Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1872-08-19
A -CIRCUMSTANTIAL CASE.

From the London Telegraph, July p.
In the history of modern crime, the
Ngwtown-Stewart murder will occupy a
tprominent place. The victim was a
banker living in a county town in the
North of Ireland. The foul deed was ac-
complished in the bank itself, afew min
utes after the close of bUsiness-that is,
about a quarter past three on a summer
afternoon. The bank wa situated in
the principal street Of a rising town, and
! there were servants in the house at the
time. The murderer "made assurance
doubly sure" for the dead man had no
fewer than twelve wounds on his head,
and in addition an office file
had been driven by force through
| one of his ears into his brain. 1t was
/ evident that the assassin knew the
ground and the situation The
town was on that day deserted by a
| large number of its customary police
/ force, drafted off to a neighbOring fair;
one of the principal clerks was as usual
away for the day; and just after the
| closing of the bank the chief of the
establishment was likely to be alone,
and probably engaged in counting
money. 1t appears that it is not the
custom for Irish branch banks to have
any record OF the numbers of their notes
"a very strong inducement to robbery
or theft, so strong that We cannot IN
dcrstand the absence of the precautiOn.
Some DAYS after the murder a bundle of
notes, to the value of thousand dol
lars, was foundin a neighboring wood;
they were stained with blood. We have
here all the traces of murder and rob
b-ry, and, considering that the scene is
laid in Ireland, the first idea of
many readers viii be that some
Of the assassins who have hither-
to devoted themselves almost X
clusively to agrarian crime were
tempted by the absence OF the police
and the unguarded state of the bank to
commit this atrOcious outrage. But the
facts indicate that no stranger did the
work, for such a man could hardly have
got in or out of the bank without arous-
ing alarm. Again, the ease and silence
that accompanied the crime indicate
hat the victim must have been entirely
u~nprepared. Either the murderer, if a
stranger, stole upon his victim without
being seen or heard-an unlikely sup
position-or a supposed "friend" stand
ing by the bankers side, struck him
dead. Even the extraordinary complete
ness Of the outrage suggests the work
of one who knew that if he
only half did the task he might
be denounced by the dying mana pre-
caution which a stranger, who ran no
such risk, would hardly take. In the
face of these facts, obvious from the
first, the local chief Of the police, Sub
Inspector Montgomery, instead of show
ing himself "active and Intelligent
adjectives that almost belong TO the
force-displayed strange eccentricity.
He went to a house to examine and
search a suspected person, but refused to
knock him up, lest he should disturb
him. He suggested that the death
might have been caused by suicide
though the corpse had twelve wounds,
and a file had been forced through the ear.
He wished to send a message by telegraph
that thereF were suspicious circum-
s~tances,u when the fact of a foul mur-
der was clearly established. 1t is now
asserted by the C1own that this very
Sub-Inspector Montgomery was the
murderer himself. That is the ground
work of the prosecution which was con-
Guided on Monday at the Tyrone ASST
es, and which has resulted in the dis
charge of the jury and the remand of
the prisoner.
The evidence against him was purely
circumstantial. Nobody saw him strike
the blow; no weapon was found on him;
there was no blood on his person; and
the notes were not traced to his hands.
Considering the twelve wounds, and the
spots on the walls, the absence of all
is very singular il Mr.. MOntgom-
cry were the actual perpetratOr of the
deed. So much is in his favor. Against
him was produced a chain Of suggestive
evidence formed Of links, some certainly
small and weak. In the first place,
before he had entered the cOnstabu-
larry he had been an accountant in a
Belfast bank for over seven years; so
that all the rules and customs Of such
institutions were familiar to him. On
one occasion he had remarked to one of
his own constables that il was strange
no one had attempted to rob a bank,
since it could be easily done by knock
ing the cashier on the head. The prose-
cution wished to give evidence to show
that the prisoner was pecuniarily en-
barrassed, but the Judge properly, we
think, rejected it as irrelevant. Guilt
ought to be proved without going into the
Doint whether the accused was tempted
TO the deed by poverty; that is IN in
ceptive too common TO be dragged into
a particular case. a few minutes after
the murder must have been committed,
Mr.. Montgomery was seen TO come out
of the bank door without his hat, TO
look up and down, then go away.
When engaged for several hours after
ward in investigating the case he kept
complete silence as regards his pres
ence at the bauk at or neal b very
moment OF the crime. Next day he
vent with another sub-inspectOr TO ex-
anime the premises, and then put to
him the following question: IF a per
were seen coming out of the bank
without any stains Of blood on him. could
he be convicted of the murder?p The
other inspector replied, ~ think not"
Then for the first time Mr.. Montgomery
mentioned that he had been at the bank
after three o'clock. 1t was also
proved that he had been a~nxiousIv ask
ing whether the police had found the :
notes in Grange Wood. and whether
such a discovery would affect him. Ev- J
idence was given TO show that he had
made inquiries as TO the best draught for
causing insensibility, and as to the read
lest means of knocking people on the
head with a life preserver. The /
Of the prosecution was
that he had meditated the muir