The Sun. — 1853-10-27 (London, England)

MURDER.  Nathaniel Mobbs, aged 32, described as a cooper, was indicted for the wilful murder of his wife, Caroline Mobbs.  The prisoner, who appeared quiet, calm, and collected, and has recently recovered from the injuries he inflicted upon himself, after committing the dreadful offence of which he was charged, pleaded not guilty. Mr. Bodkin, with Mr. Clerk, conducted the prosecution ; and Mr. Clarkson defended the prisoner. Mr. Bodkin opened the case to the jury, stating that the prosecution had been undertaken by the Crown on public grounds. The deceased was the second wife of the prisoner, having been married to him about sixteen months at the time the murder took place. She had borne him no children, but while she lived with the prisoner she faithfully performed the part of a mother to his children by a former wife. The prisoner was a man of drunken habits, and had not lived upon the best of terms with the deceased, whose determination to leave him appeared to have given rise to the violence which led to her death.  The first witness called was Catharine Scott. She said I am the wife of William Scott, who resides at No. 10, Inner-court, Aldgate. We resided there in August last, and at that time the prisoner and his wife lived at at No. 7, The prisoner had four children, and had resided there four or five months. I knew both the prisoner and his wife while they lived in the court, but not before. I remember seeing the prisoner come home on the evening of the 23d of August between six and seven o'clock. He appeared to be very tipsy at that time. I saw the deceased in a neighbour's room, who lived in the same house as the prisoner. On the following day I saw the prisoner come into the court again about quarter past one o'clock. He was still quite drunk. I saw him go into his own house some time after that—about three o'clock. I saw him in his own room with his wife, and I heard the deceased say to him, if she was what he represented her to be, she would never have been his wife. The only reply the prisoner made was, "Never mind, never mind," and I went away, but before I had get into the court I heard the deceased call out "Murder," and a Mrs. Jones, who was there, went up and knocked at the door. A few minutes afterwards I saw the deceased coming down stairs with blood flowing from her head, and when she came to the court, I found that her throat was so cat that she could not speak. She was carried to the hospital by some of the neighbours, and I saw no more of her afterwards. The prisoner and the deceased lived unhappily together.  The witness was cross-examined, but without eliciting anything additional.  Other evidence was then gone into, after which, Mr. Clarkson proceeded to address the jury for the defence, and contended that, looking at all thy circumstances of the case, the jury would not be justified in convicting the prisoner of the capital offence. It would be enough to satisfy the ends of justice if they returned a verdict of manslaughter, since the evidence failed to establish any malice aforethought on the part of the prisoner, while it furnished ample reason for believing that what he had done was the result of the frenzy of the moment, induced by a mistaken idea of his wife's chastity, and her wish to stab him with one of the knives produced in the course of the trial. There was an utter absence of anything to show what was the origin of the quarrel except the statement of the prisoner himself, and, therefore, he implored the jury to save the life of the prisoner, by giving him the benefit of the doubt which surrounded the whole case.  Mr. Justice Cresswell then summed up the evidence at some length.  The jury had not returned their verdict when we went to press.