The Sun.
London, England, 1842-04-08 00:00:00

7111: SUNi LONDON, fitIDAY "•EVI_ININO, APRIL 8, 1842

CRIMINAL COURT.—(THIS DAY.)
OLD COURT,
Alexander Francis Baillie Nicholson, aged 31, postman,
was i"diet....:4; tor stealing three post letters containing money,
sie being at the time employed in the Post-office.
The Attorney-General, Mr. Adolphus, and Mr. Sheppard
appeared for the prosecution, and Mr. Clarkson defended the
prisoner.
It appeared that the prisoner was engaged in the Pest-office
for the purpose of taking the letters from the stampers' table to
the sorters' table. On the Ist March last the prisoner
was observed to select three letters from a bundle which had
been stamped, and which were lying on the stampers' table.
The prisoner was given into custody, and searched, and the
three letter s were found upon him, all of which contained money.
Mr. CbARKSON addressed the Jury for the prisoner, and
observed that the case was too clear and plain for hint to ad-
vance any defence upon it. He should however call witness?s,
who would prove that the prisoner was subject to fits of in-
sanity, and that he had on several occasions attempted suicide.
On one occasion the prisoner had hanged himself with a pocket
handkerchief, and it was with the utmost difficulty that anima-
tion had been restored. On another occasion the prisoner had
attempted suicide by cutting his throat. The witnesses would
further state that the prisoner's father, his brother, and his
sister, had all died by their own hands. He (Mr. Clarkson)
stated these facts, and would call witnesses to substantiate
them, for the purpose of mitigation of punishment; and lie
hoped, and felt confident that they would receive the fullest
consideration of the Jury and the Court.
The prisoner's sister•in-law, together with ether witnesses,
were then ca:led, all of whom corroborated the statement of the
Learned Counsel.

The Learned JUDGE then summed up the evidence, and the
Jury immediately returned a verdict of Guilty.
Mr. Justice ERSKINE then addressed the prisoner in a very
impressive manner, and said that for the sake of public justice,
and as a warning to others, it became absolutely necessary to
inflict a most severe penalty. He earnestly entreated the pri-
soner, wherever he should be placed, to wait with patience till
that time when the Almighty should in the course of nature
deem it fit to call him hence. It appeared that the prisoner
had been providentially saved from self-destruction on more than
one occasion, and it was by the merest chance that be was not
then standing before that awful tribunal, to which we must all
one day go, and there receive the doom that awa ted that
crime which the Almighty had screxpre3sly forbidden. His
Lordship, in concluvion, intimated that it was not probable the
full sentence of the Court would be carried into effect, but
still it was necessary that that sentence should be passed in
order that it might act as a warning to others. The sentence
of the Court was that the prisoner be transported beyond the
seas to such parts as her Majesty should, with the advice of
her Privy Council, think fit, for the term of his natural life.

ELECTION COMMITTEES.
(THIS DAY.)
WIGAN.
The Committee met at Eleven o'clock.
The vote ofJohn Caterall was retained on the petitioner's poll.
Mr. HILDYASD then said that, in consequence of the reso-
lutions to which the Committee had come, he would waive his
privilege to place Mr. Crosse at the head of the poll, and called
upon Counsel for the petitioners to place Mr. Standish and
Mr. Grenfell, if they intended so to do, above Mr. Greenall
the highest on the poll of the sitting Members.
Mr. AUSTEN said that the usual practice was that the
sitting Member, when placed lowest en the poll, should seek to
re-establish his position on it, and that if Mr. Hildyard
d.d not mean to place Mr. Crosse in his position at the head of
the poll, he should withdraw him altogether.
The room was elzared, and on our entering, the Chairman
said that the Committee decided 'that the scrutiny on the part
of the petitioners should be proceeded with.
John Warrington was then objected to by the Counsel for the
petitioners on the ground of change of occupation.
The vote was under the consideration of the Committee when
we went to press.

