Mower County transcript., 1869-12-02
A Ba61ed Murder.
From Cassell's Magazine

A Baffled Murder.
From Cassclrs Magazine
About half-past twelve o'clock OF the
morning of May 81, 1910, the Duke of
Cumberlahd, having dined at Greenwich.
aud SHfterN9s4s attended concert for the
benefit Of thyRoyal Society of Musicians,
Nreturnedtp hie apartments in st. JameG1
Palace, Overlooking Cleveland Row, No
sound more e9cdine than usual struck upon
the.tare9 mans ear as his cnrriage rumbled
under ths old brick archway that opens in O
st. james street. The Duke retired to rest
about one.
The sleeping room, which was large and
lofty, was aimly lighted by lamp, which
-nnrnt al NIGHT behind q scraau in -ths fra.
place, which was at the end of the apart
ment farthest from the, bed, One by one
steps ceased in the corridors, and silence
and sleep settled down over the palace, on
~ broke at intervals by the tramp Of the
senhneis under the windows, and the dull
roll Of the wheels 4of's hackney coach in
Pail Mill no thought Of danger distnrh.
ed the Dukes dream. Tho he'd stood in a
recess, behind which was ~a--snsll room
whore Neale, the Dukes page, and valet-in-
waiting, was accustomed to sleep. On the
sofi lay the Dukes heavy military sabre.
which his favoFito valet, Sells, Piedmon.
tese, had recently requested leave to clean,
grind and sharpen - :; ! i.f'7E" IIa
=, About half1past, two in the morning the
Duke was aroused by blow on the head.
INSTANTLY followed by 4 second. :'.;'-a !; "a
TH!s hrst impression. Was (hardly yet.
awake, that q bat had got into The room
and WIS beating shout his head. The lipht
from the lamp, glimmering ON the blade of
a sabre, and the motion of the blade. awoke
him to o sehse of his horriblei danger. He
instantly leaped, up, and felt for the bell
rope. to alarm Sells and his valet in the
other room; but to his horror! It had been
removed, and he was helpless, and his wits
seemed to leave him in the first agony of
despair. LAT the third blow he tore down
the curtains, and rushed to the door of the
outer room, pursued by the assassin, who
struck him on the thigh. He heard the
nqrderers q sword str'kea splinter from the.
:,4The Dnke was already wounded in six
places and was bleeding from every cash.
He had been cut on the forehead, and on
tho arms, cheek and thigh, and one of his
little fingers was almost severed from his
hand. But his hand was now on the ham
die OF the Pages room door,: and he threw
the dooi open, shouting loudly for Neale.
!" The page at once answered the summons.
and the assassin, dropping, the sabre, Iled
into darkness. The Duke and Neale then
alarmed the Palace, called up: the fright
ened household, and the, sergeants and;
soldiers on guard. The Duke at first de-
sired Neale not to leave him, as he feared
there were more. assassins hid in the bed
ROOM. This, however, not appearing to
be the case,'th Duke vent to tie porteris
room, and Neale ran to call Sells,
the Piedmontese valet. The Duke
4 was especially earnest in his inquiries
for this man. Neale went to the door and
shouted ''The Duke is murderedr but
! there was no answer-the door was locked,
It was then remembered that there was
another entrance from the chief staircase,
and this being broken open, . horrihing
sight awaited them. Sells was found
leaning half undressed upon his bed, with
his throat cut from ear to car His coun-
tenatce wore rather smiling aqd composed
expression, On chair near his bedside
lay razor and basin hnged with blood.
+ was supposed that he was the; assassin
and that after his escape from the Dukes
room he rushed back, hoping to wash the
blood from his hand, and get safely into
bed before he could be summoned; but the
instant search for him drove him to this
desperate suicide. .>,,.,,, ;,.,. a.,;. ...
had failed in the assassination, aud feeling
detection certain, he instantly destroyed
himself; while some thought that having
succeeded in. his revenge, as he thought,
he cared no more for life, and seized his
razor. Sells had hidden himself in a
| bolster-press, in . small closet adjoining
the Dukes bedroom, for his slippers and
| the sword scabbard were found there. "A
physician who examined the body consid-
| cred that the wound in Sells throat had
been inflicted with his right hand, though
Sells was q left-handed person. But op-
posed to this was the fact that the left sleeve
/ of Sellis' coat was soaked with blood,
and the, blood on the door of the bedroom
was also on the left side. Sells blue coat
was found covered with blood, and. folded
! up on q chair in one corner Of the room.
There is no doubt that Sells stole from his
hiding place about half.past two, to the
head Of the Dukes bed. To avoid discov
cry he stood in such q way that he had to
strike down on the Dukes head slantingly,
in consequence of which the curtains and
tassels overhead impeded the blow, and
saved the Dukes life! Several of the tss-
bo46 were CVV OAs:
The whole edge Of the sabre was hacked
and blunted with the force of the blows,
and the point was bent. The widest ru-
mors soon spread through Loadon, where
the Duke was not popular. It is said TIE
Duke described his assailant as stouter
man than Sells, who was short and feeble.
Others declared that SELLS had been mur.
! dered by the assassin, to divert suspicion
| from the real criminal. " ~, -..:,E :
The jury which sat on the body of Sells
was composed. Mr.. Jesse says. Of the prin-
cipal tradesmen of the neighborhood of
Whitehall, most Of them dissenters and
radicals, and strongly inclined against the
high tory Duke the cold, stern. unpopular
man, who, with oil the vices of his broth.
ers, did not possess their bonhomie or geni-
ality, to conceal his real selashness. a.; ,
$ After listening for four hours to the evi.
dence, and spending another hour in delib-
Grating upon it, they brought in verdict
of felo-de-se against Sells. The body of
the miserable man was inferred in the
"high-road" in Scotland Yard. - -, ...i....