npedrazzini/19thc_murder_suicide_news huggingface dataset:
Stockton Herald, South Durham and Cleveland Advertiser. — 1880-02-28 (Stockton-on-Tees, Cleveland, England)

MCLEAN. Mr Justice Hawkins did not conclude his summing up until late on Tuesday afternoon. The jury retired to deliberate about halfpast four o'clock, and after an absence of an houvand a quarter returned with a verdict of manslaughter. On the question being put to prisoner whether he had, anything to say, he expressed a wish to make a statement. Ile commenced by calling attention to his calmness of demeanour, and then, in as collected a manner as he seemed capable of, detailed the history of his connecti m with the unhappy woman. He protested his entire innocence of attempting to hurt " that poor little lady," the deceased. He denied that he had any motive for such a crime. The Judge, in sentencing the prisoner, said he had been guilty of a crime next in atrocity to murder. He had power to pass a sentence next in severity to death, and that sentence he felt it his duty to pass. Prisoner was then sentenced to penal servitude for life. Intelligence received from Lloyd's on Tuesday morning states that vessels arriving in the Channel report having encountered a fearful hurricane on the 13th instant in the North Atlantic. The storm raged with great fury for two days, and it is feared many vessels have been lost. The American barque A rcher, from New York to Havre, with a full cargo of oil, was fallen in with in a sinking condition by an English steamer, which arrived off the Isle of Wight on Tuesday, and signalled that she had the crew safe on board. The American ship Alexander Marshall, 1,508 tons, from New York for London, with a cargo of oil, was abandoned dismasted and fast sinking on the 18th inst. The crew of 26 men were rescued by a Danish steamer and landed at the Isle of Wight on Tuesday. When fallen in with the crew were worn out with pumping, and the captain and several of the crew had to be drawn through the sea on to the deck of the steamer. The ship Jessie Boyle, from Pensacola, has reached Newport in a:disabled condition. While crossing the Atlantic she lost four boats, had her decks swept, her bulwarks washed away, and one man drowned. The barque Modes* from New York to Dunkirk, with a cargo of oil, has been abandoned; all hands were saved by the steamer Assylia. The barque William, from Hartlepool for Holmstraud, has been abandoned • crew of nine men were saved. The iron ship DunCraig, from San Francisco, has reached Queenstown, and reports fearful weather off the Western Islands. She is partly dismasted; has lost all boats, and had everything swept off her decks. Two men were' washed overboard and lost. The ship tempest, from Hull to New York, haa been towed into Bermuda dismasted. The mail steamer Allemannie, from the West Indies to Southampton, has put back to St. Thomas damaged.  The crew or the schooner Gazelle, of Brixhaven, were landed at Plymouth on Monday night, having abandoned their vessel which sprang a leak during a heavy gale on voyage from New York to Exeter. One was drowned.
Stockton Herald, South Durham and Cleveland Advertiser. — 1861-08-02 (Stockton-on-Tees, Cleveland, England)

INQUEST ON THE LATE MR ROBERTS.  The inquest on the late Mr Roberta has closed; the jury have returned &verdict of justifiable homicide, on the ground that Major Murray inflicted the fatal wounds in saving his own life; and there will probably be a general concurrence in this decision. The whole affair is full of suggestiveness. We will put it in the form of a brief narrative, and leave the reader to draw his own inferences. A Major in the army, disregard. the great social intitution which (to say nothing of its origin) is unapproachable in the happiness it confers, induces is young girl to live with him. Having sacrificed her virtue to the fleeting attractions of such an union, and having become the mother of a child who will have to suffer for her parent's misconduct, this young person, with the extravagance usual in such cases, gets into debt. She admits that the Major has been so generous to her that she is ashamed to ask him for more money: and so, by the pernicious advice of a "lady friend," she seeks the aid of a money lender, and this is Roberts. Wanting only £l5, she has to give him a bill for £2O, and though never owing more than that at once, she has not resolution to economise sufficiently to get clear. Now begins her unhappiness; for she fears that the Major should discover these visits to a money lender, which would naturally much displease him. Roberts, himself married, takes advantage, after a while, of her position, to make dishonourable proposals; coolly expressing a wish at the same time to introduce her to his wife! She resists him; but her terror of discovery increases, and to avoid offending him, she calls frequently at his request, and even writes letters expressing her affection while her real feeling is one of disgust. These scenes recur ; and this state of thfigs continues for a long time, till at length Roberts expresses wish to see the Major on loan business; but she makes every possible objection. They never do meet (as both agree in stating) till the morning of the encounter; and Roberts inveigles him to his office with a deliberate determination to murder him, shoots him h treacherously from behind, and only the 'Major's own desperate struggles (after the two shots, though dangerous, fail to disable him), save him from this fate The motive is to get him out of the way as an obstacle to the design already mentioned. It will naturally be remarked that this theory is just what the two survivors, who are so closely connected, offer; and that the deceased has none to disprove it. That is true; hut it will also be found that what we have assumed is consistent with all the well-known facts of the case aed that though there nw be details which are concealed, there is nothing to contradict the strong eireumstantialities of the case. The certainty of discovery is no argument against the intent suggested; the neglect of it is a eromnion infatuation when passion takes possession of the mind.
