The Express. — 1848-03-06 (London, England)

JOHN HERBERT. —MURDER. —John Ilerberl was placed at the bar charged with the wilful murder of James Tibbs. The prisoner is a farmer, and the deceased was a coal-dealer about a mile and a half from the prisoner's house. They were living on friendly and intim,its tenni. On M.•nday, 27th December, the deceased spent the latter part of the day with the prisoner, in company with some other persons, and a great deal of drink was consumed. The prisoner and the deceased were left alone about six o'clock, and they continued drinking until about one o'clock in the morning, when the son of the prisoner and his servants were awakened by the report of a gun, two barrels being discharged in quick succession. On coming down the stairs, at the bottom of which is the kitchen door, they found the deceased lying on his face bleeding. There is a narrow passage and a door at the end of it, and the deceased was lying across the threshold of the door, his body in the brew-house, his feet on the threshold. The prisoner was in the brewhouse, the gun in his hands. Tibbs said, " I am a dead man." Several neighbours having come in, he also said to the prisoner, " You have shot me ; you said you'd shoot me, and you have shot me." The prisoner said, " You're the best friend I have in the world." The prisoner having said he knew nothing about it, the deceased eacleimed, " You're a liar, sir—you're a liar, Mr. Herbert." The prisoner then said, " 1 shot him ; 1 must suffer the lew—l must take the consequences." He then knelt by deceased, took his hand, and said, " You're the best friend I have in the world, and I love you as I love my life ; you've lent me money, and I owe you seven pounds now." The deceased replied, " Per • hap' that was what you shot me for." The pnsoner added, "Do you think I'd shoot you for 71. ?" Shortly after the surgeon who had been sent for arrived, sad he said to the prisoner, " You've a bad job here ; I understand you have shot Tibbs." He replied, " I know nothing about it ; ask me nothing about it." On the surgeon's saying, " I fear you have," he answered, "No ; the gun went off accidentally." This he repeated shortly afterwards. Upon hearing this the deceased, who was partially roused, said, "You did, John, you know you did, you mid you would shoot me, and you did so." The prisoner replied, " Well, I kaow I did, I am sorry I did it, but it is too late now, and the law mast take its course." He also said to the surgeon, " I'm sorry I've done it, for Tibbs was the beet friend I had in the world, we never quarrelled in our lives, we were always the best of friends." The eurgeon also asked the deceased whether Herbert owed him any ,to which he answered, "Yes, about 71. or 8!.," but ISM had been no words about it that evening ;it had been mentioned, but not angrily ; Herbert was to pay it viten it suited him. Another witness of the name of Reeve dated that when the deceased was asked how it occurred, ba said, "Herbert told me he d shoot me, and he shot me," sad the prisoner said, " I said I'd shoot him, and I did it ; I thought I'd be as good as my word." In his dying deposition thedeceased stated, "thatneither of them was drunk, that the prisoner saidhe would shoot him (deceased), and he did so ; there had been no dispute; he owed him money, but not much. It appeared from the evidence of the surgeon, that there was a wound three inches in length and one in breadth on the upper part of the arm, near the shoulder. There were appearances of considerable bleeding on the floor, and the clothes were saturated with blood. The vessels were exhausted then, and the wound never bled afterwards ,• three inches of the bone were destroyed, and every Teasel of the arm tern. The arm was amputated, but he died on the afteanoon of that day. The surgeon also said that the wound was straight-horizontal': the butt of the gun