Glasgow Courier. — 1847-02-18 (Glasgow, Strathclyde, Scotland)

DREADFUL MURDER AT FULLERTON, TOLLCROSS. The following are the toutdoulare of a most appallins clist# frattielde (alluded hiTn-tihe second edition of our last pub)4chtldh); which occurred on the evening of Monday week, the Bth inst., at Fullerton, near the village of Tollcross, on the north bank Of the Clyde, between three and four miles above Glasgow, a lo6ality chiefly inhabited by persons in humble life, employed at the coal and iron-works in the neighbourhood :—The house in which the tragical event occurred was that of Allan Dunn, collier, aged about 70 years, at Fullerton, Tollcross, and the horrid deed was perpetrated in a moment of passion by one of his sons, Allan Dunn, aged 27 years, upon his brother, Wm. Fell Dunn, aged 25. The crime was committed in the presence of certain relatives, as well as the aged father, who, though concerned in the case as a party to the quarrel in which it originated, is not implicated as an accessary. It appears that the members of Dunn's family, inaludbyg one or two married daughters, besides the two sons above alluded to, had met at his house on the Monday to enjoy themselves along with some friends, and no doubt Intoxicating liquors were freely used on the occasion. Between live and six o'clock in the evening, one of Dunn's daughters, accompanied by her husband, returned home to Mossend, six or seven miles from Fullerton, leaving certain other relatives in the house of another sister, who lives near to old Dunn. These latter parties shortly afterwards went to old Dunn's house, accompanied by his two sons, the unhappy murderer and his victim, who lived with their aged father. It was agreed that ham should be cooked for the parties; and some ham was accordingly cut by both of the brothers with a large knife, and partaken of by themselves and the other Inmates. Whilst thus engaged, a Misunderstanding arose between the father and William Fell Dunn, the younger son, relative to the ham, and this led to an angry dispute between them about money matters. William Fell Dunn, irritated be his father's reproaches, violently laid hold of the old man by the nose, and struck him once or twice on the face. The old man cried out to the other son, "Will you see him murder me?" when the latter (Allan Dunn), provoked to a rage by the rough treatment his father was reedying, snatched the ham knife, and dealt William a blow on the head with its sharp edge, inflicting a dreadful gash, and in another moment ran the weapon to the handle in his brother's breast near the region of the heart, almost transfixing the hapless youth, whose death was instantaneous. Horror-struck at what he had done, Allan at once fled. No intimation was sent to the police, although living within a few yards of the house where the deed was committed; but they heard of it about nine o'clock, and sent notice to Mr. Holland, the superintendent, who resides in Airdrie, a distance of eight miles. It was after ten o'clock before the superintendent heard of it, and he without a moment's delay, proceeded to the spot, which he reached in three-quarters of an hour after receiving the report. By that time the officers were on the right track, and after travelling several miles they succeeded, between two and three o'clock in the morning, in apprehending Allan Dunn, near Holytown, and had him conveyed to Airdrie. Next morning he was brought up for examination by the Sheriff, and committed to prison, where he now lies.— This shocking occurrence has naturally excited an intense sensation of awe and consternation amongst the inhabitants of the neighbourhood where it happened. The deed seems to have been the result of an impulse of furious passion rather than the suggestion of cold-blooded atrocity; but the whole circumstance's of the case, as above stated, are indicative of a lamentable deficiency of moral culture and self-restraint amongst all the parties concerned; and it will be well if the catastrophe shall Impress itself Iminds of the numerous-families engagehin In the same line of life al the Dunne, so as to serve as a warning lesson against giving unbridled license to those fierce passions, at the instigation of which one brother has, by the hand of another, been in a single moment stretched dead on the domestic hearth!