Armagh Assizes, Aug. 7.
The Times, 1824-08-14T00:00:00

,kimes Spencer, Jane Sypencer, aned Anti Sp4tncer, wiere placed at the bair, and airrigpe for the velIfuil turder of Thomas Speneer,.a child of four years of age it 1y,3y,na o ikii tc The'saiiie petsons were also arrai, ed for thie irilfuj murder of1 .Eliz4beth Shields '(an aged womian), at thie same time al~d pla-e The prisoners pleaded "1rinegilty?'11 The first vtes r cewsRcalSpenetv, w'ho Wvas greatly niffetizxi and bathecd I'd tears on Ascending the table. Slie was exasrin- eod b,' Alr. BELL, and elepeed as follows -.- lknovw Jane Spencer anl An Spencer, the Prisoners th iey aeg sisters to my hutsband, and Areivib iinin1.9iggalLz .ames Spencer is also relsited to my husband; lielivesat 'ft3',i uhenaglt, about a mnile 'fromi i.AughgalL I did sltlv il yhsbandI in M1ay Irast, nior for a] lung tine prevousy P -sd ~ ilyos' bout hrilf a mnile dis- tant teom Loughgal Irclethengtof the 2d of MVaY ;iay1 sont rhomas 'wasteL lv;Iws in mny own house on thltat 'night; mly a6: ndae an anrwmn named Sb1ilds, were in the Ileuse with nie. Ihdbninbdfralon~ timle, but had not fallen aslee, whnI adsm os intie hlouse;- it wns like th.ecrumbling of nioli.O haigtenoise I called to Shields, ,whto slpt- in a bed on the opitend of the room mY son thlepte~ t~bdwt yef my servant arose, and calledt out tiretimies "was there any 'one there," buit no a-nsvwer wvas given. I then Pdrs:ledvs there was a iight in the kitchen, andI I said, " e aeCOo.dng to murder uts this, night." 'rho servant cameF inlto'ei b'- jumiped out, ran'to th windlow, anid threw myself apaitist it; ~uas awit vrsfistenetion the osxtsi&e with a s1hutter,!I coula not open I'I sawv the lighit approaching, andI threw myiself under thec sir. 'rant's bed-; the prisoner, JRmes Seencer, camie into the bediomin lie hail a svmrd, in his righft hand aridar candle in the left; he asked,I on otpening the door, "WNNhat's that you're saying ?" I did not vpeak, but Elizas SlIida ansered "IJames, I anm speaking to .Rachsel ;" as the spoke the prisoner strack her with the sword, on 'which shbe sad, ". James, for the tendter inerci' of t3od. dnn't murder 11:W' The prisoner mfade no rely;- and he tltt'n stnitck lithitld,te'ho criedI butt," Ohi, dlon't murder ii~-1, I iobsrtved that the prisoner, Jarstes S cr, u&As barefooted and bareheaded; lie had it pair of' direylooinngs'crouser,s on him; 'se corntinueA' to strike the chlid( and the servant woman with tite' 8word,tbey e:ttre'atiog him to spare thetin, unrtil thie candle went otit. I had, di,,,inct viewv of his person until thie candle went out-, on, whi.,h I. ren-, from under ttite bed, and ran to- wa.rsfs tise kitchien; on goID~ to t1[e hall-door, I found it lockittl antI the key gone; I hadl left tthe k-eyla iron goine, loe;Itenwni t'ie kitchen, and jumTred up on a tabtie which was beside a window I I tricd to open the AVY"sdow, but it w:ss too f'ast.; in mny struiggles with the window a ti)"k erock', which was- on the table, was uipset. The noise -attraetesk the pritovser, whom I lheardI cotning tfrom tite bed- mo ': ; I snws towards the door, we'st into a corner of the porch, andi kept in Mta5, breath utitil the prisoner passed I then went into tite roo:n1i a'.s4 seizetd a poker which was tn the fire-place, with which I tOrcrsdsspen the shutter of the bed-room windlow; thitabeth Shields, who wps sitting at thie bed-mooni table, said, " Mlistress, you'll es- cai-;.' 