The Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle. — 1864-07-30 (Stourbridge, West Midlands, England)

MURDER AND SUICIDE IN LONDON.  On Monday the police received information that a murder had been committed In Smith-street, Somers town, and upon proceeding to No. I:. In that street they found that their information was correct. In a coal cellar in a hack kitchen the body of a w man had been found concealed, and in the last stage of putrefaction :  It appears that for some years past the woman, whose proper name was Rosetta Bishop, had been living with amen named James Brown, a carpenter. This man, although merely a journeyman, had saved money, and was proprietor of several houses in the neighbourhood. lie was about 50 years of age, while the deceased was only about :15. They lived in the abovenamed house as man and wife, and occupied the two parlours and the back kiichen, the front kitchen and first floor being let off to lodgers. They had been in the habit of drinking and quarrelling. On Tuesday morainic last both id them were seen about together, and they were then apparently on the best term,. A short time afterwards they were heard quarrelling in the back kitchen. The deceased was heard to scream as if in great agony, and then to fall heavily. This did not create any surprise, and, in fact, one of the next-door neighbours remarked that the quarrel between Brown and his wife was soon over, and that they had soon made matters up, as all was quiet. Brown was seen about the house as usual that day and the next. He said that he and his wife had had a row and that she had left him. No notice was taken of tile fact that the man did not return, as he had given out that he hail got work at the docks, and he had before been known not to return till the Saturday night. On the Saturday night he returned. His son, a youth, called to see him, and they, it is stated, had, supper, and then retired to rest, both of them sleeping in the same bed. At the usual hour on Sunday morning both got up. and as it was supposed that the murdered woman did not intend to return, Brown was invited to take dinner with his lodger on the first floor, and did so. Before dinner he was asked why be did not return sooner, and he at once replied that he did not like to do so, ashe thought he would give his wife an opportunity of coming back, and was surprised that she had not done so. He ate a hearty dinner, and late on Sunday night retired, as it was thought, to bed, he at the time being as cheerful as usual. On Monday morning an old woman who occupies the front kitchen noticed a strong smell in the house, which ape parently had its origin in the back kitchen. About 12 o'clock a neighbour came in, and in speaking about the smell remarked that it was strange that the deceased woman had not been seen since the day her screams were heard. She suggested that the deceased had been murdered, and that the bad smell arose from the body. She tried the back kitchen door, and finding that she could not get admission there she and the lodger went into the yard and looked into the room. Everything appeared to be in proper order, but, the woman's suspicions being aroused, she determined on entering the room. The window was forced and the women entered, and found, on opening a door, the dead body of the deceased crushed into a small closet under the stairs, with the head downward. The body was in an advanced state of decomposition, but an examination id it by medical men showed that a deep wound had been inflicted on the back of the head before death. Inspector Gibson, finding both parlour doors shut and locked, proceeded to break open the door of the front parlour. On entering he was surprised to find the body of Brown hanging close to the folding-door. Round the neck was a clothes-line. The Inspector immediately cut down the body and the doctors pronounced that deceased had been dead many hours. The murderer, although only a few inches from the ground, had to hang his head on one sole to make the rope tight. By some it is supposed that the wound which killed the woman was caused by a kick, and by others that it was done by some heavy blunt instrument. The deceased woman is described as having been of very prepossessing appearance and of the most cleanly habits, as herdreas and the appearance of the house generally denoted.  On Tuesday inquiries were made with a view, if possible, to discover the motives which prompted the murderer to take away the life of the deceased. On in,errogating the old woman Lodi, or Loader, who resides in the front kitchen, she admitted that she was the medium of a clandestine correspondence between the deceased Rosetta Bishop and a man she was in the habit of occasionally meeting, and she believed that Brown had lately by some tneans discovered the connexion. She then produced and handed to Inspector Gibson a letter which had been addressed to the deceased woman under cover to herself no later than Saturday last. The inner envelope was addressed Rosetta Bishop, and although there was no address, and it was simply initialed "J. W." the writer addressed her as " My dear Rosetta," and wished her to meet him that night at the corner of Liverpool-street, King's.crona. It is now believed that the knowledge of this connection led to the frequent quarrels between the woman and her paramour, and led to the ultimate commission by him of the double crime.