Swansea and Glamorgan Herald, and South Wales Free Press. — 1864-12-07 (Swansea, West Glamorgan, Wales)

MAN FOUND DEAD IN THE RIVER.SUSPECTED MURDER.  On Sure: ,er morning a report was circulated that tk holy • f a y ung man had been found in the river about mdway between Jackson's Bridge and the Iron Bridge, with marks of injury upon it, from which suspicions were arote,ed that the deceased had received foul play. There was it large cut on the forehead, and both pockets were turned iledde oat. As soon as the discovery was made infortnaiien was conveyed to the police, who were shortly afterwaids on the spot, and had the body removed to the Patriot publiehouse, in Ynysgau-street, where it now li.s. Persons from the neighbourhood saw the body, aiid identified it as that of a man named John Rosser, whose home was at Neath, but who had beeu seen alive in Mt rthyr and in China on the previous day. The weeouncenient caused intense excitement throughout the town. nod the facts in connection with the last few hours of the young man's life, which gradually became known, served only to strength the belief that he had vette.: to his death unfairly. The police commenced a mast active inquiry into the circumstances of the case, and the result was that they apprehended three men on the charge of robbing the deceased, and two others with whim ha was last sem alive on a charge of being concerned in the murder. These men were brought' before Mr Fowler on Monday. George Fountain, William Woods, and George Fletcher, a gang of gamblers and thieves well known to the police, were chareed with robbing the deceased. The only witnesses which could be procured were from the dens and hovels cf China and the River side. From their evidence, however, it appeared that the deceased had had money on Saturday morning, Ind fell into the company of the prisoners who led him into gambling, and he played cards with them and lost. After this he was said to have been seen in the compery • f two other prisoners, William Williams and Thomas Thomas, companions of the China women, with whom he played pitch and toss. That was at halt-la-t three in the morning, The woman who saw them playing :aid there were others near the place where prisoners and di ceased were playing; a quarter of an hour afterwards, when she bad gone into her house, the prisoners came in and shared some money between them. Deceased did not come with them, and the place where his body was found was about a hundred or two hundred yards from the place where they had been playing. The river only divided the two places. A companion of deceased called at the brothel for him after the prisoners earns in, but they told him they did not know where Rosser was. The money that they parted it was eugg isled could not have been Rosaer's, as it had been proved teat he had no money when he called at the Plymouth Aims a few hours before. The prisoners charged with the robbery were remanded till Wednesday; the other two charged with the murder were dismissed for the present. The cor iner summoned a jury, and opened an inquest on the body on Monday, butt it was adjour until Friday, when witnesses will be examined. We should state that the roadway under which deceased lay is very muddy for some dstanee, but passengers find a tolerably dry path on the rock at the edge of the fiver, which is about fifteen feet Mow. The bluff is jagged, and the bed of the river is hard, so that a person falling over would be in danger of splitting his head open before he got to (ho water. A persoe iii leet,r would run great risk of falling in as would a sober person in t dark, and it is poseible did deceased might have been walking on the edge, and in the ignorance of danger have fallen in.