'withntut speaking a wtsrd I titrew my'self out of the irintdo', and fell on miy hsands and face; I imrediately started to TmY feet, anti lok.dabout which way I should run, as I was afraid of nmcetitilg - bodY ; I saw Jane Spencer and Ann Spen'cer thelirisonrer's,,beside ~L ircvo, about ten or twelv-e wards from the winJow : they wrere stand. s tagb'ethser, with their fa6s toward,, me ; saw thecm 1A!stitctly. as it was a fine starlight nicht ; Jane Spvnce~r hiad on a diark cloak, Ann a gray one; I still helsl the p oker in may hpid; on seeing the wo- men f clapped my- hands and shouted i ott' J Murder, murer t my cdilds is it-killing,~" I tlten ran ppast the %able end of my house to JYohn Reily's, shouting "Atltsrdermutrdler,'?thehlwy elysils h2 utashortdlistance from mine'. ? struck thedo-or withi the pokeer,ancl called trhl ; the dlor,'r1- n's Otantly opered by Reilly'si wife, who W5na followed by her hlsbta~,d,I told therm mty eixi'al was a-mNITder- inix`ty .l.mVeA `;verscer; icbardi Elizabeth Shieldis screaming wildly outs~ile, and also the, sound or the blows that svere giv'en her; Reill raised the iseighibeurus ; atid hie andi his wife, with Pat LentiX, John Daly, a canaan (wvho then came up), and another womian, asernm- panited me back to the lictus to save mly childl; Iliad been about live min,utes from moy house, antd we tan to the window fromi whiceh I had escaped ; it was still open. Heating the weak crics of MY childi, I eteated5~ some of the meni to go in and reacds him out, but they, were afraid ; I asked thiemi to assist tne up to tite window,and I wonid, mnyself go in;- they did so, -and I f'oundI my chilld lyinig on its faice on thte floor it was all blowdy. (1-ere thec prosecutrix was, dread. &iLi'Faffiected'l) Its head was cut dreadfiully, as seas also iLs neck ants arnis; I took MY iofaRt inl In arms, and wenit to the kitchen 'locr, which I foand unlocked andi the key in it; I opened the dloor :anti let t he people in. Eli.rabeth Shiieldis was not in the house, and .James Spent.er had -sca,ped. TIhe witness underwent a long cross-examination by Air. SCits- vEN;, who, faied to elicit atly thing calculated to shake her direct Josepfi Scottsreo,wsexaiainedhby Nr. AMoony..-.i-erecol- leced ng aied n erlyinthe morning of the 3d o la to V'ws lying on his tmother's knee, evidently in ai dying state;, thle child was inost severely woundeti on thie head anid other pat ta of his body,v; ithe principal1 ivotinIt was a very large one, extending frotis thle heath over the temporal artery, whtich it laitd openl, to the left eye; tlie wotinds seemedi to have been inflicted by a sharp instritment; saw the body of Elizabeth Shields;, there was a deep) gah in thec back of lher ieck, witich, lie consnidered, caiusedi her death ; there wete other woundts on her body ; one in the abdomen, thirouigh which the bowtels protruded, and wliith seemeel to Itave been itiflicted by a poiltted instrumnent. Mlarv Reilly-Wits awoke by, Mrs. Spencer c-alling " mrurder;" she c,rroLuorated tie testitmony of the prottecatrix relative to stle sul~. a 'en,rt art of the transaction. Patrick Lennox's evidence was to the same efi'ect he went to L'Mshgau for Dr. S-tat.; didl not mieet aniy one on the way. .)ohin Neville, Aub-ccdnstable, describetil the mnanner in which lie atpprehended the M1isses Spenctr ar.d James, Spencer. William Daly, a camian, 'was, next examineti.1,e hnad been on his way from Armagh *to Uaisghgall whets lie hear(l thie cries ot' " siurucr." I-IC rat1s lorsartl anti saw Mrs. Spencer, who implored hinit o go with her, anid save her child. T1his evid'ence was worro- bcimt.ive of'lirs. Spencer's. It was a gray kindI of morning, and tok'rrbly clear. il.iclmard Gisnh-um.-Nias one of the party who accompanied N-e- 'yille, the constable; hc saw James Spencer, andi observed thiat the hiair on one siide of hsis htead looked between wvet,andi dry ; lie also saw a fresht scrutch on Spettcer's cheek ; heard John Sheilla resnark- ing f,1 he pri5oner, when in Lougligall, that he hadl washed his face that triorning, zndI he (prisotier) replied, that Neville, the conNstable, had seen hint wa-shi tis face. Qavid Sloane. an apothecary..A's'as present at the intimest, and ex:smtsin Jattes Spencer ; tite skin of' his knees appeared to be ruffled ; he couild niot say that it hiad been done recently ; there was isoinethini of a blackish colour on Itis knees, but lie (w'itnesS) coulti wte say v;hsnIt it was; saw a scrape on Isis arikie, ivisicisl appeared so hr of recent occarrenice. Reverend Rovbert Wood Ky-le was -next examined.