Helena weekly herald., 1882-07-06
No. .33.
A AMURDERER'S WARNING.
Extraordinary Autobiography OF Con-
demned British Ruffian.

vi u ph-
demned British Ruffian.
The English papers publish a long and
curious statement made by one Thomas
Fury alias Wright. alias COrt, after being
found guilty at Durham assizes of the willful
murder of a woman of ill-tame, named
Maria Fitzsimmons, at Sunderland in 1863
Sentenced to fifteen years penal servitude for
robbery and attempted murder in Norwich,
in 1879, he voluntarily accused himself of
the murder of the woman Fitzsimmons He
was put on his trial and found guilty. Fury
manifested the keenest anxiety to be con-
victed, and received the sentence OF death
with the utmost satisfaction. His autobio-
graphical statement is a psychological curl
Osity and not without public interest as 4
contribution to the study of "crime causes"
The following extracts give the main part of
his history. He says:
'Although my past career, as both a thief
and liar, would not, under ordinary cir
cumstances, entitle me to receive any credit
in regard to my statements yet, as now |
stand before you for the last time as a dying
or rather a dead man, l beg your attention
to the few words l now address to you-not
for my own benefit but for your own. Every
cause must have an effect, and every effect
an antecedent cause, OF series of causes. |
stand before you now as the resultant of the
forces of persuasion, example and compul-
sion and Maria FitzsmmOns, whom | muir
dered thirteen years ago, was another of
those terrific results. The injustice of the
land laws in Ireland caused my relatives to
Join Ribbonmen, and leave their country,
and then induced my mother to come to
England to meet my father. Perhaps crime
is hereditary in my case-anOther fact to
strengthen Darwin's and Huxley's theories
I do not know nor have l heard of but one
member on either side of our family that
was not strongly addicted to drinking. Ny
father was a drunkard-my mother was
forced to become One-held down by her
nearest relatives while they poured rum
down her throat until she promised to be
sociable. AS regards myself, I know that l
was raving drunk before 1 was eight years
old, and several times before | was ten years
of age One of the reasons for giving myself
up is to get rid of that craving for drink, for
which, in my case at least, extinction is the
only cure. I shall be quite reconciled to die
a shameful and dishonorable death-in fact,
feel happy-if by my fearful doom some, a
few at least, may be warned by the dreadful
example have become, to avoid that habit
while they have yet strength to resist it,
/ was early illitated into the accursed
habit, and it was more fully developed during
four years spent among seamen, who seemed
to think that drink is the summum bonum
of human life. After this it was my fate to
have to spend more than four years in prison.
Upon my discharged, and obtaining another
ship, determined not to drink. Upon the
mate offering me my share of the beer l
civilly declined it, receiving a storm of abuse
in return, accompanied with an order to
leave the ship and ashore if did not like to
drink. Thirty miles from home, without a
penny in my pocket, what was to do? l
saw the good, the evil had to follow. l
drank the beer, was praised for being man,
and the result theretrom, as if human blood
had been given to a tame tiger was, that
drink was all that lived for; for this only
did l work for it neglected my duty to
myself, my mother and my employers; Tor it
1 became again q thief by using money en-
trusted to me by shipmates; for, by and
through it l now stand before you as the
murderer of a woman.
1T would only be waste of time to de-
tail all the other crimes l have been guilty
of since February, 1869, while under the in
fuence Of drink; mostly crimes of violence.
One of the effects Of drink upon me is an
irresistible desire to do I'M ury, even though
they may have given me no provOcation.
Once / threatened my mother with knife,
shame being the only cause of not executing
the threat. 1 have been in prisons more
than 13 years. extending over period of Is
years. During that time l have spoken TO
many hundreds of prisoners and only met
one who had been an abstainer previous to
his conviction. And if any of you have the
slightest feeling of pity or commiseration
foy.t thof rfl1na nafo oor,J hnn |
killed in my stupid, mad, drunken fury, and
for others, not only for her class, but of every
other class, let me beg of you who call your
selves Englishmen to try, by will, word, act
and influence, to Danish those habits, tastes
and customs which are the sources of so
much misery, vice and crime.
upon my return from China in 1868 |
was reduced to state of the most extreme
poverty fell in with some habitual crimi-
mails, who, perceiving my necessities and in
experience. easily persuaded me to join them
With them / was concerned in several bur
glaries, each of which was marked out pre-
viously by man in the employ of an officer
in the police commonly called a 'putter-up
and mark. This man induced me to bring
part of the proceeds of one of the burglaries
upon me into - district When the officer
apprehended me, by threats of imprisonment
anu pIOHllScS Vi ODltIuluS cIHplOy HlcHU ioI
me that might live honestly. he induced
me to entice my companions with their tools
upon them into his district where they
were apprehended He did net fulfill his
promises to me, but gave me every induce
ment to draw other criminals into his dis
trict in order to profit by their crimes. l
avoided them and tried to obtain work, but
and at last took to burglary
On my own account. Being at last detected,
and sentenced to penal servitude, when my
time was expired, to avoid the police / again
went to sea, and thus l was led to Sunder-
and, to meet and murder Maria Fitzsim
mons
A BERLIN newspaper mentions the case
If boy who fell sick and was found, after
utile treatment for long period, to have
worms in one of his lungs that unquestiOn-
lbly come from pet dog which he had