npedrazzini/19thc_murder_suicide_news huggingface dataset:
Denton Examiner, Audenshaw, Hooley Hill and Dukinfield Advertiser. — 1877-03-17 (Denton, Greater Manchester, England)

CHARGE. OF ATTEMPTED MURDER.  Norman Wrings, 18, farm labourer, was charged at the Chelmsford Assizes before Lord Justice Bramwell with feloniously casting and throwing Susannah Lord into a pond, with intent to murder her. Mr. Croome prosecuted, and the prisoner was defended by Mr. Wightman Wood. The prosecutrix in this case was a young woman, 23 years of age, the daughter of a farmer at Torrington. Her father and mother were aged people, and the prisoner was employed to look after the stock, and work in the business of the farm. It appeared that a young miller, named Salmon, was paying his addressee to the prosecutrix, and he was in the habit of coming to her father's house on the Sunday afternoon, and the prosecutrix generally accompanied him home. Although the prisoner never appeared to have paid any attentions to the prosecutrix, and nothing had occurred to show that he was attached to her, there was no doubt that he entertained affection for her, that he was jealous of the visits of the young miller, and that this feeling had led to the attack that was made by him upon the prosecutrix. On the evening of the 7th of January, the prosecutrix woe returning to her own home, after parting with her sweetheart, and she met the prisoner. He asked her what she and Salmon had been saying about him, and she told him they had not been saying anything. Upon this the prisoner seized her by the wnsts, and dragged her for some distance towards her father's house. When they arrived at apond close by the farmhouse, the prisoner forced her into the part which was four feet deep, and then said that he would do for her, and tried to put her bead under water. She screamed for assistance, and fainted, and when she recovered her consciousness she found herself lying by the side of the pond, and the prisoner was lying by her side with his arms round her neck. He then asked her not to tell her father and mother what had taken place, and he afterwards said that he would go into the stable and hang himself. A constable was sent for, and the prisoner was given into custody. In answer to questions pot in cross-examination, the prosecutrix said that the prisoner had never expressed any affection for her, and she had not the slightest idea that he was jealous of Salmon, the young miller, who was courting her, and she could not in any way account for his conduct on the occasion. Lord Justice Bramwell said, in summing ' up, that it was certainly a very strange case, and unless the jury believed that the prisoner really intended to drown the prosecutrix they ought not to convict him under this indictment I The jury found the prisoner not guilty. The prisoner was then tried upon another indictment for unlawfully assaulting the prosecutrix, and causing her actual bodily harm. The jury found the prisoner guilty of a common assault. Lord Justice Bramwell said it appeared to him that it was a very uncommon assault, and that the prisoner had been guilty of a most grievous outrage towards the prosecutrix. He sentenced him to nine months' hard labour.
Denton Examiner, Audenshaw, Hooley Hill and Dukinfield Advertiser. — 1877-09-15 (Denton, Greater Manchester, England)

LIFE IN ITALY: ATTEMPTED MURDER... . .  The Rome correspondent of the Globe nays: borne seven miles from the Bevil, on the heights over the road beyond the Ponte African°, is a mountain village called Vitiano, where a rich proprietor named Signor Michele lives. During this summer an Englishman named Alexander has been the guest of Signor : Michele. In the. same district reside two Italians , who lately returned from America. Between Signor Michele and these Italians exists a feud, arising, it is said, from jealcusy at the superior good fortune and prosperity of Signor Michele; and to Mr. Alexander, as the intimate friend of Signor Michele, a portion of this enmity attached. On Sunday, August 28th, the great local fair, or fesra, at Vitiano was held, and Signor Michele exerted himself to make this fair as brilliant as possible by means of musical bands, fireworks, Ac. The Italians determined to make the fair an opportunity for satisfying their rancour, and tried in the evening to pick a quarrel with Signor Michele. A few angry words were exchanged. About half-past ten Signor Michele was walking outside his house in company with the two Italie-is and some other persons, and , after one or two observations intended to produce a brawl, was stabbed byone man in the shoulder, while another man shot him with a revolver in the leg. Signor Michele returned to his house aovered with blood, and his life is in danger. It is rumoured that it was intended to shoot Mr. Alexander and to stab Signor Michele, but the Englishman owed his escape from attack to the circumstance that he remained in the house and did not accompany his friend in the unfortunate stroll. Three or four persons are in custody for this crime, which seems to have been premeditated. The scene of this attempted murder is not far from the spot where a duel was fought some twenty years ago between Mr. Crook, a rich American, and an Englishman who is now a well-known banker in Rome. Mr. Crook was a great favourite with the Grand Duke of Lucca, and was a well-known adept at the pistol. He and the Englishman had some altercation at the Casino about a lady of great personal attractions. Mr. Crook was the aggressor and forced the duel upon the Englishman, who was an unwilling combatant. To avoid the consequences of a duel within the Lucca limits the antagonists with their seconds took the Castelnuovo road along the river Serchio, passed' the bounds, and fought in a glade near the old custom house. Mr. Crook, contrary to all expectation, was shot mortally by his inexperienced antagonist, and was carried to die in a neighbouring osteria or wine shop. The Grand Ducal party and the fashionables of the Bagui showed much' sorrow for Mr. Crook, and went to view his body. The victor lost no time in leaving Lucca and its neighbourhood, which he did not revisit for many years. The lady whose beauty was the innocent cause of the fatal encounter also left the Bagni in haste.
