The Sun. — 1855-01-31 (London, England)

THE MURDER IN FOLEY-HAM-711r. Bodkin applied to the Court to postpone the triV,of Luigi Baranelli for the murder of Mr. Lotharn to Nfie next session. lie made the application upon two groinds, the first of which that there would not be a proper opportunity for inquiry at the present time ; and..seeemily, that the prisoner himself was in such--; ~nuclitionof health as rendered him unable to leave his al.  Mr. Baron Parke at once wanted the application.  Hannah, Maria Pepkins, tO„ a good-looking young woman, was indicted for the wilful murder of her male illegitimate child by cutting its throat. Mr. Carteen prosecuted. The prisoner was defended by Mr. Sleigh, through the humane interference of the Sheriffs, the prisoner herself not being in a position to obtain legal assistance. The circumstances of this case were of a most melancholy character. It appeare6, that the prisoner was in the service of a lady named Swift, and that at the time of the occurrence ehe lived at Dalston, in a house belonging to that lady, which vas occupied also by Mrs. Scott, the niece of Miss Swift. On the 28th December the prisoner appeared to be very ill, and Mrs. Scott gave her About one o'clock on the following morning, in consequence ha of Mrs. Scott went again to the m and f aid she gave her some more pennyroyal and gin, and the r oe o some pennyroyal rg ot yh aa e noise,1 prisoner and apparently in great pain, gin, and she went to bed. prisoner said she felt better. At six o'clock the same morning Mrs. Scott went again to the prisoner's room. She was in bed, and Mrs. Scott observed a clot of blood upon the carpet, and exclaimed to the prisoner, " My God 1 what has been the matter ?" The prisoner replied, "Don't be frightened ; lam better now." Mrs. Scott then went down stairs to prepare breakfast, and upon going into the kitchen she saw a quantity of blood upon the table, and a carving-knife with blood upon it was lying near it. There were also marks of blood upon the floor and in the passage, and upon following them into the coal-cellar she found the dead body of a child, with its throat cut, thrust behind a box, and its bead resting upon the coals. A. medical gentleman named Herringa was c called thatd in, and upon examining the body it w the child's throat was cut from ear sdiscovered ll  to ;: ear ; all the arteries w;;;—severed:' as Wwell as the windpipe, and death must have been the immediate consequence of such an injury. According to the evidence of the surgeon the infant was a fall-grown healthy child, and expressed a confident opinion, from the appearances presented born alive. Re admitted, however on by the lips of the wound, from the fact that the lungst he and other circumstances, that cross-examination, that the teat of the floating of the lungs was not considered evidence by medical authorities, and also that the appearances of the wound might chwilderew fausl y in have been the same if the wound had been inflicted immediately after death while the circulation was going on, although vitality lead ceased. He also admitted that when a chili was born under such circumstances, and without aay medical assistance, the delivery was likely to be much more difficult, and the child might, consequently, have breathed to so me extent before it was fully brought into the world. The prisoner was proved to have borne a most excellentcharacter for some years, and that she was always regarded as a kind-hearted, good girl. Mr. Sleigh made amost energetic address to the jury on behalf of the prisoner, and he contended, with a good deal of ability, that the evidence of the child being born alive was not sufficiently conclusive to justify them in coming to such a conclusion and he, therefore, called upon them to acquit the prisoner of the dreadful crime of wilfully murdering her own offspring, and to find . her only guilty of the lesser offence of concealing the birth. Mr. Baron Parke having summed up, the jury then retired, and had not returned their verdict when we went to press.