The Sun.
London, England, 1826-11-20 00:00:00

L,

THE IVITJR.DERS NEAR LEATHERHEAD.

Erre AI14!, SA i) titi AY, Nov. 18,--Sttbsequent to the.
apprehension of William Pep aka Cobbler Will, on sus-
picion of having murdered-John .Akehurst and Elizabeth
Haines, on exaniination'of his -baggage., an instrument was
found therein by Mr. Hall,. of Union-hall police-office,
which apparently. corresponded with the marks visible in
the night-caps worn by the deceased persons on the night
of the made*. Since the Inspected parties have been
lodged in floritemonger,lane gaol, it appears that the Mat-
' gistrates (R.. 1. Chambers and R. Hedger, &airs.) before.
whom ifiey have been examined, nit seeing the caps, of the.
murdered persons; deemed it -necessary that the :bodies.
should be disinterred,' in order to discover whether the in-
strtunent alluded to was likely to be the one with' --erhiela
the wounds on the skulls were inflicted. Agreeably'tts
the intentton of the Magistrates, Mr, Staples, the chief'
clerk of Union-han, arrived at Fetcharn on Wednesday
evening, and lost no time in making the necessary arrange-
ments with Mr. Webb, the parish clerk.

At 11 o'clock precisely, the Magistrates, who snggnted
the necessity of disinterring the bodies, arrived at the Swan
Inn, at Lcatherhead, accompanied by a medical gentleman
from town. Soon after their arrival, they were pined by.
the Rev. Mr. Rolland, who came up expressly tjt of
Gloucestershire, for the purpose of being present or the
disinterment and examination of the bodies of his llte on-
fortonate parishioners. On their arrival at the place of,
interment, the coffins were taken from the church, and.
each placed on it tomb-stone, and, after the unpleasant
effluvia arising from the bodies, which had undergone
rapid decomposition, bad in some degree evaporated on
the admission of air, the medical. gentleman commenced
their task. On inspecting the head of the old man, a
wound was discovered over the right temple. Mr. Hall,
in whose possession the instrument. has been since it was
found, here applied it to the wound, and it so precisely
corresponded with the marks visible on the deceased's

temple, as to leave no doubt in the minds of all present
that it was the instrument with which they were in-
flicted. The surgeons then proceeded to operate on the
herd, and they cut away that. portion of the Rita
which was fractured, in order to produce, before the.
Jury, in the event of the committal of the prisoners,
for trial. They then examined the body of Elizabeth
Haines, and on raising up the head discovered upon the
back pirt of it two wounds on the skull ; the instrument
was also applied, the ends of which fitted with the great-
est nicety. The instrument found amongst: " Cobbler
Will's" baggage, and which there is now very little doubt
is the identical one with which the murders were committed,
is a pair of iron pincers, used by shoemakers, or what is
commonly termed a pair of stretchers, that open and shut
like a pair of pincers ; there is a nob nearly at the extre-
mity of one of the ends of it which answers the purposes
of a hammer, and the corresponding end is bltmt and ra-
ther jagged. The wounds visible on the skulls of the
deceased appear to,have, been inflicted by the murderer
when the instruenent was open at /its full extent, about
three quarters of an inch, each ming having made indett-'
tations on the skulls exactly at that distance apart. There
were other marks visible that' clearly demonstrated, on
comparison, that the stretcher found in Page's pack was
the fatal instrument. The surgeons also cut away that.
part of Eliiabeth Haines'S skull which ,exhibited the frac-
tures; und at length, having accomplished this duty, the
coffins were screwed down afresh, and placed in their
respective graves.

