npedrazzini/19thc_murder_suicide_news huggingface dataset:
The Sun. — 1870-01-10 (London, England)

TRAGEDY IN NEW BRUNSWICK.  A very remarkable murder trial has just ended at Sr.. John, in the province of New Brunswick. The accused, who has been found guilty of the murder of his mistress and his child, was a leading architect of that city, "a young married man held in the highest estimation, who moved in the best circles, whose reputation was unblemished, and was rapidly accumulating wealth." His name is John A. Munroe. Last September some children, while gathering berries in the woods near St. John, found in a lonely spot what seemed to be the remains of a woman and a young child. The coroner was notified, and a search of the locality resulted in finding the skull of an adult, several ribs, thigh and leg bones, a roll of hair, and some portions of the clothing of a woman. The remains had been covered by boughs and moss, but they had been found by wolves, which had eaten or carried away the larger portion. The skull of an infant was also found, and a portion of a child's foot in a little stocking. Suspicion at first fell upon a man named Kane, whose wife had disappeared. He was arrested, but presently he established his innocence. A packman, named Worden then remembered that in the previous October. eleven months before the remains were discovered, he had on two occasions taken a woman and her child to the neighbourhood where the remains were found, and that on the second occasion Mr. Munroe, who had accompanied them, returned alone. A skilful and secret inquiry disclosed the fact that two years before this Munroe had seduced an orphan girl, named Margaret Vail, living in a village near St. John. She had borne him a child, and had soon afterwards left her village with hor child and had not since been seen or heard of. Her sisters made no inquiry after her, believing that she had wholly " gone to the bad." But it now came out that in October, 186 S, this girl and her child arrived at an hotel in St. John, where Munroe met them and took them away on Worden's hack. As in the Troppmanu case, so in this ; when Munroe had nearly reached the spot where he had proposed to kill his victims he took them from the hack, bade the driver wait for his return, and led them into the woods. He returned alone in half an hour ; told Worden that the woman and her child had remained with some friends at an adjoining house, and had himself driven back to the city. The sisters of Miss Vail identified the hair, the teeth in the skull, theclothing, and a bandage made for the child; and it was proved that Munroe had a pistol, the ball of which would make a wound like the one in the skull. The defence of Munroe was very weak; he admitted the seduction of the girl, but claimed that she was new in the United States; and the jury found him guilty, recommending him, however, in 'onsideration of his former good character, to the clemency f the Crown.
The Sun. — 1870-07-15 (London, England)

THE STEPNEY MURDER.  William Redhead, a respectable looking lad, eighteen years of age, was indicted for the wilful murder of Sarah Redhead, on the 30th May.—Mr. Beasley and Mr. Besley conducted the prosecution ; Mr. Ribton and Mr. F. H. Lewis defended.—The facts of the case were very few. The prisoner was a private in the Tower Hamlets Rifles, and lived with his step-mother, the deceased woman, at No. 80, Sydney-street, Stepney. On Monday, the 30th May, about a quarter to three o'clock, the deceased was speaking to a lodger on the first floor landing, and went downstairs to answer a knock at the door. A report of firearms was then heard, and the deceased was discovered lying at the foot of the stairs, dead. At the same moment the prisoner was seen leaving the house, carrying a rifle. He ran quickly away, and 'going up to a police constable, named Smith, in Alfred-street, said, " Now I have done it." Smith asked what he had done, and he said he had shot his stepmother, and that after he had discharged his rifle had set fire to the house. Upon this the constable took him into custody, and in his possession were found five cartridges and six percussion caps. The rifle had the appearance of having just been discharged, and there was an exploded cap on the nipple. When the charge was taken down in writing, thelnspector asked the prisoner if he had anything to say, and he replied ." All I have got to say is that she was very unkind to me and my sister." The deceased had been married about twelve months to the prisoner's father, who is a ship's steward. From the medical evidence it appeared that the ball had entered the back and come out two inches from the right nipple. It was found embedded about two inches in the wall. - As it passed through the heart, death must have been almost instantaneous. The prisoner, it was stated, bore the character of a quiet, well-behayed young man.  On the part of the defence, Mr. Ribton addressed the jury at some length, and contended that the evidence was not sufficient to support the capital charge. There was no evidence that there had been any disagreements between the prisoner and the deceased, and the much more probable hypothesis was ehat the gun was accidentally discharged. Witnesses were called who gave the prisoner the character of being a quiet, steady lad. M. Justice Byles, in summing up, said the case was one of the most painful in his experience. The jury retired at three o'clock, and at eight had not been able to agree. In a long conversation with his Lordship they exhibited anxiety to come to some other verdict than that of murder, but the learned Judge pointed out that, if the prisoner's confession was true, they had no alternative. After retiring for the second time they returned almost immediately with a verdict of guilty, but with a strong and unanimous xecomm-endation to mercy, which his Lordship promised to forward to the proper quarter.
The Sun. — 1870-01-21 (London, England)

