The Sun. — 1848-02-21 (London, England)

ATTEMPTED MURDER.  An attempt at murder was made yesterday (Sunday) forenoon, in Dudley-street, St. Utica's, which it i 3 feared will be attended with fatal consequences to an aged woman, named Mary Ritchie, and her daughter, a young woman, far advanced in pregnancy, 22 years of age. It appears that a young man named James Parker, a tailor, but who for some time past had obtained a living by dancing at public concert-rooms, had been cohabiting with the daughter, named Eliza, Burgess, for nearly twelve months. Parker being of very dissipated habits, she agreed to separate from him. Accordingly she went to live with her mother, who had lodgings at the house of Mr. Fleming, a boot and shoemaker, No. 26, Dudley-street, St. Giles's. Although living separate from each other Parker frequently called to see the unfortunate girl and her mother, but during the last week or so frequent quarrels had taken place between them. At an early hour yesterday morning Parker called upon them, and for nearly two hours Mr. Fleming heard the parties using high words. It was deemed necessary to turn him out of the house, which was accordingly done by Mr. Fleming. He, however, returned soon afterwards, and after staying a few minutes in the room of Mrs. Richie he muttered something, then left in a great hurry, and went to the house of Mr. Johnson, a shoemaker, No. 25 in the same street, of whom he borrowed a knife, statir,g at the time that he wanted it to cut the sole off one of his dancing pumps that had become loose. Parker having examined it, complained of the blade being rather blunt pointed, and asked alr. Johnson to give it a rub or two on the strop to make it sharper. This was done, when he rereturned to Air. Fleming's house, and almost immediately afterwards loud cries of " Murder" were heard proceeding from the room in question. Mr. Fleming without delay ran up stairs, where he met Mrs. Ritchie bleeding profusely from the lower part of the body. She cried out, " I am murdered: catch Parker, he is killing my daughter now." He rushed into the room, when he perceived Parker with a knife in his hand and his sleeves besmeared with gore. He, on seeing Mr. Fleming, cried out, " What business have you here? Stand off, or it will be cold coffee with you." At the same time be threw the bloody knife out of one of the back windows, and rushed forth into the street. One of the neighbours having heard the alarm, and seeing Parker's hands covered with blood, laid hold of him and kept him until the arrival of a police-constable, into whose custody he was immediately given, and he was at once removed to the station-house in Bow-street. Police constable Bain and other parties, without a moment's loss of time, took the two injured women to a neighbouring surgeon's, but such was the dangerous character of the wounds inflicted that their instant removal to Charing-cross Hospital was deemed necessary. The younger woman, as she was being conveyed thither, bled most copiously from the wounds in her forehead and back, and her mother bled as extensively from a wound in the lower portion of the belly and another in one of her thighs. Mr. Steggall, the resident house. surgeon of the hospital, upon seeing the two women at , once pronounced them to be in imminent danger. The abdomen of Mrs. Ritchie was perforated to the extent of several inches, and so was the wounded thigh. Such is the dangerous nature of the injuries that her death is hourly expected.