HORRIBLE MURDER AND MUTI-
LATION oP A FEmALE.
the following tire additional particulars Of the horrible miff-
der of which we gave a brief accOunt yesterday issz.
On Wednesday night, a murder of a most appalling fiatitfe;
and which, in the annals of crime, has only been equalled in
atrocity by that of Hannah Brown by Greenacre, and that of
Mr. Pass at Leicester, was discoVered to have been committed
in Surrey. The scene of the tragedy is on Putney-heath, In
the hamlet of Roehampton, oti the preitiises of Qiielet Shiell,
Esq., Granard Lodge, Roehampton-lane, or otherwise Pinney
Park-lane, a bye-road, running out of the road from Putney
to Roehampton,, and about a mile and a half from the former
village. Who the unfortunate female is Who has been the vic-
tim of the murderer's violence is et present unknown, but the
individual who is suspected of having perpetrated the deed is a
man named Daniel Good, who for the iast two years has filled
the situation of coachman in Mr. Shiell's establishment, and
who has absconded. The discovery of the occurrence was first
made between ten and eleven o'clock on Wednesday night.
It appears that about half-past eight o'clock on Wednesday
evening, Daniel Good drew up with a four-wheeled pony-
chaise, belonging to his master, at the ci of Mr. Columbine,
a pawnbroker, residing in High-street, Wandsworth, and asked
to look at a pair of black knee-breeches, which he stated he
wanted to purchase. He agreed to purchase them, and, being
known to Mr. Columbine, he departed with them without pay-
ing for them. As he quitted the shop a lad, who is in Mr. Co-
lumbine's employ, observed him to take off the counter a pair of
black trousers, and put them under the flap of his great coat,
and, on reaching the chaise, place them with the breeches under
the cushions of the seat. The lad immediately communicated
the circumstance to Mr. Columbine, who ran to the door, and
asked Good if he had not made a mistake, and put a pair of
black trousers up with the black breeches he had just pur-
chased? Good replied that he had not, and instantly drove
off, before Mr. Columbine could search the chaise, or give the
delinquent into custody. Mr. Columbine then lost no time in
acquainting the police on duty of the robbery, and police con-
stable William Gardiner, V accompanied Mr. Columbine's
lad, and a young man named Robert Speed, in the emp'oy of
Mr. -Cooper, a grocer, residing next door to Mr. Columbine,
immediately proceeded to Roehampton, to the residence of Mr.
Shiell, for the purpsse of apprehending Good.:
The policeman, Gardiner, states, that on reaching Roes
hampton-lane, they first went to the dwelling-house of Mr.
Shiell, which is quite distinct, and nearly a quarter of a mile
distant from the farm where the stables are situated, where
they inquired if the coachman ( meaning Good) had come
home, and were told by the footman that he did not know, but
they could ascertain by going to the stables. On reaching the
gate of the farm, Gardiner thought it prudent to keep in the
background, and allow Speed to ring the bell, not wishing to
alarm Good, should he answer the ring, which, as it happened,
was the case. On Good opening the gate, Speed inquired if
the coachman had come home, when Good replied, " I am the
coachman." The policeman then went forward and told him
that he had directions to take him into custody on a charge of
sealing a pair of trousers from the shop of Mr. Columbine, at
Wandsworth. Good, with the utmost apparent coolness, said,
" Indeed ? why yes, 1 bought a pair of breeches teem Mr. Co •
lumbine, but I have not paid him for them yet, and I will give
you the money we agreed on, and you can pay him for them."
Gardiner told him that was a question he was not autho-
rised to enter into, as the charge upon which he apprehended
him was of a felonious nature. Good then said—" Very well,
I will then go with you to Wandsworth, and settle with Mr.
Columbine," but Gardiner told him he must first search the
chake with which he had been to Mr. Columbine's shop, and
the stabling, to see if he could find the stolen trowsers. Good
offered no objection, and the stable having been searched with-
out effect, they went towards another, when Good immediately
stood with his back against the door, Gardiner told him he was
determined to search that stable also, upon which Good said—
" Oh no, we had better go at once to Wandsworth, and get the
matter settled." At that juncture Mr. Oughton, Mr. Sheill's
bailiff and gardener, whose residence closely adjoins the
stables, hearing a loud talking, came out of his house,
and walked up to the spot, and inquired what was the matter.