METROPOLITAN GOSSIP—Jan. 18.  There is little new in the political world. The arrange.. ment which I mentioned a week ago has been c:•nfirmcd. Lord Cairns will continue to lead until Easter. By that time it will be seen if Lord Derby will consent to lead, and the High Church Conservatives, some fifty in number, will consent to follow him. Government, as I mentioned some time ago, intend at present to push on the Irish Land Bill to a third reading in the Rouse of Commons before Easter. The remarks of Mr. Bright about the impossibility of driving six omnibuses abreast through Temple Bar have had the ' effect (probably the intended effect) of exciting much dissatisfaction among the Liberal party, and urgent appeals have been made to Mr. Gladstone by the Liberal journals not to slacken his hand. Government waited to test public feeling, and see how far it will support them in the many measures which they propose to pass at some time or other. Four years ago Mr. Gladstone seemed to have outstripped the popular wishes, and he fell. He will not make this mistake again. Hence it must be very satisfactory to him to see that the incimatien of the Irish land bill being the only measure of the session is received with anything but satisfaction. The inconvenience caused by not filling up the vacant English judgeship has been greatly felt this week. Mr, Justice Ilannen has been sitting in the Full Court of Divorce. Another judge has to be at Chambers, and thus it becomes extremely difficult to obtain the presence of three judges in baneo. They are so sitting today, and the nisi Arius cases intended to be heard to-day have to be postponed or abandoned, either alternative being very vexatious to suitors. The Lord Chief Justice has already pointed out the inconvenience arising from this state of things, and as the Solicitor-General was present at the time, it is to be hoped that he will report the remarks to the Lord Chancellor. The new Junior Conservative Club is making gr...; progress. The number of members joining is very large, and, although the subscription is only five guineas, as much as .£3OO has been received in a single day.  There is likely to be another great nunnery case before long. Your reAers will remember Mr. Arthur Wagner, the High Church clergyman of St. Paul's, Brighton, who was instrumental in inducing Constance Kent to confc.,; that she was the principal in the Road Murder. At the time of her confes,ion 871^ was an inmate of his Arri;lican  ber of the H-aL~  the oft  b,,uest c  a I  11 the ground ti  already been ente-i•ecl in the Probate Court. There was a distinguished ainlienee last night at King's College to hour Dean Goulburn read his paper on " The existing mode of electing bishops, and any alteration that may be made therein consistent with the union between Church and State." Mr. J. G. Talt,i, 1.P.. for We. 4 Keat, was in the chair, and Sir John Pakington, Sir John Hay, and other well-known gentlemen were present. The Dean held that Parliament would not consent to any fundamental alteration, but that the Act of Pramuni: e ought to b repealed, inasmuch as it was a usurpation by Henry
The Sun. — 1870-06-04 (London, England)

