The Sun. — 1866-04-17 (London, England)

HORRIBLE MURDER IN DRURY-L &NE.  (THIS DAY.)  ATTEMPTED SUICIDE OF THE MURDERER. This morning another horrible crime was added to the list which it has been our painful duty to publish during the last few days. In this case the parties are in the lower walk of life, and inhabited a small room in one of the courts in Drury-lane. The scene of the murder is Feather'scourt, a cul de sac, containing about a dozen houses, the majority of which are let out in single rooms to those whose necessities compel them to accept that mode of living, and and a public house called the BluoAnchor. About half-past six this morning the terrible discovery was made that a married woman named Mary Whitley, a resident at No. 8, Feathers-court, had been brutally omfutrhdeered, and on the police entering the house the body the stairs. goingd intoth°thie)asfsraognme blood in woman was found lying in a pool of The coistables. Proceeded up-stairs, and on arhoeormh head trestinghe third on floorthe bottomthey there o f wnotnuaamn old James Whitley, the husbandfound the body of a of the murdered Dthfrofsat. waTshfleowinvgisifsronmai asudrgeesponwoonf;Ztihinnegtbiethed in blood, which on her throatwas n of police was immediately sent for, and . vh• • on is arrival an examination of both the man and his wife which, without doubt, was the cause of death. The man was not dead, theremede. wasThae dreadfulwoin was sunccituureitl dwsoad'unda," although the wound on his throat was so deep and severe that recovery is altogether out of the question. The wound was a clean sharp cut across the throat, similar to that which would be produced by a razor or some such keen instrument. Dr. Harvey did all that was possible at the moment, and without the least delay the man was ccmToyed to King's College Hospital, where he lies until death, which is certain to follow, takes place. A strict search has been made in. the room and e. clasp knife covered with blood has been found, and this without doubt is the instrumentby which the fearful deeds have been committed. No particular noise was heard to proceed from the room the Whitleys occupied that morning, so that the inference to be drawn is that some quarrel had taken place between the man and his wife previous to his going to work, and that he had cut her throat during the quarrel, and then made a desperate attempt at self-destruction. The two led a very unhappy life, and the quarrels between them were very frequent. Early on Saturday morning last there was a very serious disagreement between them, and the woman on that occasion shouted " Murder," but as that was by no means an unusual cry in the neighbourhood, the other lodgers took no notice of the circumstance, and slept on until their usual hour of rising. It then became known that the husband had threatened to "do" for his wife, but his threat was looked upon as that of an angry man, and one that was not so near its realisation as has turned out. Another shocking matter in the tragedy is, that there are seven children left, of the respective ages of 3,5, 6,9, 10, 11, and 17. Five of the children have been taken to the Strand Union, and the other two, as they expressed a wish to be conveyed to their uncle's residence, havti been conveyed thither. Whitley was a bricklayer, doing a small business on his own account. The murderer, it is said in the neighbourhood, has been excited to the commission of the crime by feelings of jealousy. The age of the man was 43, and the woman 38. On arriving at King's College Hospital at noon to-day, our reporter was informed that the man was, to the astonishment of the surgeons of the establishment, still alive, although recovery was beyond all hope. The body of the unfortunate woman has been conveyed to the dead-hoUie of St. Mary-le-Strand, where it awaits a coroner's inquest.