Stockton Herald, South Durham and Cleveland Advertiser. — 1861-05-31 (Stockton-on-Tees, Cleveland, England)

HORRIBLE CASE OF MURDER AT ST.  PHILIP'S, BRISTOL.  On Friday afternoon last, the densely populated manufacturing district of St. Philip and Jacob, which forms the south-eastern boundary of this city, was thrown into a state of the greatest excitement in consequence of its becoming known that a little girl of between two and a half to three years old had been deliberately murdered by her own mother. The names of both murderess and urchin were the same, Martha 01liver, and they were the wife and child of a journeyman saddler and harness maker, named Henry 01liver, with whom they lived in an apartment at No. 4, John•street. The unhappy woman, who is 46 years of age, was, before the perpetration of the crime, the mother of three children, and the fact of the murder was first brought under the notice of the police authorities by her own statement. In the early part of the afternoon she presented herself at the central police-station. Bridewell-street, where she encountered Police-serjeant Windmill, and, addressing him, said that she surrendered herself to him as his prisoner. The constable at first thought that she was jesting, but upon his asking her upon what charge she wished him to arrest her, she said very earnestly I have been and hung one of my little children.' The officer, still dubious of her statement, asked what could have induced her to commit such an act as that, to which she replied that her husband had used her very badly, and by his cruelties had driven her to it, and she stated this with apparent calnmess, and the serjeant deemed it his duty to take her into the charge room before the officer on duty. She there repeated her statement, telling where she lived, and saying she had hanged the child from one of the posts of her bed. She then tendered the key of her door, saying that if the officer would go and look he would find it as she had stated. The officer upon duty upon this directed police- serjeant Windmill to go to John-street, and he was telling him to make haste, as life might not be quite extinct, when she said, • No, it's of no use, I have done it; I could not bear to see her suffer, So I pulled her by the heels.' The serjeant lost no time in proceeding to the house, which is rented by a person named Mounting, 011iver being an under-tenant. He opened the door, and on looking into the-room, found that the horrible statement had been a true one, as the lifeless body of the poor child was suspended from one of the bed-posts. The serjeant at once cut it down, and medical assistance was procured, but it was, of course, wholly unavailing. The woman, who had been held in custody at the station-house during the time the officer was engaged in making the inquiries, was afterwards taken for examination before the magistrates, and was remanded by them for further inquiry.  forms
Stockton Herald, South Durham and Cleveland Advertiser. — 1861-07-26 (Stockton-on-Tees, Cleveland, England)

THE WIFE MURDER AT WISDEACII.—At the Cambridge Assizes, on Monday, Augustus Hilton, charged with the wilful murder of his wife on the 2nd of last March, and whose trial, on the application of his counsel, had been postponed from the spring assizes, when the grand jury had found a true bill against him, was placed in the dock. The prisoner who is about twenty-eight years of age, had married the deceased softie two years ago, she then being about twenty years of age, and the daughter of respectable parent., her father being a railway sub-contractor and the owner of considerable property. The house in which the prisoner and his wife lived belonged to her father, and was occupied, together with a corn mill and some land, by them rent free, the daughter assisting her father to keep his accounts and to manage his property. On Saturday the 2nd of last March, the prisoner and his wife had been to Wisbeach market together in a gig, and returned home together about four o'clock in the afternoon. They had been disputing about some money, the prisoner complaining that his wife had not given him enough to pay for some wheat. This dispute continued after they had sat down to tea, and their maid servant, who was in the room, heard him ask her for another cup of tea, he having let a cup already poured out get cold. The deceased replied, "No, you've been slandering me all the time I was at Wisbeach, and do you think I come home to wait of you in this way ? No, I won't; I'll die first " He replied, "So you shall." Some