npedrazzini/19thc_murder_suicide_news huggingface dataset:
The Sun. — 1830-08-30 (London, England)

EXECUTION IN .JAMAICA.  By the Hector, trading vessel, recently arrived in the Thames, we have received the fallowing inte'resting, but painful narrative of the execution, at Montego Bay, of a 'rioted criminal, whose desperate character, stained as it was With almost every offence in the catalokue of crime, had rendered him the terror of that }ma of the colony : " Yesterday being the dm, appointed for the execution of John Thomas Bent, convicted of horsestealing, at an early hour of the morning his Reverence the Rural Dean, the Rev. John Smith, and the Rev. Peter Duncan, a Wesleyan Missionary, who • had been unceasing in their endeavours to reconcile the culprit to his fate, attended the gaol, and soon after nine o'clock the prisoner was permitted to leave the tell he had occupied,' and pay a farewell visit to the other two convicts under sentence of death for the same offence, but 'for the execution of whom no authority had been le, ceived. After the usual preparations, the mournful procession moved from the gaol, escorted by a party of the light infant!), and fourth battalion companies of the St. James's Regiments, to the usual place of execution, at the River Bay, where the gallows was erected, and where Bent, dressed in white, was conducted by the Reverend Divines. •On arriving at the foot of the scaffold he gazed wildly around, and appeared callously indifferent to his fate. After a short prayer he was desired to ascend the ladder, but his foot slipped, and he fell, in consequence of the steepness of the ladder, and being so closely pinioned. The cords by which he was bound being loosened, be ascended the platform, and, after an indecorous manifestation of hardihood and impatience, called to a boy in the crowd, by the name of "fom,' to come and take his shoes, which he kicked off with much coolness.  "'The Clergyman then commenced reading the Funeral Service, when he was interrupted by the cries of Bent for water, and to have the cap removed from over his eyes. A bottle of water was offered ; but of which having refused to drink, the signal for withdrawing the bolt was given, and the -drop fell, when the miserable sufferer fell to the ground, the rope by which he was suspended, not being sufficiently strong. A simultaneous shriek of horror resounded from the spectators, mingled With the half-strangled cries of o Help !' from. the sufferer, and the most piteous exclamations and writhings of his body. After some short time spent in re-adjusting the necessary apparatus—during which the attention of Bent was attracted by the solicitous care of the Reverend Gentleman—a rope was, put about his neck, and he remounted the scaffold, and with very little delay he expired after a slight convul►►ive struggle. He admitted in prison that h►e had been guilty of a great number of heinous crimes, but declared he had never committed-murder.  " There was a great, number of persons assembled to witness the awful spectacle."  fig MAJESTY and the Duke of '
The Sun. — 1824-01-08 (London, England)

PARK—Gentlemen of the Jury—this examination has-turned out as I thought it would. The prisoner cannot prove that the gun sold at Probert's was his. Indeed it could not he the one_which the, boy saw when he went away in the gig; for it wasproved that that day Probert shot with one in his garden, and was seen with it in the lane at twelve o'clock.  Mrs. Probert's evidence,--The evidence of this person identified the gold chain which is traced to Thurtell's possession, and proved to have belonged to Mr. Wear; and together with the. whispering conversation and the dragging of the body through the garden, and the circumstances of that night and the folloWing morning is highly important. Rezworthy's Evidence.—This man supplies the chain of evidence as •to the last place and time at which the deceased was seen by persons knowing him. If a great deal depended on. the evidence of this man I should think it necessary to make some severe remarks opon his character. I have no mercy for, men who keep such houses. His vocation is not a creditable one, and he appears as a pander to-the worst appetites. Ann Maloney.—This evidence is most important; and if Gentlemen, you believe what she states, namely, that • those things which lay upon the table, the carpet bag and , its contents, the gun and the other articles to have been the' property of her master, and that at three o'clock they were at Lyon's Inn in his possession, you will find it difficult to conceive how they could have got to the place where they. were found, near Elatree, if he had not been murdered in the way related. If stolen property be found in the early possession of any one who can give no satisfactory account how he came by it, it is enough for human judicatureto fix that person with the theft. Here are all the clothes of the deceased, and we find the dead body in a pit a few days afterwards, the party not having been heard of after three o'clock on the day mentioned.  