The Norfolk post. [volume] (Norfolk, Va.) 1865-1866, 1865-10-18
LOCAL INTELLIGENCE.

IHE tHURH STREET, ihhVEbh n
jealous Husband Stays his Mistress
Coroner's Hquest.-In yesterday morn
ing's issue we briefly reported the fact
that man, named Wilson Johnson,
had shot and MORALLY wounded his
mistress, having detected her in fla
granite delicto with ap0rdnlOur, named
William Rogers. The Woman died at
twelve O'Clock the same night from the
effects ofthe wound inflicted, and John
son was arrested by the police and
lodged in Jail, to await an examination
into the facts. He was very much pros
trated, and appeared greatly excited,
being extremely weak and nervous.
Yesterday morning the coroner, DIR.
Todd, repaired TO the scene of the TRACE
day, at the corner of Church and MOsely
streets, where, after viewing the body,
ajuTy of inquest was sworn and the in
vestigation Of the case proceeded with.
The facts of the homicide seem to be, as
we collect them from the testimony of
the witnesses and other sources, as fol-
lows: Johnson had been living with
this woman, whose name was Lydia
Waterfield, for several years, and had
one child by her, which is now seven
years of age. They We're never married !;
and, when they formed their illicit con-
nection, She had IA child, named Vir-
ginia, who is now about twelve years of
age, and very bright and intelligent
girl. Neither johnson nor the woman
bore good reputation i'm the city, or
neighborhood, and for some time the
former had suspected his mistress of
playing him false. They keep u grog-
gerry in their house, which is frequented
by fishmen and such people. One of the
vlslt0fs-a young man named William
Rodgers-had particularly excited the
Jealousy of Johnson, by his attentions
to the woman. On the evening of the
occurrence, johnson was up stairs in
bed, being rather indisposed, when he
overheard conversation in the bar-roOm
below between Rodgers and the wo-
man. He arose from the bed and step
ping quietly to the head of the stairs,
saw something which seemed to con-
1irmhis suspicious. Returninghe armed
himself with pistol, and again repair
ing to the head of the stairs, discharged
it down into the bar-room. The woman
at the moment happened to be looking
up the stairway, and she received the
contents of the pistol in her face, the
ball striking in the corner of the left
eye, breaking through the nasal bone
and penetrating the brain. This was
the second shot, one previously fired,
and which had attracted the attention
OF the couple below, struck harmlessy
in the wall. This occurred about half
past o'clock, and she fingered i'm the
greatest agony until midnight, when
she expired.
The above is substantially Johnson's
own statement of the occurrence; and
the witnesses generally corroborateit, in
Guiding Rodgers, the young man who
was with the wife and who fled after
the firing. He said that he came there
to get cigar; and knew that Johnson
was up stairs in bed, and that he had
been confined there for several days
He was sitting alongside of the woman
on small table, when he heard a cap
snapped, and got up and ran; the
woman looked up and said: "What are
you shooting at, petty?" when the sec
ond shot WAS fired, which took effect in
her upturned face.
The daughter of the deceased, jose
phine Virginia, states that she was at a
neighbours, and heard the report of I.
pistol, followed by II scream, and ran
nome. she went up stairs ana saw Mr..
Johnson in his night clothes, i'm the
front room, and asked him what he had
done. He appeared to be in great dis
tress, and said, :" didn't want to Kill
your mother; it was Billy Rodgers l in
tended to shoot. was out of my head"
The witness said Johnson had acted
singulary all the previous day--and
tried to set the house on fire-being ap-
pearantly deranged.
The jury, after hearing sufficient tes-
timony to satisfy them of the manner
of the woman's death, returned ver-
dict that the deceased came to her
death by a pistol shot fired from the
hands of Wilson johnson, on the even
ing of Monday, October 10TH" johnson
will be examined before the Mayor.
There was considerable excitement in
the neighborhood, and the homicide
was the subject of a good deal of con-
versation throughout the city during
yesterday, as such occurrences are rare
in Norfolk. The parties were all old in
habitants of the city, and the principals
ofvery bad repute. Johnson will doubt
less plead insanity on his trial, and he
has engaged the services of Messrs.
Duffield, Sharp and Scarburg to defend
hin,