The Cannock Chase Examiner. — 1874-09-12 (Cannock, Staffordshire, England)

ATTEMPVD MUR,DRR AND SUICIDE. A shocking crime was committed almost within the precincts of one of the ancient churches of Bury St. Edmunds on Saturday. A young woman named Matilda Herbert, wile of Henry Herbert. a tailor's foreman, living in Cursitor street, Chancery 1 lane, London, left her husband on Thursday week, and on the following day went down to Bury, to 1 her aunt, a widow nnmed Rayner, with whom she has singe been staying, Mrs. I:ayner is employed to clean St. James's church, and Mrs. Herbert was 1 assisting her in that duty on Saturday morning, a little before eight o'clock, previous to morning service, when Henry Herbert entered the church, and, after some conversation with his wife, induced her to go just ootsitie the south door leading into the churchyard. He asked her if she would re- 1 turn to London with him, and on her refusing he I drew a revolver from his pocket and fired it full at her chest. Fortunately the bullet struck against the uppermost stud of the woman's stays and the steel busk to which it was attached, and so the woman escaped unharmed. The pistol was, however fired so close that her dress was set on fire, and she ran into the church and to the vestry, myrug out that she was shot. The prisoner followed her, and pointed the revolver at her aunt, Mrs. Rayner, but did not go quite to the vestry, and he then turned to leave the church. Mrs. Rayner screamed for help, and the organ blower, named James Clarke, and another man, named George Knight, in the employ of Messrs. Walker and Sons, organ builders. London, who are doing some repairs to the organ, hearing the report of &pistol and the woman's screams, ran after Herbert, whom they saw just leaving the door of the church. They captured him before he had got many yards away, and told him he must go with them to the station. house, and he said, "I am quite Willing to go anywhere." They then took him to the policostation, and gave him in charge. The wife had meanwhile taken refuge in the vestry, and slammed the door behind her. Afterwards, on unfastening her dress to ascertain if she was at all injured, the flattened bullet fell out from between her dress and her stays; the top of her drers, which was on fire, was put out by Mrs. Rayner. On the prisoner being searched at the police-station a six.chambered revolver was found upon him, one chamber of which had been recently discharged, and the others were still loaded. There was also found upon him a bottle of oxalic add. with which he admitted he intended to poison himself if he had not been so promptly seized. In his ' left-hand inside coat pocket was also found a box containing 38 cartridges, and in ono- her pocket, a wig and five letters, and a piece of paper which the prisoner seized and tore up, but which was afterwards gummed together, and was as follows —" Whoever finds these letters if he will post them Immediately an explanation will immediately follow.—H. Hennas,' On being charged with the crime by the policeman he said—" I am not going to say anything; I was driven to it." The prisoner was the same morning taken before the mayor and magistrates charged with shooting at his wife with intent to murder her. In hua defence he said My provocation was very great—fearfully great. I are irretrievably ruined through it. I would have shot myself, but had not time before I was interrupted. Failing in that. I had prepared myself with the bottle of poison, having no idea at the time that it would he taken away from me. I inquired of the policeman this morning what injury I had done in the fatal moment, and he told me none, and I felt th..nkful." The prisoner was then folly committed for trial at the next Suffolk Assizes on the charge of felony. He throughout the hearing manifested great distress of mind, but struggled hard to repress his emotion. It would appear that he wrs very imperfectly searched at the station-house, as after his removal to the county gaol he succeeded in carrying out his design of taking poison, having had secreted about ' his person a second phial of oxalic acid. The gaol surgeon, Dr. M'Nab, was speedily called in and administered the usual remedies, but the prisoner was for some time in a very precarious state.