St* lie must have been inflicted with a knife similar to
Ota fine with which Mrs. Blears was stabbed ; and it is no *Mall
esierohorittiup of the feet, that these tutpriticipled men bad prede-
termined to eommit murder, that a stone mantle-piece in the bed-
room was, after their departure, discovered by Mr. Hancock to
he +scratched, as if by the operation of shinpening a knife. The'
knife, tar, which was extracted. from Mrs. Blears' cheek, was
scratched at the edge, as if it had been aharpened on a rough
stone. On the morning of the murder, two large yellow var-
nished atieks were found meter the sofa on which Mr. Beam
slept ; and in the bed-room in which Elizabeth. Bate was Mur-
dered, WO found a black stock, similar to one which was worn
by Alexander on the night of die murder, The sticks were Men-
having belonged to Michael and Alexander.
WM renders the murder more shocking, is the fact that the
unfortunate young woman was in an advanced state of pregnancy ;
thia eirennuitance Mr. Garthaide did nut discover until the fol-
wfulg morning, inasmuch as finding that she was quite diNid, be
directed his whole attention to Mrs. Wears, otherwise he would,
we understand, have made an attempt to rescue the unbent in-
fant. Banns of Marriage had been publiAt'd between the unlbr--
tunate woman and the father of her child, and they were to have
been married.in it fortnight. Mre. Blears, we are happy to state,
4, in consequence of the skill and attention, bestowed upon her by
Mr. Garthside, in a hair way of recovery, but her sufferings, it
ulna naturally be supposed, are extremely great.
Pursuit is making in every
direction atier the murderers,
large handbills, containing their complete description, are posted
iu every town and village in England, Scotland, and Ireland, and
even aiewalais, and a reward of Mk (as we before observed) is
offered for their apprehension. This shocking event Las filled the
whole neighbourhood with horror awl consternation, and curses,
not loud but deep, are vented upon the merciless murderers.
At four o'clock on Wednesday afternoon, an'lngnest was held
on view of the body, at the hones in which the murder Was 01117

mitted, and after the patient examination ofa number of Witnelleley
who deposed to the facts we have mentioned, the Jury4Mme-
diately brought in a verdict of WILFUL MURDER against
Alexander M'Kean or Keand, and Michael A P Kam or Keatvi,
the latter, in their opinion, having aided and abetted the former in
the commission of the bloody deed.
We omitted to mention that the house of the M'Keans was
kept for them by their mother and sister, and that police officers
have been stationed in it since their departure. Ou Wednesday
morning, bailiffs wanted to come into the house to distrait' for
rent.

As we are desirous of giving our readers every particulars re-
specting this horrid murder, we subjoin the particulars of
THE INQUEST,
leaving out such facts as have been mentioned in the above narra-
tive, in: order to avoid, as much as possible, unnecessary repetition.
At four o'clock in the afternoon of Wednesday, an Inquest 'was
held before J. Milne, Esq. Coroner, and a very respectable Jury,
on view of the body of Elizabeth Bate, aged SO, in the Jolly Car-
ters public-house, .kept by Mr. Joseph Blears.
The following are the names of the householders who were
sworn of the Jury :-
James Bradburn, of Barton-upon-Irwelli Foreman ; John
Mear, ditto; Richard Bretan, ditto; John Wilkinson, ditto;
Thomas Scholes, of Pendlebury ; Cowperthwaite, ditto;
William Edge, ditto; James Dyson, ditto; John Walwork, sen.
of Clifton ; John Walwork, jun. ditto; Henry Young, ditto ;
Roberts Hogg, ditto ; Thomas Farnworth, of Worsley ; William
Smith, ditto; George Bolton, ditto; Robert Leigh, ditto.
The Jury viewed the body of the deceased, which presented a
piteous spectacle, and created strong sensations of horror and in-
dignation. The following witnesses were respectively called and
examined.
J. Blears, the landlord of the public-house in question, deposed
to the facts we have before described, up to the time of his falling
asleep on the wilt. The quantity of liquor which he drank with
the two men never before took such an effect upon him. He was
perfectly sober when he first came home. About oue o'clock, or
between twelve and one, he was awakened by an outcry of mur-
der ; he rose from the sofa and saw his wife bloody, and found
A. APKean and his companion gone. Ile wet off for Warrington
in company with Mr. T. 'Milner, in pursuit of the murderers, and
on his return home, and not until then, was he fully aware that
his servant Betty had been murdered. The deceased was preg-
nant by a man in the neighbourhood, a joiner, and to whom she
should have been married, and he understood that banns had
been published. -
LA large yellow stick was here produced.]
This stick belonged to Alexander, he had seen it in his hand
on the night of the murder.---(This stick had been found under
the sofa by Mary Andrews.)
M. Andrews, the wife of R. Andrews, shoemaker, examined-

