The Sun. — 1847-03-11 (London, England)

MAULE.) William Cars was indicted for the murder of Hannah Treadwell, on the 4th August last, at Henley, in this county. Mr. Carrington and Mr. Piggot conducted the prosecution, and Mr. Keating the defence. The facts appeared to be these :—The prisoner, who was a married man, had carried on for some years an improper connexion with the deceased, who was a widow, and latterly in very reduced circumstances. She and he frequently quarrelled of late, and she was in the habit of following him through the village, and importuning him for money, and abusing him. She, further, was jealous of him, and was constantly making imputations against some of the neighbouring women. On the morning in question the prisoner, who had a small piece of ground outside the village, was going out towards it with a gun, which he was in the habit of carrying in his hand; and he unfortunately met the deceased, who immediately commenced making one of those jealous charges against him, in reference to a neighbour's wife, to whom he had spoken going along. A scolding quarrel was the result, and she followed him through the village, and into a path leading to his ground, and they were seen no more for some time, until a shot was heard in the direction in which they had gone. He was seen returning soon after through the street in a hurried and excited manner. Two men went in the direction in which the shot was heard, and found the deceased on a bank about 15 feet higher than the pathway, quite dead. There was a gunshot wound under the chin, which completely severed the carotid artery, and produced almost immediate death. A constable and some neighbours went to arrest the prisoner, and he at once said, " I have done it. I must suffer the law, and it will be a warning to others." The prisoner's gun was found loaded, and on being asked why he had loaded it a second time, he said he had done so for the purpose of shoothimself; but on consideration he thought it would be better Ito have time to repent. The prisoner gave different accounts of the transaction. He once said that they were quarrelling as they went along, and he meant to have knocked her down with the gun, but it went off he knew not how. Another time he said, "It was all her doing; she was telling such lies about me, and throwing stones at me. The other day she threw a stone at me, and cut my lip. As I was going along the path, she followed me on the bank, abusing me. I stepped up the bank, intending to knock her down, but I could not reach her, and I turned the gun and shot her. Ido not know how it was I pulled the trigger." Mr. EWING having addressed the jury for the prisoner, His LORDSHIP summed up, and the jury, after about ten minutes' deliberation, returned a verdict of manslaughter. His LORDSHIP, in passing sentence, said the jury had put a merciful construction on the facts given in evidence, in thinking that the prisoner might have had such provocation as would reduce his offence to the crime of manslaughter. It was, however, a most aggravated case, and deserving of the most severe punishment the law awarded to the crime of manslaughter, and the sentence should therefore be transportation for life.