Star.
London, England, 1813-09-18 00:00:00


neoind on inspection, no doubt . was entertainer
t the deceased 11;4 met his death by wounds in-'
'cued with some heavy instrument. There were
and tear the pond a hat and a shoe, and some time
fterwards a pocket-knife, with a black handle, the;
ladeeblunted at the point. To the attention of thel
ury he particularly recommended this last mentioned*
strument. The hat bore the marks of having beet&
lolently struck, as it was cut in. two or three places,
d those cuts were distinguished by,marks of whiting
r lime, as itthe instrument with which. the blows,
bad- been gfßit had been covered with some such
material.. The body, and the things which -were
Found near it, were removed to the Prince Regent
public-house, in Gray's-inn-lane, for the purpose of
being owned. Having now stated the discovery of
e body of the deceased, before he proceeded to re-
ate any of the cirournstances which went to involve
elite of the prisoner at the bar, he begged to state
nature of the intercourse which had existed be-
ween the parties. He did understand that the wife
of the prisoner and Mrs Clifford, alias Mrs. Burke,
or such was her real Ilan*, as it wculd hereafter ap.
!le
pear, mere acquainted. IYhen Clifford came from
Ireland, he.solsi some little property, of which he was
poisessed in that country, and brought the produce
of it in Bank of England notes to Londcn. Of which
fact it would be proved the prisoner had obtained ia-
fbrmation. After having lodged for. a short time,
as he had already stated, in Leary's room, the de-
-1 ceased, with his family, removed to their new apart-
ment, and all intercourse between them and Leary

had ceased for about a month. On Saturday, the
24th of July, however, Leary called at the lodgings
of Clifford, and said he should be enabled to pro-
cure work for him on the Monday following; CH-
' ford was not then 4 home ; but when he did come
in, Mrs. Burke acquainted him with Leary's call.—
The nett morning (Sunday) Clifford arose early, and
left his wife asleep. She awoke about seven o'clock
and missed him, and supposing from what she had
told him on the night before, that he had gone to
Leary's, she begged of a man named Slattery, who
t lodged in the same room with her and her family, to
go with her and shew her the way to the house in
which they lived. He did so, and they went to
Leary's. She saw Leary and 'his wife, and asked
k where her husband was? They said he would be in
Immediately, and he did so come in. She asked him
•to go home, and he said he would after he had bought
411 hat. She then accompanied him to a Jew's of the
same of Hyam B irnett, where he purchased a hat. He
(Mr. Andrews) believed he should be able to prove
that Leary was present when the hat was bought ;
but he should certainly' make it clear, that Leary had
that morning asked Mrs. Burke. whether she or her
husband carried the money ? Mrs. Burke, her hus-
band, and Slattery, after this returned home, and re-
mained al home till five o'clock in the afternoon, at
which hour they dined. While at dinner Leary and
his wife palled upon them, and partook of some re-
freshment. It was proposed to send for some liquor,
and Leary proposed that the quantity should be in-
creased, and it was so. There was in the room at
this time a witness, whom he should call, of the name
of Champion, a distant relation of Mrs. Burke's. be-
side Slattery. At seven o'clock the deceased seemed
desirous of ..zalking nut, and he went out with Leary
and his wife. Mrs. Burke excused herself from ac-
companying them, and Mrs. Champion and Slattery
shortly afterwards went away together, leaving Mrs;
Burke alone. As Clifford did not return, Mrs. Burke,
knowing that he had drank freely, became uneasy-,
and she went to the lodgings of Leary to look for
him. On arriving there she found Leary and his.