more bickering ensued; he asking her to get the slate and make out the account for the wheat. She at last ordered a boy, named Joseph Barnes, to put the mare in the gig, as she (the deceased) meant to go to her aunt's that night. She then went upstairs to put on her things, and the prisoner followed her, first closing the kitchen door. The door upstairs was banged and screams and scuffling heard. The boy and the man who bad come with the gig ran up and tried to force the door but could not. The prisoner shortly afterwards walked out of his house, and Barnes going upstairs, found the deceased with her throat cut. She was then alive but died in 20 minutes. The prisoner said to Barnes, "I've done it. You call go upstairs; you'll see I've done the job." He then went to his father's house, a short distance off, and was apprehended between seven and eight o'clock that evening, the policeman finding him sitting by the fire, smoking, and drinking brandy and water. On seeing the constable the prisoner said, "Then you've come for me, have you? I've done it, hav'nt I ? Is she dead ?" On being told that she was, he answered, " Then I'll die too ; I shall not make any resistance, I'll go with you quietly wherever you like." When in the cell he said to the superintendent, " When shall Ibe hanged ? I want to die. I want to go to my wite."—The prisoner pleaded guilty, and was condemned to death.
Stockton Herald, South Durham and Cleveland Advertiser. — 1861-01-11 (Stockton-on-Tees, Cleveland, England)

LORD STANLIV ON CAPITAL PUNISHMBNT.—At the meeting of the Law Amendment Society, on Monday night, a discussion on the subject of capital punishment took place. The question was raised by Mr. Webster, who read a paper in favour of abolition. Lord Stanley, who presided, said he believd that the state of opinion in the country made it impossible to abolish the punishment of death ; and it was no 'answer to say that public meetings had declared against it ; because only those who took a particular interest in the question attended such meetings, and of course their opinion was of an ex pude character. If, as Mr. Webster proposed, they substituted the irreversable punishment of imprisonment for that of death they would not only deprive the Crown of the power of pardon, hut would take from the Judge the power of distinguishing between the differentdegrees of criminality. Mr. Webster suggested that there might be art appeal to Parliament. He should altogether object to that, because Parliament would be the worst house of appeal in a matter of this kind, and GOO persons would he too numerous to be responsible for the result of their decisions. Then, if the sentence was not to be irreversable, appeals would be continually made for its remission, as was the ease in the United States, where, the general public taking little interest in the result, whilst a few friends were putting a constant pressure on the executive, the criminals were often liberated. There was a greed deal to be said in favour of private executions; but he doubted if the public feeling would sanction that mode of execution. There would be doubts in the public Mind if the sentence were carried out in some cases if only a few officials were present ; if the Jury were called on to witness the execution it would still more incline them to pass gerdicts of not guilty. If ever private executions were to take place, the best mode would be to have them proved by a coroner's inquest on the dead bodies of the persons executed. He believed they were all agreed as to the evils arising from public executions. Mr. Webster stated that the fear of death had not such a deterring influence as was commonly supposed, and that psychological conditions influenced the murderer in most cases. That might be true to some extent ; but then that argument went to the abolition of all punishment, for if a murderer was not influenced by fear of the severer punishment, still less would he be influenced by the fear of a minor one. No doubt great evil arose from the uncertainty with regard to the execution of the sentence. Ile did not believe that the proposed commission to examine into the question would lead to any practical effect, as the statistics respecting the increase of murders must be too limited to furnish data for any sure conclusion, and the witneenee could only state opinions, net tuts.  Tire
Stockton Herald, South Durham and Cleveland Advertiser. — 1861-08-16 (Stockton-on-Tees, Cleveland, England)