SKETCH OF A BRIGAND CHIEF.  The Times Athens correspondent, who has enjoyed very special information on the subject of the late massacres in Greece, furnishes a remarkable sketch of Takos Arvanitakos, the leader of the murderous band. He and his six brothers belong to the Vollock nationality. Takos and his brother Dinos were two of the inhabitants of Mount Pindus who joined the Greek officers in King Otho's service when they invaded Epirus b.,t the commencement of the Crimean war, and were put forward by the Greek Government as representatives of the suffering Christians who were goaded into insurrection by Turkish oppression. When the Hellenic invaders retired into Greece carrying off 10,000 head of cattle and 40,000 sheep which were robbed from the Christian subjects of. the Sultan, Takos and Dinos became drovers and cattle stealers, like Rob Roy. In the year 1857 Takos was at Athens where he had a powerful protector. But at some period between that year and 1860 he went by another name than Arvanitakos, and was engaged as a brigand in lifting the sheep and cattle which his more peaceful brothers sold, and in robbing, murdering, and ransoming men, women, and children. Through the influence of the men who used brigands from time to time as the representatives of oppressed orthodoxy and calumniated Hellenism, he obtained an amnesty and was employed with good pay in the corps of guides, which accompanies the troops who are sent in pursuit of brigands. As Takos knew very little of the topography of the Hellenic Kingdom at that time, the appointment was one of those job§ which have demoralised the civil and military administration of Greece. Takos was merely kept in leash to be let loose at a convenient opportunity as a bloodhound, to advance the party, political, or patriotic schemes of his patrons. After an interval he obtained his discharge, either because he thought he could do better by resuming the profession of a brigand than by continuing to serve as a military guide, or because he was wanted by the agitators of "The Great Idea" to figure as an oppressed Christian when Epirus was to have taken up arms to aid the war of annexation in Crete. The dangerous character of Takos was so well known that the shepherds of his own nationality secretly made anxious demands to an officer under whom he has served that his discharge should not be granted. This officer represented to the Minister of War that Takos was an amnestied brigand and a dangerous character, and stated that it would be well to refuse his discharge, and prudent to keep a strict watch over him. The recommendation of the officer was disregarded, and the influence of the patrons of Takos'at at the War Office obtained his discharge. This is the career in Greece of a man whom the Government of M. Zaimis is telling us with noisy reiteration came into Greece as a chief of brigands from Turkey in the month of January of the present year.  The French committee for the construction of a monument to Lamartine at Macon has decided upon erecting a statue in the Place d'Armes. It is to be loft gin. in height, including the plinth.
The Sun. — 1870-06-04 (London, England)

SKETCH OF A BRIGAND CHIEF.  The Times Athens correspondent, who has enjoyed very speoial information on the subject of the late massacres in Greece, furnishes a remarkable sketch of Takos Arvanitakos, the leader of the murderous band. He and his six brothers belong to the Vollock nationality. Takos and his brother Dinos were two of the inhabitants of Mount Pindus who joined the Greek officers in King Otho's service when they invaded Epirus at the commencement of the Crimean war, and were put forward by the Greek Government as representatives of the suffering Christians who were goaded into insurrection by Turkish oppression. When the Hellenic invaders retired into Greece carrying off 10,000 head of cattle and 40,000 sheep which were robbed from the Christian subjects of the Sultan Takos and Dinos became drovers and cattle stealers, like Rob Roy. In the year 1857 Takos was at Athens where he had a powerful protector. But at some period between that year and 1860 he went by another name than Arvanitakos, and was engaged as a brigand in lifting the sheep and cattle which his more peaceful brothers sold, and in robbing, murdering, and ransoming men, women, and children. Through the influence of the men who used brigands from time to time as the representatives of oppressed orthodoxy and calumniated Hellenism, he obtained an amnesty and was employed with good pay in the corps of guides, which accompanies the troops who are sent in pursuit of • brigands. As Takos knew very little of the topography of the Hellenic Kingdom at that time, the appointment was One of those jobs which have demoralised the civil and military administration --of Greece. Takos was merely kept in leash to be let loose at a convenient opportunity as a bloodhound, to advance the party, political, or patriotic schemes of his patrons. After an interval he obtained his discharge, either because he thought he could do better by resuming the profession of a brigand than by continuing to serve as a military guide, or because lie was wanted by the agitators of "The Great Idea" to figure as an oppressed Christian when Epirus was to have taken up arms to aid the war of annexation in Crete. The dangerous character of Takos was so well known that the shepherds of his own nationality secretly made anxious demands to an officer under whom he has served that his discharge should not be granted. This officer represented to the Minister of War that Takos was an amnestied brigand and a dangerous character, and stated that it would be well to refuse his discharge, and prudent to keep a strict watch over him. The recommendation of the officer was disregarded, and the influence of the patrons of Takos at at the War Office obtained his discharge. This is the career in Greece of a man whom the Government of M. Zaimis is telling us with noisy reiteration came into Greece as a chief of brigands from Turkey in the month of January of the present year.  The French committee for the construction of a 'Monument to Lamartine at MAcon has decided upon erecting a statue in the Place. cl'Armes. It is to be 10ft 9iu, in height, including the plinth.
The Sun. — 1870-06-02 (London, England)