The prisoner Thurtell here interrupted his Lordship. - Ile wished.to observe that it had escaped his Lordship, that Hunt,. according to Field's evidence, was in his house alone on the Tuesday night following the murder. The inference to be drawn from which was, there to confer with Probert on the case they were to make up about him. He did not know till his Counsel told him that several jailers were ready to give e,idence that Probert said Hunt and be met on Tuesday to arrange what they were to say. They were all ready to swear to this, but he had not knoWn that their evidence could be received.  Mr. Justice PARK could not allow this to be received as evi;. deuce. He did not think it would avail the prisoner. - Thurtell—l wish also to remark on what was said about a yellow gig. If your Lordship will look at the depositions, you
The Sun. — 1824-01-08 (London, England)

MURDER--Joseph Hunt aemair y.as an ACCESSARY the presence of the Gentleman, whose appearance (as he before the Fact. I uniformly expressed it) consoled him, burst into tears. od for  The verdict having been recorded, Mr. A xpnEws addressed a few words to the Bench, which we were unable to hear further than that their import seemed to contain some allasion to mercy—we . presume in behalf of Hunt.  the first time since hiS imprisonment, manifested the-warmest and most agitated sense of his, deplorable condition. The Chaplain, us we understood, expressed the gratification he felt this happy change in Thurtell's .demeanour, and for mercy where alone he could now him, to offer uP in the strongest manner the necessity of his availing expect it. Thimeli instantly, with his eyes suffused in tears, hainitimPfirsneelsdfsieloi4gf the few hours which remained to world, and implcred the nrrciful forgiveness of God. His mandheiscicaornedtrittihoant;ahnisd epornatyrerition .was sincere, that he forgave the prospect of the new Scene into which ner was fervid.and impassioned, but at the same time free from any whining affectation of mere penitence, or tremulous apHis declaration of contrition was at once he is about to pass. • • ed • and his manner so uneff- t dand so manly and resign ,c..c e notwithstanding the dreadful circumstances of and that he could his fate ; in his fat-, prehensionienlr,thatatitthe near inspire was calculatedto very- great interest go forth with the firmness of a Christian to his now ea-tablished and admitted crime. He said that death to him, after the misery of his late mode of life, was a relief, but he added, that domestic recollections—the anguish of the surviving members of his family, and parat life respectable which thai.farly of a mother and sister, whose instructions and society frith shame—these were, he said, the the reflections which overwhelmed him with grief and would only would, adlineorv,e,d bteo,rhelanYeembmearde‘ei twli sorrow. He was now ready to resign himself to any preparation for his fate, and snore particularly with a gentleman who had never approached him, as others had done by letters, 1 1 to tamper with his feelings, but to compose and assuage his ifflietiou. 'rhe attendants were struck with the ahered manzler of the prisoner, and more affected, almost, than he. Yre.4o,i-afself. He became calmer after his interview with the Chaplain, and I his firmness subsided into a decent resignation; he repeated his readiness to meet his fate as soon as possible, hoped for the forgiveness of his family, and the oblivion of his offences. HERTFORD, 9 o'eoefc.—A person, who has just left the gaol, has informed us, that Thurtell, though greatly moved by feelings for his family, still maintains the general firmness of character which he has manifested throughout. His brother is allowed to remain with him. Mr. Wilson, the governor of the gaol, when the prisoners were removes:Thom the dock, entreated Thurtell to make friends with Hunt. Thurtell said" With all my heart," and shook hands with his fellow-convict.— Twelve javelin-men are stationed within the prison. -........._
The Sun. — 1824-09-04 (London, England)

ENA. " when I was on my way to England when T received your rsrenger, which determined me to return and deliver this letter into your hands myself, which I beg you will insert in your next.. Paper. 'lt is with reluctance I am driven to this statement, 'but the persecutions I have tnet,with from Captain have driven me to it, who, If his conduct be so unexceptionable, will, I do not doubt, hot fear to face a British Court of Justice, instead of protecting himself by foreign Ministers, Consuls, and the Neapolitan police, .in procuring evidence for the ruin of his wife, and which he lOUs to produce before a Jury of' his country. " Aug. 30, 1824. " 11. B." The article which :appeared on ,the 23th of August In the Ilferscrtger on the above subject, we were requested to insert as an answer to one copied from the English Papers, and which was given in our. Paper of the 26th of July. The present letter we have also been induced to publish at the pressing solicitation of another of the parties concerned,; but we must positively decline any further communication on the subject, as we think the columns of a public Paper not the fittest place for such discussions.