The Sun.
London, England, 1844-07-30 00:00:00

MURDER AT LIVERPOOL.

(From the Liverpool Albion, of Monday.)
At an early hour, yesterday morning, an appalling
murder is alleged to have been perpetrated in Peter-
street, in this town, by a tailor, of the name of Owen
Leonard, upon his wife. The parties occupied the
house No. 35, Peter-street, which is a narrow but
densely-populated place, to the rear of St. Thomas's-
buildings, leading, by a circuitous route, from White-
chapel into the lower part of Dale-street. They kept a
sort of lodging-house, occupying themselves the ground
and upper floors, and letting off the second floor to some
poor men, who gained a precarious livelihood by working
about the town. Leonard himself occasionally followed
his employment of a journeyman tailor ; but, from his
dissipated and vicious habits, he appears to have been
seldom successful in getting any work. Their principal
means of support were derived from the rents paid by
the lodgers, and also from the wages of their two
daughters, grown-up young women, who were in ser-
vice at respectable gentlemen's houses, one in Rodney-
street, and the other, we believe, in Everton.
It was about half -past one o'clock yesterday morning
when tne dreadful occurrence took place. The lodgers
were singing and carousing in their apartment at the
time, when suddenly Leonard rushed into their room,
and accused one of them, a lame man, with having been
on terms of more than ordinary intimacy with his wife.
The lame man indignantly denied the charge, and Mrs.
Leonard offered to restore him a small balance of
tdioianetween the parties ensued,
telb
lodging money, which was to his credit, provided he
3', and thus terminated the
which for a time ended by Leonard striking hie wife
and the lame man striking Leonard in return. Leo-
nard subsequently fastened the street door, and, in
left
dispute. the houseA n
the presence of his son, a lad of thirteen years
of age, mentioned before, deliberately took out his
razor and commenced to sharpen the edge, mut-
alitnlermcae
tering some threats, at the same' ime, as to what he in-
tended to do to his wife. In a short time Mrs. Leonard
came down stairs, and almost immediately upon her en-
tering the apartment where he was, he struck her a blow
on the head with his clenched fist, which felled her to the
ground. He then caught hold of her by the hair, and,
with the razor, partially cut her throat, first on one side
and then on the other. After he had mangled her in
this brutal manner, he suddenly raised the razor and cut
off a part of her nose. She, beinc, a powerful muscu-
lar woman, made a desperate effort to release herself
from his grasp, and, in the struggle, he gave her another
deep cut with the razor upon the fleshy part of her
left leg, and also two othergashes upon her arms. The
I•male screamed terrifically ; so also did the lad, who,
as we have before stated, was present during the tran-
saction ; and in a short time the house was surrounded
by the people of the neighbourhood. The door was
speedily opened, but, before an entrance could be effected,
the crowd was horrified at seeing the unfortunate
woman, from whose neck, leg, and arms blood was
flowing profusely, either kicked or pushed by her
brutal husband down the steps and into the street.
Here she lay upon the pavement for a short time in the
greatest agony but at length a stretcher was brought,

and she was removed to the Infirmary where death
speedily terminated her sufferings. dfficer 48 ar-
rested Leonard almost upon the instant. He found
him in the act of washing the blood from his hands, and
he discovered the razor under the table. The wretched
man was immediately conveyed to Bridewell, but, during
the whole of yesterday, we understand that he betrayed
but few symptoms of concern at the awful situation in
which he has placed himself. He is sixty years of age,
of rather diminutive stature, and an Irishman by birth.
His wife, also a native of ie sister country, was about
the same ago, and extremely corpulent. It is said that
Leonard has before made several attempts to cut her
throat.

An inquest will be held before the Borough Coroner
to-day.

AMERICAN NEWS.

DEATH OF SMIT:T, THE LEADER OF THE
MORMONITES.
(From the New York Herald.)
We have just received by the western mail the follow-
ing particulars of the death of Joe Smith, the prophet,
and his brother Hiram. They were both shot. There
.was a tremendous excitement at the west in consequence
of their deaths. A dreadful civil war was expected. 'We
learn from an extra of the St. Louis Gazette, that War-
saw was all excitement. The women and children were
all removed, and an immediate attack was expected from
the Mormons. We met the Boreas just above Quincy,
with three hundred men armed and equipped for War-
saw, eager for fight.
Three o'clock.—Everything we learn at the scene of
action is now comparatively quiet. An express was
started to Harrisburgh for the Governor about five
o'clock in the afternoon, for the purpose of getting his
Excellency to attend.
It seems that the circumstances attending the killing
of the Mormon Prophet and his brother Hiram are
as follows :—Yesterday Governor Ford left Carthage
with about one hundred and twenty soldiers, for the
purpose of taking possession of the Nauvoo Legion and
their arms. They arrived at Nauvoo about noon, and
called for the assembl'ng of the Legion.
About 2,000 men with arms immediately responded
to its call. These troops were put under command of
Colonel Singleton, of Brown county, who accompanied
Governor Ford to Nauvoo. The Governor finding all
quiet left Nauvoo about five, p.m , with a company of 60
men, for the purpose of encamping about seven miles
from the city. At about the same time that Governor
Ford left Nauvoo, the Prophet and his brother were
killed at Carthage, under the following circumstances,
as near as we can ascertain them :
Joe and Hiram were both confined in the Debtors'
room of the Carthage gaol, awaiting their trial on a
charge of treason. The gaol was strongly guarded by
soldiers and anti •Mormons, who had been placed there
by the Governor.
A Mormon attempted to rush -by the guard for the
purpose of forcing his way into the gaol. He was op-
posed by the guard, and fired a pistol at one of the
guard, giving him a slight wound. A general confusion
ensued in the crowd around the gaol. Joe and his
Mormon fellow prisoners, it seems, had provided them-
selves with pistols, and commenced firing upon the
guard within. He then attempted to escape from the
window, when a hundred balls entered his body, and he
fell a lifeless corpse.
His brother Hiram shared the same fate. Richards,
a leading Mormon, was badly wounded. There our in-
telligence ends—what took place after this, God only
knows. Mormons immediately left for Nauvoo to carry
the news of the death of the Prophet. It is feared that
the Mormons at Nauvoo will be so exasperated as to
exterminate the Governor and his small force. Boreas
brought down most of the women and children from
Warsaw. It is feared their town is in ashes before this.

Our citizens were aroused this morning by the ring-
ing of bells and a call to arms. Our three independent
companies are already in marching order. Major Flood
has ordered out the militia of this regiment, and the
steamer Boreas is waiting to convey them to the scene of
action. _ _

......____
There is no knowing where this dreadful affair will
end. Many express fears that our city is in danger, be-
cause most of the Warsaw families have taken refuge
here—but we believe there is no danger, we are too far
from the scene of action.