The Sun.
London, England, 1821-05-26 00:00:00

A MAN. SHOT BY 1115 WIFE.

TOWN HALL, SotrrnwAßk.—Yesterday morn-
ing Mrs. Eliza Harmer was brought before Al-
derman J. J. SMITH, at this office, charged with
the wilful murder of Samuel Harmer, her hus-
band, by shooting him through the head with a
pistol, at their residence, 6, Weston-street, South-
wark. The following was the evidence produced
on the occasion :

Hannah Stiidd stated, that she lived ser-
vant of all-work with the prisoner and deceased
for the last fortnight, previous to which she liVed
in the family of Mr. Delahunt, the prisoner's
father. Between twelve and one o'clock on
Thursday afternoon, her mistress went out, and
did not return till between seven and eight
o'clock in the evening. Just before her return,
the deceased ordered witness to make tea, which
she did, and they (witness and deceased) were
drinking it at the moment the prisoner rung the
bell ; witness let her in, and, when she came
into the room, the deceased said, in a mild tone,
" I thought it was some impudent faggot like
you." . He spoke this in a jocular, mild mariner.
-Witness did not.take her seat again, but waited
outside the door in the passage; in a few minutes
her mistress called her, and told her' to finish
her.tea, and the deceased again jeered her, say-.
ing he wished " she had not come home, as they
(witness and himself) were having their tea very
comfortably." Mrs. Harmer replied, "So you
can now, or at some other opportunity ;" and.
then he asked her where she had been, and if it
was where .she intended to have gone ? She
replied in the affirmative, and added, that
.she had been to Clifford's Inn. The de-
ceased then said in the same tone, " I wish_
you had not come home," and Mrs. 11. replied,
" Well, I can go again ;" and she called for
the shoe-horn, to pill up her shoes, which were
down at the heel. Witness gaVe her the shOe
horn, and tea being ended, she took the tea
things down into the kitchen. The prisoner then
came downstairs, opened the street door, and
closed it after her with groat violence, and wit-
ness thought she was gone out ; but in a short
time afterwards, when she went up into the par-
lour with some glasses which she had washed, she
found her mistress standing behind the parlour
door, as if she was endeavouring to coneeal her-
self ; at this time her master was sitting at the
table in a chair. She went. down direCtly, .and
soon afterwards she heard them at high words.;
the prisoner, she thought, spoke in a loud tone,
but she could not distinguish what she said.. In
a few minutes the deceased elevated his voice,
and she plainly heard him exclaim, " G—d b—t,
I'll shoot you !" She ran immediately to the
stair head, and heard a pistol go off; it did not
make a very loud report, so she thought the-re
was
.nothing. in it; it made " a click," but no
report, and she did not believe there was any
powder in it." The deceased and his wife fre-
quently played with a pistol, pretending to shoot
each other, and the noise on this occasion was
the same, or appeared the same, as she had often
before heard it, when they have been so playing
together. Mr. Harmer had frequently
_done
this, and the prisoner usually. ran away froth him,
pretending to be frightened. She always thought
they were in joke, and never remembered the
pistols to have been loaded before. On Thurs-
day she saw the deceased with bullets lying
before him on the table ; he had cast some on
Tuesday night, so the circumstance did not par-
ticularly surprise her. She did not see him put
either powder or ball into the pistol, although at
one time he did put a ball into the mouth of a
pistol, but she is not certain whether he left it
there, because she did not remain a minute in the
room, but just put some coals on the fire;and
went out directly. He generally kept the piStols
in the parlour cupboard, but she could not say
what he did with them after he loaded them.
After she had heard the pistol " click," as
ready described, she sat down at the front kitchen
window, thinking no harm had happened, and in
a few minutes heard a loud report of fire arms.
She ran up stairs *immediately, and her mistress
screamed out " Oh ! I have murdered my hus-
band ; he is dead—run for somebody—fetch
some one directly"—and she appeared in the
greatest agony imaginable. Witness ran down
stairs, and told the first man she met to run for a
doctor ; she then returned to the house, and
when she got back she found .the prisoner at Mr.
Crichard's, next door but one. Witness then ran
to-her master's house, and was followed by her
mistress. When they arrived, they found a
doctor in the parlour with the body of her mas-
ter, which was placed in a chair, apparently as
when he had been shot. She did not go further
than the room door, and her mistress kept in the
back parlour. She would have gone into the
room, but the doctor would not let her.
Mr. Joseph Grindley, of Richardson-street, a.
pupil at Guy's Hospital, deposed that he was
passing along Weston-street on Thursday even-
ing, when a female accosted him respecting a
surgeon, and on his saying he was a surgeon, she
desired him to step in as there was an accident.
Witness. went in, and found Dr. Jamieson before
him, he having been called in first. On his going
into the parlour he saw the body of Mr. Harmer
in a chair, and at Mr. Jamieson's request he went
to fetch Dr. Grainger, but he was not at home ;
however, he met Mr. Price, one of his pupils,
and they returned together. The handkerchief
was taken off deceased's head, and there ap-
peared au oblique wound over the orbit of the
eye, which penetrated into the brain. Witness
felt his wr.ist, but pulsation had ceased ; has no
doubt but the wound was the occasion of his
death.

