The Sun. — 1860-12-20 (London, England)

SHOCKING AFFAIR.  Yesterday afternoon an inquest was held at the Duke of Cumberland public-house, Henley-hill. near Easebourne, Sussex, before Mr. R. Blagden, coroner for the western division of that county, on the body of Martha Ann Greenway, who had been murdered by her husband under the following frightful circumstances :—lt appears that the murderer, who was well-to-do in life, and occupied a house in the village, returned from Bethlehem Hospital, on Friday last, where he had been confined for 10 weeks, and was supposed to have been perfectly recovered from his attack of insanity. The murderer and his late wife were both abOut 60  years of age, and are said to have lived in perfect harmony together. They had two children, aged respectively 24 years and eight months, and the husband seemed to have a great affection for the elder child, but did not pay the other any attention. On Saturday morning the accused appeared quite well, but in the afternoon his conduct was observed to be rather strange, and on Sunday morning he came down to breakfast with only his shirt on, bringing his favourite child with him.  In the middle of the day the servant girl went to church, leaving all the family at home, and when she returned about five o'clock she could hear and see nothing stirring in the house. She therefore went to her mother's, which was close by, and during the evening she proceeded to Greenway's house three times, but all wa3 silent there, and the girl concluded that her master and mistress had gone to Farnhurst to chapel. About nine o'clock a neighbour heard a child cry, and a noise in a hedge adjoining Greenway's premises. A constable was then sent for; several persons assembled on the spot in a short time, and a search was instituted, which ended in the discovery of the younger child in the ditch. The elder child was subsequently found in bed, while at the front door of the house a shocking scene presented itself. Lying there was the mutilated body of Mrs. Greenway, who appeared to have been dead for several hours. Her throat was cut down to the bone from the front. She was alsO cut on the right cheek, down through her dress to the breastbone. There was another cut from the wound in the throat down to opposite the fourth rib, where the chest was penetrated, and another cut across the chin to the jawbone. In the kitchen, immediately in front of the fireplace, was a pool f blood, and near it lay two masses of the deceased's hair, coagulated with blood, and evidently torn violently from her head. The murder, no doubt, took place in the kitchen, as there was no derangement of the furniture of the apartment, so that it did not appear that any great struggle had taken place. The husband was meanwhile nowhere to be found, and a search in all directions proved fruitless. On Tuesday morning, he went to a person at Elstead and asked for money, but as information of the murder had reached that place, he was immediately taken into custody. Upon examination it was found that the shirt he wore was very bloody on the sleeves, and he was taken before Mr: A. Davis, one of the county magistrates at Midhurst, and remanded to the adjourned inquest, and he now lies in Petworth gaol. It is presumed that the murder was committed with a razor, which, covered with blood, together with a