Star.
London, England, 1823-11-10 00:00:00

MURDER OF MR. WEAN:.
Saturday being the day appointed for the re-examina-
(inn of Thomas Noyes, Miss Noyes, and Mrs. Probert,
those individuals were conveyed from St. Alban's gaol
es two post-cliaises and a gig to the house of Mr. Clutter-
buck, at Watford. They arrived about ten o'clock, and
the examination immediately commenced. Three wit-
nesses—namely, Silver a publican ; Butler, an ostler;
and Biggs,
a servant-girl—were severally called in be-
forethe Magistrates and examined. Our Reporter having
been refused admittance to the room in which the exa-
mination eras carried on, we cannot state with certainty
the name of the evidence which these persons gave:
but we understand that it applied principally to the con-
duct of Probert after the murder. They were bound
over to appear as witnesses on the trial.
A state i.ent having appeared in a Sunday Paper,
purporting to be the deposition of Mrs. Probert, which
v.,e had reawn !o believe was in many respects incorrect,
ve have been at some pains to obtain the true substance
of her account from an authentic source.
When first taken before the- Magistrate she betrayed
great agitation, and expressed the strongest reluctance
to make any statement at all. She declared she knew,
nothing about the matter, and could not, therefore, give
any information; but upon being pressed, and warned
of the consequences that might accrue to herself and
those connected with her, she became more communi-
cative. She stated, that on the night in question, her
husband and Hunt (the latter of whom had been there
heave) arrived in Mr. Probert 's gig ; and Hunt brought
a Sri of pork into the kitchen, desiring that it might
be cooked, and then returned to the stable. John
Thurtell arrived almost immediately after her husband
sal Hunt, and remained in the stable with them for
nearly three-cleaners of an hour, when they all three
came into the house. They had been seated but a few
minutes, when Hunt and Thurtell went into the yard,
and got the stable-lantern, with which they proceeded
through the garden, and out of sight. Her husband
remained behind. She thought all this was very sin-
gular, but took no notice at the time, because she knew
that Hunt and Thurtell were men of irregular habits,
and therefore supposed that they were only after some
lark as they termed it. When they returned, they ap-
peared in high spirits, and sat down and ate a hearty
supper, John Thurtell somewhat less so than hunt or
her husband, but he did eat a considerable quantity.
Hunt was by far* the most merry of the party, and was
once or twice betrayed into expressions of rather an in-
delicate kind, and was reproved by John Thurtell. He
sung several songs in a firm and uitembarrassed man-
ner. Soon after supper, Thurtell took out a very elegant-
lookire gold watch and seals, and they examined it, he
observing that it was a nice thimble (flash for a watch).
The Chain WAS not offered to her that night. Her sister,
Miss Noyes, retired to bed some time before she did.
She (Mrs. Probert) heard many remarks between Hunt
and Thurtell, which induced her to believe that some-
thing wrong. had been done, and when she went up
stairs, she partly undressed herself, and returned to the
stairs, placing herself as near to the bottom as she could,
so that she might, if posible, bear what passed. The
conversation was in so low a tone, that she could only
catch here and there a word. She heard a rustling of
paper, like that of Bank-notes, and heard something
heavy thrown into the fire. She then heard it proposed
that the three should " go and finish the job." Her hus-
band said something which she could not hear, and
Hunt and Thurtell went out together. She was sure
her husband did not go with them. She did not like to
venture down stairs, and returned to her room and
opened the window, in order to watch the return of
Mont and Thurtell. She had been standing there for
some time, when she observed a light approach from
Gill's-bill-lane and presently saw John 'flannel' and
Hunt enter the garden. Hunt had a light in one hand,
and with the other was assisting Thurtell in dragging,
along some heavy substance. She could not see what it
was, but it was something very heavy, and was enve-
loped in a sack. They went towards the fish-pond,
which is concealed from the view of a person in her
situation at the window, by a small shrubbery. They
were eat of her sight for about ten minutes, and then
she raw them return to the house, but the candle had
been put out. It was more than an hour after this, that
her husband came to bed. She told him she was sure
those men, meaning Hunt and Thurtetl, had been doing
something wrong : her husband, in an under tune, de-
sired her to make herself easy, for that there was nothing
the matter. He seemed much depressed in spirits. The
nest morning she renewed her enquiries as to the pro-
ceedings of the previous night, and he said that Hunt
and Thurtell had been snaring partridges, "and that
you know, my dear, (he added) is against the law, and
must be done secretly." Hunt and Thurtell breakfasted
with them in the morning, and then went away. On
the Sunday, they came down with Noyes, her brother ;
• and in the course of the evening, John Thurtell said he
bad a little thing in his pocket which he intended to
make a .present of to her (Mrs. Probert.) He then took
a gold chain from his pocket, and put it over her neck,
accompanying the action with this remark :—" This
chain was given to me by a favourite little Quakeress
of mine, at Norwich, and as I have done with her long
ago, I cannot do better than give it to Mrs. Probert, as
a token of my respect for her." (This chain she pro-
duced to the Magistrates.)
Mrs. Probert stated nothing else material. She was
questioned very close as to whether her husband had
not a greater share in the transaction than she admitted;
but she declared that she had told the whole truth.
Miss Noyes was next called in, and interrogated ; but
she protested an entire ignorance of the whole business,
and said she went to bed early, and therefore could give
no evidence of the conduct of the parties after supper.
Mr. Noyes, our Readers are aware, was apprehended
and taken down to Watford on Thursday. He was
taken before the Magistrates ; but in answer to their
questions lie professed a total ignorance of anything
connected with the business under enquiry. Bishop, the
officer, then suogested that perhaps an order for tae
committal of the prisoner would produce some effect;
and Mr. Clutterbuck desired that lie might be taken
away. When Bishop got out with him, lie wrung his
hands, cried, and said lie hoped he should not be corn-
mitted. Bishop told him he must make up his mind to
go to St. Alban's Castle; and he then said he should
like to see the Magistrates again. He was again con-
ducted into the room, and then stated, that in conver-
sation with his sister (Mrs. Probert), she told bun that
she saw Hunt, Thurtell, and her husband, dr aggiug the
body of a person across the grounds, and that Mr. Pro-
bert and Thurtell were the men who had hold of the
corpse, and Hunt merely held the candle. She also
stated '(to him), that her husband went with Hunt and
Martell when they left the premises with the candle.
Mrs. Probert being re-called, persisted in her story,