Gardiner told him that lie had taken Good into custody upon
a charge of felony, at which Mr. Oughton appeared very
much surprised, and insisted on Gardiner searching the stable
in question. They all then went in, viz., Good, Mr. Oughton,
Gat diner, Speed, and Mr. Columbine's lad, and on entering.
Gardiner desired Speed and the lad to stand by Good
for the purpose of keeping him in charge while he (Gardiner)
prosecuted his search. After be had searched two of the stalls
and the hay-racks, Gardiner examined the coin-bins, and while
doing so Good exhibited g, eat uneasiness, and pressed most
urgently that he should at once be taken to Wandsworth, that
he might settle the matter. Gardiner, however, declared that
he would not leave until he had made a diligent examination of
the place, and missing the third stall in which two ponies were
placed, proceeded to search the fourth stall, which was at the
further extremity of the stable, and very dark, and appeared to
be filled with a number of trusses of hay. On removing two of
the trusses, he found that there was a quantity of loose hay
underneath, and when he had removed that he discovered some-
thing which appeared to him to be a dead pig. He immediately
exclaimed, " What's this?" and at the same instant Good
rushed out of the stable, shutting the door after him, and before
Gardiner or his companions could collect themselves suffici-
ently to prevent him, Good succeeded in locking them in on
the outside, and taking out the key, which was subsequently
found in a shrubbery near the spot. He then effected his
escare. Speed immediately endeavoured to break open the
door, in which he was assisted by Gardiner, &c., but, expe-
riencing great difficulty in doing so, they all proceeded to exa-
mine what it was that Gardiner had found secreted. On a
more close examination, it was found to be the trunk of a human
body, which had been divested of the head, arms, and legs.
It was lying with the back upwards ; and, when turned over
by Speed, was discovered to be the trunk of a female, and the
abdomen was found to have been cut open, and the entrails,
&c. extracted. Renewed effors were immediately ma !e to
break open the stable-door, in which they were shortly success-
ful. Gardiner then dispatched the lad to acquaint the police on
duty in the neighbourhood with the finding of the body, and
the escape of Good, with a view to his recapture.
On the arrival of Inspec or Bicknell at the stables, Mr.
Shillan, of High-atreet, who is the divisional surgeon of
the police was sent for. Mr. Shillito being from honie,
Mr. Allen, his assistant, examined the body, and found that
the head had been taken off at about the third or fourth
cervical vertebras, apparently after death had been caused.
The right arm had also been taken off above the shoulder jiiint,
and the left arm under the shoulder joint ; :through the chest
were two incisions. The legs had also been taken off just be-
low the head of the thigh-bone. The whole of the cuts through
the flesh had been evidently made by a very sharp Matt ument,
the edges being remarkably clean, while the bones had, on the
contrary, been divided by being hacked or chopped with some
blunt instrument, the edges being much jagg-d. The stomach,
as well as the whole of the intestines, the liver; uterus, &c.,
had been removed, and were, like the head, arms, and legs,
now here to be found. In the opinion of Mr. Allen, which was
yesterday confirm, it by Mr. Shillito, the injury by which death
was caused must have been inflicted on the herd of the victim,
there being not the slightest mark or wound on the back or
front. of the body.
In the opinion of the surgeons the body is that of a female
from 24 to 26 years of age, and from the appearance of the
body it is considered the unfortunate woman had never been a
a mother, but whether or not she was enceinte at the time of
her death could not be determined, the uterus, &c. being
removed.
