npedrazzini/19thc_murder_suicide_news huggingface dataset:
The Sun. — 1862-06-24 (London, England)

THE INQUEST ON THE MURDERS AND  BUICIDE IN BLALKERIARS-ROAD.  The Meat • eal Times and Gazette says:— If an instance were wanting to prove the necessity of appointing a vigilant medicalman to the office of coroner, we do not know that wee shouldwhich has one more to the purpose than that of the inquiry h ch has lately taken place as to the deaths of the two children of ford. As an investigation into the _a" James John of death of the children, who were found lying near bodyettese of the father, the inquiry was a farce and a mockery. A himself assistwed to be a T ant, Mr. James V. Henderson, who atates only medical witness follow surgeon, was the ing is his evidence respectingthe deaths of the ehhile tdhreen :-.4 "At the same time two on as has been described. I saw The lungs children and llyingiver were congested, but otherwise healthy. The abdomen we s 8 I i boor, ga quite t 1 healthy. I took out the stomach and tied it at both endSubsequently I opened it and found it to contain food and. air; but I have not had sufficient time to analyse its eme. tents. I noticed two pillows on the floor by the side of the children, and they might have been pressed on the faces of the children so as to cause death, but I cannot say that it eves so. A phial was found on the floor near the bodies, which may have contained opium, and I think it had a preparation of opium in it. There was another phial on the drawers containing a very small quantity of brownish liquid, which seems to be Methylated spirit of opium. If this had been used the lapse of time would have destroyed the smell of the opium. The post mortem appearances in the younger chile'_ were the same as in the elder, except that the lungs and brain were much more congested. I saw the cup produced. It contained castor-oil with a brownish sediment. There was no smell except of the oil. My opinion is that the children were poisoned, but death may have been produced by the compression of the pillows over their faces before the poison had time to act. The blood was fluid, but it would remain so after suffocation as well as after poison." That the children died by the hand of their father is only too probable. But surely in such a case, occurring as it did in the metropolis of England, public safety as well as lae demands that some attempt should have been made to discover the cause of their deaths. No analysis either of the contents of the stomachs or of the fluids found in the cup and phials seems to have been thought necessary. The unfortunate man ifwas undoubtedly mad, but this does not y huiteneenurts are to be held at all, surely the daletaetrhthoef ceayseer. becoming the subject of inq airy should bo investigeetiefindugabyf every means which science can suggest. We do not fault with the verdict, which was, " That the children were deeltrfully father, who immediately after murdered by their but his own life while in a state of mental aberration,', the careless and perfunctory manner ;weue do find fault with ' which the inquiry waa carried oat,
The Sun. — 1862-04-25 (London, England)

TEILUISDAY. A frightful and deliberate murder has :seen committed at a retired farmhouse, called Outhi,ll Farm, about five miles from this town, by a farm la.bastrer namer George Gardiner, his victim being a fellowservant named Sarah Kirby, a modest and well-conducted girl. The following particulars are gleaned on the spot. The girl had been spending a few days with her friends, and returned to her master's on Monday. Gardiner had been out drink • befor: ing on Tuesday, and yesterday morning went to Plough accompanied by a boy. The boy did not &ease him, and he threatened him once or twice. t;:sce he told him " there would be m order done night." Mr. Edge left home abou t half-past iti gm . morning to go and sell a cow, an d shortly 'aiter he' la:1 left the prisoner went to th,e house, and asked cas,.. -eased for her master's gun, a doublebarrel, which sv, as kept loaded in the kitchen. She gave him the gu:a . and proceeded with her work, on which the prisonet s deliberately took the caps off the nipples and cleatN, i them. He then proceeded to the back kitchen, wi'as. re the poor girl was, unconscious of evil, proceedng vs, ' th her work, and deliberbarrels at her. The shoe ately fired one or both of the. entered the back of the neck, and she fell a lifeless. ' uggle. Mr. Edge's corpse without a groan or a sta. usekeeer for her aunt (Miss Davis), who acts as he „,,, ent to Gardiner 1 nephew, hearing the explosion, a and expostulated with him for firin§.7 