Hunt's Confession.
The Times, 1824-02-16T00:00:00

Cotine.from the Weeklp Dispoeh.1 After dlasser-Probert -aid, " Have you got every thing youi wari, -al?s" I"No " anawa~ Jobn Thursell " we must send. Joe for ti.-buse1i~a-hak of cord,,and th,ehorseandchaise.-'I Pro. her-S id, "We mustbave some punch, Jac-k, before you .atart and tWe mnust order it directly, because it will not do for you to keep him aIr~tinjg." It was agreed that John Thurtell was to stdii fltst- ina Proert anti I were to follow nim in about three quarters Of' an itour. ? wised to stop nd take soi puc, but Probert toldl mie I had htrbe off sa gect the th!ings: CorJack ; and as we were to remain for- thr quarters of an boair, we coDuld hiave somlye punch together zftt be was oaie. Besides these things, I was sent by Thonmas ~'1itrtell te ge a box.coat belonging to him, which was at IMr. !Psibb'sL, in Panton-street; and also withi a note to th e mnan who was In Possession at the Cock., for a coat atnd red shawl of Johin Thur. tsl's, which were left in his room. This red shawl was the same hich John Thurtell had round bis hemad whien he intendled to tde. lirroy NVob&s, in llanschester-buiidinlgs, and whiichi was afterwards fouz:d round thie neclk of Mr. Weare. I -ent to '~ua',the stable-keeper, to hire a horse and chatise; they hed ;on chais;e, but th~ey lent mie a horse, and I g ot a chaise at 211r. Ctvsstra It haid been previously arranged thar Isho say I 'wa surin to Darrfotd, and I did so. I then went to Buekiigbain's, lin BRoad.asu-et, and there boiught a saclk and a hianlk of cord; also to (hibb's, for the box-ccat ; but as lie was; not at at home, I could inot P!t 4t. I then went to the Cock, andi on delivering the note, got the gre-t coat and red shawl, and drove to Tetsall's. When I returned into the roomi, I found several prsons who were Saife?to Tne. had joined thte Tlurtells and Prole err' -I therefore ~fePrGbe-t and Joh-n Thurtell into the passage, and told thlem -cre thing was rends, and shiowed them the sack, which Probert examzine.d and sati. -" I tim sure this isk nor a six buishel sack-this will noat be large enoughi fbr him. Jack." Thu'rtell answered- "Neter mnind, Bill, we mosut make shift with it we have no time to lose." And he further renmarked, 1 Wh'lat a bw-v-~. fool MY brother Tom; is, to have a parcel of peolple hiere at a time like t1ms' Probes- said, it was a foolishi thiing, but hie was sure Torni did notz cape-ri am.' person, anid as they were comne to serve hinm =bOut his bzil, hie c'ould( not wiell dleny himself. Th'lurtell 'then said, " VVell. ncver mind. let them stop and he d-Id; I most be ofi yugo into the room.-i Bill. and4 bring me Tom's drab great coat." I'robert wet n fetched it accordinglv. John Tllurtell put the redshw rud his neck, and the dra'b great c,,At on, and being reads-to start, he asked Probert to repav Iiilm the 101. which he h.ad let him ha-ren ta-ke, tip a bill a f:.v dayvs before, out of the mu- rney- for which I had sold a horse 'o a Mr. *Simcock ; atid( Thiurtell said htms hav iora',soft.bcuse he liad no money. Pro. beer said 'Re wouldad teIret n't--ek but hehad n - -.him hve pa tthnad thcefores nerowit owek - .er-all rte-lanlor. ie ccodiglv borrowed some tno. Mr.Terall an gae i toThutel but hiow mluch I can. '~ sy. Jhn Turtel tod Prbertnot o belongafter hiint, anti get into the- rig. andl dros-c off- A fterhutlwa gone, Prebert andmyslf entint th rom nd ad omepunh,anid in about lil hose ndchase o tledoo. H ten left the room and in about "" 'tiuitesretrned saing,"Hut, the chaise is ready." I theconoan god neht go ito the gig, Probert followed, nnd~e doveoff InOxfrd-tret Igot oUt anti bought a loin of pr.at the desire of Probert.. We then wenit on to a Mlr. Harding's, a publican in the E?dgeware-road, where wre lad some branidy and water, and again started. On our getting near tile Bald-faced stag, Prober wish~ed that I xhould get out and walk