From the secrecy observed on the °cession, there were
very few present to interrupt the proceedings of the sur-
geons. After they were concluded, all the Magistrates
proceeded over to the cottage where the murders were
perpetrated. They found in the cottage old Akeherst'a
daughter, her husband, and one of their daughters, all of
whom, it seems, took possession of the property on
Thursday week. As an instance of the gross barbarism
in which the children of Ayres have been brought up, the
following facts will be Sufficient :—During the visit of the
Magistrates, the family happened to be at dinner; one of
Mary Ayres'a sisters, a woman apparently above 30 years
of age, sat at the table devouring potatoes Anti bacon,
with such voracity, that she appeared totally unconscious
of the presence of the Magistrates, and actually gorman-
dized to that excess, that she became sick while at the
table. The mother observing the. brutal appetite of her.
daughter, remarked, " Why, e rid, you are eating as if
you never eat before." YOu lie, you b-,-11," responded
the glutton, casting a fierce look at her parent, and at the
same time thrusting in one of her greasy hands. to a dish
that contained some slices of fat bacon, which she eagerly
conveyed to her mouth, without the assistance of knife or
fork.

On the day following the inspection or the bodies,
Cobbler Will and Mary Ayres underwent a long private
examination at Union-ball, before the Megiatrates of .the
county. The particulars of the investigation, as regards
the charges against the prisoners, are of that nature, the
Magistrates deem it necessary, for the ends of justice, to
withhold at present from publicity.
Since the former examination, the prisoners ore mai,
derably altered in their appearance for the worse., particu-
larly the female. - •

Pt
CORN LAIVi•-•-• COMAIR ST RCIAI, D1R1L11.....- 1 Ibe
C
Meetings, we are 'glad to •observe, are beginning to be talkie&
of in Scotland, in order to prepare petitions to Parliament on
these important and pressing topics. The Pollee Commissioners
of this City are about to petition the Lord Provo's to call a meet.
ing of the inhabitants, to resolve on an addreen to the Legislature
oil the subject of the Corn Laws. That respectable boa, also,
the Corporation of Weavers, are to meet on Thursday, to petition
Parliament on the lame subject. We are glad that this roamer
is assuming something of an official shape, for really we are afraid
the petitions of the populace hare hail,
sod will have, but very
little weight. it is right, however that the operatives should also
meet—as we understand they intend to do here on Thursday
night, in the Lyceum, in an orderly and respectful manner, to pt.-
titinn for a repeal of the Corn tax ; at the same time, ere
would suggest that they ehonld delay forwarding their petition
until they learn the success of the applwatiou of the Cominioi""ri
to the Chief Magistrate. The operatives of ilitorrewehire have
also anntinnced their intention of meeting tit petition for pecuniary
relief. Mr. Maxwell, M.P. and Mr. Wallace of Kelly, ate, it is
said, to be present...-. massif", pre, prin.
ATROCIOUS CANP, op INF* NTiving,,-011 Saturday last,
a wretched girl, mimed Norber, was euintiriited to Dorvapatriek
gaol, charged with the wilful murder of her infant Apr*,
under peculiar circtunitaucte of barbarity. It appears that she
',sided at Mather 's Fort, near !Argon, and, being taken it.
woman the house with her ,5161171 thrlewouta
enfhtlevrnanl of
laboiir, of
the fact, whitehitench,odi"vev7r she
le::;*0 hut, bettor's her repro, the
.-Am"Y :Inltinnidered the newborn iufatit, by
girl was delivo.,., r
th, body with a reaping !wok,
elirt,edral,,lY:Larlttnginiaiskr7a the innocent victim of her shame and
is-71,;;,„ the, n‘i'idwifit arrived with the woman wbo *sus
crucify, ""--- 4,4- girl persisted to denying the whole trams_
for her, the ►the murder, bat finding the girl had
action. Nuf,•*'..ehey Ohe woman and midwife) at length
i„,l irg. of seemly, in obtaining a discovery of the
,ed prom
CF V", tratieeetion. lhey found the body annealed titular 4,, Mr
!It at the ;''wide ; and, horror-struck at the eight, they to.'* tonal, raised an alarm, and the pollee apprehended the murderer.
We understand she is in so deuteron* a State as to render her
recovery very doubtful. It is about 'tau dayashuse the murder
took plece.m If/Orford Chronicle of rooky.