The Sun. — 1858-07-31 (London, England)

HORRIBLE MURDER.  EmsroL, Friday. Mr. Bruges Fry, coroner for the eastern division of the county of Somerset, held an inquest last night at the Butchers' Arms Tavern, Neilsen, on the body of a little boy, named James Curr, who was murdered by his mother under circumstances of an unusually painful character, The unhappy woman by whom the fatal deed was perpetrated, and who very nearly succeeded in depriving herself of life immediately after its committal, is E:iza Curr, and ehe is the wife of George Curr, a collier employed at one of the pits in the Nailsea c. alfi-ld. Mrs. Curr, who at the time the fatal crime was committed had s x children living, resided aith her hu-ban'l in a cottage in the village. It is stated that they had live.] latterly very unhappily, although no one suspected for a moment that her state of mind was so desperate as to lead her to contemplate, as beyond doubt she did, the sacrifice of her own life and at least three of her children. It appeared from the evidence 3f her little girl, six years old, Melinda Curr, and the other witnesses, that cn the day in question, after her husband had gone ~ut, the unhappy woman sent her three eldest children out of the houie, and then took the witness, her deceased brother James Curr, who was four years old, and a ynut,ger child up into the bedroom. She then seized hold of the little fellow, James, who resisted and cried out piteou-ly, "Oh, don'tee, mother, don'tee !" and with a razor cut his throat with such despera ion as to nearly sever the head from the body. She was about to perpetrate a similar crime on the other children, but happily their cries caused an alarm, and, fearing that she would be interrupted, the desperate woman hurriedly cut her own throat with the same instrument with which she bad mu.dered her little boy. The cash which she in fitctsd upon herself was a very deep one, but happily the large blood-vessels were not divided, so that the medical gentleman who was caled in seems to have considerable hope that she will ui:itnately recover. lof ,r-rnation of the dreadful tragedy was given with all promptitude to the police, and police-c netable Pigeon of the SLtmereetshire constabulary was quickly in attendance at the cottage. The sight which met his eye was a truly horrifying ore. The body of the poor little child, with his throat shockingly mingled, and with his clothes saturated with blood, lay in one spot, while in another las the mother, in an almost eqnally lifeless state, and with the evidences of the double mime rf which she bad been gull y all around her. After the several witnesses had been examined and had deposed to the foregoing facts, the coroner Hummed up the evidence at considerable length. He charged the jury to dismiss from their minds everything which they might have heard out of doors, and to be guided by the evidence alone ; and with reference to the state of mind of the accused at the time when she committed the fatal act, that was a matter which they had better leave to be investigated by another court. The jury returned a verdict of wilful murder against the mother (Eliza Curr), and, as soon as she has sufficiently recovered to admit of her removal, she will be committed to await her trial for that crime.