The Northern Daily Times. — 1857-02-03 (Liverpool, Merseyside, England)

THE DOUBLE CHILD MURDER IN WALWORTH.  On Saturday the whole of the papers containing the particulars, as far as they have reached Mr. Elliott, relating to the death of Mrs. Bacon, were forwarded to Sir George Grey, the Secretary of State for the Home Department, for his consideration. This course was considered necessary, in consequence of the extraordinary apathy shown on the part of the authorities at Stamford, and the magistracydn Rutlandshire, in which county the body is buried, in neglecting to have the remains exhumed and subjected to the necessary investigation by a coroner's jury. This apathy is the more extraordinary when the strong grounds for requiring such a course is considered, and the desire expressed by Mr. Elliott for such a proceeding is taken into account. It is now proved, beyond a doubt, that Bacon, the prisoner in custody under such peculiar circumstances, had, on the Bth of May, 1855, purchased half an ounce of arsenic at the shop of Mr. Patterson, a druggist, at Stamford, and that he had invited his mother to dine with him on the Sunday following is equally certain. It is also beyond a doubt that the old woman was seized with illness after dinner, and that her sickness bore all the symptoms of that generally produced by arsenic. Yet after her death, which took place two days afterwards, the medical man in attendance on her gave it a_e his opinion that death had been produced by " cerebral disease." This was taken for granted, and, much of the difficulty that has taken place to the exhumation of the body has, it is believed, arisen from the fear that the examination of the body itself will present a different state of things, and disclose a carelessness on the part of the magistracy and police in permitting at the time such a case to pass without a close and searching investigation. It was generally believed that last night's post would convey to the proper authorities the order of Sir G. Grey for the disinterment of the body, as well as directions that an inquest might be held on it, and a searching investigation take place. Adverting to coroners' inquests, nothing can appear much more farcical than the inquest that has been held on the poor children in this instance. In fact it was much worse. it was mischievous, and as nearly as possible defeating the ends of justice. In the first place the "coroner's officer!' ;took it on himself, the very morning after the murder o'f the poor children was discovered, to have their bodies removed 'from the., position in which they were found, and washed, and he had also all the stains of blood in the place removed, and thus destroyed many important parts in the evidence which a close inspection, after a suspicion against the wretched father had been excited; might have supplied. The inquest itself was a most hurried affair. The coroner bound over the witnesses' to appear at the Old Bailey 'on the morning, of the thy appointed for the further examination of Mrs. Bacon, to give evidence on an inquistion in which verdicts of " Wilful Murder " in both cases against the unfortunate woman were returned. Had there been no other power to interfere in the matter, the consequences would have been that the unhappy woman would have been tried, acquitted on the grounds of insanity, consigned to Bethlce hem as a criminal prisoner, and her husband allowed to roam about in perfect security. In the whole of the evidence that has been given, there is nothing that strikes one with deeper suspicion against the male prisoner than the fact that not a single cry was heard from either of the poor children after Sunday, the 28th of December, andBacon did not leave home until the Monday morning, at seven o'clock. The neighbours on both sides were in the constant habit of hearing both children cry, and considered them exceedingly cross children, yet not a single cry was to be heard the whole of Monday or the Tuesday ; and the impression of nine persons out of ten of these who heard the witnesses was, that the appalling murder took place on the MOnday morning, and before Bacon left home. The Solicitor of the Treasury has been spoken to on the subject of the prosecution in the case, and it is believed that he will at once take it up and conduct it from the present point.