--(Editor of Mc:anger.)  ITORRIBLE Morrow.--A most foul'and hardly credible murder has been committed in the Canton of Forte, in the Department of the Seine and Oise. The following are the details :—On the 10th of August n girl, 'l3 years of age, went, about five o'clock in the evening, into the wood to gather herbs. On tier not returning, a search was made on the two following days, but with. out any success. On the 13th, a man, whose clothes were stained with blood, was taken up, and on the lath, some persons, who were still searching the wood, discovered, in the cavity.of a rock, which appeared to have served as, a habitation to some one, the body of a young girl, covered with sand and heath, the hands tied behind the back, and the legs doubled up under the belly ; there were several stabs of a knife on the thighs, and one in the heart. The parents of the girl who had been missing immediately recognized in this mutilated corpse their ill-fated child. The circumstance being made'known to the Attorney-G eueral, he came to the spot, and had brought there also the man who been arrested some days before, for having blood upon his garments. He was confronted with the body, but showed no signs of remorse or confusion. On the 21st day, after the exhumation of the body, he was again brought to look upon it, when he shut'. dered and confessed his crime. He declared, that for the last 40 days he had inhabited the cavity in the rock ; that on meeting the young girl, he suddenly seized her by the neck, thrust his handkerchief into her mouth, and, throwing her over his shoulders, made for the cavern. After walking a quarter of a league, he found that his victim had ceased to breathe or move ; he then threw her on the ground, and stabbed and mutilated the body in the manner above described. lie added, that on drawing the knife from her heart, he sucked the blood which followed it, which was nearly as much as would fill a wiue-tumbler.—:(Paris Paper.)
The Sun. — 1824-01-13 (London, England)

DISSECTION OF THURTEEL.  but nbt being quite prepared, it was postponed till next day, at 11. o'clock., He went up stairs to Mrs. Pigott's room. ,Soon after, at half-past 8, the bell rang, to give notise that no more strangers would be admitted, and that those who were in Must go out. Jacobs knocked at Mr. Pigott's room to inform him that he could not stay longer. Soon after Mr. Rot;lio'_ came down stairs ; as he advanced, he heard a noise on the'staircase. He heard some person say, " Here he i;;." Somne:one had-preceded him down stairs, and was seized instead of him. He was forced out to the back of the prison. He said he was immediately seized by a person named Bennet. He said he immediately afterwards missed his pocket-book, and that Bennet was the person who took it. I asked him if he knew the person of Bennet. He said he had known hint a considerable time. I said, there were two or three Bennets in the pri. son. He said he could not be mistaken, it was Bennet whc was concerned in the prosecution with Oldfield. I asked if I should send for Bennet into the office. He said he did not wish to see Bennet, but he wished to have his room searched immediately. I went to the chambers. Bennet was coming down stairs with a light in his hand: I told him I had something to say to him. I searched his roomsboxes, and linen, acclosely as I could search it, and found nothing upon him./ Bennet produced the keys. ,I searched for:, rsed. Irsoroseo4 pocket-hook and six, 10/. notes, which were lost. 'I found ses veral notes, but none so low as 101. I crane back and told Mr. Roubel. I had the pocket-book cried, with a reward of 101., in the prison. Bennet had no intimation of the search I Was to make. Cross-examined.—Mr. Roubel said that one. Gore had treated him ill as he was going out. I told the circumstance to Gore; who said, " How could he lose six 101: notes, when he toldsine he had lost 60 sovereigns ?" °Mr. Roubel said, I said 601., and not sovereigns. William Hewitt called—Remembeas a warrant brought to the prison by'Mr. Roubel. When he lodged it, lie asked me if Mr. Bennet was not to be put in the strong room. Mr. Allen, Magistrate of Union-Hall, called.—l attended three days at the prison. Mr. Roubel was there every day, it' thy memory is right,* attended by Mr. Platt. Every witness was called, whose name could be suggested as parties likely to be implicated. The result was, that five or sin persons, Having been charged either with the felony or the assault, were discharged. The charge was for an assault with intent to commit murder. My clerk took the examination in full. I took rather a full memorandum. On the examination there were posting bills produced with the numbers of the lost notes in them. Cross-examined by Mr.