Denton Examiner, Audenshaw, Hooley Hill and Dukinfield Advertiser. — 1877-08-04 (Denton, Greater Manchester, England)

MURDER FORTY YEARS.  A Devonshire paper prints a letter received by a solicitor at Moreton Hampstead from Edward Galley, who io 1836 was transpoited, having been convicted for being concerned with Thome. Oliver (who was hanged) in the murder of Mr Jonathan May, of Lowton Barton, Dunsford. Galley says that Oliver muted on the scaffold that he (Galley) was innocent, and that the man who committed the murder was a man belonging to Biddenden. in Kent, whom he names, and who is now at large in New South Wales. passing under another name. Galley now sake that this mai, shall be emitted, in order that be (Galley) ma), /secitut himself of the reproach from which he has for forty years suffered of being a robber and a murder.  rw., !MARINO CFIILDREN —At the M 113011 PA. ter City Police Court, on Monday, before Mr PJ. deadlam. Charles Aston, of 20 Nightingale erect, Stianpways, was charg. d with being al large whilst in an unsound state of mind. The prisoner came out of goal on Saturday week last after serving a term of imprisonment 1., aesaultin; his w fe, and previous to th:tt his wife sad gone to Ireland, taking a by with her. She had, however, before goin cured lodgings for the prisoner at the addre,. above stated, and had left their two children—a girl aged six, and a boy aged three years and six months. The prisoner went to these lodgings on coming out of prison, and remained there for several days, his time being chiefly occupied in drinsiug. On the following Thursday he wen, to the lo4ings with two rough looking men, and took the children away. He was seen go ing with them along Straugeweys, in the di rection of Higher Broughton, and nothing more was seen of him until Sunday last, when be was apprehended by the police on suspicion of being in an unsound state of mind. Nothing more had been heard of the two children, and the prisoner refused to give any account of what he had done with them —The case was adjourned until Monday next, in o der that Detective M'Lelland might make inquiries as to the whereabouts of the two children. The girl was dressed in a lilac striped pinafore, and the boy in a blue frock, with black velvet jacket and sealskin cap. We have since been informed that the children were found by the police last night in charge of a woman living in the vicinity of Strangeways. A young man named Emery, cashier and ledger keeper ta a firm of manufacturing confectionsra obtained a verdict for £2,000, at the Sri-rot assizes on Wednesday, against the Midland Railway Company, for damages he sustained in the Raustock accident le.st August. His left leg was fractured and his spine injured, and be had not yet recovered from nervous symptoms. ;Lord 12iiet Juatice Coleridge. after retiring with the counsel in the ease, was understood to refuse to give judgment, and stayed execution till next term.
