The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser. — 1840-09-04 (Liverpool, Merseyside, England)

THE DIABOLICAL MURDER AT PEOVER  KNUTSTORD, MONDAY EVENING.—TWO miserable-looking objects, a man and woman, who are in custody on suspicion, were taken before the bench of magistrates this morning. The man represented himself to be a file-cutter, and to have lived in Manchester. He said his name was John Crossley, and to all appearance is from 25 to 30 year§ of age. The yeoman states lierself to be the with of the other prisoner, and that her name is Ann Crossley. This was alternately admitted and 'denied by the man. He first said when questioned by the officers, that she was his wife, then that she was not, next that he picked her up two days ago, and lastly that they had been cohabiting together for the last two months. She appears to be about the same age as the man. They were both, to judge from the state of their clothing, in a state of utter destitution. It appears that the officers had been for some days, on the look-out for them. At three o'clock yesterday afternoon, they were found by Turton, the officer statigned at Altrinehain. 4 bundle of rags was all that was found in their possession. They arrived at Altriechain on the afternoon of Wednesday. On seeing the officer, the man said, " I know what you want me foi., it is about the Peover murder." He also, when in the lock-up, uttered some rather suspicious expressions, and gave but a very poor account of himself. The principal witness who appeared against them was Mr. L. Dumbell, the son of a respectable farmer at 01lerton, some two or three miles distant from Peover, who said that after he heard of the murder, at half past 12 o'clock on Tuesday morning, he went with his brother to fetch some horses out of a field called " the Bottoms," at the lower part of the farm, and full a quarter of a mile from the high road, or 'arty path le .ding therefrom. He there met the man and woman. The woman wtt; kohhing. He told the man it was no road, and asked him where he wanted to go. He replied to Mobberley. He (Mr. Dumbell) showed him. the best way, and the man then got over a hedge in a contrary direction. He and his brother -then tried to catch the horses, and left the man and woman. Presently he heard the woman screaming dreadfully. She was standing by herself. He asked her where the man was, she told him he had gone over the hedge. We asked next, who the man was, and she said he belonged to her. He then asked where they had been all night, on which the said, " CM, dear me ! it is a shocking thing ;" but he could not get Ihlr to tell where they had slept. The man then came back, and he asked him why he did not help the woman over the hedge ; he said, " She was stupid and saucy." lie afterwards said they had slept in Knutsford the previous night. The prisoners, on being questioned by the magistrates, declared that they had slept at a lodging-house, kept by Thomas Whitter, in the Market Place, Knutsford, on Monday and Tuesday night. On this Whitter was sent for, but was found not to be at home ; his wife, however, came forward. She said she had no recollection of the prisoners having slept at her husband's house on the nights they named, but that they had been there once, about a fortnight ago. The prisoners were remanded until to-morrow morning. It is but an act of justice to them to state, that nothing more than a few halfpence in the shape of money was found upon them.