John Kinsay, the officer, stated, that he was
sent for between eight and nine o'clock on Thurs-
day night to the deceased's house, No. 6, Wes-
ton-street,Maze-pon d. Mr. Jamieson, the surgeon,
admitted him, and he found the prisoner in the
back parlour crying and stamping like a maniac.
He inquired what was the matter, and she replied,
in the greatest distraction, 44 I hive murdered
my husband !" In the next room he saw the
body of the deceased on a chair, with a hand-
kerchief over his face ; pulled the handkerchief
off, and found he was dead. Several Gentlemen
were in the room, and three pistols were placed on

. , •
-a tag& tr ih The cocks all doWn, and- one of their'
hid-the'aPpe'tifialCe''Of having been recently. dis-
charged ; thelitlfers did not appear to have any,
priming in them ; at all events there had been no
flash in the' pan. They are both loaded with
ball—[here they: were produce-d]•—and , the
charges are still in them.' After the Surgeons
had retired, -witness, with the assistance_ of
Joseph Welch and W.Kinsay, took the body of
the deceased up stairs and laid it on a mattress,
and searChed the pockets. They found on his
person a silver watch, which was still going, also
l9s.in silver, and is. 10clein copper, and amongst
the-latter•ftve pistol balls and a piece of lead ;
the bUllets fitted the pistols. In his great coat
pockets they found two pair of pistol bags,
containing two bullet moulds, and two powder
flasks full of powder, and also a .pocket-book.
lle then sent for a coach and took the prisoner
to the Borough Compter, where she remained all
night.

The officers then took charge, of the house and
furniture,gand Mr. Bunny, the senior overseer of
the parish, sealed the doors and property, till the
result of the present charge should be ascertained.
—No further evidence being forthcoming on this
occasion, the unfortunate. prisoner was called on
for her.defence ; hut, by the advice of her Soli-
citor, she declined saying any thing. • She
was then ordered to be remanded till next Mon-
day, and was accordingly conducted into the Ma-
gistrate's private parlour, where she remained
till four o'clock, when she was cnveyed in a
coach to the Compter, attended by Mr. Lilw, the
keeper of the prison, the two Marshalmen
(Messrs. Reeve and Wise); and the, paiish offi-
cers. Mr. Alderman Smith had given particular
orders for rendering her situation as comfortable
as the circumstances of the case would admit of.
The curiosity of the crowd to obtain a view of
her person was so great, that on the way the
coach windows were all•.broken by the obtrusive
crowd. In the course of the afternoon the High
Sheriff of the County of Surrey came to the
Office, and tendered the use of the County Pri-
son, if it Should be more convenient ; but 'the
offer was politely declined. The prisoner is '2:3
years old, and of interesting appearance. She
was married to the deceased last New Year's Day,
and they have since carried on a very profitable
business in the hardware line.—The Inquest will
sit at six o'clock this evening.