The Sun. — 1860-07-23 (London, England)

THE WALK.E.RINGHAM IWURDER.  At the Nottingham assizes, on Friday, John Fenton, blacksmith, was charged with the murder of Charles Spencer, at Walkeringham, on the 6th March. The prisoner, who pleaded not guilty, is a well-made and rather good;looking man of middle height. He preserved a calm and almost unconcerned demeanour throughout the whole proceeding. The facts, as stated by the learned counsel for the prosecution, and as they were subsequently elicited in evidence, were as follows ; The deceased, Charles Spencer, was a cattle dealer living at Walkeringham, a village about 12 miles from Retford ; the prisoner was a blacksmith and publican, of the same village, and was a cousin of the murdered man. On the 6th March, the deacesed was at Gainsborough market, and between 10 and 11 o'clock at night, he crossed over Walkereith Ferry, on his return home, having previously received a considerable amount of money. At this time Mr. James Henderson, a farmer, and his son, and also the prisoner John Fenton, and James Fenton (no relation) were with him. The two Fentons walked on first, and James Fenton walked with John as far as the door of the  latter, when he left him, and proceeded to his own home. Henderson and his son accompanied Spencer to within a short distance of his house, and from this tithe the unfortunate man was never seen alive again. The reports of two pistols were heard directly afterwards by the village schoolmaster, who also heard a cry of " For God's sake, what are you going to do ?" The schoolmaster looked out of his window, but seeing no one, he got into bed again. Early in the morning the body of Spencer was found lying in a ditch, surrounded by a pool of blood. Two bullets were lodged in his head, his throat was cut from ear to ear, and his fob pocket was empty and turned inside out. The scene of the horrible crime was in the centre of -the village, within a stone's throw of the church. Opposite was a barn called Gamson's barn, and from two footprints by the side of one of the buttresses of this building, it was evident that here the assassin had lain in wait for his victim.  On the horse road near the place where the body was found, were picked up a couple of discharged pistols, a hat, an umbrella, and a stick. The evidence which connected the prisoner with the atrocious crime was purely circumstantial, and was very remarkable. A witness, who, more than 20 years ago was apprenticed to the prisoner's father, stated that during his apprenticeship the old man gave him a pair of pistols to clean. Finding a difficulty in unscrewing the barrel of one of them he placed the pistol-stock in a vice between two halfpence, and in this way effected his object ; but in one of the halfpence there was a dent, and the protuberance on the other side made a dent in the stock for which he was soundly scolded. The circumstance remained impressed on his memory, and on hearing of the murder he communicated the fact to the police. On one of the pistols found near the body of the murdered man, a precisely similar dint was discovered, and the maker's name exactly corresponded with what the witness remembered to be the name of the makers of the pistols he had cleaned. Bullets of the same size as those extracted from the head of the murdered man, and caps of the same number as that upon the nipple of one of the exploded pistols, were found in Fenton's possession. The Jury returned a verdict of Guilty, and the prisoner was sentenced to death.