Star.
London, England, 1819-04-12 00:00:00

INSOLVENT DEBTORS' COURT.

• ` Mr. Serjeant Rubnetutztoti,.who had been corn
relied to postpone his Sittings nn. account of illness,'
on Saturday presided in this Court, and disposed of
• about 50 cases to which there was nu opposiuon..lleJ
gave notice of his intention to proceed with those
which are opposed this day and.to-morrow. On the
• rest cl the week he will be absent at the Sessions.. The
S.!rjeant was not able utsit on• the Bench, but sat in
the place usually occupied by the Clerks of the Court.
ASSIZES.—MYSTERJOUS MURDER;

The following trial, which took place on Tuesday
at Olonerster, etched an uncommon intelest:

Wan nn Burton, aged :0, stood capitally indicted
the wilful murder of William Syms, in the month
Noveml.)er last. _ _

Mr. I.t.uLow stated the facts of the case. They
• were these—on the 3d of November the prisoner and
' the deceased, William Syms, set out together in a
beat belonging to a Mr. Hurd, from Woollaston to
,:Bristol. Having transacted some business, in con-
snuence of stress of weather they put into a place
• called Pyle, where they were seen in company at a
ptblie,house. On this occasion the deceased pro-,
duced. several Bank notes. Ou Saturday, the 7th,
th..sv again betook themselves to the boat, to return
to Woollaston. in their way down the Avon to the
Severn, they were seen by several people. The pri-
m er arrived at Woollaston, but the deceased did
rot. This excited surprise, and inquiries were made
of tiie prisoner as to what had become of his com-
panion ; to these inquiries he gave contradictory an-
swers ; at one time saying he had stayed at Pyle, and
at another that he had put him on shore at his own
desire, ae a place called the Eastern Point, and that
he had expressed an 'intention of sailing for America.
' At'first no saspicions were entertained, but subse-
quent circumstances led to a discovery of the dread-
ful deed. • The boat was'examined, and on the gun-
hale and after-beach, shins of blood.were distinctly
•
OA ill' :
;eoVered, althOligh it appeared that every attempt
' had been made by means of a mop and water to
* eridicate them. This produced further inquiry,
and it-was ascertained:that the prisoner had set out
fur Bristol in a state of extreme penury—that at the
tune he left Pyle, on his return home with the de.
ceased, he was equally distressed; but that imme-
dllti/ty after he landed at Woollaston, he seemed to
• .11441e' beeeme suddenly rich. .He commenced by
cltapging two a notes of the Chepstow bank • one
it►Tryment of until stun, and Abe other merely for
the change. Beals° began to live in a style ofee-

travagance quite at Varianoelvith his former state or
poverty. It was next foundt* the deceased, on
the day of his leavinayiaorts kkpessession of three
Chopsto‘v Book noes, togethiroa4l4 some =talkr
ones of the soroollank...Thesedie was observed, pre-'
vious to hit efitarkation, to into his, left-hand
breeches pocket, which, when his body was subse-
quently pickea up, was foinirtirna Inside out; To
these were sal.ed other facts, equally, suspicioos..on
'the morning of the supposed murder, a handkerchief.
was seen in the hand of the deceased ; it was marked
W.S. and this handkerchief was traced to the pos-
session of the prisoner. Upon an alarm being raised,
he had lent it to a man of the name of Davies, who
would be called as a witness. It further turned
that the prisoner, shortly antecedent to the disap-
pearance of Syms, had been repeatedly applying to
Hurd to lend him a few shillings. His shoes had ac-
cidentally burst, and he then declared " that he was
unable to refit himself, and that he must box hard
to raise the wind to buy . himself a pair of shoes,
though he should go to the Devilfor it." Upon being
called upon to account for his increase of wealth, he
stated that he had borrowed from an old ship-mate,
of the name of Jones, while lie was at Bristol, 4.:8;
but unfortunately for him, and happiir for the ends
of justice, this statement was discovered to be utterly
.without foundation, for, independent of the fact that
at the moment he was leaving Bristol, he had not
the means of paying for his breakfast, it would be
proved by the wife of Jones, the man himself being
at sea, that at the time in question Jones had been
very much distressed for money, and could not have
made any such advance ; added to which, his inti-
macy with the prisoner was of so casual a nature as
to forbid such an act of friendship, eveoif he had it in
his power. All these disclosures tended more strongly
'to confirm the guilt of the prisoner, which became
still more apparent in the morning of the '47th of
November, when the body of the unfortunate Syms
was found floating on the Severn in a state of putres-
cency. It was, however, soon identified, and on being
examined by competent persons, presented two dreau-
ful fractures on the frontand back oldie head, either of
which would have been sufficient to occasion instant
death. Mr. Ludiow having concluded his detail,
called his witnesses. • •

