The Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle. — 1864-08-06 (Stourbridge, West Midlands, England)

EXTRAORDINARY TRIAL FOR MURDER.  At the Cambridgeshire Suinmer Assizes William Morley Wallis, 23, plumber war charred before Baron Channell with the wilful murder of Maria Hunt, on the 15th of March last. The facts as detailed in the evidence were briefly as follows :  Marla Hunt, an old lady of seventy.eight years, with an I another old lady, named Sarah Harris Walker, resided In Prospect-cottage, Melbourne-place Cambridge. Mrs. Walker &Tinned a room at the top of the house. It was their custom to retire to bed early. Mrs. Hunt was accustomed to undress down stairs before the tire, which was then raked out and used in a warming pan to warm the be 'a. On Sunday evening, the 2ith of Febroary last, Mrs. Walker went up Vs her room, leaving Mrs. Hurt in the parlor undressing. , The ,ervant was shortly afterwards going from the parlour with the warming-pan in he hand, when, on entering the pastige, she sure annul dressed in Mack, and with his tics bi.cked, or in black mask. The man rushed at her, dashing the candle out seized the warniing-pan, and struck Mrs. , Hunt, who w. oat behind her, and entering the parlour closed the door, leaving:the servantoutsid.. She fled fromthe house, screaming " Murder !" and spread the al*rm. fir the meantime the man best Mrs. Hunt cruelly, and Mrs. Walker as well. is hen the police and neighbours came in, they found Mrs. Hunt on the floor and covered with blood Mrs. Walker was in a similar state. A knife was ' lying on the lowest step of the Matra, mid in a hack room down stairs was found a hat with a mask in it. The meek was made of dark coloured °Han h. A black cloak w•s also discovered. It was deposed that the p triter Wallis had been seen 00 the same day with this cloak. lit li•ni also been seen on the evening in question, an I directly after the assault, by several witnesses, in the immediate neighbourhood of Prospect-cottage, under suspicioua circumstances. He was dressed in dark clothes he was without his hat: he had no hoots on ; and he avoided observation. Footmarks of a naked foot were found in a garden nest to Mrs. Hunt's cottage. One witness saw him heeding, apparently doing something to his trousers or boots, and still without any hat. This was near a passage close by the cottage, and In this passage the next morning a bludgeon was (mind left leaning against the wall. The top of the bludgeon was loaded wi-h lead, which seemed to have been poured molten into a hole bored in the top of the stick. and then to have tilled in the interstices where the top had been cut crosswise with a saw. The bludgeon had been blacked. A policeconstable, searching the premises sheer Wallis the prig. ner lived, found iris worksh.p the e a ladle and some lampblack and apbce 0 lead, h.cb, when compared with the lead in the t p of the bludgeon, appeared to be a pie, which had been sawn elf. He also found some oilcloth similiar to that of which the mask was made, and I. a d ustho' e was 'uncovered a small, circular piece of oilcloth, which appeared to have been cut from t,-e maak to make an eye hole. The prisoner's father said he knew nothing the oilcloth or lampblack, or of the lead, which were found in his workshop.  Mrs. Hunt had kept her bed since the outrage, and on the 14th of March her deposition was taken. She died the next day. The post-mortem examination showed that she was wounded on the head and hand, and three nf her ribs fractured. The immediate cause of death had been s..asmodic seizure, which had probably been increased by the severe injuries she had received. The defence w.s that dece3sed died from natural causes, and that the identity of the prisoner with the man seen had not been proved. The judge summed up, pointing out to the jury the c,aracter of the evidence, which was purely circumstantial. The jury returned a verdict of "Not Guilty," stating that they were not satisfied with the evidence as to the prisoner's id, ntity with the man who had been seen.