The Statesman.
London, England, 1824-02-02 00:00:00

I told Probert that I would do what they desired, but that
I Ad not much understand the business.
From this time I became a very frequent visitor at Tbur-
tell's ; Probert and Noyes were almost constantly there,
and no charge was made for whatever I had to eat or drink.
In about a fortnight after Probed first mentioned Thar-
tell's affairs to me, he called me into a private room to
Thomas Martell, told him be had made me acquainted
with what was intended,and that as be had known me f
some time Thurtell need be under no apprehension of dan-
or
ger. T. Thurtell then said—" Mr. Hunt, I will satisfy you
for any goods you send here, and for which my bill is
taken; and if you can get my acceptance discounted, you
shall have a share." This occurred about the beginning
of September, and both of them said that no time was then
to be lost in getting whatever they could, as be, Thurtell,
would have to go into the Gazette soon after the Novem-
ber term commenced. Another fortnight elapsed withont
any thing being done, and then Probert saidi—" Hunt,
your appearance is very shabby. 1 will get Thartell to
Mve you his acceptance, payable at his bankers, at Pall
all, where be keeps an account, and no tailor will refuse
to take such kbill for a suit of clothes. He afterwards
gave me a bill for 101. Ills. and I tried it at several places,
but could not succeed, and I returned it again to Thurtell.
By T. Tbortell's desire I ordered some expensive arti-
cles at Dare and Slarks, in Cockspur-street, which were
sent according to the order. There was about this time to
be a great dinner at the Cock; and about ten days before
the dinner John Thurtell went to Probert's cottage on a
shooting party for a few days, to shoot on the grounds of
a
Mjor VVoodsreturned the day before the dinner, and
at the dinner be took the deputy chair. On the same day
that J. Thortell returned from the cottage, he told me that
be had become desperately in love with Miss Caroline
Noyes, the sister of Probert's wife ; but that she had pro-
mised her hand to a man named Wood; he said, however,
tbat be did not care for that, lie would continue his visits,
and endeavour to supplant him ; and I understood from
him that he frequently went to the cottage, until one Sa-
turday when be was going down there, lie met Mr. Wood
and Miss Noyes coming to town together. This very much
vexed and mortified him, and he then commenced writing
letters to her, which were either unnoticed or returned
under cover; this only served to irritate him still more,
and be inveighed most bitterly against Wood; Prohert
also joined in the abuse of Wood, and said—" Yon know,
John, 1 hate the fellow, and there is no man of my ac-
quaintance that I should like to have the girl but your-
self." Thurtell said no man in this world should ever
stand between him and his happiness, if he lost his own
life in the cause; and that he should go to Norwich the
then next week. and get his friend Harper to lend him his
air-gun to settle some of the gentlemen who had ill-used
him. He said there were three or four on the list, but
Wood stood first, because he was in the wav of his hap-
piness. I understood from Probed and John'Tbortell that
Miss Noyes was entitled to sonic money on her marriage,
and that if she married J. Thurtell, he and Probert were to
go into business together. J. Thurtel: went to Norwich at
about the time the indictment was preferred against him
and others for the conspiracy, and he was absent two days.
I met him in Fleet-street the same night lie returned, with
the air gun under his arm.
John Thurtell had written a letter from Norwich, ad-
dressed to me at Mrs. Mountain's, wherein he informed me
that he had got every thing he wanted, that all was right;
and desired me to inset him at nine o'clock on Saturday
evening at Temple Bar, at the corner of Shire Lane. I
was a quarter or half an hour beyond my time, and found
him waiting; he showed me the air gun and a double bar-
relled pistol, the latter he said would be of no use to him,
as it would make too loud a report. It was a large sized
pistol, and had the name of M. Harper upon it. We went to
Mrs. Mountain's, and after taking something to drink, I
left him. The next week be gave me the pistol, which
pawned at Cotterill's, in Shoe Lane for eight shillings, and
it is now there either in the name of Jones or Hunt.
The ensuing week the plan of shooting Mr. Wood, in
Castle-street, was determined upon as follows:—Wood,
Probed anti Noyes had lodgings in the same house to-
gether, at No. 35 or 36, Castle-street, Leicester-square,
and it was agreed that some night when Noyes was down
et Probert's cottage, Prohert was to go home early at
right, and keep the landlady and her daughter drinking
below stairs after Wood was gone to bed ; and when he
was supposed to be asleep, John Thurtell, disguised in a
boat cloak, was to enter the house by means of Probert's
hey of the street door, proceed to Wood's room, and shoot
him through the heart with the ait-gon. He was then
to place a small pistol that bad been discharged, in Wood's
right hand, so that it might appear as if he had shot him-
self, and he was then quietly to leave the house, and sleep
in the city. Probed was afterwards to have gone up
stairs, and found Wood in this situation, and given the
alarm, or the landlady was to have found him dead the
next morning. An inquest would, of course, be held on
the body, and it was to be made appear, that in a fit of in-
sanity or despondency, he had shot himself. Probert said
he would attend before the inquest and swear that Wood
was much embarrassed in Lis circumstances, and depressed
in his spirits, and that was the reason he bad no doubt why
he had destroyed himself. John Thurtell asked a man,
named Wools, who keeps a sale shop, and who was in the
habit of using his brother's house, the price of a boat
cloak for the purpose, but I do not know whether he bought
one or not. The reason why this plan was not carried
into effect at once was, that the air-gun was found to be
out of repair. and it was sent to a gunsmith's in Gerrard-
street to have a new valve. Thurtell told the gunmaker he
bad it for the purpose of killing deer; the repairs came to
a shilling or two under a pound.
The night Wood's murder was to have been perpetrated, he
fortunately did not sleep at home, and some accidental circum-
stances afterwards caused ft to be put off, and the idea of
shooting him in Castle-street. altogether abandoned, although
Probert was continually urging Thurtell to commit the mur-
der, saying there could not be a better time to serve him, as
the landlady had no other lodgers in the house. Probert often
said, "If you mean to do it, why don't you do it at onoe ;
you know 1 can keep the women engaged." Thurtell replied.
" D—n your great eyes, if you want it done, why don't you
do it yourself; you are big enough and ugly enough, and there
is the air gnu at your service. On which Probert used to
turn it off with *laugh, andtaay, " You know, Jack, I want
you to have the woman, and should not like Wood to get
her."

The house in Manchester buildings was taken for the express
purpose of destroying Wood, and making it a warehouse for I
whatever goods could be obtained from tradesmen by fraudu-
lent bills. J. Thurtell took it from a solicitor in Berner's
street, and gave a reference to Cousins, a linen draper at Ken-
sington, to whom also a great quantity of Thurtell's valuable
property was sent. Thos. Thurtell pawned one of the looking
glasses for U. to pay for the agreement. I went with J.
Thurtell and Mr: Asseretis's clerk, to see the house, and J.
Thurtell told the clerk he should not want the fixtures, as when
his family came from Norwich, be must have all new fixtures
and furniture. When this house in Manchester buildings was
takes possession of, I went with a waggon, hired from Daffern,
in Compton street, to bring away a greet many articles of
furniture and bedding, which had been obtained from different
tradespeople, and deposited in a cottage which T. Thurtell bad
bite' at Ketologtot for the purpose of secreting them. Some
of these things were afterwards seized, as I have been given
to understand, by the creditors, at a house in Cumberland
street.
The next plan against Mr. Wood was, to entice him to the
house la Manaboater buildings, and there destroy him. J.
Thastell borrowed a pair of heavydumb bells, albs. each, from
' a Mr. liaaeoeb, sad lt was settled that I -should by stratagem