1 live at the house neatest to that of my aunt (Mrs. Blears). On
Monday night last, about 12 o'clock—l think the clock had not
struck—l was alarmed by a-shriek. from my aunt. She cried
" murder !" and said to my master (her husband) -" Wilt see me
murdered, and have-a lance stuck in my heed ? we have a house
full of thieves murdering every body in it." I and my husband
immediately get up, and the first. thing I saw when I opened the
window was my aunt at the door—(it was a fine moonlight night)
with a knife sticking in her &Cc. She then stated the fact of the
many fruitless trials that were made by several individuals to ex-
tract the knife ; the fetching the surgeon ; the scene of blood which
presented itself on going up stairs in her aunt's house. Betty, she
said, lay on her back on the clubroom floor, with her arm over
her face, about the distance of a yard from the door ; her head was
towards the doer, and she wasawimming in blood.
W. Higgin, a fine lad about thirteen years of age, examined.
The Coroner asked him if lie went to any Sunday School, and if
he had learnt his catechism; to which questions he replied in the
affirmative. I have lived with Mr. and Mrs. Blears, said he,
since the death of my father, which took place two years ago. He
was a gardener.'t On the night in question, I saw two men in
the bar ; one of them I had seen in. the house before; this was
Alexander. Mr. Blears sold him a canary bird last Whitsuntide
but one. I went to bed about half-past nine, leaving the two men
and my master in the bar. I went into the double-bedded 'mom,
and into the farthest bed, which is without curtains. In the
course of the night I was awakened by a noise in the room. I saw
the bigger man (Alexander), that bought the canary bird froth my
master, and Betty together, at the foot of my bed. I sal's, the
man put his left arm round her neck, and bending her head back-
wards, do something with his right hand. She said, "be
quiet." • He then flung her on the floor, and did some-
thing inure, and she cried out " Murder." They strag-
gled. She got upon her knees, and laying hold of Ms legs,
said" mark thee, man." He- flung her down a second
-time on her back, and did something more at her, but I did not
see what it was ; but she cried out no more. I saw Betty very
bloody about the - breast. He then came to me. I jumped up
immediately; he put his hand on my mouth and presiied me down,
and blood came on my face and shirt. The candle was burning
in the window. Whilst the man had hie hand on my mouth
Betty got on her feet, and was staggering out of the room. lie
then left me and ran to her, and caught her at the door. - They
struggled very much, and I escaped in the mean while through
the left-hand Side door, Betty being in the middle, and the man
on the other side.. I then jumped over the bannisters of the
Stairs. The man made a grab at me, but missed me, and he
left marks of bloody fingers on the shoulder part of my shirt..`
The min folloWed me down staire—through the lobby—the
kitchen—the yard, and round the house. 1 escaped under a
gate, and then I turned round and saw both of the men. I ran
niwarilii Andrews' house, and then into a field, where I hid my.
self in a ditch, where I remained until I saw my mistress running
down the line.

The deposition of Mrs. Blear* having been previously reduced
to writing by Mr. Foulkes, the attorney for the township, the
Jury, accompanied by the Coroner, went into the room in which
Mrs. Blears lay, she being unfit to leave her bed, and the deposi-
tion was read over to her, and she put her mark to it, being un-
able, from lice weak state, to write her name. The substauee of
this deposition being given in the narrative, it is unnecessary here
to repeat it.

