The Warwickshire Herald. — 1887-03-31 (Birmingham, West Midlands, England)

CHILD CUT TO PIECES.  VERDICT OF WILFUL MURDER.  A discovery of a most shocking character was made on Thursday evening on the Birmingham und Fazeley Canal at Tyburn lock. A boatman proceeding with his barge along the canal thought & perceived something in the water, and as he looked over the side an object of considerable size struck against the prow of the boat and swept along the side. The boatman reached out his hand, and dragged it out of the water. He found it to be what looked like a parcel of clothing, with flannel wrapping outside. On unfolding it, however, a horrible sight met his gaze. The flannel wrapper was a petticoat, and enclosed the trunk of an infant, with the head, arms, and legs severed. Dr. Jones, of Coleshill, was called in to examine the remains, and he is of opinion that it is the trunk of a child about a month old. The supposition entertained by the police is that the 'find' has been dropped over the side of some barge pal-sing along the canal, and that it has been brought out of Birmingham and disposed of in this way to avoid detection. The body has been conveyed to Tyburn House, where it awaits the nquest.  Dr. Ilitfe, coroner for North Warwickshire, held an inquest at Tyburn House, Castle Bromwich, on Saturday afternoon last, on the mutilated remains of a child which were recovered from the Birmingham and Fazeley Canal, at Tyburn, on Wedafternoon, 'March 23rd.—The first witness called was Frank Fallon s, toll collector at the lock, who stated that in consequence of something told him he went to a spot on the towing path, a short distance from the lock, and there found the body of a child. It was naked, a piece of flannel and some string lay beside it. Was it mutilated at all? Yes ; it was headless and armless, and its legs had been cut off above the knee. I took the body to the office, and sent for a policeman. Latham told him that he pulled the body out of the canal. Another boatman named Marriott, of Nottingham, who was following in his wake, also saw the remains. Neither of these men were present at the enquiry.—The Coroner said that when this discovery first came to his knowledge be looked upon it as among those cases of bodies of children being brought in debris from Birmingham. They were rarely able in such cases to get at the facts of them, and he was afraid great difficulty would be experienced in unravelling the present tnystery. However, it was an old saying that " murder would out."—Police-constable Malins, of Water Orton, told the Coroner that the bundle was seen on Tuesday by the lockkeeper about a mile beyond the spot where it was recovered from the water.—Dr. Jones, who had made a post-mortem examination of the remains, said the trunk measuced 11 inches in length, and weighed just over four pounds. Externally the appearance of the remains showed the child to have been plump and well nourished. There were no outward signs of injury, and the internal organs were healthy. The stomach contained a liquid resembling gruel, and the lungs gave evidence that the child had had a separate existence. The child must have been about a month old. Its remains had probably been in the water a few days. The appearance of the lungs was inconsistent with death from asphyxia. —The Coroner: The mutilations were sufficient to cause death? Yes, certainly.—We couldn't have our heads and arms and legs cut off without causing immediate death? No.—Therefore the natural conclusion is that the child died from mutilation? Quite so.—The Foreman of the jury: I should think the cutting off of its head was quite enough.—The Coroner: Yes, I don't think many of us would live long after having our heads cut off—(laughter.)—Dr. Jones added that he thought the mutilation was done after death.— The Coroner, in summing up, hoped the police would leave no stone unturned to discover the perpetrators of the crime. A more atrocious, horrible, and inhuman act had never come under his notice. It was almost impossible to conceive that anyone could be so brutal as to serve a poor little child in such a barbarous fashion.—A verdict of "Wilful murder against some person or persons unknown" was returned by the jury.