Denton Examiner, Audenshaw, Hooley Hill and Dukinfield Advertiser. — 1877-06-16 (Denton, Greater Manchester, England)

MURDER AT NAPLES.  A gentleman, accompanied by a workman, was seen to enter the Hotel del Globe near the Fontana Medina. In the court they had some conversation and then mounted the stairs, but a few minutes afterwards the workman was seen to fly, followed by a waiter. Guards followed and arrested the fellow, and on returning to the hotel they found the gentleman on the stairs dying from two wounds in the breast from a butcher's knife. He was a Signor Maceri, from the province of Catanzaro, and had been lodging in the Globe since the Bth of April with his family. The murderer was also from the same province, and vengeance seems to have suggested the crime—not on the part of the assassin, who did not know his victim or any of his relatives. It is supposed that he was sent by an ex-Benedictine friar, who had also been the Syndic of some place in Calabria, and had long desired to get rid of an honest man. Of course, a large sum of money had been promised. Carmine Scats°, the assassin, is only 20 years of age, and is a shoemaker by trade. In Naples, which was perfectly unknown to him, he had been only five or six days, having coins up by steamer, from the kitchen of which he stole a butcher's knife. With this he committed the crime. It may readily be perceived what materials for crime exist in such a country and how brigandage is recruited. Had Scalso escaped he would, of course, have taken to the mountains; now he lies at the disposal of a merciful law, and equally merciful judges and jury.  • BENEATH one's notice—Advertisements on the pavement, A WEALTHY COSTERMONGFIL Two of the omnibuses belonging to the London General Omnibus Company, one plying to Paddington and the other to Bayswater, were in Newgate-street racing, when they came into collision, and got their wheels locked together. They also struck against a costermonger named Patrick Toohig, who was wheeling his barrow at the side of the road, knocked him down and broke his thigh. He was removed to St. Barthoomew's Hospital, where his leg was net, and he VIEW puts to bad. As is custernary at the hospital, the nurses took away the patient's clothes to take care of until he was able to leave the establishment, but the patient manifested such anxiety to have his old coat that at length to quiet him they brought it to him. As soon as he got it he took off several patches which were on it, and took out £260 in notes and gold. He has since died, having first made his will, leaving £lOO toeach of his two sons, and £5O and the residuo of his property to his daughter. Some years ago Toobig was supposed to have come into the unlawful possession of twenty-three spade guineas, which be stated he bad purchased at 105. each. His I statement, from his appearance, was not credited, but It was then shown that altlsough be occupied the position of a costermonger he could always command £5O or £6O; and this circumstance proves it to have been true.
Denton Examiner, Audenshaw, Hooley Hill and Dukinfield Advertiser. — 1877-07-21 (Denton, Greater Manchester, England)

NIGHT THE TIIIRD.  SEVERAL more years had elapsed, and again it was night upon that desolate coast. The moon was almost full, but heavy clouds were driving across her disc, and giving her the appearance of wading and struggling in a vapoury ocean, which was really flying landward, impelled by a furious eastern gale. It was a terrible storm, long afterwards remembered on that coast, for the banal havoc it made of life and property. The fatal lantern, 'the evil spirit's own lighthouse," as it had not inappropriately been termed, was burning brightly in its place, and its baleful glare had already lured to destruction a heavily-laden brig. But greatly to the disappointment of the lantern-lighters, : the captain and crew had managed to get safely ashore, in a condition to claim what might be cast up from the wreck. They were thoroug 31y drench:A, however, and almost frozen, and several of the wreckers had volunteered to convey them to a small village some miles island, where their wants could be supplied, and where they would be out of the way, at least, for the present. In the meantime, the majority of these amphibious plunderers were busily at work, and many a valuable article had been transferred to hidieg.places where the eyes of the owners could never penetrate, and which no police-offic3r or magistrate had ever heard  Wild beasts snarling and fighling over their prey would fitly illustrate the conduct of these men as they wrangled for the spoils which fraud and crime had assisted to place within their reach. Whenever an article of value was seen approaching the shore, two, three, or four men would instantly plunge in after it, and then almost immediately a fight would follow, the combatants being often up to their necks in water.  While this sort of work was going on, Mark Hazel and two others returned from the village, to which they had been conveying the crew of the brig. All had been anxious to get these men out of the way, and Mark and the others had undertaken to remove them only upon condition that they should not thereby be deprived of an equal chance of the goods from the wreck. They soon saw that they had been deceived in this respect, and their atger thereat may be imagined. Brandishing his deadly bludgeon, Mark Hazel ran in among those who were tugging at the spoils, and murder might have been the result, if a new incident hod so attractvl their attention. _ _ . _ .  Led on by the false beacon light,-S.nolei:;essel, a large ship, had doubled a neighbouring headland, and had just become visible in the moonlight. At the same instant that the wreckers caught eight of the vessel, those aboard of her became aware of their d ‘ngrr, and begun to struggle for their lives with all the enurgy of UM fteling which as almost but not quite despair. The wreckers looked on with interest so intense that it induced them to forget their quarrel, and fix their whole attention upon the struggle before them, which was to terminate either in the safety of the vessel and their disappointment, or in its destruction and their  ).
