The Warwickshire Herald. — 1896-07-30 (Birmingham, West Midlands, England)

KING'S CROSS MURDER.  TRIAL AT THE OLD BAILEY.  At the Central Criminal Court, on Friday, before Mr. Justice Lawrence, Blij.h Galley, aged 31, a butcher, WAS indicted for the murdrr of James and F.mma ftley. Mr. Bodkin and M . Splay Clarke ;r,secuted, ant die prisoner was &fended by Lord Coleridge, Q C , and Mr. Travers Munsphress.  _ . In o ening the Me, Mr. Bodkin detailed the fs da of the crime. The deceased, &red respectively and 38 years, lived at 40, North-street, Kins'a. cross, ant owned the premises adjoining, No. 41, which were octimied by the priarntr as a butcher. 'here had been some dispute between Mr. Riley and the prisoner about a week's lent, end this culminate i on the 4th inst. 1.7 Riley giving tile prisoner a week's notice. Nothing seemed to have been done by the prisoner upnn this until about 10 o'clock at night, when he give one )1 bin inen an envelope to take cars of. ll* left the shop for about Cr. minutes and made Ins sea. to IIC hedie of the Riley., entering by the back door. rho &ley@ had three children, and one of tl.em heard the primoner ask her father: "What it thishowing the entice tc quit. Riley replied: "What it is." At this moment the mother came out of a back room, and the prisoner struck her and she fell. The hushind seized the poker and &truck the prisoner, who then dealt the husband • blow, and he fell down by the side of the body of his wife. The prisoner returned to his shop and, sitting down, told Adrienne to fetch a constant+, as he was done for. At the station the prieoner made a statement coipplaining of the notice after having worked up a bundleps et the shop. He asked that his wife and chit ren should be taken care of; and the next morning, when be was told that the Riley, were dead, he mid he must have been mad at the time. The dead bodies of the deceased presented a frightful appearance. Upon the man's body there were seven or eight wounds—one in the neck separating .he spinal cr. a second in the neck, and a third in the abdomen—any one of which would have been fatal. The wife had four injuries—a cut in the lock severing the jugular vein and a deep stab theuJgh the heart, whii must have caused instant death. —Evidence was t :idled for the prosecution. At the close of the evidence, Mr. Bodkin reviewed the facte. and contended that the jury, having regard to all the circumstances, had no alternative tut to convict the prisoner of murder. —Evidence was called on behalf of the accused to shew that he was • kind and affectionate father and husband, and a steady, hard-working man. —Lord Coleridge, for the defence, argued that the prisoner rec•tived provocation sufficient to reduce the crime from that of murder to manslaughter. He denied that there was any premeditation in the act. —Mr. Justice Lawrence in summing up the cue, explained the law relating to manslaughter, giving seta of facts in example of what would constitute a justification for the reduction of a capital charge. He poin+ecl out, however, that whatever provocaton might exist as from the male deceased, it could not be pretended that the female, whom it was said the prisoner first murdered, offered any such provocation. —The jury retired to consider their verdict at 20 minutes past 4 o'. lock, and returned into court shortly after 0, when the foreman announced that the jury were unable to agree.—Mr. Justice Lawrence: Very well; you will be discharged, and the. case will stand over until the rieptenther Begs. 01111.