The Sun. — 1824-08-18 (London, England)

CRIMINAL SIDE.  Isaac liter was indicted for highway robbery on the person of Betty Hoare, a young girl, servant to 3lr. Nicks, and stealing from her a haslet and some fruit.  The prosecutrix stated that she was sent out by her master on the evening of the 24th July, between nine and ten o'clock, to take some fruit to a neighbour. On her way she met the prisoner, who attempted in a violent way to kiss her. She would not permit him, and in consequence of her resistance he struck her a severe blow, which stunned her for the instant.— He then seized the basket or sieve and flung them over the hetlgtw She was very much frightened, and cried out murder, when The prisoner ran away. As soon as she recovered, she rose up and Walked towards Exmouth, and on her way thither she met Mr. Marshall.  Mr. Charles Marshall stated, that on the night ip question he .met the witness. He had previously heard the cry of " murder," and very soon after he saw the prisoner. Ile asked him where the cry of " murder" was. The prisoner said he did not know ; but witness suspecting from his running, and endeavouring to pass on, that he was the person who committed the mischief, if any had been done, he knocked him down. The prisoner got up and attempted to escape, but witness knocked him down a second time, and also a third time. Two men came up then, who told the prisoner to escape, and he got off: Witnesi waited a few minutes, when the prosecutrix and Mr.. Nicks came up. They then pursued the prisoner, and succeeded in taking h im, 31i. Nicks stated, that he sent the girl out with the fruit on the night in question. and that shortly after she went out, he heard a cry of " murder." He ran into the road, and found her with,the last witness, whom he assisted in taking the prisoner.  The Jury consulted for n few minutes, When a verdict of Guilty was returned by the Foreman. Mr. Baron Gannow addressed the prisoner, and said that, but for a formal error in the indictment, he might have been obliged to pass sentence of death on him, and undoubtedly would have left him as a tit object for esecution. A man, who could- brutally strike a helpless and unoffending girl, and rob her wantonly of her `master's property; 'cotild not obtain any remission of the, punishment awarded the law. The sentence of the CeUrt therefore was, that he be transported for seven years. Scarcely had this sentence been pronounced when one of the Jnry turned round to the Bench and said, "11.1 y Lord, we wete not agreed." Mr. Baron GARBOW said, that the Foreman had distinctly returned ai verdict of ",Guilty," and he was not aWttre that any 'Of the J ury had expressed their disapprobation, 'though they have heard the verdict. Nothing, however, could jits,tify.the Foreman iri returning a verdict; unless he had satisfactorily ascertained the unanimity of his fellows. His Lordship then directed them to reconsider their verdict. They immediately, after consulting, returned a verdict of Guilty, anti the Judge repeated the same sentence on the psiIroner as before,
The Sun. — 1824-10-26 (London, England)

PARIS, OCT. 22.—At noon the King presided at the' Su. perior Council of Commerce and. the. Colonies. This sitting lasted four hour hours. 111. le Dauphin was present. It is said that the President of the Bureau of Commerce, M. de Saint Cricq, made a Report on the Commercial Convention of the 20th of June, 1822, •between the United States and France.  This spontaneous resolution of the King to preside in per. • eo►n over an institution to which his august brother lately con. tided tl►e agricultural Interest, . the .arts of industry, and-the commerce and navigation of the kingdom, is a new proof of the concern of Charles.X. for the - welfare of his people. These gtest interests have reference to every species of work, of productions, of consumption, and: every thing that relates to the people at large. Agriculture, and the arts of. industry, are permanent and vital interests ; from these are derived the • well-doing of individuals, and the prosperity of nations ; and as the people Ore more or less interested in such things. they:have • the more or less love for the King that promotes theta. The King's knowledge of this will enable him to inert the minutest - deceits of any discussion on this point ; to him will be made known the wants and the means of his people; and these wants, together' with their desires, will he laid with confidence at the foot of his Throne. The cause oldie Duke of Otranto, and the other children of • ti" ancient Minister of Police, Fouche, against the bookseller •-14erattge, to suppress the. Memoirs falsely attributed to their father•, wits celled on this day in the Civil Chamber of Vacation. It has been put off till after the Vacation, when it will doubtless give rise to many curious details. Tux ItiIf4ASSINATION Or Visreernms.