SHOCKING MURDER AT FROME.  This neighbourhood, which during the past twelve months has been so fraught with deeds of blood, is again the scene of a murder of a cold-blooded, deliberate, and determined character. The deed was committed late on Saturday night, but it was far in the day on Sunday before particulars became generally known. About a week ago three labourers named Byard Greeland, Uriah Greenland. and William Milgrove, left their home in the village of Buckland Dinham, about three miles from Frome, for the purpose of seeking work in Wiltshire during the corn harvest. They found employment in the neighbourhood of Warminster, and there they stayed until Saturday last, when all three started for their homes. They reached Frome in the evening, and visited two or three publichouses before they resumed their homeward walk. Soon after eleven o'clock they left the town—all being sober, and apparently quite friendly. They had not proceeded far on the road to Buckland when a slight dispute commenced about the division of the money All three laid dim n their scythes upon the road, being about half a mile from the town. Millgrove, who has furnished these particulars, supposes the scythes were laid do vii for the purpose of then and there dividing the money. It would appear, however, that this was not the intention of Byard Greenland, for he at once rose his arm and directly afterwards Uriah fell, exclaiming " Oh, Bill ! he has hit his knite into I.' Mi•lgrove immediately assisted the fallen maii, and when carrying him to the bank on the road side, said to Ftyard, "Thee hest done 'on." Byard said, "Thee can't swear that, Bill." Millgrove replied, " I can." When Millgrove had placed the fallen man on the batik, both he and Byard went forward to the turnpike gate, which was only about a hundred yards in front of them. Miligrove told Gane, the gatekeeper, of what had occurred, and Gane recommended him to ran into the town and procure medical assistance. Millgrove did so. Byard, meanwhile, told thine that hail run against his scythe, and that it was itt that way he got hurt He at the same time told Gane to take possession of his scythe, and see if there was blood upon it. He then pt oeeeded on the Bucklandroad, and it was afterwards ascertained that he went into the cottao of his nephew, to whose wife he repeated the story he had told the gatekeeper, and afterwards at another house he made the 'tame statement.  In about half•au-hour, Mil!grove returned with Mr Ma'am, surgeon, hut upon their arrival, the unfortunate man was quite dead. The Greenlands are distantly related, and the motive for this deliberate crime appears to he that Uriali had procured a warrant against Byard, and that the latter became aware of the circumstance. There is evidence to prove that he had frequently threatened to stab the deceased. Byard Greenland, who is in custody, is a very giant in height and strength. He has a wife and eight children. The deceased leaves a widow, who is enceinte, and one child.
Stockton Herald, South Durham and Cleveland Advertiser. — 1875-07-10 (Stockton-on-Tees, Cleveland, England)

FORGERY BY A BOY AT STOCKTON. Joseph Cooper (14), whitesmith, pleaded guilty to forging an order for the delivery of 4 cwt. of lead, with intent to defraud James Kindler, at Stockton, on February 12th, and was sentenced to twelve months' imr- ',it, with bard labour.  minutes to ten. I knew none of the men by name, but I knew the three prisoners by eight. They came up the street as far as where I was, when one of the men and Durkin looked me in the face. They stood at the Greyhound Corner. I saw Kileran coining up the other side of the road from the direction of Copeland's shop. I saw a man hit him two or three times in the face with his hand, and then Kilcran put up his hand. The man was not one of the prisoners. I saw the prisoner Gilligan take something out of his pocket and strike Kilcran to the ground. Gilligan struck deceased just above the eye. Deceased on falling said, "I am done." Gilligan then went away towards the Lord Nelson Inn, and put the thing back into his pocket. I saw two men "punchjug" deceased, hut I cannot say they were the prisoners. The two prisoners were there. I shouted "Murder," and they all went away. I picked up deceased, who was bleeding very much, and took him home, and on the way met Mrs Kilcran. Dr james Howison, Durham, said : I was called in to see deceased about half-past ten on the night of the 28th March. On examination I found a wound on the left eye-brow, extending about two and a half inches up the forehead, the wound penetrating through the bone to the