le off t had a what gun in the house, not knowing at the ttss bed at her, been its fatal effect. He at first laug house his; but on her ordering him out of th,9. sretreated manner became alarming, and Miss Day.' where she locked herself is% Gardito the parlour; ner endeavoure, 1. to force the door, but did not succeed, and he th. n went e to the kitchen, an' with (I tt coal hammer forced open Mr. Edge's desk, se,here he usually keeps his n,:oney. It happened, however, that there was only 6fal anti some stamps in the desk. These the prisoner fock, and then made IsiS way out of the house, taking t, he gun and ammunition with him. A hue and cry was raised by the police and inhabitants, and a larOe party set out int pursuit of the fugitive. They tram. I him to Wool tone where he sold the shot-pouch, and thence to Stratford-on-Avon. Here he took a tick. et for Oxford b.y the West Midland line. On the jo. urney his bad to change carriages at the Strkttfnra kinrtical aTitla. the main line at Honeybourne, near Evesham, where" (he was captured by the police. In the meantime Mr. Edge had returned home, and Mr. Morris, burg eon, of Studley, had been sent for. He found the girl quite dead, and in his opinion death had been ins tantaneous. The inquest is expected to be held to-m orrow. The motive for the murder is believed 'to has 'e been jealousy. The prisoner had attempted „nee or twice to take liberties with the deceased, wh jell attempts she had always resiOted• ss
The Sun. — 1862-06-06 (London, England)

THE STATE OF IRELAND. Lord PALMERSTON moved that the house at its rising should adjourn until that day week for the Whitsuntide holidays. Mr. MAGUIRE availing himself of that opportunity appealed to the noble lord at the head of her Majesty's Government on a matter personal to himself and of great interest to the people of Ireland. He had been ten years in that house, and nobody could accuse him of making deliberately a false statement. From time to time he had brought forward, with pain and humiliation, the subject of the present distress in Ireland. The hen, member then urged upon the noble lord to produce the report of Mr. Horsley, in order to satisfy the feelings of Irish members who concurred with him as to the distress prevailing in Ireland. After some observations by Mr. Scumoc, Lord PALMERSTON said that he had not seen the report of Mr. Horsley, but he would look into the document, and if there was nothing objectionable in it ho woutliel on the table, or if otherwise he would direct the substance ffard to some of it to be submitted to the house. With -,,, that remarks of the last speaker (Mr. Scully)72l: attention to the fact of the difference 0 re rof and of this prevailed in the minds of the people I': this drew the country when country in regard to criminals.. -t Ireland the public enbring the criminal to justice; n crime was committed the publicui deavoured to screen him. oinined in endeavouring to 'porous administrationof the law unnecessary, and that %vier frepressing crime in Ireland. would be the bee mean _ aced the feeling in favour of criminals Mr. WHITESIDE considered that a commission was want f confidence in the laws of the administration Ireland to a oe': He contended that feeling of ille . must nistration n consequence of -iy increase 1 the injudicious conduct for Ireland i insulting duct of the Secretary_ in the priesthood and the Irish members whichsir jh.eßwoaswcoymEpßelleedonttoenaddemditth. Lord FERMOY traced when they endeavoured to draw attention to that distress in Ireland, the existence of Irish members.) at(Htheearre, hweaorn,ldfrobme theno security for the preservation of the peace of Ireland until last tir speaker G GREY RtEhYat G that country was regarded as being a Roman Catholic country, and treated accordingly. After some remarks from Mr. LEFRoY, saiodveitrnhma Government th beenad takenpr properly rul yp upon t a ted byth themselvese the rbsponsibility of adopting efficient measures for the protection of life and property in Ireland, and he wished to state that the Government felt bound to undertake that responsibility. If police were actually engaged in tracing out the persons engaged in the recent murders in Ireland, a commission would shortly be issued. He referred with pleasure to the fact that these murders in Ireland had nothing whatever to do with dissatisfaction towards the Government, and he was happy to hear it stated in the course of the conversation that a great number of Olga Pnman Catholic laity in Traland a prirnvari of itka policy pursued towards Italy. (Hear, hear.) The motion for adjournment was subsequently agreed to.
