The Sun. — 1849-11-29 (London, England)

CRESS WELL. ) MURDER AT MILBANK PENITENTIARY. John Francis, 33, described as a watchmaker, was placed in the duck immediately on their Lordships entering the court, charged upon an indictment with the wilful murder of Thomas Hall, a warder in the Milbank Penitentiary. Mr. Bodkin and Mr. Clark appeared. for the Crown, and Mr. Ballantine and Mr. Robinson defended the prisoner. The prisoner is a slightly made man, having altogether a miserable appearance, but he exhibits a determined expression of countenance. He has a low, retreating brow, and is possessed evidently of very little intellectual capacity. He was attired in the usual convict dress. Mr. BODKIN briefly stated the nature of the fearful crime with which the prisoner was charged, observing, with reference to the probable defence which would be set up, that he was convicted in August, 1845, and sentenced to be transported ten years, and in pursuance of the sentence he was, in the early part of 1846, put on board a convict ship going to the colonies. When the vessel was about to leave England he ex• hibited symptoms which appeared to be those of insanity, and on that occasion he was visited by Dr. Baly, who pronounced him insane, and he directed him to be removed from the ship to the hulks. After remaining at the hulks until August tho symptoms disappeared, and he was again removed to the • Milbank Penitentiary, where he remained until the present unfortunate occurrence; and during the whole time he was more or less under the observation of Dr. Baly, but no symptoms of insanity had since made their appearance. Mr. Henry Murray, an acting warder in Milbank prison, said—l knew Thomas Hall, the deceased. I also knew the prisoner Francis, who was a convict confined in Milbank prison. To my knowledge he had been there a fortnight before the 7th inst. He was confined in cell No. 19 D. On Wednesday afternoon the 7th, Thomas Hall had the charge of that ward. I was in au adjoining ward, and about half-past three I heard a shouting. I suppose it came from the ward. I immediately went to it. I had to unlock two gates, and when I got into D ward, I saw the prisoner in the passage which runs in front of the cell. The ward was locked up at the time, tut I had pass-keys. There were no other persons at large in the passage. Lle was nearly opposite 18 cell. Warder Sage entered the passage immediately after me from the other end, and seized the prisoner. I tried the gates of every cell in the passage, and they were all locked, the prisoner's cell included. I went into the officer's ward, and there I saw the deceased Thomas Hall, laying in a pool of blood, which surrounded his head. He was lying on his left side. The door of this room was open. No one could have got to this room but the prisoner and the deceased. Sage had the prisoner in custody, and he was immediately taken away from the ward into the refractory cell, where he was searched, and we found a pair of scissors upon him. They were unrivetted. (He too witnessed them.) They are of the same kind used in the prison, but have been sharpened at the point. On locking him up he went back to Hall, and Mr. Baly, the surgeon, came in five or six minutes afterwards. Hall was then living. He found the prisoner's earthenware pan lying about two yards from the door of the warder's room. There was blood on the bottom and on the side. The lid of it was in the water-closet. The pan produced is the one• in question. It is broken, but we have not found the piece which is broken off. The piece could not have gone down the pan of the water-closet in a whole state. While the prisoner was in the passage opposite No. 18 cell a convict named Chroly said, in the prisoner's hearing, " Seize the scoundrel, he has murdered Hall, for I heard him groan." Chroly was then locked up in his cell. The prisoner made no observation.  Cross-examined by Mr.