The Sun. — 1857-11-05 (London, England)

THE MURDER AND HIGIIWAY ROBBERY LA,  ESSEX.  HALSTEAD, WEDNESDAY. The excitement occasioned by the robbery and murder of Mr. Isaac Butcher, farmer and cattle dealer, on Saturday evening, while on his way from Colchester market to his home at Colne Engaine (e small village about three miles from this town), has greatly increased by the result of the post-mortem examination. The inquest was held yesterday before William C(idd, Esq., coroner for the northern division of the county, and a jury of farmers from the neighbourhood. The most important witness, excepting the medical testimony, was a young man named Butler teerei pt)s'aots‘ coOkoapfhtp;) :etiddwiatOonnt2dooo: it'urhs nt3reoni followed d under gardener to Robert Hills, Esq., of Colne o dais Park, the late high sheriff for the county. Butler states that he lefc. work just after six o'clock, and when within fifty yards of the lodge gate he heard a noise as of persons scuffling in the road, and a by several groans,ahwea y again. a dA ab heard euu autrn2ddof yards oak_ tresd tsae p ps e ri sn ena esc small oeakrl pac running sad ' as faintticdnuaisgturte. ieuncg;Holtyil yaeto hmqfh elea‘ taigncrOald:tyl eln: hndgewheihaosf enro he might b 3 himself attacked ntnhi,negrbut fearing further.on he sp:ltantinsetrafutuinliie gave up the pursuit, and returned to the deceased, who appeared at that moment to breath his last. After the deceased bad "home, his cheque-book and pocket-book were con foundve y ed o 6 r surgeon, Earl in his coat pocket, apparently undisturbed ; and Halsteadcolne , whoßa n the latter, with other papers, contained a receipt f..r upwards the previous day. mr. . Taylor, ayl f 0 0, 0 1. paid nthe Bank on b-3e .n sent for when the deceased was first found, made an immediate examination of the body, but could detect injuries no beyond a contus on of the nose and a cut on the inside of the 3 upper lip, " 1f from pressure upon a b ' roeeen tcoth. Of course neither of . • liese was sufficient to account for death, and nut only report was in circulation that the deco .sed died frous a fit, but the coroner, upon the statement of the circumstances made 1 • to him, ar-.. rivel at the same conclusion, and consequently did not give an order for a post-mortem examination Until the morning of the inquest. This was most minutely and carefully performed by Dr. Taylcr, assisted by another gentleman of Halstead. They foiled congestion of the brain, but without any appearance of injury to the skull. The toilette was neither protruding or swollen, which might be expeceed from ordinary strangulation ; but here were black patches on both arias above the elbow, as if he hal beer pinioned from behind, and there was an oval patch upon the angle of each jaw, res:anblieg in shape a thumb and finger, one being larger than the ocher. Both medicel gentlemen were sai-fied that death arose &An aslayxia, the result of violence, and as far as they could fOrrn an opinion, it was that a band was Ares-ed over the mouth and nose, so held as to cause suffocaticn. The Jury, without hesitation, arrived at a verdict of " Wilf ii Murder by sonic person or persons unknown. The, description obtained by the police of the two men suspected, and who had been observed at Halstead fair on the preceding day, corresponds very closely with that of two men who committed a highway robbery upon a farmer named Palmer, who had been attending East Harding fair, in Norfolk, on the 24th ult. They are apparently railroad labourers on tramp. The Norfolk and Essex police are acting in concert in the search for them, but at present ro clue has been obtained as to the route they have taken, beyond the fact that a man  resembling ono of the parties tock the train for London on Sunday morning from the Kelvedon station.