The Sun. — 1839-04-11 (London, England)

SUSPECTED MURDER AT BRIGHTON.—Abou  twelve o'c!ock on Sunday morning the neighbourhood of Edward-street, leading from which are several of the lowest streets in Brighton, was thrown into a state of great excitement, in consequence of the discovery of the body of Mrs. Julia Johnson, the wife of a vagrant-hotel-keeper, who resides in Nottingham-street, with her throat cut in the most dreadful manner ; and from the circumstances attending the discovery of the body, and the absence of the husband from home that morning, it was supposed that he had cut his wife's throat with a razor. The alarm was first given by another lodging-house or vagrant-hotel. keeper, named Donnelly, who it appeared had visited the residence of the deceased, and, finding the door locked, suspected, from a previous knowledge of the parties, that the deceased had laid violent hands on herself. The front door continuing locked for some time, a man named Jones got into one of the up-stairs windows, and on going into the front room of the house on the ground floor, he observed a small press bedstead, and on removing a blanket, deceased was found stretched upon the bed in a pool of blood. The room was about nine feet square, and in the farther corner from the door the bedstead stood. According to the evidence of Jones, deceased was lying in a position as if she had been asleep upon her right side, her right arm resting under her head, but, about three inches from her face, and her left arm lying in a pool of blood near her shoulder. The left leg was lying over the right one. Deceased wore a nightcap and a blue handkerchief tied round her chin, both of which were nearly cut through by the instrument which inflicted the fatal wound. A razor was d covered lying on her pocket without any visible signs of blood upon it and shut. And what is sill more remarkable, and tending to increase the suspicion that the deed was not committed by herself, another razor was lying with the blade shut upon the top of the bedstead, beside an open razor-case. This razor had a few spots of blood upon it, and ha, every appearance of having been wiped. No other instrument with which the wound was likely to have been inflicted could be found. The husband was apprehended at Worthing, and on being informed of the state in which his wife bad been found, merely observed, "That it was no more than he expected; he bad that morning left her for the purpose of taking some of his son's clothes over to Worthing, and she had so often threatened to make away with herself that he never paid much attention to what she said." It was proved that the blundle which Johnson was seen to carry contained the clothes of a young man. He was then brought back to Brighton in custody of the officer, and was present at the Coroner's in. quest on Monday, which, after lasting fourteen hours, was adjourned. On Monday morning a hankerchief was found under a table in the room stained with blood, apparently as if it had been used for the purpose of wiping off some blood. When this handkerchief was produced Johnson owned it, and said that it was occasioned from wiping his own face after havinglhad a fall. Marshal Clauzel, who left London on the Ist of April, stayed only a few minutes at Boulogne, and immediately set off for Paris. We learn from a good source that the journey of the Marshal was the subject of much conversation among men in power, and created much annoyance at the Chateau. A person who. from his position, is likely to be well informed, states that in high quarters there-was no misconception as to the motive of the Marshal's journey, and that it was less with the object of visiting the English manufactories than to have a conference with Prince Louis Napoleon.—Le Progress du Pas de Calais.