Denton Examiner, Audenshaw, Hooley Hill and Dukinfield Advertiser. — 1877-07-21 (Denton, Greater Manchester, England)

SHOCKING MURDER IN MERIONETHSHIRE.  BANGOR, Monday Night. Dolgelley, the county town of Merionethshire, has been the scene of a tragedy apparently , equalled only by the Wainwright case. On Monday, June 4, Sarah Hughes, a single woman 36 years of age, living with her sister at Coed- ' coch, Brithdir, a small village some four miles distant from Dolgelly, went to that town on business. At nine o'clock at night she called at , a friend's house and stated that she was on her way home. She, however, never reached home, and her continued absence giving rise to the suspicion that she had diet with foul play, the police and a number ot the neighbours devoted several days to a most careful search of the 'malty, but without the slightest trace as to what had become of the missing woman. About half-past six o'clock this morning, a little girl who was cro,sing a wooden bridge which spans the Arran river, a tributary of the Mawdclacli, about a mile from Dolgelly, noticed a human arm floating down the stream. She informed her parents of the occurrence, and eventually the police got to hear Of it, awl under the direcii.m of Captain Clough, chief constable of Merionethshire, and Ilispector Jones, a number of men, augmented others who speedily volunteered their ser leek commenced making a thorough Prarnilla OD of the river and its banks. Proceeding up the stream, their search w.. 8 soon :awarded by the discovery Of • twelve pieces of a human bodY, and these, on being put together. were fotin Ito complete the body ot a female in its eniirelty, a piece of the left kuee being alone naisding. ihe mutilation and dismemberment hail epperently been executed in the most brutal 4nd• unscientific manner One foot was cut off tlicleg with the boot and text of a stocking on, anti both the breasts were severed from the trunk. Although decein position had fully tet ! in—death baying occurred apparently six Weeks ago—the identification of the mutillited remains as being the body of the misaiug wothau is beyond doubt. It is supposed that the remains were put into a sack and taken a goocltway up Bwleh Coch, a little above the Froto- di woollen factory, and thrown into the rit rran, in the hope that the flood on Sund tight—the river being greatly swollen by leavy rain—would carry them out to sea. affair naturally created great excitement t ;bout the nighbourhood, and at Dolgelly bu is was to-day entirely at i a standstill. All ~r of rumours were current as to the man i which the unfortunate woman met her di but up to a late hour the police appeared have no reliable clue. The deceased it is 4 3, was the mother of one or two illegitimate -in, and was far advanced in pregr  31' 1 y i le a he I xa I [no am er n ath t h, tad, ldrei  /nancy.  • - -"
Denton and Haughton Examiner, etc. — 1879-07-12 (Denton, Greater Manchester, England)

THE RICHMOND MURDER.  The trial of Catherine Webster, on the charge of having murdered M.s. Julia Martha TiIIIMAA, at Richmond, on the 2nd of March last, was resettled on Saturday morning, at 10 o'clock, in the Central Criminal Court, before Mr. Justice Denman. The Solicitor4eneral, Mr. Poland, and Mr. A. L. Smith prosecuted for the Crown. The prisoner was defended by Mr. Warner Sleigh and Mr. Keith Frith; Mr. Brindly watched the case on behalf of Church. Evidence woe called showing how the box and remains had been first taken charge of by the police, and subsequently given over to Dr. Bond. A little girl named Menhennick identified the box as one she had area in Mrs. Thomas's house while on a prolonged visit to No. 2, Vine Cottages, previous to the prisoner's arrival to act aa a domestic servant to Mrs. Thomas, when witness went home to her father. Mr. Menhennick, of Finsbury Park, said his little girl had lived for some time with Mrs. Thomas, at Vine Cottages. He last saw the deceased alive on the 11th of January. On Friday, the 21st of March, Church and Porter called on him with a letter written by his wife to Mrs. Thomas. Church left his name and address, and on the following morning witness called upon Mr. Hughes. —Cross-examined by Mr. Sleigh t On the occasion of Church's visit to witness he said he had paid the woman .elB on account of some plate and other things which she had given him, and which were then at his own house. Church told him he had been to the house