T. Partington, of Winton, weaver, examined.—l was in this
house o►► Monday night. I came in about half.past eight o'clock,
and went away a little before ten. I saw the two Scotchmen
there; they sat in the bar. O►►e of them I had seen before. •I
think they are Sentchmeu groin their accent. It was the tallest
(Alexander) that I had seen before iu the house. Joseph Blears
sat in the bar with Om. On one occasion he was called out,
and during his absence, I saw the men pour the contents of their
glasses into his (Blears') glass, and afterwards put water into
their own glasses. They then looked towards the kitehen, and
whispered to each other. was not in the bar more than three
or four minutes, and 1 merely went there to get a pipe. J. Blears,
J. Jones; R. Wilson, and othe►s, were in the tap-room on this
evening, along with me, and when I went home I left them there.
J. Jones 'and R. Wilson corroborated the statement of the last
witness, with respect to the men pouring the contents of their
glummer into Blears' glass. They deposed also to the fact of Blears'
being almoit chnaked on drinking (as before stated), and calling
to his. wife for water. Those witnesses likewise swore to the
fact of Mr. Blears talking about the value of his bowie, and what
property he had in it, and described the dresses which the
Al‘Kcansi wore. In conclusion, they stated that the M'Keans were
sober,' while on the other hand Bleats was quite drunk.
W. Breton, the couetable of Barton, produced a black stock,
which he found about 12 o'clock on the night in question, in the
bed-room iu which K Bate was murdered. It was stained with
fresh blood. He also described the bloody appearance of the
rooms, and the position in which be found the hotly of the de-
ceased. He produced the knife which bad been extracted from
Mrs. Blears' face, and the Jury examined it with intense interest.
It had been placed in his bands by Dr. Garthaide, with a desire
that it should he carefully preserved. He produced also a silk
handkerchief, which had been given to him by Mr. E. Foulke*.
Mr. E. Foulkes stated that he received it from S. WilliaMson,
_ _ _

a servant of Mr. R. Hancock, whose grounds lie contiguous to
Mr. Blears' house.

S. W►lliamso►► stated, that about I I o'clock on Tuesday morn-
-I,lg he found the handkerchief in one of Mr. Hancock's fields,
near the back of Mr. Blears' house, and that he gave it to Mr.
Foulke►; He observed footsteps on the ground in a dire►tion
rrona Mr. Blears house, and leading :towards Wonky. There
. .

Wail no road that way, and, be felt persuaded that the parties who
caused the foot marks moat have made their way through the
.. .

kedge.

Mr. W. Hancock, surgeon who lodged in M'Kean's house,
in Byron-place, deposed to the feetB we have befi►re stated. The
handkerchief found by Mr. Hancock's servant, he said, was his,
but M. M'Kean had it on Friday last. Witness did not lend it
to him, and he could not say how Michael got it, but he (Michael)
often slept in his (witness's) room, and he might have taken it
thence. He did not -charge.kim with taking it, because they
were on such terms of intimacy. Michael was not so tall as
Alexander. lie had large black whiskers,' that he suffered to
grow all under his thin. Alexander and Michael did not come

" Our readers may recollect, that about two years ago we stated
the fact of a gardetutr iittdclenly dropping down dead aa• be was
mowing a grass plot opposite the heeee of Jr. Trafford, near
Barton. Thia Wan, we understand, was
iliggin. the father of William

home on Monday night, nor had ever since returned. They took
no pack with them when they went out.
J. Thompson, a wearer, at Barton, stated that he knew
M'Kean, and bad traded with him. lie (witness) saw him
about six o'clock on Monday evening, at Barton Bridge ; he
(Alexander) turned up the canal aide, and went in the direction
to Winton.
Mr. J. W. Garthside, surgeon, deposed to the fact of his
being called in, on the night in question, and detailed. the circum-
stances re have before described.
Mrs. Stewart also stated the fact of Michael having taken
down the prices of hardware at the sale at her husband's shop,.on
Saturday last. Size produced several knives which she bad for
sale, and they were of a description precisely similar to the one
which had been shown to the Jury.
Here closed the evidence.—. The Coroner Obseried to the Jury,
that it was not necessary that they should have full and positive
proof that the 11‘Keans actually committed the murder : it was
sufficient if the evidence which had been adduced satisfied their
mimic as to the propriety of committing the men for trial.
The Jury immediately, and unanimously, brought in a verdict
as we have before stated, and the Groner, according to the statute,
issued his warrant for their apprehension. The proceedings
last-
ed from four o'clock until nearly eight, and excited a very strong
interest.--J.en were
last
night, J. No rr c:
tidings
i,Esq., of Davy Huhn°, and several other
gentlemen, the proceedings.
Up tg:had been received of the murderer*,
peto
present
no :
during
nor had any. trace of them been discovered.—lt is supposed that
they must either have taken shipping some where, or that they
are remaining in a place of concealment.