on, saying that he woulId soon overtake m-ne. It was not at my de,ire on account of tile hiorse-clotlhs, as Prober, s.tated at the inquest; for so far from my wishing to avoid the people of the house. I on the following miorning stopped thecre to breakfast w-ith Thomas Thurtell anid Probert's boy'. I had never been at the hous but oce, anld that was to a supper at the invitation of Pro. bherr: and the cloths were not lent to toie, but borrowedI by Probert fotr a friend of rmne. niamedI Mortran. and I wient away, leav'ing John Thburteli and Probert there. Wh'lile they were in this louse nit this c-casion, John Thortell fought withi tnree countrynten, and they -iterwarsi-, told me that in the confusion they robbed one of thle ensnr-,-mten of his watch, which Thiurtell pawvned for 25s. some- whren Lodn n thy iided the money between them. At BEige-ware we. toppea at a corn-chandler's. and Probert got out topurchasec corn. While he was in t-he shoGP I saw Thurtell and Weare pass. Wh'en Probert cAmec out. I told hiin, they were gone by, and we wear- ORk to Field's. the Artichoke, at Elstree. whiere we waited in ca~ro ftheir tiassing us again. and hadl three or four glasses ofbrantds- and water. At last the chiaise wvith, Thurtell anid Wears passedi the hottse.and PTobert nudged me and whispered, '" There they go. we inns:, be after them." Field, the lanldlord, aboutt this timne broughit us, another shilling's-worth of brandy anid water, andl on my ~cxprossing mny anxiety to be off. Proberct said, " Never msind, we shallI be time enough 4 for as their horse is a hiired horse, lie must be narlyIs knocked iup. and as ours is fresh , we shiall soon overtake them> WNIe finished our brandy and water, and then Probert stroll' sn a eaflop in the same diirection'they hadl gone, and on arriving at a Ilac where a road branches off, andf which I now kt-ow is near Mfr. Rhillimore's Lodge, but whiicil I was then totally uniacquaintedI withi. as I ha4 never been that road before, 1Probert said, " You get out here. and I will gro on to the cottaze. and see if Jack is there, and if aLll is ,ih" ccordingly, got out, and Probert went oni with the horse and chatis as bard a-s lie could down the lane. In our asy dow-n. Probert freqluently alluded to tile money that was execed .to b~e found upon tl'care. and his apprehensions lest Ths trell s-hould welil it (meaning keep it to himself.) He.said, W kniow Jack is a verv determined fellow, anti ig sure to tlo the trick;- but if he don't do the ruling tfhat is righlt by, giving us our shiare, we shall be '-tre to learn by- tile newspapers whiat amTount lie takes, anti we shall k-now how t) aset hereafter." After an absence Of neat art hour. Probert camne back to the spot where lie had left me, and di- reels- he-w", within hecaring, he bega n singing ", Bright chanticleer procl.aims the dawn. &c. !" andi whien I got into the chaise, he said, '-It is all over. .lack has k-illed himi !" U(nenning Thuartell had 'killed Wearei_` I have sen Jack, and Jack has shown me the aturdered man's, huntieg watch." I said, " He must lave been at -our pinas' some- time ?-" Oh yes," replied Probert, "- at least an hour. fi' his, horse and chaise are iput up, and tile horse dressed;, but Jack tells me-the man bad. not got so much imoney as he expected." On our arri,ingz at the coetmge, Tls,sert.1 w.si leaning against the .ztable aoor, and Proberct's lad was cleaninig(down his hiorse. Probert snt my into the kritchen vwith the loin of pork, and tolti me to desir-e thvetook todrs it for supper, while hewernt into the stable toTliur. wre-I In about ten minutes theyv came to inc in the kitchien, and we all went into the parlous-, where Proberct introduced tite to his wife, rsaying. - This is my friend Hunt, of- whom yiotu have so often heardl me s~peak as heir-- so good a singer ; and I hav-e broughit himn down to ente-rain vou." Af-ter a little timie hadl passed, Probert told