-I atit curate ,iif mez ptarish of Lotq4liiaUl. Iknow the Aliss Spencers,and wasin their house on thelOgth O of larch ; I called, in the course ofmvsnyjinlsterial Klutv, to take dlown the namies of the fanmily, previous to 'the late con. lazlisation ; oni that occasion I saw bliti Anne Spencer, anti had w"Inte conversation with hier ; I chianced to ask the musinber of bet pew-in church, wtiteit slit replied that site andl her sister had to go tc asfied2 ct as (she addted) "1 that vile, titat wicked wotana sllutding to Rachael Spencer) hag taken possession of otir seatt.' I aving been iniduced to) examiine the fields behind M1ri. Spencer', lituse, I traced a footstep ; it was the prirno a nked loot ; th riack led from the lhouse towards Legg; I aso observedI thi i race of a foot witit a shoe on it, which, from its size, I judged to hs t ie shoe of a femnale; the shoe appeared to be email, very neatli sisakfd, and high-heeled ; I followed the tracks over the fields. tc the Claremon',.road, and on crossing the roadi I dis,covered the liks irw'tstepi in the same litie ; I rematrked particularly that ini every placee wh,,re I saw the priiti of the nakedI foot, I always observed tN Claclwof tlhr shoe beside iL. Mlary Donnellv, exansine-d by Alr. AIMoonv.-j lived in the ser. 'vice. of -the Mi jsses Speticer.; I rccollect Jam-es Sipencer coming tosith lievsrseon tbeWcresdnady before the knurder;lie tappedI at the window asod a'M)issSpeneer openedI the door ; he and Ai'dls Spencer came into t,i leitehen where I was, and stopped there aboutani hour; Miss Spence! sund he hada conversation together; I don'treeollect what theconver. matieon was. (I his witness appeared evidently to labourunderrestrain 'wis;ilegiving-hertatimnony.)JaMes Spencer remainedI in ithe house tha 2'istht and the diaY following; he went away on Thursday evening -ifter -dark ; on going away, he told mne to go for s-ome plants on Fri. 'day; he had some c-onverstion with Al iss Spencer on going away but I dlon't recollect what he said; I remiember baring seen tws swordis in the houise, but lisawt none in it for three tnonths before ths iturder ; I recollectAtM. kyle coming to the house, and examinini t`ie shoes in the boot-rack ; he pointed to a pair of shoes, whichi toldI him were Aliss Spencer's; he took them with hint;- I reniem her he unda evningbefre te mrder ; the Misses Spiencer ant I wet u ssai~ togthe; Ilocedte door, and left the key on th, toilt tale;I sa Mis Atste pener sriped, anti Izil in bed and Ithenwentintomy bd, wIch as is aninner roomn;- after I 'wa inbedI ear on o th btitts o dwnstain and comne ul ar,ain ; she had two doors to open and abutt; I supposed she wa, going down stairs for a p ieee of brdfohebotr,a they had fre eque~ntly to do sto; I didI not hear thehl-oroesd Several other witnesses proved thi haighadepressilons o revenge uttered by Jane antI AnnSpoeagis Rachacl Spencer. .Rev. Silver Oliver, Rector of Luh~l a net examinedh.-. 'I know Jamnes spencer, who isa ari onro mine; I visited biitt in A'rmigih gaol on the 4th of ay, ant hilbs a conversation with hini on the subject of the murdierI held ouxt no promises--no in e3tsienents of either hope orfert draw fromn him any disclosure, dhe disclosures le iepmde to me weeprctyfe and VOluntAryY fie told me distirkatlY that I-e O comte h udrand that he dit itsu/Ith a bill-boo k - He further sate tmethtbgt upon thi C'p' of the house from the rear b a pig-sty; tht he wen sluws, the chimney, and that when h went into the room wheno the' miurdered persona wtere, hee bad not a candtle in his hand.I dorf't distinctly recollect, any thing further that he told me ; bu we had somne further conversation. ristorem', Jasnes Spencer.