The Sun.
London, England, 1845-11-17 00:00:00

HORRIBLE MURDER.

UL MUTILATION OF TILE BODY.
STAFFORD, SATURDAY MORNING.—A most horrible mur-
der was perpetrated on Wednesday last, at a place called
Alsager's Bank, in the parish of Audley, in this county,
which, from the shocking circumstances connected with it,
has produced the greatest excitement throughout the county.
The name of the murdered man was Adolphus Fielding, 49
years of age, respectably connected, and lived in Stock-road,
Newcastle. He was a potter by trade, but his sight declining,
became a hawker in small wares.
The murderer is a stonemason, of the name of James
Dean ; he is a married man, separated from his wife, and
lived with another female. It appears that about noon on
Wednesday. Fielding went into the cottage where Dean
lived, who had been ill during the week, and had not been
at work. It does not appear that there was any one else in
the house at the time, excepting Dean's son, a little boy
five years of age. Shortly afterwards the woman who
cohabited with him was met in .the road by the child, who
told her that his father was beating the old man. On her
hastening to the cottage, to her great horror she saw through
the opened door the headless body of the unfortunate man
on the floor, deluged with blood, and Dean striking at
the head of the murdered man with an axe. The alarm
brought numbers to the spot, but, from the ferocious ap •
pearance of Dean, they were afraid to enter the
cottage. Seeing the crowd, Dean took up a portion
of the brains of his unhappy victim, and threw them at the
bystanders. A collier, named Scott, more resolute than the
rest, then attempted to secure him, and received several
wounds about the neck and face, Dean having armed him-
self with a pair of scissors and a knife. The infuriated man
then bolted the door, and having placed the head of his vic-
tim on the fire, commenced blowing it with the bellows. It
appearing to be the intention of the murderer to consume the
body, several people got on to the roof of the cottage, and by
pouring water down the chimney extinguished the fire.
They then stopped the chimney up, and the force of the
steam and smoke drove him to one of the upper rooms. The
street-door was then forcedby the villagers, and the extent of
the frightful tragedy was immediately apparent. The body
still remained on the floor, and the head, when taken off the
fire, was so burnt that it scarcely presented a human aspect.
During this time Dean stood at the top of the stairs, armed
with another axe of a larger size than that be had just used,
and repelled his assailants by brandishing it about, and
throwing bottles and other things that he could lay hands on
at them. Eventually, some policemen broke through the
roof, and rushed upon him as he was crouched in one corner
of the room. What with his blackened features with dust
and smoke, and his clothes thoroughly saturated in the blood
of his unhappy victim, he presented a spectacle perfectly
appalling. After very great resistance he was handcuffed,
and then conveyed to the " lock up" at Audley. At the in-
quest held on the body of poor Fielding, on Thursday last,
before Mr. Harding, the county coroner, the following evi-
dence was adduced :

Frances Maycock said she cohabited with Dean. Between
the hours of eleven and twelve o'clock on Wednesday last,
she left Dean and his little boy in the cottage. Had not
been gone more than five minutes when she met her son,
who cried out that his father was beating the old man. She
ran to the house, and on opening the door, saw Dean on the
floor with the body of the old man, whose head was off. He
did not appear to notice her, and she ran into the main road
and gave the alarm. The razor produced belonged to a
widow who owned the cottage in which they lodged. In the
early part of .the week she had noticed that his conduct was
very strange ; he appeared not to know what he was about.
William Scott, the collier, stated that he was passing the
cottage when his attention was drawn to a loud screaming.
The door being open he went in, and saw Dean cutting away
at the head of the deceased. He held the hair in his left
hand and was cutting at it with an axe-hammer with his
right hand. The next moment the head was severed from
the body. When Dean saw him he dropped The axe, and
took up a knife from a bench which was near him, and
pointed it to witness with a hissing noise. Haying got a rail
to defend himself, he returned, when he found Dean had armed
himself with a pair of scissors and a knife. Dean then came
up and stabbed him in the face and neck. In the struggle
they fell, and having recovered, he ran out of the house. lie
then assisted the police in breaking through the roof and
taking Dean into custody.
A police inspector having proved the finding of a shovel
and a pair of tongs with blood upon them, which showed
that those weapons had been used in the deadly affray,
Mr. C. Tait, surgeon, of Audley, said the head of the de-
ceased was taken off near the sLoulder ; the primary cause
of death was no doubt a fracture on the temple, which was
apparent.

