The Sun. — 1861-08-06 (London, England)

THE KINGSTON MURDER. Martha Bradish, 42, married, was charged with the wilful murder_ of her a epesister. by crittingtier, throat. With, a razor.,_. She- vas also char g (*with the same offence upon the coroner's insegaition. The prisoner, who is a tall, powerful woman, was very well dressed, and she pleaded " Not Guilty" to both the indictment and the coroner's inquisition in a firm tone of voice. Mr. Robinson conducted the prosecution ; Mr. Ribton and Mr. H. Williams were counsel for the prisoner. Mr. Robinson, in opening the case to the jury, said the prisoner was charged with the offence of wilful murder, and he believed there could be no doubt whatever that it was by the hand of the prisoner that the unfortunate deceased, who was a young woman about 20 years old and the step-sister of the prisoner,met her death,and the only question that in the result they would have to consider was whether at the time the act was committed the prisoner was an accountable being, and responsible for her actions. He was bound to admit that there did not appear to be the slightest motive either of jealousy or anger for the commission of the crime, but at the same time he thought it his duty to inform the jury that the evidence did not appear in the slightest degree to show that the prisoner had exhibited any symptom of insanity either before or ' after the transaction, and that, although she undoubtedly appeared'to be a good deal excited after the act had been committed, the jury would have to consider whether this might not be fairly ascribed to the natural remorse that must always follow after the commission of such a dreadful deed, and not as a proof that the mind of the prisoner was affected. The evidence was then gone into, and the facts deposed to were quite conclusive to prove that the prisoner had destroyed the deceased. It appeared that the prisoner was the wife of a sergeant-major in the 3d Regiment of Surrey Militia, the headquarters of which were stationed at Kingston, and occupied the barracks in that town, and the prisoner and her husband had two rooms on the groundfloor, one of which was used as a bed-room, which was entered from the barrack-yard, and the other as a sitting-room. The deceased, who had been employed as a domestic servant, was out of place at the beginning of March, and the prisoner had invited her to come and pass a few days with her and her husband, and she slept in the inner room upon a bed made up on a sofa, and had done so for about 14 days at the time the fatal occurrence took place. The murder was committed on the morning of the 26th of March, and it appeared that shortly before 7 o'clock on that morning the husband of the prisoner got up and went out, leaving the prisoner in bed, and the deceased also in bed in the adjoining room. The prisoner would seem, from the evidence, to have got up almost immediately after her husband left her, to have taken a razor belonging to him from a drawer, and gone into the mem where the deceased was lying, and inflicted a tearful wound in her throat. There is very little doubt that the unhappy young woman was asleep when the prisoner attacked her, but she rose from her bed, staggered a few feet into the adjoining room, and then fell down dead. Immediately after the dreadful occurrence the prisoner went into the barrack-yard and accosted one of the sergeants, and said to him, " I have murdered my sister ; come along with me, and I will show you where she is," and she then went to the pump, and washed her hands. Dr. Cory, a medical gentleman residing in the town, was sent for, and upon his arrival the prisoner said to him, " Oh, doctor, this would not have happened if I had taken your advice," and she afterwards became very excited and exclaimed that she must have been mad or she could not have done what she had to a sister she loved so well. It appeared from the evidence that the prisoner and the deceased had always been on the most affectionate terms, and there never had been the slightest quarrel or ill-feeling between them, and there was not the smallest assignable motive suggested for the commission of such a dreadful act. It was stated, however, in the course of the case, that the prisoner had been in India with her husband, and that she had suffered from the climate, and Dr. Cory, who had attended upon her, had ordered her to keep herself very quiet, as her brain was likely to be affected by any excitement. Mr. Ribton made a most able address to the jwuhryichonhebehalf of particularlythe observed upon the absence of motive on the part of the prisoner for the commission of such a dreadful crime, and said that the only answer he was instructed to make to the charge was that at the time the act was committed the prisoner was in such a state of mind as not to be criminally responsible. Several witnesses were then examined, whose evidence went to show that one relation of the prisoner had destroyed himself, that another had twice attempted to commit suicide, and that the mother of the prisoner was also insane. Evidence was also given that the prisoner at the time of the melancholy occurrence was in a peculiar condition of health incidental to women at her period of life, and Dr. Hood, the consulting physician of Bethlehem Hospital, a gentleman of great experience and skill in these cases, stated that women in this condition were peculiarly subject to sudden attacks of mania, during ,which they would commit acts of violence end homicide, without being at all aware of the character of the acts they were committing. The learned Judge having summed up the whole of the evidence, The .jury at once Acquitted the prisoner on the ground of her insanity, and she was ordered to be detained during her Majesty's pleasure. The prisoner, who appeared perfectly calm and composed, and who exhibited, no emotion during any portion of the trial, was then removed from the bar. ea_  POLICE INTELLIC ,tENCE--Aug•