During the time occupied by the examination of the body,
Sergeant Palmer, V 6, was attracted by a strong and very
disagreeable smell, to the harness room, which adjoined the
stable in which the body had been found.. The door was found
to be locked, and, upon its being opened, the stench was most
overpowering. He observed a pile of wood in the fireplace,
where there was no stove, and found that the pile had been
laid ready for gnition as follows : —Two blocks of wood formed
the base, about foot and a half apart ; across those blocks
were two bars of iron transversely placed at either end, and
' upon that other wood had been placed with coal, the object of
thus forming it being evidently to secure a quick vent, similar
to that of a furnace. Having carefully removed the material
of the pile, Palmer discovered a quantity of ashes, chiefly
wood ashes, and, in examining them, he discovered among
them a number of fragments of human bones, in a highly cal-
cined state, and on their being show., to Mr. Shilli o and
Mr. Allen, they at once declared them to be portions of the
skull, arm, and thigh bones, and bones of the fingers, &c , of
a human body.
The horrible occurrence, as may be supposed, has thrown
the family of Mr. Shiell into a state of the most painful dis•
tress. Mr. and Mrs. Shiell are, it is understood, aged
persons, and were on the eve of removing from Granard
Lodge, which has been disposed of. Mr. Shiell, who is
stated to be an East Indian mereha it, is at present from home.
Granard Lodge was formerly the residence of Sir Thomas
Farquhar, Bart.
As speedily as possible after the discovery of the murder,
Mr. Bicknell, the superintendent of the V division, forwarded
the following description of the supposed murderer, by route,
to all the station-houses of the metropolitan and city police
force V, or Wandsworth division, April 6, 1842. Ab-
sconded, at half-past nine o'clock this evening, from Mr.
Shiell's, Putney Park-lane, Daniel Good, the coachman. He
is an Irishman, about fifty years old, of dark complexion, and
dark eyes ; was dressed in a dark frock coat, breeches and
gaiters, and black hat ; his height about five feet six inches.
He is suspected of having murdered a female, whose body was
found in the stable."
Soon after daybreak Sergeant Palmer, 6 V, recommenced
his search, and in turning up some hay in the stall, next to
where the trunk was found, he discovered a large quantity of
blood. This apparently was the place where the unfortunate
woman was murdered, and from thence dragged Into the next
stall, which is wider, for the better convenience of the fiend
whilst engaged in severing the body into separate portions.
Sergeant Palmer afterwards ex-mined the stable still more
minutely, and found hid under some straw in one of the man-
gers, a mattress, two blankets, and a sheet.
Inspector Busain succeeded yesterday morning in finding a
large carpenter's axe in the harness room, with which, no
doubt, the murder was committed, for the pole was covered
with blood. He also found a small hand-saw, which was also
covered with blood.
About one o'clock police constable 90 V, accompanied by
Thomas Turnbull, a labourer, was examining the hedges and
ditches in the immediate neighbourhood of the stables, when
the latter found a small lantern, something similar to those
used in the police force, in the middle of one of the hedges.
Upon being brought to the stables the gardener at once iden-
tified it as belonging to Good, and said that he could not have
left in his flight, as he had with him no lantern when they
were making the search, the only light in the piece being held
by Gardiner.
During the forenoon Sergeant Palmer ascertained that
Good, after locking the door of the stable upon the policeman
and the others, ran into the lane, passed the frontage of the
stables and the gardener's house, and clambering a high wooden
fence, made his way over a field towards Putney. In his flight
he had broken off a piece of paling, and his footsteps were
plainly discernable in the soft earth half way across the field.
It is a somewhat remarkable fact that Mr. Paynter, one of
the sitting Magistrates at Wandsworth, observed to a friend as
he was coining into that town to perform his judicial functions,
that he had that clay been a twelvemonth acting as Magistrate
at Wandsworth, and had never had a serious charge brought
before him, which circumstance afforded him extreme satisfac-
tion. The worthy Magistrate had, however, hardly taken his
seat upon the Bench before he was informed of the above
dreadful occurrence.
Many statements were made in the course of the day at the
spot as to the victim.