The Sun. — 1862-08-14 (London, England)

THE CONDEMNED GIG INVICT AT BODMIN.  The criminal, John Doidge, who was on Thursday last sentenced to death by : Justice WilHams, for the murder of Roger : Drew, at SV• Stephen's by Launceston, continues • to manifest the same stoical demeanour as that which characterised him both before and. during his trial. It is true that he talks of the disgrac e which he has brought upon himself, but he ha s said nothing which would indicate contrition for his fearful crime. it is a remarkable fact that from the thatfirs ht moment of his arrest he has nev,u alenied e murdered the old man. He eats, drin,ks, and sleeps as usual ; in fact, there is nothing in 11;s conduct or manner of passing his days and nights w.hich would lead one to suppose that he was so ri tpidly approaching the termination of his life. Th ere is no general specified rule as to how long after t he trial of a cullace. prit for murder his execution sh.all take p Usually he is allowed two Sundays after the judges have left the assize town, but varioa,s customs prevail in the different counties. Thus, at Winchester, these present assizes, the Fordingb.ridge murderer was allowed three Sundays after lhie condem' nation ; and whilst Monday is the ,day generally' selected for the execution, the very last case of capital punishment carried out in Exeter—that of the unfortunate Hacked—took place on aiSaturday, viz., March 30, 1861. In Cornwall,h,lwever, the extreme penalty of the law is carried out on Monday. The last execution for murder at Bodunin took place in the summer of 1856, and this, as I,n most other places, was over the entrance to the comity gaol. Since that time every vestige of the o,ld prison has been swept away, and on its site has beat erected the extensive and substantial pile of castellated buildings which now constitute the Cornwall County Prison. The entrance is on the north -east side of the building, and the drop is M the southwest end. On the west side it is obscured from v;evr by the high boundary walls, nor can it be seen .on the north side of the gaol, but on the south and east the view of the drop is uninterrupted. The con-. demned convict strenuously denies that he had anythiDg to do with partricipating in themurder o' Mary White, of Buckland Monachorumm, in Oct., f 1852, and as he is now but 28 years of age, there does not seem to be much foundation for the rumour which has been for some weoks in circulation, to the effect that Corber and this rot.'s were accomplices in that murder, for he could then have been but 18 years of age. As a very slight footfall can be heard. in the corridors of the building, no prisoners are allowed in that part of the gaol where the wretehed man is confined. The execution is to take place on Monday next at noon.— Western Morning News.
The Sun. — 1862-08-14 (London, England)

THE CONDEMNED CONVICT A BOD.ALTN.  The criminal, John Doulgv, w ho was on Thursday last sentenced to death b y Mr. Justice WilHams, for the murder of Roger Drew, at St. Stephen's by Launce.sten, con Unties to manifest the same stoical demean our as that which characterised him both before and during his trial. It is true that he talks of the dis which he has brought upon himself, that he g has scud nothing which would indicate contrition for his fearful crime. It is a remarkable fact find from the first moment of his arrest he has never denied that he murdered the old man. He 'eats, drinks, and sleeps as usual ; in fact, there is nothing in his conduct or manner of paoing his days and nights which would lead one to suppcse that he was so rapidly approaching the terminatio. ri of his life. There is no generalspecified rule as to hOw long after the trial of a culprit for murder his execution shall take place. Usually he is allowed two Sundays after the judges have left the assize toTA7n, but -various customs prevail in the different coun ties. Thus at Winchester, thole present assizes, the Fordi ngbridge murderer was allowed three Sundays s fter :;his condemnation ; and whilst Monday is th e day generally selected for the execution, the veAry last case of capital punishment carried out in Exeter—that of the unfortunate Hacked—took piece on alSaturday, viz., March 30,1861. In Cornwal'l, however, the extreme penalty of the law is carried ad on Monday. The last execution for murder at Vokimin took place in the summer of 1856, and this, As. in most other places, was over the entrance to th e zounty gaol. Since that time every vestige of :th e old prison has been swept away, and on its site has been erected the extensive and substantial pile of ctr.s tellated buildings which now constitute the Cornviall County Prison. The entrance is on the north-e3st side of the building, and the drop is at the south'r west end. On the west side it is obscured from view' by the high boundary walls, nor can it be seen on the north side of the gaol, but on the south and east the view of the drop is uninterrupted. The condemned convict strenuously denies that he had an to do with participating in the murder a Mary White, of Buckland Monachorum, in Oct., 1852, and as he is now but 28 years of age, there does not seem to be much foundation for the rumour which has been for some weeks in circulation, to the effect that Corber and this man were accomplices in that murder, for he could years of age. As a very slight footfall can be heard in the corridors of the building, no prisoners are allowed in that part of the gaol where th e wretehed man is confined. The execution is to tab.', place on Monday next at noon.— Western Morning, -News.
