The Sun. — 1866-06-13 (London, England)

THE CANNON-STREET MURDER. This morning William Smith was placed at the bar and - charged on an indictment with having murdered Sarah 31elson, a servant of the Messrs. Bevington, in Cannonstreet, on tho 11th of April last. Mr. Metcalfe, who with Mr. Stroight appeared for the prosecution, in addressing the jury, said there could be no doubt that a murder of an atrocious character had been committed in the city of London. On the 11th of April a man rung the bell, and the housekeeper (Melson) went down to answer it. Shortly afterwards the dead body of the unfortunate woman was found by the doorway, great violence having evidently been used in causing her death. The deceased, it appeared, had owed some money to a woman named Webber, and had been paying her off little by little, through a man named Jerry, for whom the prisoner appeared to have acted as an agent. The prisoner had boon seen going backwards and forwards to the house of the Messrs. Bevington, and it would be shown by the evidence that, living at Eton, he was seen walking to the up train from Slough to London on the evening in which the murder was committed. The learned counsel proceeded to give the details of the evidence he proposed to submit for the consideration of the jury. A person named Gipps, whose duty it was to see Messrs. Bevington's house cleared at night, said he fastened the doors before he went away on the night in question. Mrs. Melson, he said, very seldom went out at night, and had very few visitors. Elizabeth Lowe said she was in the house on the night Mrs. Melson was murdered. Mrs. Melson went down in answer to a ring, and afterwards she was found dead. The police-constable who was called in on the discovery of the body deposed to finding the body in a pool of blood. He went at once for Mr. May, the surgeon. Sergeant Ogden, of the City police force, said he was called in on the discovery of the murder. He saw the body of the deceased, and near it a crowbar. By Sergeant Ballantine—There was no blood upon the instrument or upon the dress of the deceased. Dr. May, the surgeon who was called in, said he found many wounds on the head and face of the deceased. The body was warm when ho arrived. There was an undisturbed pool of blood, and the injuries the deceased had received might have been committed by such an instrument as that produced. There was no blood on it. Sergeant Moss said he went to the prisoner's residence at Eton on the 17th of April, and asked him if his name was William Smith. He acknowledged that it was, and showed him a letter signed Denton and Terry, and the prisoner acknowledged that it was in his handwriting, stating, however, that he had written it for a man named Andrews. The mother of the prisoner said she could not remember where he was on the day of the alleged murder, and that the prisoner had been a great trial to her. He then charged the prisoner with the murder, and took him into custody. The prisoner said it was a very serious charge, that he was as innocent as a baby, and that he had not been in London since the 10th of February when he went to Aldermanbury about some money. He stated that the retter signed Denton and Terry he presented towards the close of last year. He admitted that he had signed the words " W. Denton," as he had sometimes gone by that name. He said he knew Terry was not entitled to the money, and that was why he signed the wrong name. The prisoner was then conveyed to London and charged, in which he again asserted his innocence. (Some threatening letters addressed to the deceased, and alleged to have been written by the prisoner, were then put in in evidence.) Inspector Foulger said there was such a great mob at the station in Bow-lane when the prisoner was removed o the Mansion-house that they were obliged to manacle a policeman and send him off in a cab to draw off attention from the real prisoner. They took the prisoner in front of Messrs. Bovington's in order that he might be recognised. The learned Judge directed, oa the application of Sergeant Ballantine, that no communication should be allowed between the police and the witnesses. The Court adjourned at this stage for half an hour. The evidence for the prosecution having been closed, Sergeant Ballantine addressed the jury in a speech which occupied nearly three hours, after which the tria: was adjourned.