Swansea and Glamorgan Herald, and South Wales Free Press. — 1866-03-28 (Swansea, West Glamorgan, Wales)

THE MOUNTAIN ASH MURDER.  ASTOUNDING SUPPRESSION OF EVIDENCE. 'The condemerl prisoner Coe, we hear, manifests the same hardened indifference to his fate as shown on his trial. From what we hear, no effort has been made to obtain a Worni.yiem of punishment. We understand that the day of execution is likely to be fixed for Tuesday, the lOth April, at eight o'clock in the morning, at the same tiled where the two Greeks suffered the extreme penalty of the law. It transpired one day last week that ever since the day of the murder a jacket belonging to the convict Coe, and which was saturated with blood, had been stuffed in hole in the smith's shop at which he worked at Cwmpennar. The fact was well known to Henry Jonee, the master smith, who was a witness on the trial, but he did not say a word about it. Whilst tracing out the evidence, Mr Superintendent Wrenn and his offieers repeatedly called at his shop, examined the "besh" in which the prisoner alleseel he lied hidden the hatchet, and closely questioned Jones a; to xeb-ther he had seen anything left there by Coe ; and he always replied that he had not, although .there was a reserve about him which was net satisfactory; and on the day before the assize Mr Wrenn again celled at the shop, and in the presence of Mr W. R. Smith, the solicitor for the prosecution, again questioned Jones as to whether he had seen anything, aml he replied in the negative. Ills hesitating and suspicioue demeanour was remarked upon by the solieiter and the superiritendent after leaving. On its becoming known to the police that a jacket had been : found, Sergeant llosigsen went to Henry Jones on Thureday last, when he admitted that the jacket had been there ever since the murder, hut added that the smithy had been broken into the night before and the jacket abstracted. He has given no reason for suppressing this most important piece of evidence. Following up the enquiry, the polite friend that instead of the jacket having been taken on Wednesday night it had been in the possession of some man at Aberdare since Monday night week. This person showed the jacket and blood stains to Mr Thomas W. Jones, grocer, of Aberdare, who admits the fact, but, strange to say, refuses to state who the man is that has got it, assigning as a reason that "he had pledges! his word he would not say." Mr Wrenn endeavoured to convince him that in a matter so serious u murder he had no right to pledge his word to secresy. Threats and persuasion, however, were of no avail, and he obstinately refused to tell; and up to the despatch of oar parcel the peliee had not got possession of the jacket. Tine extraordinary proceeding is producing the greatest sensation in the neighbourhood, and the magistrates, we understand, will be applied to, to see if something cannot be done to make these persons give up this most important piece of confirmatory evidence which, clear as the chain of circumstances was, cannot fail to be further convincing to the judge, jury, and all concerned in the investigation. Following the above unprecedented suppression of evidence a man at Pontypridd has stated since the trial that he was walking out one night with the convict Coe, from Cwrn-Rhondda to Pontypridd. and when they came to a lonely hollow in the road near the river, Coe said, "This would be a good place to murder a man." His companion remonstrated, when be added, "Oh. I did kill a man once, and threw him into a wood. When I got to bed that night I could not slut), and :got up and went to him again, and he was still alive, and then I finiehed him !" What the motives are which induce persons to withhold testimony so important we are at a loss to conceive.