The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser. — 1842-03-25 (Liverpool, Merseyside, England)

THE CHIRAC MERDER.—At the Shrewsbury assizes, on Monday, John Williams and Joseph Slawson were indicted for the murder of Emma Evans, on the 16th December last. The particulars of the case appeared in our columns at the time. The jury found Williams guilty, and he was immediately sentenced to death. Slawson was acquitted of the murder, but afterwards tried and found guilty of the robbery, and sentenced to seven years', transportation. The following is an extract from Slawson 's voluntary confession :—" It was on the 15th, the day before I met with Williams at the bottom of the town-end in Wrexham, and we made the bargain to go and rob the house of Emma Evans; so we agreed we would see one another again at night; so I met with Williams about five o'clock, at the bottom of York-street, in Wrexham ; and he said he would go home for his tea, and then we would start about six o'clock. I think it was on the Wednesday evening we started out of Wrexham ; so we went on till we got to Rhuabon, and from there we went to Chirk ; so we went on till we got to Bronygarth—when we got there we thought it was too soon to do anything at the house ; we proposed to go and lie down somewhere for an hour or two ; we went into a barn belonging to a farmer there, and slept till three o'clock the next morning ; so then we thought it was too late to do anything; we came up to the lodge again and went into a stable talent and slept till night ; we got up about fire o'clock in the evening, and went on towards Bronygarth again, and we went up to the house of Emma Evans ; so we stood a little in the road, and Williams went up to the kitchen door and me lust behind him, and he ' knocked at the door, and he asked her if she had got any tobacco, and as the woman was going to the shop, I suppose, sir, he caught hold of her, threw her down, and shouted tome to come on, and I went in'and shut the door and locked it; and he was holding her down on the ground, and I began to search for her pockets ; so Williams could not hold her quiet—she began to scream out; so with that I jumped up to the door again and unlocked it to hear if anybody was coming, and Williams still had her on the ground, and I could hear him as I was by the door either knock or kick her ; I could not tell which ; I could hear the blows ; so he quieted her; with that I got over the rails and went into the garden ; Williams came outside the door and closed the door after him, and he got into the garden, and hearing every thing quiet he went into the house himself, and he came out again in two or three minutes, and he came to me and he said—" I have finished her," at the same time drawing the blood off his knife with his finger and thumb ; hearing every thing quiet, we both went into the house again and we fastened the door, and Williams went to her pockets and took out two sixpences, and we both went into the shop ; we found from four to five z•lallings in copper ; I cannot say which ; and we got no re Ai- money ; we then bundled those things up you seed in Criti: place ; we then began to search the house and we found nothing but them silver spoons and a pair of shoes, and what yeu saw in that bundle—that was all ; so then we ti