The Sun. — 1862-09-23 (London, England)

THAMES.  STAIMING.--GERMAN DANCINGROOMS.—Francis Fust, a tall, rouglf-looking fellow, was brought before Mr. Selfe, charged with assaulting and wounding August Heberlin, a stick maker, of No. 24, Grey Eagle-street, Spitalfields. The parties were in.a German dancing room last night, and Heberlin stood up with his partner and was about to dance, when the prisoner rudely pushed them back, and said he ordered the dance for himself, and no one else. Heberlin commenced tripping it, not on the "light fantastic toe," but with his heavy heels and boots. The prisoner again pushed Heberlin away, a row took place, and the landlady interfered, ordered the music to cease, and said there should be no more dancing. The Germans separated amidst a war of words. About half an hour afterwards Heberlin was passing down Leman-street, a short distance from the German dancing-house, with a friend, when the prisoner and another man, came behind them, and assaulted bothsuddenly, and with great violence. Heberlin turned round and the prisoner struck him on the head. He fell senseless to the ground, and when he was raised and carried into the H division station-house, in Leman-street, it was discovered there was a large incised wound on his head. Inspector Denby, of the H division, who saw the wound dressed, had no doubt it was inflicted with a knife, or other sharp instrument. Several German witnesses gave evidence of the outrage, and that blood was streaming from the complainant's head directly he was struck. A constable, named George Newman, heard a cry of "Murder, murder, a man is stabbed," in English, and exclamations in German, and upon proceeding towards the spot he saw the prisoner running and stopped him.  Mr, Selfe commented on the atrocious and cowardly conduct of the prisoner, and said there were good reasons for not sending the case to the sessions and risking a failure of justice. He should dispose of the case summarily by sentencing the prisoner to two months' imprisonment and hard labour,  Peter Helkessel, a German, aged 36, of Manchester-road, Blackwell, was charged with assaulting Gustace Kahuss and James Brown. This case arose out of the dispute in the dancing-7023! which the complainants, one a German, the other:n:sn% lishman, took part. When the German, Ilebeeidres at was struck, and murder was called, Bevan, 123, Leman-street, went to the spot to aswcehwroteareien intoxicated the matter. The prisoner Helkessel, whh:bea .. d Kahuss, and raving, knocked him down and cut something sharp, and what was the German, was also struck with t sustained considerable injury• when they reached the station that Helkessel followed was proved by several witnesseshe.lol:B:sh men were bleeding lett the dancing room when t lowed Bevan and Bahusa Y disturbances had and maliciously attacked bottat frequent rooms, and they had led takMenr.pBlaecifeeinvaths German description. He sentenced Het. to several oltrages of t risonment for the assault on Bevan, esorry to nsadyaneing kessel to six weeks' imp imprisonment, for the assault on lialiuBa : . ,°, in and six weeks' iwPild with hard labotu~ to threc moatasi "
The Sun. — 1862-06-30 (London, England)

THE L UDGATE-HILL T.RAGEDIT.  Mrs. Vyse, who has in some measure recovered from the injury she inflicted upon herself after the murder of her two infant children, on Ludgate-hill, was placed at the bar, at the Guildhall Police-court'  on Saturday. Mr. Pearson, who appeared for the prosecution' stated that the prisoner was charged with the wilful murder of her two children by poison, but WI the information he had received from the medical gentleman who had attended the prisoner, be be; lieved that she was suffering at the present motive" so much from loss of blood, consequent upon injuriieds which she had inflicted upon herself, that it well be unwise to prolong the inquiry; he should therefore merely confine himself to calling the witness° who would narrate the facts. There were sugges: tions, which might turn out to be ture, that the Plvt soner was labouring under insanity at the time, that would be a question to be inquired into elsewhere. He would at once call the witnesses, and ask for a remand, so as not to protract the inquiry longer than possible. Mr. Savory, Surgeon Assistant at St. Barthel(/' mew's Hospital, deposed that he made apost'iwriehliez examination of the bodies. The contents of t d stomachs of the children he sealed up in .011' 3:7s delivered them to Mr. Atfield, of St. Barthel°l3l% Hospital. He had himself analysed parts of the tents of the stomachs. He tried them on a cat; he