The Sun. — 1868-06-08 (London, England)

THE MURDER OF A TRAPTLLING SALESMAN.  At the police-office, Wellington, near Shrewsbury, two meni•inamed George Harries and Richard Hart, have been brought up in custody, charged with the murder of Barnatt Zusman, on the 15th of November, 1867. The particulars of this remarkable crime, with which the prisoners are after so great a lapse of time charged, are briefly as follows :—On the 15th of November, in last year, Barnatt Zusman, a travelling salesman, in the service of Mr. Coh en ,watch mannfacturer, Birmingham, left the Rose and Crown Inn, Ironbridge, where he had been staying for some days, with the avowed intention of goifig to Dawley and Horsehay. He left at ten o'clock in the morning, and took with him a case containing watches and jewellery of the estimated value of £420. He ordered dinner, but did not return to it, and not being heard of for some days after, his employer came to the conclusion that he had absconded with the property, and a notice to that effect was inserted lit the Paliee Gazette. About a fortnight after his disappearance a gentleman was shooting, when his dog found the body of Zusman buried in the mud. An inquest was held, and from the evidence then adduced it seemed that the deceased had been murdered. The box that the deceased had with him was folind empty near the scene of the murder. At the coroner's inquiry no evidence was given to justify the arrest of any one, but a verdict of " Wilful murder against some person or persons unknown " was returned. The affair was placed in the hands cf Superintendent Baxter, of Church Smelton, who has been watching the parties he suspected for some time. The circle narrowed, till Baxter's attention was fixed upon a young man named Harries, who lived at Dawley and followed the occupatidn of a chain manufacturer. Harries is a person of respectable connections, and, till recently, occupied a good position in the listrict, his father, who died a little rctora than two years ago, having left him property worth £4,000 and a business which brought him about £4OO a year. The young man, however, got into bad society, and contracted a close intimacy,with a gang of well-known poachers who infest the neighbourhood, and at the time of the murder —though be still kept on the works—bad succeeded in Jriving away nearly all the business his father had commanded. According to his own evidence, given at the adjourned inquest on the 4th of December, Harries had lealings with the murdered man, and had seen and spoken to him on the the morning of his death. He had, he stated, bought a watch from him for £27 125., paying in small sums on account, and promising payment of the balance by instalments. It was ascertained by the police that Harries had, on the following day, gone over to Shrewsbury, and there pawned the watch for £B. A few days after the inquest, and nearly a month after the, murder, the police obtained a warrant to search Harries's house, but they found nothing that tended to connect him with the crime, and their suspicions were apparently withdrawn. On Wednesday week Superintendent Baxter received certain information which took him over to Dawley again, and in the course of last week he obtained . evidence which led Lim, at a late hour on Friday night, to arrest George Harries without waiting for a formal warrant. Of the precise character of the evidence in the possession of the police information is, for obvious reasons, at present withheld, but it is understood to be very conelusive. The arrest of the other prisoner has taken the public by surprise, as his name has not been previously mentioned in connection with the murder ; but he is well known in the Dawley district as an incorrigible poacher, ind as such has been several times convicted. No evidence vas taken by the magistrates, and upon the application of Superintendent Baxter the prisoners were remanded. A solicitor appeared on behalf of Harries, and asked that he night be admitted to bail, but the request was refused. 3art was undefended.