The Sun. — 1842-04-13 (London, England)

CORONER—What were you going to say about Houghton and the keys? Witness—lt was Houghton that directed my attention to them.  Sergeant Palmer recalled—The keys produced are the same which I took from the harness-room, with which to try the cupboard doors in the coachman's room.  By the Jury—l had the keys from Thursday morning until Friday morning. lem sure the keys produced are the same which I found in the harness-roam. Hobert Tee recalled—Houghton might have seen the keys by looking through the window of the stable opposite that to which the remains lay. Josiah Tye, police constable 199 V.—On 'Wednesday evening 1 was on reserve in the station-house, when a person came and said that a body was lying at Mr. Shiel's, in Putney Park. lane. I went there, and on arriving I found Constable Gardiner there, and the remains of the body of a woman lying in one of the stalls of the stable, on Mr. Shiers premises. I took Mr. Shiel's pony and rode off to give information to Mr. Superintendent Bicknell. When I got. to Wandsworth I found that Mr. Bicknell had gone, and I returned to Mr. Shiel's. I found Ithat in the harness-roam there was a disagreeable smell, nod on examining the grate I discovered two pieces of skullbone underneath the cinders. ( The pieces of bone were produced.) I did not know that they were skull-bones at first, but on finding them 1 took them to a medical gentleman, who said they were pieces of skull-bone. This morning I was in Mr. Shiel's yard at about half-past eight, and went toward the four-wheeled chaise in the coach-house, and upon opening the lid of the seat-box I discovered that there was a very strong stench. It came to my nose like a steam. On further examination, I observed a small piece of flesh on the edge of the outside of the lid : from this circumstance I suppose that the en. trails of the body have been taken away in this box. [The box smelt so strongly as to be quite offensive to tie jurors when it was placed near them.] The witness resumed—l said the other day to Houghton, " This is a shocking thing." Houghton said, " Yes, it is ; knew Good to be a very bad man, but I did not think he was quite so bad as that either." I replied, "If you knew that he was a bad man, why did you keep his company ?" He answered, " I had reasons for doing it." " What were they ?" I again asked; Houghton shrugged up his shoulders, and said, " It I had not kept in with him, he would have murdered me." The conclusion 1 draw from this conversation is, that he had some knowledge of the body being there. Mr. Inspector Husain next called—From information I received I went to Mr. Shiel's about a quarter before 11 o'clock on Wednesday night, and was directed to make a diligent search. I saw the body ; I found a box in the harness-room, o hich was locked, and I broke it open ; in it I found a small quantity of black tea—rather more than an ounce—wrapped up in paper. There was no mark of blood on the paper. The other things in the box were some articles of wearing apparel and a few books. The wearing apparel consisted of sonic linen and a waistcoat, which were all clear.. I then searched a drawer in the table underneath the window of the harness-room, and in that I found a knife, Wiich I now produce. It is a clasp, or " self-defence " knife. It appeared to have been recently sharpened, and on the handle are marks of what I believe to be blood. Standing in the chimney corner, on the right-hand side of the fire place, I found this axe' the edge of which, and also the poll, are smeared with blood.  The knife and the axe were handed round to the Jury. The knife, when opened was about nine inches long ; and the axe was a full-sized one. The marks alleged by the Inspector to be those of blood were very indistinct.