The Sun.
London, England, 1827-05-14 00:00:00

SINGULAR MURDER. •

(,Extract of a letter from Madrid, dated April 93.)
linal judgment has been given in the follow-
ing case, by the Chamber of Alcades de Castor
Corte, of Madrid

On the 26th June 1826, Pedro Froylan, a
gardener, and a married man, about thirty years
of age, came to the Alcade of the town of Aris-
collar, in the province of Toledo, and stated that
he had that morning found upon the side of the
road leading to Toledo, Anne Berbal, a young
girl, known in the country by the name of la
touta (the fool)—that she was covered with
wounds and blood, and to all appearance dead ;
that he had placed her body upon his ass, and
had come to inform the authorities of the cir-
cumstance. The Alcade ordered a physician to
examine the body, who soon discovered that life
was not extinct, and, after the necessary medi-
cinal aid, the girl recovered her senses. She had
received several wounds, the most severe of which
were about the chin and mouth. On being
questioned, it became evident that the unfor-
tunate girl had been deprived of the power of
articulation, by the cutting of her tongue across.
She, however, by signs, which could not be
misunderstood, indicated that an assault had
been committed on her, that she was afterwards
stabbed several times with a knife, dragged by
the hair of the head, and thrown into the place
where she was found, and that the time when the
-crime was committed was about eight o'clock
that morning. There being a great number of
persons present at this examination, she was
asked if amongst them she could discover the
person who had maltreated her ? she replied in
the negative by a nod of her head. Shortly after,
there came into the room, drawn thither by curio-
sity, Antonio Froylan, the brother of Pedro
Froylan, who had found her on the road side.
She was asked if he was the person ; she made
a sign that he was not, but it was observed that
she kept her eyes fixed on him with the most in-
tense
expression, as if indicating that he was
in some way or other connected with the circum-
stance. This peculiarity led the Alcade to re-
mark the conduct of Pedro Froylan, who had
kept walking up and down, at the other ex-
tremity of the Chamber, and had not once ap-
proached the unfortunate girl. He was then
ordered to come near, but gave some frivolous
excuse. He was, however forced to approach
her, and the moment she saw him she became
most violently agitated, and before any question
was put to her she pointed him out with her
finger, and by signs intimated that he was the
person who had so brutally maltreated her. An
examination which the parties then underwent,
left no doubt as to the facts mentioned, and
afforded the strongest presumption of the
perpetration of the crime by Pedro Froylan.
No knife or other instrument with which the
wounds could have been inflicted was found
upon his person, and he even denied having
possessed one. However, a search having been
made near the place where the girl was found, a
knife, stained with blood, was discovered, which
several persons swore they had seen in the pos-
session of Pedro Froylan. The prisoner denied
all knowledge of the crime, and persisted in his
first declaration to the Alcade, that he had found
the girl wounded and senseless on the road side.
On the 29th of June the unfortunate girl ex-
pired, and criminal proceedings were soon after
commenced against Pedro Froylan, but, with
the usual dilatory march of justice in Spain, the
judgment—finding him guilty, and condemning
him to be hanged—was not given till the 18th
of December. The case was then referred for
revisal to the Chamber. of Alcades de Casa y
Corte, of Madrid ; which tribunal, on the 12th
of March, confirmed the sentence, and ordered
the prisoner for execution. He has since paid
the forfeit of his crimes. The evening before
his execution, being in Capilla (in the con-
demned chapel), he confessed his guilt, but de-
clared that, after the commission of the first
crime, he had no intention of murdering Anne
Berbal, until she threatened to tell the Cure of
what had taken place. But it was only then
that he stabbed her, and thinking her to be dead,
he, to remove suspicion from •himself, brought
the body to the Alcade.

THE WAKEFIELDS.---..0n Friday night, Ed-
ward Gibbon Wakefield and William Wakefield
arrived at Manchester on their way to London to
receive sentence. They were accompanied by
Mr. Higgins, the governor of Lancaster gaol,
and a turnkey. They remained in Manchester
all night, and set off on Saturday morning at
nine o'clock. It had been whispered about that
they were to go by the mail, and a great con-
course of people had assembled to get a glimpse
of them, but Mr. Higgins, in compliance with
the request of the Wakefields, procured a hack-
uey-coach, in which they drove as far as Long-
sight (about two miles from Manchester), where
they met the mail,