himself, but did not say he had been at the house for hours drinking and smoking in her company alone. He did not mention the fact that Mrs. Thomas was missing, but etated that the prisoner was. He said nothing to witness about a box containing portions of a human body being found in the river. Inspector Dowdell, ex. &mined by Mr. A. L. Smith, proved arresting the prisoner at her father's house at Enniscorthy. in Ireland, on the 28th of March. On the way to this country she said, "Is there anyone else in custody for this murder?" I said, "I must consider about answering that question." She then said. "Well. if there is not, there ought to be." I cautioned her and said," I hope you will not make any statement without duly considering what you are going to say." I further said, "[hope you will, above all things, not make any false statement against any innocent person." She replied, " I will not; but it is not right that the innocent should suffer for the guilty." Inspector Pearson spoke as to further statements made by the prisoner in reference to the culpability of the man Church. • variety of other evidence of a circumstantial nature having been given, the Court adjourned until Monday when witnesses proved that Church was at home during the whole of the evening of the 3rd March. Mr. Warner Sleigh, counsel for the defence, said that after such clear testinioney he would not endeavour further to dispute the fact.
Denton and Haughton Examiner, etc. — 1879-10-18 (Denton, Greater Manchester, England)

GRECIAN. It is the joint production of Messrs. George Conquest, sen., and H. Robinson, and entitled " The Mesmerist." The title is derived from the fact that a mesmerist and friend of the heroine's  sends her to sleep in order to prevent her from committing an indiscretion; and the plot o: the prologue or dream is made up of the elopement of a legitimate daughter with the husband of her natural sister, the latter's murder, and an attempt at personation by her destroyer, the whole of the incidents being well knit together, and the dialogue strong and pungent. There are plenty of striking and effective tableaux in the play, it is strongly east, splendidly mounted, and is heartily received by large and enthusiastic audiences. It is followed by a new and sprightly petite drama, entitled "Honors," written by Mr. Fawney Pane, based on the incidents in connection with the visit of KingTharlee to Devon• shire tin a hunting expeditiOn. Lu Lu, known for several years as a female gymnast, hns at length made his appearance at the Royal. WESTMINSTER AQUARIUM in his right character—that Of a male artist. The first part of his entertainment consists of a very clever wire performance, which must be seen to be believed. Lu Lu next doe, a number of trapeze feats, aceompartied by double somersaults, and afterwards, ascending almost to the roof, stretches his body stay acrossa trapense bar, and then, holding by one hand, turns himself round and round. The "sensation" of the performance is naturally reserved for the conclusion. Li, Lu makes his way along the net tx the inclined plans, hanging just above the dining gallery, and laying himself full length thereon announces that he is " ready." 'The ropes below eve pulled, and Lu Lu, like a atone from a catapult, is cast into the carpeted net near the central stage. He describes an arc, almost touching the roof of the building in his progress. and the distance thus instentanemtsly traversed cannot be lees than from 120 ft. to 150 ft. The feet is remarkable, and is very neatly executed, so that it will probably draw crowds of curious sightseers to the Aquarium for some time to come.  ' iIUNISRAT, AN *AMR/WIRD COMMUNARD, one of the ectitors of the The Ilitcheane in 1871, was brought forward as • candidate for the Paris Municipal Council in the gavel quarter. In a modest letter he positively refused to stand, not giving any reason, but at the poll there was no result, owing to the large proportion of votes for him. Notwithstanding his withdrawal, he now yields to a requieition to present himself at a second ballot, and in an address says he did not think it decent to make capital out of his nine years of penal servitude, mid preferred remaining in obscurity, hut he did not know new Paris. and after what has happened would not feel justified in shrinking from a struggle in which his name tnay serve the cause of a general amnesty. In all probability he will be elected.