his wife that a bilk supper was getting ready, it would be. better for us to C-est cut of hcr was', and we should therefore go to thie stable and see to ths putting tiip of the horses. W'e accordingly, went to the stable, and Probert sent the bos- into the kitchen, and told himi to stolp thete .U he gave him further' orders. IJiroctl ' the boy left us together, Thurteil showed me thec gold watch atnd apperdages, antI thin he, Proabert. and rn-suf.took thelantern fromn the stable antl went across a plougehed field, in ordeer to search for the hotl of rthe deceased. As we were proceeding to the spot. J. Thurtell said that lie had got Wesre's purse, wh'ich had only twvo or thiree sovereigns in it, but that he dlid nor have time to search Ithoroughly for tile other Money. Ott crossine the ploug.hed field, we canme direct'ly upon the body, winch was Ivi-ognear the hedige on the inside, and there was a gait in the hedge,which h-ad ev,idently been madebvdlraggingthebod-y through it. The head and face were covered withTiThurtpll's red shawcl, which also appeareelt u be tied roun~d the neck, of rihe deceased. I hneld the lA-stern, and Proberthleld up) the body, utsder thearms,'while John Tburrtell rifledi the pockets. .Nothi:ig was fouttd while I wvas present, ex-cept four 1.~t hank, notes, weitich were takell by Thttrtell from the trousers' pocket of the deccased. Theseterre f'olded together carfelessl, and not, enclos~ed in anyv purse or pocket-book. rIhtitrell nod Probe'rt erpress.ed thetiyielres as being n.ueh disappointed, and I alsojoined in similar expressioni ; but I lhave now reasoni to believe that either one or both of them must have tdeceived me as to the mioney found on the deceased: because it was nor likely Mr. WVeare would hiave broughit stosmall a sumn down, considering the object lieliatd in view; nais- wa it probable that he would tarry his hiotes loose, when he had a silk note-cae i n his possession. This note-case hadh been taken by Thurreill. from the deceased, before Probert and I arrived ; and besides how should he have been able to tell Probert that the man had no s "Mutch money about him as he expected, uttless be had then nadtea co-nplete seatrch ? Mv opitlion is, that he had got the money, anti kept it in his~ own riossension, except the 201., which he put into tie pocket assa blind to us ; and 1Io tnite snore confirmed in tillsj opinionn because he afterwvards liad plenty of money, and has boastedI that he could r-is-c 311(1. to get witnesses to ciear hiim. 'A fere the seirching was finished, the body was put into the sack I adturcliaseit, and witich Probert had brought from tile chaise, and whnit was secured, we consulted as to how long it was to be left ther, ar'd it wits, arranged thlat the decesased was tiot to be removed 'oIl after the women should be goefe to e,adte h os was to be taken to feitch the hot)ly tos the garden ; so that it mnight he thrown into the pond until acotnvenient opportnitayoffered to bury it. The following is the account J. Thurtell gave nis of the circtini. stances attending the actual commission of the miurder t. On reachingz Tvhu.urnpt rike, I found W1eare waiting for me in the coach;z I saw hiis headloinetofheildw As we were sg long the dark lane,Wee sadtIe - my eyes, Jack, Z:Fe,a prertty plate to cut a a hot fyu watit to gnt rid of him !" Presentlv after I sadt i, 1hve misseel the Lodge gates.r I Must ba've pissed them." Then I turnled the horse about, and followed your advice, Prob,ort, by tellingIliint howv nice the country loc:kell that wray: this induced him to t-jrn in time direction I poinf-. ed, and I shot himn through the hie-ad, but I haye had a great deal of trouble to kill himn. Ities-er hiad so muchi trouble to kill a i-nan in all my life, for at one time he hiai nearly got the beat of me;- for after I had discharged mv pistol at him heuipdotf the igand ran; I followed, and hc fought wvith metl unsae i down v.