Ashtabula weekly telegraph. [volume] (Ashtabula, Ohio) 1853-1873, 1858-10-16


tested no dinner that day; was sick
AZ heart; for felt as IL the blood of two
fellow creatures was on my hands. In the
evening saIiied forth to the judges lodg
ings He listened to all l bad to say; but
was quite imperturbable. The obstinate
old man was satisfied that the sentence was
as Il should be- / returned to my inn in q
fever Of despair Without the approval of
the Judge, I knew that an application was
futile There was not even time to send to
London, unless the judge had granted
respite.
All Saturday and Sunday was In mis-
cry. On Monday morning was pacing
up aud down my room in the next assize
town, In a state Of great excitement when
chaisc-and-four drove raridly up TO the
hotel, and out tumbled johnson, the con-
stable. His tale was soon told. On the
previous evening, the laudlady Of the Black
Swan, road side public house, about four
aLiles from the scene Of the murder, reading
the name Of Pearce in the trial in the Sun
day county paper, sent for johnson to state
that that person had on the fatal evening,
called aud left portmanteau in her charge
prumisag to call for il in an hour, but had
not been there since. On opening the port
manteau, Wilson's watch, chain and other
property, were discovered in it and John
son had as soon as possible set of in search
Of me. Instantly-for there was not a
moment to spare-l, in company with
Armstrong; counsel, sought the judge, and
with some difficulty obtained from him a
formal order to the sheriff to suspend the
execution till further orders OFF we started,
and happily arrived in time to stay the ex-
ecution, and deprive the already assembled
mob of the brutal exhibition, they so anx-
iously awaited. On inquiring for Mary
Strugnell, we found that she had abseond-
ed on the evening Of the trial. All search
for her proved vain.
Five months had passed away the fate
of Armstrong aHd his wife was still undo
Cided, when message was brought to my
chambers in the Temple, from woman
said to be dying in st, Bartholomew's Hos
pital 1t was Mary Strugnell who when
in state of intoxication, had faliea down
ID front of a carriage, as she was crossing
near Hoiborh Hill and had both her legs
broken. She was dying miserably, and
had sent for me to make full confession
relative to Wilson's murder. Armstrong;
account was perfectly correct. The deed
was committed by Pesrce and they were
packing up their plumber when they were
startled by the unexpected return of the
Armstrong;. Pearce snatchng up bun
die and portmanteau, escaped by the win
dow; she had not nerve enough to attempt
it, aud had crawed back to her bedroom,
where she, watching the doings Of the farm
ct through the chnks Of the partition
which separated her room from the passage,
concocted story which convicted the pris-
oners. Pearce thinking himself pursued
too heavily encumbered for rapid fight, left
the portmanteau as described, intending to
call for it in the morning. He, however
had not courage to risk calling again, and
made the best of his way to London. He
was now in Newgate under the sentence of
death for a burglary, accompanied with
personal violence to the inmates of the
dwelling he and his gang had entered and
robbed. / took care to have the deposition
of the dying wretch put into proper form;
and the result was, after a good deal of
petitioning and worryings of the authOri-
ties, full pardon for both Armstrong and
his wife. They sold Craig Farm aud re-
moved to some other part of the country,
where never troubled myself to inquire.
Deeply grateful was to be able at last to
wash my hands of an affair which cost me
so much anxiety and vexation albeit the
lesson it afforded of not coming hastily to
conclusions, even, when the truth seems, as
it were, upon the surface of the matter,
hnr not hnnn trnst withnnt ifs nSpS