The Sun. — 1861-09-10 (London, England)

THE WOOLWICH MURDER.  The execution of Peter Masterson, who was convicted at the last session of the Central Criminal Court, before Mr. Justice Blackburn, has been fixed by the Sheriff of Kent to take place on Thursday, the 19th inst., at Maidstone. The prisoner, it will be recollected, was a private in the Royal Artillery stationed at Woolwich, and that he was taken into custody by the picket for being drunk and disorderly in the town, and brought to the guardroom, where the deceased, who was a sergeant in the same regiment, was engaged in the performance of entering the charges that were made against the different soldiers who had been misconducting themselves ; and upon his asking the prisoner his name he made use of very bad language and refused to tell him, and he was ordered to another part of the guard-room appropriated to military offenders ; here, he contrived to get possession of an iron bar that was used as a poker, a very heavy and dangerous instrument, and then made his way stealthily to the place where e sergeant was sitting, and while in the act of stooping forward, writing, he struck him a tremendous blow on the back of the head, which fractured his skull, and caused almost immediate death. The jury recommended the prisoner to mercy on the ground that he was in liquor at the time the offence was committed ; but the evidence showed that the desperate act was committed with a good deal of deliberation, and the prisoner, who bears a very indifferent character in the regiment, and who has been repeatedly punished for various offences, was evidently actuated by a feeling of malice towards the deceased. It appearedthat upon a previous occasion the latter had been assaulted by the prisoner, and for this offence he had been sentenced to three months imprisonment, and the prisoner had repeatedly threatened that he would commit some act of violence towards him. The recommendation of the jury has,it is understood, been forwarded to the Home Secretary, and Mr. Justice Blackburn was applied to for his opinion upon the case, and the learned judge stated that he did not see any favourable circumstances in the case, or any that would justify the clemency of the Crown in being extended, to the prisoner, and the law was consequently left to take its course. The prisoner, who is only 22 years old, is an Irishman, and a Roman Catholic, and since he has been in Maidstone gaol, has been visited constantly by Father Emanuel, a priest of that persuasion. The prisoner• for a considerable time appeared very hardened, and not to entertain the least idea of the awful character of his crime, or the dreadful sentence that awaited him, but on being informed, within the last two days, that the day was fixed for his execution, and that there was no longer any hope for him in this world, he became slightly affected, snd since then he appears to be more sensible of his awful position. In the ordinary course the execution of the prisoner would have taken place on Thursday next, the 12th inst., but as that day is fixed for the review of several regiments of the Kentish Volunteers, and will be regarded as a sort of holiday, it was considered advisable that an execution should not take place on the same day ; and the High Sheriff, therefore, in the exercise of his discretion, delayed the period for a week.