~the piszol, and he then struggledwtmeihgra resolution, A1" actua ly gist me ztndernuset. Whl,hoee, a in this si- d=ton. I io6k, out my penknife and cusi hra,ad ins doing I brok-e the blae of my knife. Thebloruhdfmhi in large quantities and soine got dowvn my tra and nearly choke Mie t at lstwhen his~ strength failed hihn bh loss of blood, I got up. lie gull la, ad goand fr ashot tme,but I soon stoppedl that tyig tiylage edltadkrchsfrond the b-.'s throat, an draging im trouh th hede. I ru str-uggle I have unfortu. natly os mypennie ad Ie istl,and we- must endeavour to fin thm,les tey hold e ickd P by somebody, and create prober said It was no use to look for them that night, but he wud goe.riyin the morning and find them; and it would be better for hi. to loo for them, because, as lie was knowsn to all tile people about, no suspicion would be created by his being in the lane, atid he could take the dogs out with him as an excuse. On returning to the cottage we had some bra;ndy, and thten John TburteD drew the watch and chain from his pocket, and took o'F dte chain, and said to Mrs. Probert, " This belonged to a little Q='keresr, a sweetheari of niine at Norwich ; but as I have tumed ker up, I nrust beg of vou to keep it for my sake." He then placed the chaui round lier neck__she received it verv cor4lially, and pro- iuised never to par, with iL. I omitted to rnent.on a circumstance communicated to me about a month before Mr. 'Weare's muriler, antI wliich this allusion to the Qaakere&s brings to my recoDectiot7-it is this: 'i I was," said John l hurtal, " upon terms of intimacy with a Quaker's fam'ily at Nor rwics, and privately paid my addresses to the daughter, who was, I beeve, verT foeld of rme, unitil a young nman who was afriend of Lhe family. anr a pretended friend of mine, told the father that I ras a opgnre bad character, and ought not to be permitted to visit at tieir ho-ase. The old gentleman told his wife, and she communi. csred - hat pazsed to the daughter, and the girl mentiened it to mie. I soon after served hint oot for his treahehry; I took him out With rae in7ry beat, uoder pretence of fishing, buitt took care he was nrer afterwards heard of." lBtt to return to my narrative. ,fter wve had Enished our suspper, and comnenced taking our grog or ;jnEed liquor, Probgrt said to his wife, " You think me a good siner, Betsy, but you inusthear my friend M1r. Hunt, who will sing you a-g about Betsy; wfuvoute tong of mine." They repeatedly pressea me, AbA T sutg tie sogg he w*shed: ! I aards getnig'an. other. Probert also sung, and Thurtell endeavoured to sing, but could not get throuh the song he atteinpted. Aboat twelve o'clock hirs. Probert was rorward ir liquor; Probert told her tlat as-behad me there, he Intended to sit up and enjoy hlimself. Miss .Noyes slioull therefbre get us the glasies and anotfiei bfttle of i&rA and then they had better go to bed. lliss iNoyes iccordfzrgly went away with Mrs. ProDert, who at the dMesheleftthe6om, han,tsturpoe you will make a druntien bout of it, arod I said, mae aud o you." 'Thurtell said, `.Yes, you may expect to see youlr Billy come up to bed drunk enough." In a little while after the women were gone to bed, Thurtell said, "We may as we ook and see if there is any c/haunt about the money," and he exammed the four notes, but there were no marks upon them. Ohn Thurtell now produced a 8mall silk note-case,, such as is ge-- nerally carried by sporting men with difr'eient divisions in it for their note"; this was examined, Ibut it contained only Mtr. WVeare's shooting licence, and a few loose memorandums; these, together, with the memorandums, were burnt. ie next brought out a0brown silk purse, in which there were three sovereigns and some silver this purse also was bturnt, and likewise a small betting book. The money was then divided between us; by ThurteU eiving Probert and me a five-pound note and a sovereign