The Sun. — 1849-03-01 (London, England)

SUPPOSED MURDER OF A GEN TLEMAN AT ISLINGTON.  Yesterday morning, shortly after six o'clock, the body of a gentlemanly attired man, between fifty and sixty years of age, was discovered lying in a pool of blood at the entrance to a field in the Caledonian. road, Islington, within a short distance of the East India Dock Junction of the London and North-Western Railway, under circumstances which lead to a belief that he had been murdered. _  The discovery was first made by a man named Eli Deaver, who states that he went to work in Mr. Dennis's brickfield (in whose employ he is), at a quarter-past six yesterday morning, and, on entering the field, his attention was attracted by the whining of a dog, and on looking in' the direction of the sound, he saw a little black and white curly dog sitting at the feet of the body of a man lying immediately behind the palisades. On going to the spot he observed at the southern end of the pallisades a large pool of blood, at a distance of about twenty feet from where the body lay, and on going up to the body he found the face and neck covered with blood, and another large pool, in which it lay. The dog growled and snapped at him as he approached, and, seeing the blood on the body, he knocked up the man at the hut, and some of the other workmen having arrived, they made a more minute investigation. About four or five feet from the spot where the first pool of blood was discovered was a purse, entirely empty, with the exception of a small key, and in the mud of the pond, about thirty feet from the place where the body lay, they found the blade of an old razor, which, with the exception of about two inches of the broad part of the blade, was bound round with strong cord in order to give a bold, and answer the purpose of a handle. Between the place where the first pool of blood was discovered and the place where the body lay is a wooden bar, fixed into the ground at one end, and passing in a slanting direction towards the top of the pallisades, in order to support them. The top of this bar is covered with tenter hooks, and on one of the hooks the right band glove (the other being on the deceased's left hand) was found suspended. There were several marks of footsteps and a track of blood between the first pool of blood and the place where the Cody lay, as also bloody finger marks on the bar; but the question is, how the deceased managed to get from the place where the act was first committed to the spot where he was found, as it was impossible for him to have done so without stooping down to pass under the bar. The extraordinary distance of the razor from the body leads to a strong suspicion, coupled with the fact of the purse being found empty and nothing being found on the person of the deceased, that he has been the victim of some foul play. It appears that the man residing in the hut believes that during the night he heard the barking of a dog, but that he paid no attention to it and went off to sleep again. The night was, however, rather boisterous, and he much doubts, had there been a struggle, whether he should have heard it. The appearance of the body on its discovery is described as truly dreadful. It is that of a man about six, years of age, with. grey hair, and cbcut 5 feet If, 111 s. tsjp, atldersty between the bar and the Srots mentio.ori pool of blood. His attire consisted of a light coloured silk handkerchief, black waistcoat, trousers, and body coat, and a dark green great coat, and he wore cloth boots.  On the police being made acquainted with the occurrence, the body, under the orders of Inspector Thatcher of the N division, was removed on a stretcher to the vaults of Islington church, and during the afternoon it was identified as the body of Dr. Crook, of 11, Bayham• street, Camden-town ; but nothing hue transpired to show how he came to be in the place where his body was discovered.