The Barrow Herald and Furness Advertiser. — 1883-10-27 (Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria, England)

REVOLTING MURDER IN LIVER POOL.  On Saturday morning at Liverpool, Lewis Parry, thirty years of age, was charged with the wilful murder of Susannah Hutton, eighteen years of age. on the banks of the Leeds and Liverpool Canal, on the 13th inst. Mr. Marks, the prosecuting solicitor, conducted the case, and the prisoner was undefended. In opening the case, Mr. Marks said the prisoner was an engineer's labourer, in the employment of Messrs. Lamport and Holt, and li7e4 in a court off Bent-street. His wife was a seamstress, and had employed the deceased to assist her, and thus the prisoner became acquainted with the girl. So great an intimacy was struck up between them that it seemed to be known amongst their acquaintances that they were keeping company together. On the night of the 13th the prisoner and deceased were in a public-house drinking togetht-T from about eight until ten o'clock, and about forty minutes subsequently the girl was found foully murdered by some person or other. A man named H.Pighley saw a man and a woman going in the direction of the Leeds Canal about half-past ten, and from their peculiar actions he followed them as fur as a stoneyard on the canal bank. They entered the stoneyard, and shortly aftewards he heard a woman's scream, and a rattling amongst the stones. Being satisfied that something was wrong, he blew a whistle he had, and then went in search of a constable. He found one, and they returned to the stoneyard, but could not see anything. Grappling irons were piocured, and the body of the deceased found in the canal. A man named Martin, a pointsman at a cabin ow a bridge immediately over the stoneyard, heard a noise in the yard, and saw a woman in an apparently insensible condition with her back against a man's knees, and then saw the man throw her into the canal. The man then waded across the canal and escaped through a coalyard. Another person named Stebbin, who was employed at a coalyard near, and resided on the premises, came up about this time and found a man, who he identified as the prisoner, and whose clothes were saturated with water, fast on the top of the coalyard gate. He released him, and in answer to interrogations was informed by the prisoner that he had been to see a flatman named Crutchie, and had been robbed and thrown into the canal. Stebbin allowed him to go. A person named M'Garry, employed at the coalyard through which prisoner escaped. then came up to Stebbin and they both ran after the prisoner and caught him, but again released him. Each of these men had ample opportunity of identifying the man, and each picked out the prisoner from among many others. there were also several persons who saw the prisoner in the vicinity of the canal. A postmortem examination had been made, which showed the deceased's face to have been horribly mutilated, in addition to several wounds on the lower part of the body, the abdomen, and legs, all inflicted with some instrument. No traces of drowning were found, death having been caused by the wounds alone. Deceased was not pregnant.—Prisoner was remanded until to-day.. . _ .  The prisoner was again before the stipendiary on Tuesday, and after hearing evidence of several witnesses he was committed for trial at the Assizes on the charge of wilful murder.