substance of the skull. The skull was cut through. The wound could not have been produced by a man's hand or from a fall, but must have been produced by great violence, as the place of the wound was the strongest part of the skull. His Lordship then summed up, and pointed out the distinctions between murder and manslaugnter, showing that whoever struck the fatal blow was, beyond a doubt, guilty of murder, and that if others sanctioned that act, or indirectly assisted him in ac complishing it, they were equally guilty of the capital offence. After a short consultation, the jury found Gilligan guilty of murder, and Durkin and Flinn guilty of manslaughter. The jury recommended Gilligan to mercy on account of his previous good character. In reply to the question as to whether he had any thing to say why sentence of death should not be passed upon him, Gilligan protested his innocence, and declared he was doing some business for a Roman Catholic con. cert at the time the deceased was attacked. On the brink of the grave as he was, he declared that some of the witnesses in the case had sworn his innocent life away. Assuming the black cap, his Lordship said he was of opinion that the jury had arrived at a proper and just conclusion, notlawithstanding what the convicted man had hinted about not having had a fair trial in consequence of his nationality. Sentence of death was then passed in the usual way. _ _ .  tprisoomen,  These assizes were resumed on Thursday, the trial of murder charges being commenced in both courts.
Stockton Herald, South Durham and Cleveland Advertiser. — 1875-12-04 (Stockton-on-Tees, Cleveland, England)

GUILTY. Mr Avery • Do you say that Thomas Wainwright is guilty ot being seeeseory before or after the fact? The Foreman: Not guilty before, but guilty after. Mr Avery : And that you say is Le verdict of you all? The Foreman: It is. _  The LiWci Chief Justice: Call upon them. Mr Avery: Prisoner at the bar, you have been indicted for the crime of wilful murder, and to that indictment you have pleaded not guilty, and have thrown yourself upon your country, that country has proved you guilty, What have you to say why judgment to-day should not be pronounced against you. 'Pile convict Henry Wainwright, who spoke with firmness and admirable eloquence, after thanking his counsel and friends for the exertions on his behalf said: I will only say, standing as I do now upon the brink of eteinity, and it the presence of the God before whom I shall shortly appear, that I swear that I MU not the maiderer of the remains found in my possession. I swear that I never in my life fired a pistol. I swear also that I have int buried these remains, and the proof that I did not exhume those mutilated remains has been proved before you by witnesses. I have been guilty of great Immorality. I have been guilty of many indisere 3  Conti, but for the crime for which I have been brought higtfilty I I2ave this 'dock with a calm and qniet oonhcience. My lord, I thank you for your kindness in allowing me .t,) say thee few words.  The Lord Chief To.tice : Prisoner at the bar, you have been found guilty, in my opinion, upon the clearest and most coLvinciug evidence of the murder of Harriet Louis° Lane, which had been laid tie your charge. No one, I think, who has heard this trial, can entertain the ilightest shadow of a doubt. of your guilt, and I can only deplore that, standing as you do upon the brink of eternity, you should have called God to wi.ness the rash assertion whieh has just issued from your lips. There eau be -no donut that you tmk the life of this 'poor woman who had been on the &milt end most intimate terms of familiarity and affection with you, who had b..en the mother of your children. The only hope and consolation you can have In the future, where truth cannot be mistaken, where no assertion of yours will stand you in any stead— though where, if you seek for mercy it must be through sincere repentance for the Grime which you have undoubtedly committed. I have to warn you against any delusive hope of mercy as long as the law exists which says that he who takes the life of a fellow creature with malice aforethought shall answer for it with his own. This is a case to which it should b.:impossible that mercy could be extended, therefore prepare for the do' m which awaits you. Hie Lordship then passed sentence of death upon Henry, and sentenced Thomas to penal servitude for seven years. _ _  Hie Lordship awarded Stokes £3O arra gratuity for hill °ultimo.  Henry Wainwright will be executed on the 20th  MR