The Express. — 1861-04-01 (London, England)

THE MURDER AT MINOSTON.  This dreadful occurrence still continues to be the wand topic of conversation and interest in the town and neighbourhood, and notwithstanding the strict inquiries that have been made by the police, no motive has been discovered to account for the commission of the dreadful crime. So far from the unhappy woman having been actuated by a feeling of jealousy, it would appear from all that has transpired that she was very much attached to the deceased. and that hearing she was out of place, having been employed for about eighteen months in • gentleman's family as nursemaid, and her services being no longer require the prisoner sent for her to come to Kingston, sod asked her to remain with her and her husband until she could procure her another place. She bad only been in the barracks with the prisoner about • fortnight when the dreadful occurrence took place, and during that period not the slightest familiarity was observed to have taken place between the deceased and the prisoner's, husband ; on the contrary, the former was always considered a remarkably modest, well-behaved young woman, and the prisoner never seems to have uttered a word that would create a belief that she was conducting herself fillproperly. The result of all the inquiries that have been made up to the present time is that the frightful deed was committed wider a sudden uncontrollable impulse of mania, that the wretched woman was at the time quite eaconscious of the nature of the act she was committing. It would seem that for several weeks the prisoner has suffered moat agonising pains in her head, but it was coeddared that this arose from natural causes, incidental to women at her period of life, and no medical advice was sought for further than as she could not obtain any rest at night some medicine was obtained with the view of procuring sleep. This, however, did not have the desired effect, and it appears that the prisoner had herself purchased small quantities of laudanum, which she took with the same object, but it was of no avail, and there is no doubt that the laudanum still further acted upon the brain of the unhappy woman and aggravated her condition. The result appears to have been that for a abort time before the dreadful occurrence she was in such • condition that she was actually afraid to go to bed, as she could not sleep, and if perchance she did so for • short time, the sleep was accompanied by much horrible dreams and visions, as she described them, that it was equally dreadful to her. For some time before her sister came to the barracks to live with her she had been in the habit of going to the quarters of the other sergeants, and sitting up with the wives as late as she could at night, and she repeatedly in the course of conversation with them, made reference to her condition, and stated that she dreaded to go to bed, and would rather sit up all night than do so. On Monday, the day previous to the dreadful occurrence, the prisoner and her sister were on the moat friendly terms, and they had gone out for • walk in the afternoon, and the prisoner had placed the name of the deceased in the book of • register office for servants, and as they were going back the prisoner ordered a small cask of ale for the family. She and her husband and the deceased all bad tea together, and they sat up during the evening reading, and the prisoner parted with her mister on the moat friendly terms, and nothing at all unusual was observed in her appearance. The paroxysm that seized her in the morning must have been elmost momentary, for immediately after committing the dreadful act, she appeared to be seized with the most poignant remorse, and when she returned to the room where the body of the deceased was lying, still quivering in the agonies of death, the mental anguish she exhibited is stated to have been of the most appalling kind. The wretched woman has become much more calm and composed since she has been in Horsemonger-lane Gaol, but, in order to prevent the possibility of her doing any act of violence to herself a female warder is constantly with her. As the town of Kingston, although within the distance over which the Centred Crimi. nal Court has juriadictioe, is not one of the places named in the Central Criminal Court Act, the case cannot be disposed of at that court, and the prisoner, therefore, cannot take her trial until the summer mixes in August next.