ERSKINE. It declared that the amnesty could not be granted; but that the King and the Chief Minister had guaranteed the safety of the brigands until the terms were settled. "How," exclaimed the brigand chief, " can I place faith in the Greek Government ? Do you think we should have come into the village of Oropos, had it not been for the promise given by the Ambassador ?" Colonel THEAGENIS had nothing to say to this. Then and there he was given to understand that if the troops molested the robbers, the prisoners would be murdered. With this assurance he departed—and led his troops to the attach the very next day.  , Mr. NOEL remained at Oropos the whole of Wednesday, and left on that memorable Thursday morning. Before he departed the brigand chief made further concessions, promising to give up the idea of an amnesty and accept the alternative offered— receive the ransom, embark on board au English ship, and leave the country. Mr. NOEL at once telegraphed to Mr. ERSKINE to insist on the withdrawal of the troops, as the robbers had come to terms. "About four o'clock I received an answer, saying that the Government had consented not to attack the brigands at Sykamenos, and asking me to return to treat with them for their embarkment on board an English man-of-war." Mr. NOEL prepared to return to the brigands-at once; but, owing to the heavy sea, he could not get off until the next morning. If he had it would have been of no avail. The attack had been made and consummated, and the Englishmen were murdered. Why the attack was ordered remains a mystery to this day. But that Colonel THEAGENIS should have been present at the interview with the Greek chiefs, that he  certainty for his next event, and then something else, perhaps Macgregor, will win. It has been said, and some slight signs of the kind have shewn themselves, that racing is declining in public esteem. We hope it is so. If this affair does not. fill up the measure- of disgust, nothing will. It is needless to add that all the old machinery—the scratching of horses upon which heavy amounts had been invested, immediately before the race, and the absorption of public money upon impostors that never had a chance in the competition—has been actively at work ; whilst tie Legislature, so far from interfering, has expressly adjourned in order the more easily to witness the instructive performance. The Derby of 1870 will bring riches to many a professional, bat ruin to many more deluded victims. We repeat that the onus of these scandals rests not upon one, or any number of racing men, but upon the high authority which negligently allows such things to be. With the details of racing, Parliament has nothing to do ; but the gambling that accompanies racing, and the fraud that accompanies the gambling, are distinctly the offspring of legislative indifference and the repression of such vice is au imperative duty. The Derby of 1870 is remarkable as a striking instance of the manner in which the present system of betting turns in favour of those persons who make a trade of it.
The Sun. — 1865-04-28 (London, England)

THE EDITOR OF TILE INDEX.  " Sir,—Time will develope the mystery as yet attending the assassination of Abraham Lincoln, late President of the United States, and the attempted assassination of Mr. Seward, his Secretary of State. I desire only to repel at once the calumnious assertion of Edwin M. Stanton, the Secretary of War, in his letter to Mr. Adams, printed in the London journals of this morning, that these acts were 'planned and set on foot by rebels, under pretence of avenging the South and aiding the rebel Cause,' and of which he says there is evidence obtained.'  "Mr. Stanton's letter is dated on the 15th April, and states that Mr. Lincoln was assassinated in the theatre at half-past 10 the previous night, and died at 20 minutes past seven on the morning of the day that ho wrote. I adduce this to show how unlikely it is, in the hurried excitement, and the necessary occupations attending such events, that any but the wildest theories would prevail in regard to the cause of the event, or the objects of the perpetrators. Mr. Stanton adopts that which he deemed would be the most useful before the public of his country. Should the 'evidence' to which he refers to support his calumny ever see the light, it will be scanned with the experience derived in regard to other evidence, unscrupulously fabricated in the same quarter, during the present war, for base political effect. It is the crudest conception, too, that the murder of Abraham Lincoln was planned and executed for the purpose of ' aiding the rebel cause ;' but I can well understand that it may have material influence in aiding the cause of that overpowering party in the United States of which Mr. Stanton is the type, and Andrew Johnson, who succeeds as President, with Butler of the notorious prefix, are the exponents and leaders—a party in whose path the late President and his Secretary were acknowledged obstacles in their projected schemes of plunder and rapine to follow their dominion over the Southern States. "For the rest, 1 learn from a well-informed source in London that Wilkes Booth,' who is accused of the deed, is a son of the celebrated English actor of that name, was of his father's profession, which he pursued principally in the Northern States, and was generally understood as inheriting those traits significant of his father's name, Junius Brutus Booth, by whom ho was named John Wilkes, after the great English Radical—an origin and mental training little likely to engender the slightest sympathy with the great cause of the Conservative South. As to the crime which has been committed, none will view it with more abhorrence than the people of the South, but they will know, as will equally all well balanced minds, that it is the necessary offspring of those scenes of bloodshed and murder in every form of unbridled license, which have signalised the invasion of the South by Northern armies, unrebuked certainly, and therefore instigated, by their leaders, and those over them.  "Pardon the length of this note. I desired only instantly to repel the atrocious calumnies in the letter of Mr, Stanton.  " Very respectfully yours,  "J. M.