William Hurd proved the fact of the prisoner and
the deceased setting out for Bristol in his boat on the
3d of November; they remained at Bristol two days.
He remembered seeing them together afterwards at
the SWan public-house at Pyle. Syms called for two
glasses of rum and water; he said, o I have a CZ; bill
in my pocket." The landlady said, " I should like
to see it." Syms upon this pulled out thro Wilt
Two of these were Chepstow bills, quite new. He
put them on the table together, with three or four
4:1 notes. Witness and Syms. slept together that
night; heard the clock strike .five in the morning,
and said to Syms, it is time. to get up. I wish-lon
would help Burton to take the boat up, and stand'
into the Old Passage, where I will meet Too. Sym§
agreed to this. Witness was thed going to
ton. They parted soors-a(ter five., Witneis 'went to
Bristol the Friday f‘illowing; did not go to the OISI
Passage, for it rained hard, and he got wet through..
He louke.t for Syrns at Bristol, but did not see him.
Burton's shoes were in a very bad state.
John Purcell deposed that he lived at Ptle; he
was acquainted with the deceased. He saw him at,
Mrs.Chaley's, at the Swan, on the 6th of November.
He saw him and Burton going down the river next
morning in the boat together. It was about_ seven,
o'clock. The tide Was low.

Stephen. Hook saw the prisoner and the
together in the boat on the Morning in qaestion.
John Wade lived at Woollaston. On.the .7th of
November he saw the prisoner alone in a boat on the
Severn, going towards Chepstow. He. asked him ii.
he was going to Chepstow ? lie replied be was. It
was about two o'clock. Witness said, you have had '
a fine tide this morning. The wind andtbe.tide were.
fair, the boat was drifting up. Witness alsd observed!
to the prisoner that his slro:s were not water tight.
The prison:r answered, 1. NO, master, but (It hayei
better before Igo back .7 . Old Hurd asked the pri.:
sonerwhere Syms was.left ? and hi said, " hiotatt
Pyle." He afterwards said helad landed hiaa au.
Eastern Point..
• .•. , •
John Bundy picked up the body of the deceased
ifiw,ting in the Severn.. The lefblipd.hreeclres,pipket
Was turned inside out. lie tied a rope ropud.the,
grin, and drew it on shore. This was the 27th Nov.
Mr. John Esle livedSo;'FratOpton-on.th.e7Selrent ;
'On the 28th of Noiinit)er he nay Called to najniue
the body.; he could} not say bolt' long it hastheen,
[dead ; it was in • a putrid state ; he eaainined the
head, and found severstl wounds. At the back part,
I.of the head there was a mortal weuncirllreskaill was
shockingly fractured. There.was heavy blOw Byer
nos 4 and on the uppat..is;trtof.the frontal Ispne.
He was clear the man s death had' been occasioned
by these wounds.
•
. Mr. J. Hammond went to see the body on the 28th
.of November, It was in a putrid state.
The Right Hon. C. Bathurst produced the. original
depositions taken before. him. They corresponded
with the evidence now giVoin.
James Henry Ball lives at Woollaston. He knew
the prisoner, Syms, and Hurd. He saw them all
three embark .in Ilurd's bOae for Bristol. Barton
asked him to lend him 25.; he declined. Saw the
prisoner the Sunday following, and asked him what
he had done with Slims ? lie said. he bad pit him
on shore at the Eastern Point • he thought he had
either gone to AMerica or Barbadoes. Witness caus-
ed the prisoner to be apprehended and taken before
Mr. Bathurst. He had the boat-head examined- on
the day the prisoner was committed, He observed
the left hand side ; it had.been mopped• very much.
Ile looked particularly to that part, it was so clean.
,He could see thegrain of tber.wood where the paint
had been rubbed off, and discovered What appeared
to,be marks of blood. He observed the gunwale,'
aud the seats .which run across the boat. Before the
after-th Wart, it had-been struck so as to make a dent.
In this dent there were-the stains of blood. There:
were marks too, •as if blood had run on the edge.of
the gunwale. He went to Epney to view the holy
on the 28th of Novernher ;it was in a barn. He
knew it to he Spin; one of the eyes was out ; the
head was dreadfully disfigured.
Several witnesses were then called, who. proved
! that the prisoner, from being very poor, suddenly_
became very rich, and paid all his debts.
Mr. Justice RICHARDSON then_summed -up the