wife whispering on the stairs, and on asking where
was Clifford ? they said •up stairs. She begged he
might be called, and he came down to her. She
begged he would accompany her home; which he
agreed to do. At thin time he was very tipsey. As
they went away, Leary thought proper to follow
them; and here (ofilerved Mr. Andrews) was the
commencement of that conduct which went directly
to prove the motives by which Leary was actuated 111
his previous conduct. As they went along, Leary
said he would provide winrk. for Clifford by Monday,
and added, it was necessary he should go to his mas-
ter that night. After this declaration, it would be
proved that he took the deceased into different public
houses, where he invited him to drink, and paid for
the liquor which the unfortunate man drank, but did
not drink hintsr#: Leary and Clifford then proceeded
at so quick a pace,, that Mrs. Burke, who was in an
advanced state of pregnancy, could not keep pace
with them, and they lett her near the end of Gray's
Inn-lane. After this she pursued her course towards
her own house, imagining that Leary had taken ker
husband to his master's, as he had said he would',
She arrived at home about ten o'clock, but.elid not
find that either Leary or Clifford had been there.—
She. looked up at the window, and seeing no candle
she procured one at a chandler's shop opposite, and
entered her room. She found Slattery in bed, and
her five children. She asked the children if their
father had been at home, and they answered in the
ofrative. Sne sat herself down on the side tif the
bed until past eleven, when she became uneasy that
her husband did not return. She smoked a pipe, a
custom very common in Ireland, and then went to
bed. She could obtain no rest, and at three o'clock,
finding her husband did not come back, she resolved
to get up and go to Leary's, in search off him, On
her arrival at theiriodgings, she found what would
strike any person as very extraordinary. The key of
Leary!: roonr-dOor was on the outside, and the door
IkOs rocked.. She, however; unlocked it, and asked
ft Leary was at home ? Mrs. Leary, who was at
bottle, answered in the negative, and said he was
gone out to work. Mrs. Burke then proceeded back
to her own lodgings, in her way searching some
public-houses in Sc. Gilees, but still unable to find
the object of her search. All this he (Mr. Andrews)
bad collected from this unhappy woman's own srate.
karst ; 'and she would also state most positively, that
from the' time she hod pasted with Leary and Clif-
ford on the Sunday evening, at ten o'clock, she did
not: see him until she saw him a corpse. Leary hay-
log told-her that her husband intended to go to Ire-
land; and leave her, she began to fear that this threat
tad' been carried into efecution ; and it would fit
fonnd that on the Monday morning previous to the
discovery of the minder, she liras consulting with
:Mrs. Chanipion, her relation; -ate to-the best mode oi
following him thither ; and was going out with the.
intention of ruin a pass for purposes when

. .
• •
1 Mrs. Singlehati, her landlady, who had hem! °MIL
fctrd - 1
's death, prevented ter fronsao doing, anctseinsetly
,:terwards the dreadful event wateitnade known to her.
It (continned Mr.,Andreivs) Mrs. Clifford, tomboy
examination, the attention of the Court would be
ticularly directed, spoke the truth, there could be
no doubt that she.. had _left hie husband last in the'
company of Leary, when she,saw hint pp.*, skip
before the murder, and. it wrhuld be equally certatty
that the Prisoner had made partially inquiriesof her
sto whether she-or. Clifford kept put money, which
halted ascertained they had, His motives for so
,doing .it would be for the Jusy todetetmine. That
Mrs, Clifford was 'a witness. to whom implicit, credit
could be given, he would not state, because she had',
concealed the truth in one or two instances. 111, one
she had asserted she was the wife of the deceased,.
and in the other she had stated she had no money in
her possession, when it would be proved that she had-,
a private purse, unknown to Clifford; and was -not
his wife. Having stated, these blemishes in Mrs.
Burke's conduct, he could not give her character the
highest name ; yet, he contended, that these facts did
not go to impeach her testimony on other heads, 'the
more especially when the whole tenour of the Pri-
soner's conduct was observed, both before and after
the murder. His invitation to a. man, already ad-
vanced
in intoxicationa to drink more; his abstaining
himself from drinking; his invitation to a Irwin man
to go of a Sonday evening to seek employments and''
his anxiety to know whether that drunken man had
money in his possession or not, were all highly susl
picious circumstances. Added to this was the fact
of his having confessed he knew the errand of the of.