-" Mly Lord, will yost ask Mir. Oliver. if I told him there was anY one with me that night." Thie Jui3GE-" Indeed, Sir, I will niot aakhirn uach a question.' A few witnesseis were called for the defence. Their evidence di. s,nihished the probability of the participation of the two femiale pri goners in the miurder - One made an unsuccessfuAl attempt to prov anasslssiSi fr JAstis Spencer. The learneddJUi E having charged the Jury, they retired fo about half an hour, and then returned into Court, with a verdic flindisilg Jame Spencer Guilty, Jane Spencer -nd Anne Spence NJt Guilty. The convict was then addlressed by the learned Judge to the fol lovdngeffect-:-" Jamee.Spencer-You are now convicted Qf one o the foulest erirues wbich I ever recollect to have heard of; it is, in deed, of'suph enormnity, that.I lnd it impocsible to give utterance ti theyeelings vwhich its recital has called fords. Before the juTy de * cided on your gt;ilt, I wras afraid to trust myself in offeting a 4i[ngl, sssmment on the dreadful -nalure of the crimc, lest I sltouldie I betray ed iuto expresitons wbich possibly mRight have operated to yourdiitaS vantage: but now that that e. nlig tened and rca ectableiurybav proPlOUI& Yyois guilty offking, awdy the lives of two helpless and unoffeni'ding,individuals, 1 hesitate nottodedare .that in the annal of tSe wvrldNever .waa thpre recordeda murder nore foul more bar barou or'ni1oMr oeVolflng to humanity. I nmay observe, talt i'hile J peM ,Yzpget viithe verdict of the jur7 against ydu', I am bouinL alo't lii sowjedge roysatisfacsion with their verdict, acquittinp e Before lTr.'Ollrer was awesrn he expressed bls unwljlnness tc be exanined, asndalppalI to the 6ot, it his Lordship could y eaty means'diaspense wlth hWis tyidenee; assignJng as his motJve tlat In the evnbt of the prisoner, Jaines Specner's convietIoN, it lYOUld be his Si^r. 01 ver'A) d!2ty. to sttend hism In hls Milnister3s1 calac"tv, gud should he give evidence axatnst tlse prlsonq,o hd feared Itrjvoulhave the affect of PrejudlnImih rin mind, and rendering tilefrectuui.tts (sit. Oif vet's) apl ritual scarvlec . To tbhs appllcatlon the Jsidge save a I de- eide4r.ega,ailVb Its5ddt4, lie' Would take that opportunitrof saying, that no s.erg3'spassn.no matter l.wht church hie belonged, could law- ftsity'rcrdefii when calted,^slspna,urt of jnstles, to make a fill dts5lo. aros of' whatever nstgitt'O4'fro.pseto hisitnms'iedsse. IDthe course of his clerical d ulle s.Jie alt oWhe,r "nitsivdualss h ea were bound .tode- ciarC " the trutti-'the svhPieutsLraasdunothhisg Dut thet u'ush." the unfortunate women be,eide you. Ood forbid thet any shouldI suffer where even a doubt of guilt e.dsts; and meaythieir consciences acquit them as they havebcenacqittedbytheJury. To you un- fortunate~ pXdiWcrable moit P r;ltilr6hl; 0 e-alth 'ot lflt'etou1 dbe there clear than the testilony of' youtaurt;en had you .wt.rnadeL tne ilLetmsieK t yor' mtli ter Jli h oit .vb 'dou. NothinKl a t could *.ay ean add th tbe horror whicth ih& Ue fe, rflatl6ri' of your cr,ree must excite. Having, theni, no dnubtwhateveiinimiymnindas to yourgull,I now proceed to pronoutice ti- w0f'al sentetuce of the law. Vton, J ames Spencer, are to be taken from the place where vou no*' stand, (the doek), to the place from whence you came (the gaol), and on Monday next you are to be. conveyed fromn thewce to the cmnimon place of exeaution; and thlre hung by lhe neck until you are dead mad yoUr body tu be yiven to the surgedna of the Couinty Infirnary, and anato,nzed. And mav (4o4 iiave mercy on your soull V, The unfortunate young man (he seemed to be about two or three and twenty) was perfctly collected and altogether ubdismayed during the trial; nriida his firmness desert him while receiving sentence; at the conclusion of which he bowed respectfullk to tle COurt, and was instantly renmoved by the proper oflieers. The fernales, whZo were accomnmodalted with Seats during the trial,' seemedl to ay much attention to the ~ttceedings. At the moment the ju;ry retired to consult on their verdict, the elder of the two. Jane Spencer, became extremely faintish, in whieh state she con; tmn ued, notwithextattli,g the asaidlun)us attentions of her sister Anne, until the jury resurneil and delivered the verdict. .AJi'4(IAG A9S'!qZ', At4g. 7.