The Sun. — 1855-01-31 (London, England)

THE MURDER IN FOLEY•PLAOL-Mr. Bodkin applied to the Court to postpone the trial of Luigi Baranelli for the murder of Mr. Letham to the next session. He made the application upon two grounds, the first of which alth as rendered him Ythfoerpirilicisounireyr that there would not be a proper opportunity rttuhnaitt unablea t himselfthe tpor wasel se eai nnvt time; such u hipsc h e d a.R d condition s e of hd el  Mr. Baron Parke at once granted the application. Hannah, Maria Pepkins, 204 a good-looking young woman, was indicted for the wilful murder of her male illegitimate child by cutting its throat.  Mr. Carteen prosecuted. The prisoner was defended by Mr. Sleigh, through the humane interference of the oSthteariinffsl,egt hale apsrsiisstoannecreh.er.s.elf not being in ft position to  The circumstances of this case were of a most melancholy character. It appeared that the prisoner was in the service of a lady named Swift, and that at the time of the occurrence she rived at Dalston, in a house belonging to that lady, which was occupied also by Aire. Scott, the niece of Miss Swift. On the 28th December the prisoner appeared to be very ill, and Mrs. Scott gave her some pennyroyal and gin, and she went to bed. About one o'clock on the following morning, in consequence of hearing a noise, Nrs. Scott went again to the room, and found the prisoner apparently in great pain, and she gave her some more pennyroyal and gin, and the prisoner said she felt bettor. At six o'clock the same morning Mrs. Scott went :gain to the prisoner's room. She was in bed, and Mrs. Scott observed a clot of blood upon the carpet, and exclaimed to the prisoner, ,e my God I what has been the natter ?" The prisoner replied, " Don't be frightened ; lan better now." Mrs. Scott then went down stairs to ereparebreakfast blood and uponupon going into the kitchen she f•aw a quantity of the table, and a carving-knife with blood upon it was lying near it. There well also marks of blood upon the floor and in the passage, and upon following them into the coal-cellar she found the dead body of a child, with its throat cut, thrust behind a. box, and its head resting upon the coals. A medical gentleman named Herring was called in, and upon examining the body it was discovered that the child's throat was cut from ear to e ear ; all the arteries were severed, as well as the windpipe, and death must have been the immediate -.R. Injury. According to the evidence of the burgeon the infant was a fall-grown healthy child, and expressed a confident opinion, from the appearances presented by the lips of the wound, from the fact that the lungs were fully inflated, and otter circumstances, that the child was born alive. He tdmitted, however, on cross-examination, that the test of the floating of the lungs was not considered evidence by medical authorities, and also that the appearances of the wound might have been the same if the wound had been inflicted immediately after death while the circulation was going on, although vitality Lad ceased. He also admitted that when a child was born under etch circumstances, and without any medical assistance, the delivery was likely to be much more difficult, and the child might, consequently, have breathed t) some extent before it was fully brought into the world. The prisoner was proved to have borne a most excellent character for some years, and :that she was always regarded as a kind-hearted, good girl. Mr. Sleigh made a meet energetic address to the jury on behalf of the prisoner, and he contended, with a good deal of ability, that the evidence of the child being born alive was not sufficiently conclusive to justify them in coming to such a conclusion ; and he, therefore, called upon them to acquit the prisoner of the dreadful crime of wilfully murdering ler own offspring, and to find her only guilty of the lesser offence of concealing the birth.  Mr. Baron Parke having summed up, the jury then retired, and had net ;eturned their verdict when we went to press.