—Poptivoine and Clotilde Melservah have been this day withdrawn, the former from the prison de la Force, and the latter from that of Made. lunettes, anti taken to the Cabinet of M. Demortiers, to be con- , fronted with fresh witnesses. Maliervalt always appears in her pink dress, and the rest of her apparel the same as at was the ▪ Say of the Murder. BERLIN, OcT.l4;—To remedy the abuse, which has be• oome moroand more common, of shortening the period of the ..tudy of the gymnastics, the Minister has ordered that none .shalt be admitted to -the 'classes of Theology, at Bonn, but such Catholic Students as have at least been; one year• in . first class of the 'gymnastic schools of ,the University. areangersont, however, is not applicable to those who  already enjoy those privileges, or who can produee attestations No. 1 or 2 of one of the Royal Commissions of proof.  (From the Constitutionnel.) 31AMITD, OC T. 11.-( Private Correspondence.)—The Court is still at the Escurial, where the Diplomatic Corps, the Alinisters, and many persons of distinction, are to assist at the solemn service for Louis
The Sun. — 1824-05-01 (London, England)

DEFEAT OF THE BRITISH TROOPS BY THE ASHANTEES. •  Acrn, Jan; 31, 11324.  `°DEAR SlR—This will be. handed you by Captain pug. MEY,'Of.the brig Elizabeth, who is now lying off 4-nd on,, and as she touches at Itarbadoes, I cannot let slip this opportunity  of writinga few lines., " It is with the greatest concern that I have to inform you that the Ashantees hare made an attack upon Sir CHARLES 314CAapir's division of the army, upon the Gold Coast, and completely routed itrmostof the officerakilled, and Sir Csuati.r s himself wounded in two places during the action, and now missing. They came down 15,000 strong; Sir CHARLES'S division was not more than one-third of that number. The battle was fought on the 21kt instant near Sicondee, and lasted from 2 P. M. until 6 P. m. when Sir CHARLES having expended all his ammunition, was surrounded, and his army completely routed. The Ashantees, however, sustained a great loss, and it is not known where they are gone to.  " There were fourteen officers with Sir CHARLES when the action commenced, and only one, a Lieutenant Enskixt, escaped to tell the tale of woe. " Among the slain are some of the principal and oldest merchants at Cape Coast; those that I have heard named are— GEORGE ROBERTSON, JAMES HEADLE, EDWIN JONES, and Mr. TEDLET, the Staff-surgeon, killed; Captain L. LrTRANGE, died of fatigue ; Major RICKETS, severely wounded ; many others that I do not know the names of, killed; and mangy-wounded and missing. They were expecting an attack at Cape Coast, by the latest intelligence, and they had actually sent down a vessel to get 7,000 stand of arms, which it was reported at Cape Coast, that I had here.  " As this vessel will most likely call at Cape Coast, the Captain will be able to give you late accounts, and most accu rate intelligence of this dreadful transaction, which may yet be the cause of the Gold Coast being taken from us."  An article from the Southampton Chronicle, dated Portsmouth, April 30, says—  " It was reported -here by the master of a merchant vessel from the coast of Africa, that the natives had come down from the interior and murdered all the white population at Sierra Leone: the report also added, that the Scout and Ringdove had been dispatched thither. This report wants one thing to renderit interesting, namely, confirmation,. for otherwise it is too sweeping in its nature, and too vague in its origin, to excite anY reasonable alarm."  I  yet be  Tick,  vessA  1 from  Sierra, re had  o ref•  is WO  to anf  Ls•  loci;  pro tic`;  toile  conthe The the  th' of Ao  tetS  lid'  was the  exedlied  ere ned erl  )e rs  ieir  is  ant  "Onl  üb• 11i was a! a Ye  woe of We  has  ex.  lug ble tole  )e  ng Ist of  ne ed le