The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle. — 1883-10-27 (Stourbridge, West Midlands, England)

THE MURDER OF A GIRL IN LIVERPOOL.  Last Saturday morning, at the Liverpool Police. court, before Mr. T. S. Raffles, stipendiary magistrate, Lewis Parry, 80 years of age, was charged with the wilful murder of Susannah Hutton, 18 years of age, on the banks of the Leeds and Liverpool Canal on Saturday night week. Mr. Marks, the prosecuting solicitor, cinducted the case, and the prisoner was undefended.  In opening the case, Mr. Marks Bali the prisoner was an engineer's labourer in the employ of Messrs. Lamport and Holt, and lived in a court off Bent-street. His wife was a seamstress, and had employed tbe deceased to assist her, and thus the prisoner had become acquainted with her, and so great an intimacy was struck up between them that it seemed to be known amongst their acquaintances that they were keeping company together. On Saturday night week the prisoner and the deceased were in a public-house drinking together from about eight until ten o'clock, and about forty minutes subsequently the girl was foully murdered by some person or other. A man named Keighbe saw a man and a woman going in the direction of the Leeds Canal about half-past ten, and from their peculiar actions he followed them as far as a stone yard on the canal bank. They entered the stone-yard, and shortly afterwards be heard a woman scream and a rattling amongst the stones. Being satisfied that something was wrong he blew a whistle he had, and then went in search of a constable. He found one, and they returned to the stone-yard, but could not see anything, but grappling-irons were procured, and the body of the deceased was found in the canal. A man named Martin, a pointsman at a cabin on a bridge immediately over the stone-yard, heard a noise in the yard, and saw a woman in an apparently insensible condition with her back against a man's knee, and then saw the man throw her into the canal. The man then waded through the canal and escaped through a coal-yard. Another person, named Stebbin, was employed at a coal-yard near and resiied on the premises, came up about this time and found a man, whom he identified as the prisoner, and whose clothes were saturated with water, fast on the top of the coal-yard gate. He released him, and in answer to interrogatories, was informed by the prisoner that he had been to see a flatman named Crutcbie, and had been robbed and thrown into the canal. Stebbin allowed him to go. A person named McGarry, employed at the coal-yard through which the prisoner escaped, then came up to Stebbin, and they both ran after the prisoner and Pie opportuty- of identify iiiht grin; and each picked out the prisoner from amongst many others. There were also several other persona who saw the prisoner in the vicinity of the canal. A postmortem examination had been made which showed the deceased's face to have been horribly mntilat,d, in addition to several wounds on the lower part of the body, the abdomen, and legs, all inflicted with some instrument. No traces of the immersion in the canal were found, death having been caused by the wounds alone. Martin and Stebbin having given evidence, the prisoner was remanded.  On Tuesday Parry was again brought before the magistrates, when evidence was given tracing the pri• Boner and the deceased from a public-house in the neighbourhood of Scotland-road to the scene of the murder, and also showing that the prisoner was running away from the canal after the crime had been committed. _ _ .  The prisoner was committed for trial at the as. sizes.