The Birkenhead News and Wirral General Advertiser. — 1894-07-14 (Birkenhead, Merseyside, England)

ALLEGED MURDER OF A WIFE.  THE ACCUSED BEFORE THE MAGI& TRA'rES  On Monday forenoon, at the Borough Police (',ourt, Janes Quirk, a man of forty-five years, described as a railway labourer, residing at 8, St. Atary's-gate, Chester-street, was charged before the Mayor (Hr. Benedict Jones), Alderman Charles Singleton, and Alderman Charles Willmer, with feloniously and maliciously wounding or causing grietous bodily harm to his wife, May Quirk, on the Bth Inst., also with wilfully murdering the said May Qairk, on the Bth inst. The reason of the two charges, it is understood, is that the prisoner was taken into custody early on Sunday on the first count, and upon the death of his wife at night; the capital charge was preferred against him. Mr. A. F. Moore appeared on behalf of the police and prosecuted, and the prisoner was undefended. Mr. Moore said he had only just been instructed in the case, and was not, oonwquentlj , prepared to go into the matter at any length that day. There would have to be an inquest, and, he believed, also a post Norte's examination, and he proposed to merely state the facts and call sufficient evidence, with the permission of the Bench, to enable the court to grant aremand. It appeared that the prisoner had lived with his wife at the house, 8, St. Mary's-gate, and in that place there were other people residing, including a woman named Elizabeth Davies. She occupied one room, and had lodged in the house for ten days. On Saturday night, it seemed that the prisoner and his wife had various disturbances. At about ten o'clock Elizabeth Davies went to bed, and sometime after, she heard a voice which she recognised as Quirk's calling to his wife in the backyard. ll° asked "Are you coming in ? " and the deceased woman replied "No." "Then," said he, If you don't come in I'll bolt the door." Both the prisoner and wife entered the house soon afterwaads, and the witness Davies fell asleep for a few minutes. On awaking she heard the deceased woman calling out "Oh! oh ! "several times. Mrs. Davies got out of bed, and then heard the prisoner's voice but could not distinguish what he said. She heard the deceased then say, 'Lord have mercy on me" a number of times, the voice coming from the bedroom of the prisoner and his wife which was below the room occupied by the witness. Following that came the voice of the deceased saying, "Lord have mercy on us. Help !" the sound this time coming from the passage. Mrs. Davies who had gone back to bed, jumped up again, and opening her room door shouted downstairs, Will you leave the woman alone." Looking upstairs to where some male lodgers were asleep she called out, "You men, will you come down," but none of the men appeared to have heard her. She then thought she hear the prisoner's voice at the bottom of the staircase, and following on that hoared someone coming upstairs. The deceased woman shouted, "Go in and shut your door." The witness, who was undreasefl, went back into her room and closed and bolted the door. In a few moments the prisoner came te the door and rattled it, and said that Mrs. Davies would have to clear out by eight o'clock in the morning. The witness made no remark, and nothing further occurred at the time. She had a clock in the room, and she stated that the row in the yard commenced at 11-15, and that when she heard the last of it, it was about one o'clock. There was a row more or leas going on storing that time. At 6-30 in the morning, Quirk called outside the witness's door, "Mrs. Davies, will you come out—will yon come and look at the missis? I don't know what's the matter with her." Mrs. Davies dressed, and going downstairs found the deceased lying on the floor of her bedroom, with nothing on but a chemise, which was partly off her body. He head was propped up with pillows and bolsters, and she was breathing stertoroualy. Mrs. Davies gave her some water, and then a conversation ensued between the witness and the prisoner, and the former expressed the belief that the deceased was in a fit. Mrs. Quirk died at about five minutes to ten on Sunday night, having been unconscious the whole of the day. There were various bruises about her body which he did not think there was any evidence to prove were caused by blows or any instrument.