The North-Eastern Weekly Gazette. — 1894-01-13 (Stockton-on-Tees, Cleveland, England)

TERRD3LE DOUBLE MURDER AND SUICIDEWIFE AND CHILD KILLED WITH A . RAZOR. CHILDREN WITNESS THE DEED.  At New Wortley, Leede, on Sunday, Richard ! !Benson, a North-Eastern Railway telegraph lines. ! man, murdered his wife and two weeks old child, 1 and then cut his own throat. }lowly in the morning Benson and his wife weie heard quarrelling by the neighbours, but as such disturbances bad Maietioually been heard before no greet importance wee attached to it. As the noise continued, however, and Bensou appeared to be ill-t mating his wifo, one of the neighbouni--Mr Charles Edward White, a clerk on the Midland Railway—got up, and going into his yard, which is divided from that of Benson by a low wall, milled to one of Benson's boys to know what was the matter. One of the boys— Albert Benson, fifteen years of age --opened the kitchen door, and exclaimed, " They are all three dead." On Mr White appearing to dinbelieve the statement, the boy and a y winger brother named John Richard repeated the my, ' They are ! all three dead upstairs." On Mr White going upstairs with one of the boys into the front IJedrOUPII he found Mrs Benson lying on the floor in a pool of blood, with her throat out. Beyond her, awl newer the bedroom window, Benson himself was lying in a pool of blood face downwards, while on the bed  A BABY ONLY YOURTIOLN DAYS OLD lay, also with its throat tot. On the police being oornmnuiosted with a police sergeant proceeded to the house, calling a doctor on the way, wbo immediately went to the house. The elder of the two boys of the deceased in his account of the tragedy says he woe awakened by his brother John Richard crying out to him to get up. He rushed info the front bed-room, and saw his father with the poker in his hand shielding over Mrs Benson hitting her. Me was lying on the floor, and was shouting out, " Don't, don t, Dick." The boy cried out to his father to desi,t, but without avail. He went beck to his bed-room crying. and had put on his clothe« to go out to cry for assistance when lie saw , his father coming out of the front bed-room shouting I shall lie banged for this, mu I shall finish 1 the job. His father then went down stairs, but returned again directly. Meanwhile the I boy *Put down stairs, and undoing the dour sheeted to his brother John to come down. John I replied by shunting to him, "Come up, me dada bye killed 'Lissie' Nei Benson) and baby and I aIL" The elder boy then alarmed the neighbours. j The story told by the younger boy, Julio Richard B 410•011, who was in the house at the time, in to much the same Efleet. "1 %VAIL' he says, "swabweed by my father and ' hatching. r got up and listened and heard her shout, • Don't, don't, Dick !' On going into I the front bedroom I N.w her laid on the floor !sad my father with a poker in his hand  NTRIKINt; 015 ON TUN IMAM Then I shouted • Don't, don't, dada.' I got hold of the poker my father wan striking her with, but he twisted it out of my hand, and in doing so my lather hit me on the right arm. Then he raid, 'I shall be hanged for thin, so I nhall fininh it.' Lime was crying and groaning on the floor and bleeding (loin the bead and facie My father then went downntaira and wine up again with a razor in his hand. I afterwards shouted to my brother, 'Conic up, mime up. I want to tell you something.' Albeit replied, 'Come down, John, I'm friehtened.• On going into the front bed-room I saw my father lying on the floor with bin face downwards. I noticed blood on his fate, and a razor was lying at bin feet on the floor. The baby was also dead." An idea of the ntniggle that BOMB to have taken place between the parties may be formed from the condition in which the room was found to be when entered by the police. By the side of the murdered woman they found  A PHARR IHIMT ASI) ShMAXIM WITH BL001)_:  while at the nisn's feet was lying a razor handle— the blade being iiear his right hand. These were : smeared with blood, and were taken possession of by the sergeant. The boys were received into a neighbour's house, the house was locked and takeu : possinsion of be Superintendent Dalton, and the ' Coroner wee rommunicited with. Benson is mid to have been in the service of the Noeth-Raetern Railway Company for about twenty years. He wan a man of about (Orly years of ve. Latterly he bUeILIS to have given way to drink. The murdered woman was his emend wife--the two boys whose narratives am given above being the ohildreu of the nog wife.  The inqueet on Hermon was held on Monday.— Richard Benson, a carter in the employ of the Ripon Cerpc ration, idmitilied the body of Beason , as that of his eon, and the body of the woman as that of Elisabeth Ann Harrison. The latter, he !said, was the daughter of hie (witness'm wife, and she had never been married. She nee about 25 puma of age, and had resided with hit son for about three years. Witneot last new his son alive about three yearn ago, and could not ray anything as to how he bad been living or what wan the state of his health in the nieatitime.—Mr J. C. Ker. thaw, surgeon, of New Wortley, said he wee called to we the bodies shortly after nine o'clock on Sunday morning. Life was extinct in each care, and one cut, as with a rearm, in the throat had mauled death in each inetanon. Jo addition to the wound in the throat, the woman appeared to have been battered about the head with a heavy, blunt instrument, such aa a poker. The body of liention . lay m one on the floor, with the right hand outstretched, and a ravor two or three inches away,— 8t119011.11 two soma, Albert, aged 15, and John Richard, aged 13, repeated the statements they made to the police the previous day, to the effect that they were wakened on Hnnday morning by the Cril4l of the woman, and Paw their father hitting her on the head with a poker. The man said,