The North-Eastern Weekly Gazette. — 1891-04-04 (Stockton-on-Tees, Cleveland, England)

WIDOW SHOT BY A LOVER.  A FATAL REFUSAL OF HARRT AGE. I, A 'hocking tragedy occurred in Lincoln on Tuesday. Arthur Spencer (24), pork butcher, had been paying his addresses to Mary Ann Garner' (30), a widow with four children. After nine I months hi master discharged him, for the reason it is alleged, that Spencer and the widow had become too intimate. Since then the man has had uo regular employment, but he continued to live I with Mrs Garner, sad recently wanted to marry her. He, however, has the reputation of being idle and cruel, and she declined to marry him, telling him she had to work hard to maintain herself and , children, and she did not want to base to keep him I also. This occurred at the end of last week, and Spencer left her, saying that "ii she would not have him no one else should." On Sunday evening he went to her house and again tried to induce her to marry him. She still declined, whereupon be produced a pistol and threatened to shoot her. Finally he left her, with the remark that "he would give her until Monday night to consider it." The polies, having heard of Spencer's threat, tried to induce the woman to lay an information against him, but the declined, believing the man would not fulfil his threat, and that he only meant to frighten hew into marriage. On Tueeday night Spencer went to her house in Stanley-street and after an altercation it is alleged allot the woman in the left breast. She staggered -into • neighbour's house, and died within an hour. The police were summoned, and entoring Garner's house they found Spencer lying on the floor shot in the month. He was taken to the hospital, and is lying in a critical condition. The children who were in the house at the time of the murder were uninjured.  The statements of the neighbours and of the son of the deceased only tend to show that the man' Spencer had premeditated the crime' and that he carried it out in the coolest and most cold-blooded manner imaginable. It has transpired that he purchased the weapon at a gunsmith's in the city on Saturday, selecting a six-chambered pinfire revolver, for which, together with a case of 501 cartridges, he paid Bs. John Henry Garner, the unfortunate woman's eldest son, who is 15 yeas' of age, says the house door was locked when Spencer went there on Tuesday night about half-past eight. He knocked, and the woman asked who was there. Spencer replied, "It's me," and she then opened the door, saying as the man walked in, "Have lyou got the pop-gun with you ?" He replied, "No," and sat down. They conversed together, land the woman told him about the police having been to her. Preaently Spencer wont upstairs, !saying he was going to get his box. He shortly called out that he could not find his things, and asked the woman to go up, which she did. She bad not been up more than two or three minutes when four disiinek reports were heard, and the wOMILD staggered to the top of the stairs, and cried out, "Oh, my God." Her son ran next door to tell the neighbour, and on returning found his mother tiling to come down. He assietied her down, and she managed to get into the neighbour's house, where she was when the police arrived. John Pleat found the unfortunate woman lying on the hearth, and on seeing him she exclaimed, "Oh, my God. Save me for the sake of my children. He assisted her into a chair, and learned from her that Sneerer bad shot her, and that he was upstairs, where be was subsequently found lying on the floor.