Mr. Gough, a farmer, living at Putney, and the gardener to
Mr. Bainbridge, a county Magistrate and brewer in Wands-
worth, stated that they were in the parlour of the Spotted
Horse, Roehampton, together, about seven o'clock on Thurs-
day evening last, when they saw the man Good and a young
woman enter. Good was well known to both of them, the
young woman was not. They had some grog together, and
appeared to be courting. Goad tried to get a wedding ring off
the young woman's finger, but the latter said, " No, you shall
not have it except with my life." She then told him she had
lost a brooch which he had given to her, and Good said "I value
that brooch much, and I gave it to you because I thought you
would have kept it." Some angry words afterwards ensued,
but ultimately they went away together quite amicably. Gough
and the other man understood that the young woman was going
to Woolwich the next day, but they could not say whether she
went or not.
Amongst the persons the police found upon the premises
when they took possession of them was a boy about eleven
years of age, who stated that he was the son of Z3ood, and had
beers brought there on Monday last by his- father. For the
last two years he had been living at No. 18, Soath-street, Man-
chester-square, with a woman whose name he did not know,
but whom his father knew very well, and called his sister. On

DREADFUL SurclDE.—Yesterday, Lieutenant C.
E. Thierry, of the Navy, committed suicide, by cutting his
threat, at his lodgings, No. 40, Long-lane, Bermondsey. On
the preceding day the deceased summoned his wife to Union-
hall for destroy ng some articles a crockery, and on that occa-
sion bad feeling seemed to exist between them. The deceased
left the Court with two of his friends,. and as he appeared to
be under excited feelings, they advised him not to return to his
lodgings that itieit, but to sleep either at his brother's, or at
a hotel, and which he, on parting xith them, promised to do.
Instead, however, of following the advice, it appears he went
home, and at six o'clock yesterday morning the landlady heard
the parlour doer open, and heard the deceased exclaim in a
I Aid voice, "I am gone, I am gone." She hastened to the
room, and was shocked on seeing the deceased lying on the
sofa with his throat cut; and a surgeon being sent for he was
pronounced to be quite dead. Mill ray, a policeman attached
to Union. hall, went to the house soon after the act was perpe-
trated, but he found no person there but the landlady—neither
the deeeased's wife nor her mother being present. From
Murray's account It seems the deceased must have sat up the
whole of the night writing, for on the table in the room several
letters were found addressed to his friends, and also a paper
expressing his wishes as to the disposition of his property. In
the course of yesterday Mr. Cottingham was made acquainted
with the death of the unfortunate gentleman by two of his
friends, who waited upon him for that purpose; and in speaking
of him, they said he was One of the most honourable minded
men, and that the conduct pursued towards him by those who
ought to hue treated hini far differently, had led to the fatal act.
TUE Fon'alStiN OF HECTOR O'HALLORAN. By
W. H. MAXWELL, Esq., Author of " STORIES OF WATER-
LOO, &c,—Let " Harry Lorrequer," alias "Charles O'Malley,"
alias " hulk Hinton," tremble for his popularity, as a formid-
able rival, iti the person of " Hector O'Halloran " has entered
boldly into the lig', determined to divide with him his empire
over the affections of the public. We have great doubts if his
man, with the Homan prefix to his fiirttily name, will not mere
than prove A match for that crabbed individual, cross " Corny
Denehy," et,servant to the defunct " Jidge," arid now fol-
lower of his rollicking descendant. The story is well, simply,
and happily opened in an old eaatle on the wild coast of Done-
gal, and in the troubled year of our Lord, 1795—a year when
gentlemen wearing white shirts took especial delight in paying
nocturnal visits to mansions suspected of possessing private ar-
mouries. Oar hero is the son of a true soldier, one who smelt
powd,r and saw bullets fly; and before the 31ctpigecloscs, has
set Ott for the camp himself, and —but no, we shall not betray
what happened to him on the way, as the legitimate curiosity
of the reader tray be gratified at the small expense of One
Shilling. It would be quite absurd were we to offer any com-
ments on the style of the gifted author of " The Stories of
Waterloo." It would be "to paint the lily,"—the quotation
is old, but the application is happy in this instance.— Cork Ex.
aminer.