The Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle. — 1866-03-10 (Stourbridge, West Midlands, England)

PARRICIDE IN WEXFORD.  On Friday, at the Wexford assizes, Patrick Power, aged 3:1 years, was indicted for the wilful murder ..f his father, Timothy Power, at Newtonbarry, Wexford, in October last. It appears that the deceased, Timothy Power. resided at Croulogue, near Newtonbarry, with his wife, Elizabeth, and three eons, the prisoner, Patrick, the eldest, and t so younger children, John and Michael. aged respectively 17 and 11 Year& lie fanned about 33 acres of land. Differences had arisen between the prisoner and his father, who accusvd the prisoner of stealing his corn, and VIM dissatisfied with him for courting a girl named Anne Doyle, residing ln the neighbourhood. On the evening of the 13th of Octnber bust, about five o'clock, the deceased left his house with a cart and hose laden with corn to be ground at the mills at Clohamon, three miles from his house. He never returned, and next morning the horse was found near deceased's house., The ear was found in a lane a short diatacee trom the nouns, and the body of the deceased was found near it in a pool of blood. A variety of circumstances were relied on Sy the erown to bring home the guilt of murder to the prisoner. Some days after the alleged murder, the prisoner aakeui hi& mother, on the occasion of a quarrel which she had hail with a Mrs. Rorke, who lived 144,12 ner husband in one of deceased's outs hon.es, 1! whether is fork would go through clothes, and whether they hanged people for murder now?" netweenseven.mid eight o'clock in the evening, after deceased..lipd goose. to Ciohamon, prisoner went out for aims time, andseturned again, and afterwards be came in and eat part of this supper which had been prepared fir his father, observing, "I am eating my father's supper." The next morning when it was 116icovered at cock wow. between fotir and five o'clock, that the deceased had not come home, the prisoner was sent out by nis mother to look out for her huahand. After a short time he returned, stating that he had got the car turned in the lane he bail got the empty sack, but had not found his father. Subsequently, to Other witnesses he stated that he had found the car  tossed up and down, that the horse had got Tytiri-if it, and that he got the car up by taking off the wheel and turning ni) the car. It appeared, however, When the car was seen by another witness, shortly af -e.rwards, that there was no trace of any tackling taving been hr ken, or of the ear having been tossed or turned on the muddy road. The deceased had a number of wounds on the neck awl in other parts of his body, which appeared to have been inflicted with a pitchfork. It appeared that the evening before the murder prisoner's brother John had been working with a pitchfork. Mrs. Power asked, in the presence of the police what hail become ))f that fork. The pitchfork was found a couple of days after hidden under some straw in deceased's haggard, with marks of blood at the part where the iron enters the wood, but the handle was clean and appeared to have been washed with sand and water. Mrs. Power begged of the prisoner, if he had committed the murder, to confess ; he answered, "If I do I may thank you for it for speaking of the fork." There was blood observed on the prisoner's trousers on the morning when the body was found, but ties ated that he got it in endeavourbag to lift his father's dead body. The jury, on Saturday, found the prig, ner guilty, and he was sentenced to be hung on th 4th of April. When sentence was pronounced the prisoner fell back in the dock perfectly senseless.