Irish Assizes.
The Times, 1824-08-04T00:00:00

~~Wrra,iolt was inndIcted foti murde--- W. Biggins, t3 reteli;ed old rna?n, wiro gotl hist I or the tnurder of W ignl th Ingl of man wh o i iing as an itinerant beggar, onl The first wlinter Sunday. at Currafin, in the county of claza. It, the Prioess kefnew higgins; on Easter Saturday she saw hia i0nr,~ abin.;.n Sun tune o the Prspr' cabIno SunaY she saw him begging; he re- tured o te risone? 5 housein the evening, and she never saw him "m owitness's dwellin , se who lived. in ani adj6ining cab iil Witness replied t at she licara no noise. Ihothe eaeninghof mornin ay th' Pri soner cfamle a{gain, and requested of witness to ofep withl 3CT.. %rdet s at first declined; but the prisoner pressed her, and (in order to induce her) she too], up witness's bed, and carried it intoD hier own house. thCetronkto iggi son to the deceased1 said, thaton Tuesday he saw tod was fof his father's bodya the headl and legs were cut eff_the the prvsfnerosutbidin a po tness, on th search being ntade in hbelonged to hissfather,. Witness aftetwards saw tiehadand legsof h~is father's bodv. .Thei evidence of thils witness was corroborated by that of his brother. Thankins rewv Esq_--Witnes is a magistrate. Having heard t'iat the mnk of a man"s body was found in the river at Currafin eroatthe cu at the inquest. Witness' observed marks of blooJ r te cabn of the lprisoner to a meadow in the direction of tlmriver atthat men4ow he ceased to trace -he blood. Witness the prisoner's clotheg several marks of blood. There 'was blood on omle stones, and blood under straw, in the prisoner's bhs Witness was not satisfied with having merely discovered the h?o k; he was detetmined to seaich more minutely * he aslted for the key orher chest; he got the key, and opened the chest. There was a Policeman preeent, who took the things, out of the chest, whilst witness helJ the lid; the policeman took out a quilt, and ob. Sered that it was heavier thar it ought to hiave been. On taking Dattth cquilt, an old furze great coat "w.as tacked to it. Witness saw the prisoner afcearards in gaol and had conversations with her. The prisoner mentioned to witness that a certain individual, wvhom she lmed W as the person who had committed the murder. On beine esir by counsel to state the name of the individual), vwitness saM that the prisoner wasnamed Patrick ;she said thatPatrick C( gave the deceased a blow with a, eavy stick on the side of the head, as he .,ept, and that she held the legs of the deceased whilst Patrick - ws oomnaitting the murderl and when the legs were afterwards cut off, in order to account for having the blood on her clothes, sbe de- crcnbed herself.3s standing in a particular lposition during the com- Mission of the horuid deer. Mr. Wim. Taylor holds'a situation in the police. 7n the mnonth Of APril last, witness found the head of the deceased in a stream aboht forty strches from the prisoner's house; he found the legs of the decessed concealed in the same placc; tllere was a stone over lhem. lIe went to search forthem in the plare where he found them, in conrtlelle of a letter which he had received, and which pointed out she plac e. at letter has been since lost; he made a search for it, but coiuld not find it. 'On his cross.examination, the witness said that the head, when 'found, was injured and disfigured. Sergeant Coffee went to a small spring-well, and in the strcaw. tiat issued from that well he found the body and legs of the deceased. le went to that place in consequence of information which he had received from a certain quarter. ;- \Zatkins is in ;h,. polimee he gave directions te Sergeant offee to search the stream for the heat ant legs of the deceaqed. He sent ofrthese directions in consequence of information which he received from Dr. Murphy, the clergyman. The Rev. John 1\urphy isa Catholic Cergyman. In April last he told Mr. WVatk-ins that it'he sent directions to the police at Currafin, o.search a drain from a spring..well there, he would find, sunk in the rnire, a bag, containing the head and legs of the deceased. Witness made the cottlsunication to Air. Watkins, in consequence of a con. versation he had with the prisoner. Cr .cs-xaininesi The conversation he had withl the prisoner was by no sne.ns confidential. lHere tw case closed for the Crown. T he couneel for the prisoner would not call any vwitnesses fbr the 'ihe learned JuDs G proceeded to chargc tihe jury. He recapitu. lated the evidence at great length, and in the course of his observa- tions observed, that the prisoner had herself confessed, not indeed that she actually gave the murderous blows, but that she was p resent at thedreadful scene, and held the legs ofthe deceased * so that, if lner ownstorwsl to be believed, slhe was clearly aiding and assisting The Jury, withou.t leaving the box, returned a verdict of Guiltyp. A deep and awfal silence novr pervaded the Court, and when thc learned Judge proceeded to pass sentence, the wretched prisoner, ',sho until that moment pres,erved a countenance by no means ex- pressive if those feelings which a situation so full of peril was likely to vro'lace, fell into a convulsive fit, in which she remsained for a consitderable timne. On hier recovery, Mlr. Justice JEBB procceeded to address the prisoner nearly as fOll'ow:- I'Prisoner, you have been found guilty of' one of the most barbarous and sa;vage muriders that the annals of human crime can furnish an example of. The posses- sio of a ew hillings, as it a arst us, is all the tedstationryou have had to commnitthedrealTul act Tiiat any hssmand bing, and panrdculurlj thatafele,co a few miserable shilliges, coit. mit so barburo crla act, bespeaks a blackness of heart, a blo'uly temp per omi whic can only be accounted for 'by sup- uSing that YoupW attatoet, under dhie influence of Satan h l. gen emannerin wh ich you afterwards mangled the corpse of the wretched victim of your cruelty andavartic, exceeds in h orror any thing 1 ever read or ever heard of. Afi'ter the mnurder, you pro. ceedrc, itawould appear, deliberately to cut offtdehead and limbof the miserable old man, who thoughit he had found an asylunm ander yoer roof. How you could have ~ had the heart to do so.- how ou, bearing the shape and form of a woman, could hiave gonethog the bloody scene, is difficult to believe: it would really be byn belief if ft had not been soa clearly established in evidence-.establishcd by the confession that fell froin your own lips. You mnust now prepare yopurself for soother world, for you aye no longer fit to live in this. I ou will have the pious assistance of the ministers of your religion. The rev. gentleman who app-eared before its in the course of your- tril will, no doub~t, willingly attend you, and be gladl to impart all the consolation that piety and religion can bestow. Withdraw all thousghts fromn this world, for you mnust isuddenly leave it, and fix sinereandfeven pryer Te larnd udge the etne h to b delvere up o th sureonsfordissection.I trsyt 4vSJr2s. - ULARH.-?