The Sun.
London, England, 1842-05-19 00:00:00

THE MURDERER GOOD.

A good many incorrect statements in reference to the
treatment and the conduct of this miserable man since
his conviction, having been made public, it may be
necessary to state, from an authentic source, what are
the real facts. Since the alteration and the ameliorations
that have taken place in the Criminal law, the treatment
of criminals, both before and after conviction, has also
been very materially modified. Formerly upon a con-
viction for murder the culprit was taken to a cell appro-
priated for the purpose, and kept in this cell almost in
darkness, and suffering many other privations, until the
time came for him to ascend the scaffold. At the present.
time, however, persons charged with murder are taken
to a room in the chapel yard, where they remain until
their trial, and if convicted they again return to the
same cell, and remain there in the charge of different
wardsmen until the period of execution. The first occa-
.sion on which this cell was appropriated in the way
above 'described, was in the case of Greenacre, and since
then it has been successively occupied by Courioisier,
Lees, and Blakesley.
But for the provisions of the Central Criminal Court
Act, many difficulties would have been thrown in the
way of the prosecution, by reason of the different
jurisdictions that were mixed, up in the case. The
offence in the first instance was committed in
the county of Surrey ; the prisoner was subse-
quently apprehended in Kent, examined before
a .Justice of that county, and then brought into Middle-
sex for examination, and finally committed from that
county ; and but for the provisions above referred to, it
would have been difficult to have framed the case, to
have freed it from technical objections. It rests also
with the Judges at the Central Criminal Court to say,
whether a convict shall be executed in the county where
the alleged offence is committed, or in Middlesex ; and
as Lord Denman, in passing sentence, merely mentioned
" a place of execution," the convict will be executed at
the Old. Bailey, and not at llorsemonger-lane. After
sentence, the Sheriffs now have it in their discretion,
not, however, exceeding a period of twenty-one days, to
name the day when the execution shall take place, and
it is understood they have ordered the sentence to be
carried into effect on Monday next.

Since his condemnation, .G.Ood has never been left un-
attended either night or day. For the first two orthiee
days, 'he persisted in the truth of the extraordinary'
statements made by him after the trial, but it is under- •
stood that he has recently made some further disclosures,
modifying to a very considerable extent his former state-
ment ; but he still persists in asserting that this unhappy
woman came by her death by her own hand, and not by
any violence that was offered to her by another.
On his being asked to state the address of -the man
who sold matches, and who according to his
statement; took such an active part in the
awful business, he says that all he knows about hint is
that he lives somewhere in Brompton. It will be re-
membered that Greenacre told a story. similar, in many
respects, to this statement of Good's as to the mode in
which his victim came by her death, and that he subse-
quently gave several different versions of the story, and
that only a few hours before his execution he gave
another account of the alleged mode of death. It is
expected, however, that Good will yet declare what the
truth of the case really is, and it is said that he has made
an intimation to that effect tp the Chaplain, and also to
Mr. Cope, the Governor of Newgate.
It was at the suggestion of the Chief Justice that the
counsel for the prosecution forbore to examine the pri-
soner's son as a witness against him. All that he would
have been able to depose to, was the fact that the blue
bonnet belonged to the deceased, and that it was taken
by the prisoner to Susannah Butcher's, and as this was
clearly proved by other testimony, it was thought that
the painful spectac!e of a child being produced as witness
against its parent upon a trial of life and death, might be
spared.

Out of the twenty-seven bodies which remained
exposed in the cemetery of Mont Parnasse on Friday,
five were recognised betbre it was closed for the night
They were M, Paul de Driouville, of the rue Tronchet,
who was discovered by his brother, General Afontgarde;
M, Lepontois, of Lorient ; M. Lepontois, of the rue St.
Andre des Arts ; M. Auguste Lemaric, jun., of the
Place Belle Chasse ; and a young woman, named Edzer,
of the rue de hi Vielle Draperie. There have been tw•o
more deaths at the Hospitals—viz., a Mme. Vaillant, of
the rue de Bretagne, and M. Serus, who was registrar of
the Justice of the Peace at Toulon.