The Commonwealth. — 1867-04-20 (London, England)

EXTRAORDINARY MURDER ON 7'.11E HIGH SEAS.  Charles Andersen, 30, a Swede, was tried before Mr. Baron Channell at the Central Criminal Court, on Friday, for the wilful murder of James Marchin upon the high seas, and within the jurisdiction .of the Admiralty of England. Mr. Collins prosecute-don behalf •of the Treasury. The prisoner was defended by Mr. Daly and Mr. Streight The circumstances of this ease, were of a very extraordinary character. The prisoner shipped on board a British vessel called the Ruby Castle, at Penang, on the 28th of September, on a vcyage to England, as able seaman and carpenter, and it appeared that during the voyage be was considered a person of weak intellect, but perfectly harmless. The 'deceased was a mulatto, but the prisoner appeared to be under the delusion that he was a Russian Fin, andit seems that there is some extraordinary superstition among sailors that the presence of a Russian Fin on boarda•vessel is likely to lead to the destruction of that ressel, and the prisoner was frequently heard to mutter some incoherent observations to himself to the effect that he could not go on in this way, and that he must 'kill the - Russian Fin, or else they should paver get to London. During the night of the 24th 'November the prisoner had a watch on deck, and he appeared to have gone to the bunk where the unfurtunate deceased man was lying, and attacked him with a carpenter's axe, and inflicted five desperate wounds upon his neck and shoulder, the effect of the former injuries being to nearly sever the head from the body. The prisoner was immediately suspected as the murderer, and he was seen to be wiping blood from his bands and to throw an axe overboard. He was asked how he had come to murder his comrade, and the reply he made was that if he had not done so, the ship would have gone on the rocks, and they,would all have been lost. There Inwl been a heavy gale of wind blowing about the time, and there appearedto •be no doubt that he committed the act under the impression that if he did not kill the deceased, -whomthe supposed to be a Russian Fin, his own-safety and the safety of the crew would be endangered. It also appeared that, in point of fact, there was no Russian Fin on board the vessel, and there did not seem to have'been-any quarrel or ill-feeling between the prisoner-andthe deceased man. The jury retired to deliberate, and were absent more than .an 'hour. They then came into court, and foz.nd the prisoner guilty. On (the ,prisoner being afterwards brought up for judgment, the learned judge, addressing him, said that the jury, after a•very careful inquiry, had found themselves compelled to convict him of the crime of wilful murder.; and as to the act itself, there was no doubt that be had committed it, and, the only defenoe that was set up for him wa43 that atthe time he was labouring under a ,delusion, which had impelled' him to commit the crime, and that .he was, therefore, not responsible. It was not contended.that•he did not on ordinary occasions fully appeelate the difference between right and wrong, but it was -atid that he •was,l3,bouring under a tielusion, and that the effect ,of this delusion was to induce him to commit the act. The jury had carefully considered the matter, ,and they had arrived at the conclusion that they were not justified, under the circumstances, of acquitting him ,on the ground of insanity, and it therefore became his duty to pass -upan -him the sentence of the Law for the -crime aturder. His lordship then passed sentence of death in !the usual form.  The prisoner :bowed to the leamod judge, and waB then removed.  This concluded the business of the Guidon, and the court adjourned .to Mooday, May 6.