each, and reserving the re- mainder to pay for the horse andchaise, and the other expenses. When Probert received his share, he held out his hand and said, This is a bad look.out-t..is is hardly worth coming down for, Jack." Thiurtell answered, " It cannot be helped. I thought, Bill, we should have had a hund(red or two at the least, but we must now make the best of it we can. Thlis watch, you must recollect, BiID, will fetch twenty or tlhirty pounds." " VerY true," said Probert '" and the gun, if it is good for any thing, will fetch ten pounds '" and then addressing me, he said, "Go, Hunt and fetch the gun, and all the other things, and let's see what they are worth." I accordingly went into thie stable, and brought the gun, a small box. and a travelling bag. Probert looked at the gun and said, " This is one of Mlanton's make; it will bring at least 101." He then laid hold of the box, and said to Thurtell, " This is the backgammon board you were speaking of, Jack." "Yes," s.id Thurtell, thst is the board to pick up a flat with." Probert said, " Comie, Jack, let's opeii the bag, there may be some mnoncy in that." Thartell then took, out of his pocket a handsome penkmIfe which lie said he had taken from Mr. Weare's coat pocket. and cut the bag open while Probert held it up. The bag contaihed some linen, several waistcoats, and a shooting dregs ; also, two pair of dice, whicil I understood were loaded, and two or three packs of false cards. One pack of the cards Probert kept, the others were out again into the bag with the linen. Probert also took a yellow silk handlkerclhief, whilch was marked wvith Mr. *Veare's name, and Pro- bert burnt out the mnark over the candle. After this division, it was proposed tog g and retch the body, and accordingk we all three vent to the stable; and th. bridle beilng put on Tlhurtell's hiurse, he and Probert went across the ploughed field, while I remained near the house to see that all was quiet, and if I found any one stirring, to give an alarmn, and prevent their beine seen on their return. In a short time they came back, Thurtell leading the horse, and Probert holding the body, so as to keep it across the horse Nvithout falling. The horse was led into the garden near to the pond, and the body was there thrown from the horse-s back into the greensward by the side of the pond.when Thurtellonbserved thatthe body wouldnotsinkunlesssone stones orsomething heavy was put into the sack: whereupon Probert said he would getsome of the largafliuitsfrom his shrubbery,and he ac- cordingly wentandbrouhlit severallargestones,whiich were putinto tie sack, and the body was thrown with a swing, by Thurtell and Pro. bert, into the pond. Before the body was thrown in, Probert said the feet would probably rise up, unless something was done to keep them under vwater; and to prevent it, he tied one end of a string to the dead man's legs, and- kept the other on the bank, and when the body was sunk, lie drew the string so as to keep the legs down, anid fastened the end to a particular spot by the pond side, where he said lie could readily find it, and draw the body ashore whenever he wished. After the bodv was thus disposed of, we returned into the parlour, and Probert said he woltid go up stairs, and see if his old womani was asleep; he remained absent a few minutes. and on his return ve entered into conversation, and sat dtrinking until about two o'clock. when Probert left us and went to bedl. In the course of this conver. sation, illr. Probert said, " There cannot bc a better place in the world than this, to get rid of that b-v thief, Hlolding* vou know how he has robbed me, Jack, and it ivill be easy to get hini here anti finish him in this narlour, and as you kno,v I muist soon leave this cottage, it musrt b&done quickly." Thurtell said, '" You have only to say the word, Binl, and it is done." Thus ends the history of this evenitful night. IUwNs cOmppsgOzm.