ficers who went to apprehend him, although they'
had not stated to him what that errand was. When
they asked for his master, Mr. Helstone, he said
they did not come for his master, but for hint, on
account of the murder of Clifford. Was this the
conduct of an innocent man ? did this evince the pos-
session of a mind perfectly at ease ? Then again
came the discovery of the knife found at the edge of
the pond, near the body of the deceased. This knife,
it would be proved, was the property of the prisoner,
and was acknowledged by him so to be. To all'
which might be added, the • voluntary confessions
made by the prisoner before the Magistrat-. In the
first of these, he declared, " that on the Sunday night
preceding the murder, as he was cording out of the
Union public-house with Clifford and his wife, he
met Slattery and anotheranan, who went with Clif-
ford ; he then returned home, and on his way met
Mrs. Clifford, 'but did not speak to her; he was at
home at ten o'clock ; he remained at home till half-
past five the next morning." On this he (Mr. An.-
drews) would beg to make an observation : he would
ask, why be passed Mrs. Clifford, with whom he
was so intimate, knowing' her anxiety about her hus-
band, without speaking to her ? But even if this ,
were true, how came he to make a statement totally
different at another time ? Fortunately for the ends
of justice, he did make such a statement, by which,
if possible, he rendered his crime more atrocious, by
endeavouring to stigmatize the unfortunate widow
or companion of the deceased with the foul deed of
which he was himself accused. It the original con-'
confession were true, it was the best defence he could
make, and afforded him the fullest opportunity of
vindicating his character. He did not, however,
choose to abide by that fabrication, but had recourse
to a new one, and made a second voluntary confes-
sion, which was to the following effect :•••44 On the
Sunday morning," he said, " Clifford, the deceased,'
came to his room, and said he wanted to get away
from his wife (Mrs. Burke) that night. He lay down
on some chairs, and he (Leary) covered him with
some blankets. Between. eight and nine o'clock Mrs.
Clifford came and asked if her husband was there ?
He (Leary) said he was just gone out. but 'wool•!
be in in a minute."—Here, certainly, observed Mr.
Andrews, the tale of Mrs. Clifford 'and Leary's
agreed.—" Clifford did return, when he and his wife
quarrelled. She accused him of intending to go to
Ireland and leave her. To pacify her, he offered/
her a handkerchief in exchange for his great coat. ,
She was extremely angry, and refused to give it to
him. He (Clifford) then attempted to throw him-
-1 self out of the window, but was_ prevented by him
(Leary) and Mss.-Clifford. Mrs. Clifford said she
would follow him to Ireland, and asked Leary and
his wife to come to her lodgings in the afternoon' to
buy their furniture. They did accordingly go, be.
tween six and seven o'clock. Slattery was there, but,
nothing was said about the furniture, deceased and
his wile appearing to be good friends." It was rather
extraordinary, remarked Mr. Andrew., if they went
for the purpose of purchasing the furniture. that they
said not one word about it. The confession then
went on to 'state, 44 that Leary and his wife talked
of going home. They had previously been drinking.
Clifford went down stairs with them, and as they
were going home (to Leary's lodgings) they met
a man named Harrington, at Griffiths's public.
house."—Did he meet Harrington ? said Mr. An-,
drews—if he did, that fact was capable of prof."--
" Clifford then went home with Leary, and had
something to eat. Here he was found by Mrs. Clif-
ford, who quarrelled with him, and they went out
together; Leary went with them. They went to
the Union public house; in Union-court, and from
thence to another public house."—And now, conti-
nued Mr. Andrews, came a most important circum-
stance to the unhappy man at the bar, inasmuch as
it was an attempt on his part to throw the %talc off
himself on the unhappy woman who survived. His
confession proceeded to state, 44 that as they were
drinking some beer in the latter public house, he felt
a stick in her bosom. Of this he took no notice.”—
Was it an unusual thing, asked Mr. Andrews, to
, find a stick in such a place, at such a time—if it
was, why did not the prisoner take notice of it ? He
would go on with the confession, hdwevere." They
(meaning the deceased, Leary, and Mrs. Clifford)
set out towards Gray's Inn-line e Mrs: Clifford com-
plained of being ill, and said she did not wish to go
against the pct,ple (being in a state of pregnancy ),
and to avoid the crowd, asked them to go home across
the iquares." Was this probable ? them.
Clifford was
I K stranger iii town, and knew not scarce where she
was. It was not likely, therefore, that she should
make a proposition which her ignorance of the town
rtmdered impossible.—" At that time the watchman
was crying ten."—Was this consistent with the priso-
.:ner's first contes‘ion ? In that, he said he was home
At ten o'clock.—" He (I.4eary) wanted to leave them
at tine tend at- Gray's Inu-lane ; but Mrs. Clifford beg-