The Sun. — 1839-07-24 (London, England)

EERY IN SOHO.  A very natural anxiety exists among the public to know what steps have been taken to bring the perpetrators of the horrid tragedy in Princes-street to justice ; but although the police have been unceasingly engaged in the inquiry, their movements have been wrapped in so much secrecy, that no information can be procured from that quarter. One thing, however, is quite certain, th..t no satisfactory clue has been obtained likely to lead to the discovery of the villains. We have good reason to believe that the police authorities have received a great number of anonymous communications, all of them detailing, with great apparent minuteness, the circumstances connected with the murder and robbery, and all promising to give such evidence as would lead to the capture of the wretches, provided certain stipulations were complied with. When these communications have been attended to, some have been found to be of the nature of a hoax, and some so wholly unworthy of further notice as to meet with entire disregard. It was confidently reported some weeks ago that the murderers had been in the neighbourhood of Gravesend, and that on the evening after the murder and robbery a number of watches were offered for sale at prices which created a suspicion the property had not been honestly come by. An inspector of the A division was sent down to make inquiry, and having learned that- a boat had been stolen from the neighbourhood of Ramsgate by a mar, who had made his escape to the French coast; he followed up the matter, and on 'arriving at Boulogne, obtained such particulars as were sufficient to prove that. the man in question had nothing whatever to do with the murder of Mr. Westwood. The police, during their inquiries in France about the man who had made his escape into that country, were informed of a melancholy occident. The man in the stolen boat being descried was pursued, and he ran the boat on shore and was taken. The French authorities gave instructions to a fisherman to get possession of the boat. The fisherman went with his two sons, and on reaching the boat a sudden squall came on, and all three perished. This will, perhaps, explain the report that the persons presumed to be the criminals . had been drowned while endeavouring to make their escape over to France. From a consideration of all the known circumstances, the impression daily becomes more strengthened that those who committed the crime were not of the class termed " regular thieves," but that they must have been persons well acquainted with the murdered man, his. habits of business, and the nature and disposition of the valuable property in the shop. This is evidenced by the fact, that the robber who rifled the premises, when he came to a particular drawer which could only be only be opened by the removal of the adjoining drawer, took the latter drawer out, and, after removing the contents of the other, replaced it carefully. The' safe was also attempted, and it must have been pre viously known that the key was kept in a beaufet in the room where the murder was perpetrated, for the key was removed, and, no doubt, taken away by the villains. It is also conjectured, and not without reason, that tile wretches were personally known to the unfortunate man, and that, having been recognised, they committed the murder, and afterwards set fire to the sheets and clothes to avoid discovery. No marks of blood were found, except where the murdered man lay, and this makes it clear that more than one person was concerned in the crime, otherwise the drawers and places from whence the valuables were taken would have been marked. It is also believed that the property is still undisposed of, as it is of a description that no " fence" would have anything to do with, now that the dreadful affair has obtained so much publicity. Up to the present time, therefore, we may state with confidence that nothing is known, and no satisfactory clue exists to give a hope that the murderers w be eventually apprehended.— Observer.