The Barrow Herald and Furness Advertiser. — 1879-02-22 (Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria, England)

CONFESSION. There is .every reason to believe that Peace has a greater surptise in it ire for the ptihiia than anything that ha Vt been known with respect to him ; that before his exe oition on Tace-phy next he will confess to a 'wieder Mr which he has never been tried, and ft the commiSsina of which an inneicent in 1,1 I 1.1.1 Sc iv escaped the hangman's rope, and for whadt he is now suffering. B-t won his prayers and his me iitatio,is Peace has for the last few days been liti•dly occupied in preparing plans similar, though .in .a larger: so de, to that wliith fIlTik;S110 lof B inner-cross, an when net en :tg ii noon the,e: he Ire: spent his time in what ii believed to be a confession. Neither the precise ho.orlity with which the plaos deal nor the nature of the confessi ,n has been allowed to leak out from Armley ; but fr im information upon whirl we can rely, we have reason to believe that bath the one end the tither relate to the murder bf it polieeinen named. Cock at Whalley Bang-, a suburb of Manchester, on the 11 August, 1576. Thore is no doubt that Peace was in Manch,. ster at the time of the murder. It w is there th it he went when the warrant was issued against him by Mrs. Dyson towa•als the end of July, and it is known too, that he went there, n u only to escape the execution of the warrant, but to do a little business in the way of burglary. For this pnrpose he took his housebreaking implements with 'sim, and his revolver—without which he never went on such expeditions formed part of his stack. Two or three (lays after his arrival in Manchester Police-constable Cock was shot, under circumstenees whieh bear a close resemblance to the itlackheath affiiir, when Peace fell into the hands of Rohinsan lie is watched into the private grounds of a gentleman's house; he is followed by an officer, and in endeavouring to escape he encounters a second. Cock probably attempted to arrest him and was shot by Peace, who, in the darkness of the night. escaped unseen. Three brothets named Habron, were apprehended for the murder, and one of them was found guilty upon evidence of a purely circumstantial character. On account of his youth—he was then only eighteen years old—he was recornmen(led to mercy, although he was sentenced to death, that sentence was afterwards commuted to penal servitude for life. Peace after the murder went to Hull, came to Shsfficld, and returned to Hull again ; :and when he had quarrelled with his family he went hack to Manchester. He was in that city when the three Habrons were put on their trial, and there is reason to believe that he was present at the trial, and heard the unfortunate youth sentenced to death for the Mime of which he him elf was guilty. Barly next morning he went to Sheffield and called upon his mother in Orchard-street. He threw a Manchester piper down on the table, and said, "There, that's where I've been." The paper was looked into by one of his relatives, and it was found to contain a report of the trial and conviction of the young row. The same night Peace went to Bannereross and shot Mr. Dyson.— A London telegram confirms this statement, and announces as a positive fact that the confession has been made.