The Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle. — 1864-11-12 (Stourbridge, West Midlands, England)

MURDER NEAR  LONDON.  On Tuesday afternoon, at half-past 1 o'clock, the headless body of a man was found in the reeds on the north hank of the reaches of the river marshes at Silvertown, between Blavkwall and North Woolwich, Be of the most lonely spots in the neighbourhood. The body, which was discovered by a boy and a man out shooting, is believed to show from unmistakable marks that the deceased was the victim of a murder. A stretcher was obtained as soon as possible from the Victoria Docks, hard by, upon which the body was conveyed forthwith to the Graving Dock Arms, where a great crowd of persons had as.embled. The Body was there placed upon a litter in the stables, and upon inspection it appears to have been that of a young foreigner of between 20 and 25 years of ago, and of the middle rank of life. It WM clothed in good black cloth trousers, hessian boots, and socks. The buttons on the trousers bore upon them the mark of "G. Graepel, Hamburg." The shirt, which was somewhat worn, bore the initials "0. B, " There were no braces or drawers. The body from the abdomen upwards was perfectly bare, the eight arm resting on the breast. All the tigers had been eaten away by the water-rats. The left shoulder-bone also bore indications of the gnawing of the water-rats, but in all other mope As there were no indications whatever of decomposition or decay. The body seemed not to have occupied the spot in which it was found more than 20 or 30 hours. The mud upon the boots, moreover, was quite moist, and to all appearances the corpse was that of a man who had only ceased to breathe for a day or two. Search during the day was assiduously made, but ineffectually, for the head of the murdered man, ashith it is supposed Was sent adrift down the river. The Thames police were on the look out all day, but , without making any discovery either of the head or of the upper drew of the murdered man. The trunk of the body where the head was dissevered presents a most ghastly appearance. The first blow, either with a hatchet or other sharp instrument, faged to accomplish its intended effect, leaving only a gash upon the neck, but the second blow was apparently delivered so i-ively that itnevered the head from the trunk with the cleanness of a guillotine. The height of the murdered soas from measurement taken on the spot (minus the head) would appear to have been sft. 5i5.. The only property h mid upon his person was a farthing and a scrap of paper, the shred of a letter, probably in the the aerman language. The blood on the neck was quite fresh and new. A portion of clotted blood and braille Was fbund in the immediate neighhourhood of the river, where the lonely was discovered, and Ulla with the rushes by which it was surrounded, were put together and preserved for the Inquiry Into all the circumstances to take place at the inquest. Various conjectures, as on all such occasions, are afloat as to who was the murdered man, and how he came by his death. One supposition is that he was a foreign seafaring man recently arrived by one of the Hamburg vessels at Victoria Docks, that he attended a pigeon shutting match held in the reighbourhood a few days ago, with notes' and Cash In his pocket, and that he was drugged, luted away, and despoiled of all he had. Another rumour is that he was a German employed in the district, and that he fell a sacrifice to ' some quarrel with others among whom he lived. The most diligent investigation is being prosecuted nto the mysterious affair by the London police Who teeive they have a clue to the discovery of the crime.