All the witnesses being examined, the jury, after a short
consultation, returned a verdict of " Wilful Murder" against
the prisoner James Dean.
The prisoner, who was in the Court during the whole pro-
ceedings, and appeared quite unconcerned, was asked by the
Coroner if he wished to say anything ; he replied, with a
vacant stare, " I was not taking any notice."
On the Coroner telling him the verdict the jury had re-
turned, he said, " I have a good deal to say, but I have for-
got it ' • I did not want to kill him ; I did not kill any man,
did I?"

He was then removed in custody of the police to Stafford
gaol, to await his trial at the ensuing assizes.

SEDUCTION AND ATTEMPTED

SUICIDE OF A YOUNG FEMALE.

On Saturday a degree of considerable excitement pre-
vailed in the vicinity of Russell-street, Bermondsey, in con-
sequence of a young and handsome female named Mary Ann
Simmonds, aged seventeen years, the only daughter of
respectable parents residing in Edward-street, Star-corner,
Bermondsey, being removed from the parish workhouse of
St. Mary, Bermondsey' to the lunatic ward of Bethlehem Hos-
pital, St George's-fields, under the following distressing and
painful circumstances :
It appears from the following particulars which have
been furnished to the reporter, that the unfortunate
female was recently in the service of Mr. Davis, umbrella
and parasol manufacturer, residing in the Westminster-bridge-
road, Lambeth, where she bore an exceßent character for
her cleanliness and propriety of conduct, until a few days
since, when she became strange in her behaviour, which
was also attended by a lowness of spirits, and an evident at-
tack of insanity, which attracted the attention of the family.
After considerable difficulty, Mrs. Davis, who had always
been extremely kind to her, prevailed upon her to reveal the
cause of her unhappiness, which she at length consented to
do. She said that she had been keeping company with a
young man named " Charles," an engineer in the employ of
Messrs. Maudslay and Co., the engineers of, Westminster-
bridge .road. He was occasionally in the habit of meeting her
and taking her to a concert-room, in Charlotte-street, Black-
friars-road; that he had ruined her and promised her mar-
riage, and now had entirely forsaken her. Her mistress,
seeing the danger of her staying in service, communicated
with the parochial authorities connected with the parish of
St. Mary, Bermondsey, to which her parents belonged, the
result of which was, her immediate conveyance to the lunatic
ward of the above parish, whither she was taken on Thurs-
day night, and placed under the usual restraint. The
same night, about ten o'clock, whilst the back of her at-
tendant was turned, she succeeded in raising the window of
her apartment, and jumped into one of the neighbour's gar-
dens, from which she made her escape. Several persons pro-
ceeded instantly in pursuit of her, as she was without bonnet
or shawl, but no tidings were heard of her for nearly two
hours, when she was discovered by a City. police constable,
who first saw her on the centre of London-bridge, in the act of
leaping from one of the eastern recesses, but through the
ac-
tivity of the officer she was providently prevented, and was
subsequently conveyed back to the above workhorse,_ where
m
it was ultimately found necessary by
sur-
geonlli
to the parish, to obtain a certi
fic a rio rTh°evreYre9 the
ovalt to
Bethlehem Hospital, which was accordingly put in the hands
of Mr. Slow, one of the relieving officers of the parish, who
placed her in a cart, and conveyed her, at four o'clock on
Sunday afternoon, to that asylum. Her parents, who are
honest, hard-working people, are thus thrown into a state of
great trouble.

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CHARGE TO A Juay.—An able and Learned
Judge was once obliged to deliver the following charge to a
jury :—" Gentlemen of the Jury, in this case the counsel on
both sides are unintelligible—be witnesses are incredible—
and both the plaintiff and defendant are such bad cha-
racters, to me
it is indifferent which way you give your
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DEVIZES.—The Duke of Buckingham is reported
to have issued orders to stop all surveys over his estates
near Iladdesden. Surveying operations have been put an
end to by main force, and the fieldsmen hav 0.9 return. to
own for further orders.—Wiltshire Independent.