was sensibly affected and convulsed, but did not ale: Mr. Atfield was then examined, and detailed the result of the analysis of the stomachs of both obl dren, and found strychnine in each. John L. Taylor, assistant to Mr. Keating, 8!' Paul's-churchyard, deposed to the fact of the prl: soner, on the 22d of May, coming to the shop and purchasing the Battle's powder. She complained that they were very much infested with rats and mice, and that they had made holes in the premises, and caused so much mischief that it had cost them £5 to repair the place. When he sold the powders he cautioned the prisoner as to their poisonous nature. The prisoner, who was supported by two female warders, was throughout the medical evidence and that of the last witness most painfully affected.  The evidence of Mr. Marshall, the assistant of Mr. Keating, and also that of the servant maid of Mrs. Vyse, as given at the inquest, was repeated. Miss Saunders, the sister of the unfortunate Pri" soner, who was deeply affected, added to her former evidence that a letter had been given to her by her sister, which she could not then produce, as she had destroyed it. She identified the pieces of paper which he took from her sister's pocket, which Wag also proved to be Battle's powders, purchased at Mr. Keating's. Mr. C. Pearson said he was informed by the ine; dical gentlemen that the unfortunate lady at bar was in too low a condition to endure a prolongs" tion of the inquiry ; he would therefore ask for oo remand for another day. He had no desire t . overload the case, but public justice compelled Win to complete it. The inquiry was then adjourned to TuesdaY. Mrs. Vyse was then conveyed to Newgate in a cab.
The Sun. — 1862-12-25 (London, England)

HORRIBLE PUNISHMENTS.  " They led us out into a field surrounded by a high iron wall. A vague feeling of horror crept over me when I saw this place, for I knew at once that it was the executionyard. The executioner, who was a negro man, approached and first singled out the old man who told me we should see the stars, and I soon saw what he had meant by these words. The negro sat him down and drew his dagger. The poor old man cried out, I thorn,' which is, I will speak the truth;' but the executioner plunged his dagger into his heart, saying, It is now too late.' He drew his dagger out reeking with blood, and cut the man's throat to make sure of his death. Oh, horror ! the poor wretch's eyes started half out of their sockets, and his tongue lolled out of his mouth, which was covered with foam. A camel was brought, and the body was laid on it and carted away. I shivered with fright ; my blood froze in my veins, and the rest of the prisoners stood like dead men, witnessing the fearful commencement of horrors. The first being thusdis. posed of, they took a second man. Him they hung and a third was seized. He was laid flat on his face on the ground, ,a large sharp stake was then driven through his back, peg-ging him, writhing with agony, to the ground. He of course soon died. The nine other prisoners were then set down on zinc blocks of wood. The executioner then went to one of them, and with his knife made a gash in his arm, and he thrust a candle in under the skin—this he did again and again, till the man was covered with candles. When the nine poor wretches had all been served thus, all the candles were lit. Then the exe,nutioner told a man who stood by, with a paper in his ha.ud, to read out the list, who these men were, and what were their crimes; and he read—The first was a spy. The man who had been hung was a robber who had killed a man and taken his horse. The nine men were murderers ; and the man who was staked down was a fornicator who had defiled his own daughter. They were all Mahommedans. Who can imagine the state I was in when all this was over ? My turn was come at last. A man told me to follow him; I obeyed with a sickening feeling in my heart. Ile lead me to a large stump in the ground, through which were put planks of wood like see-saws, but so high up as to be quite out of my reach. I was tied by my hands to one end of these, my legs hanging down, but far from reaching the ground ; a weight was put on the other end of the plank to balance me, and I was left swaying in intolerable, and every moment increasing, agony. Oh, the torture I endured that dreadful day ; often I almost regretted ever having left Aflihanietan, but even then I could not wish myself back among 'the Affghans. No, I thought, this trouble I have brought on myself by my own hot rashness. I was left on this rack all day, and in the evening I was taken down."