Brighouse & Rastrick Gazette. — 1891-04-11 (Brighouse, West Yorkshire, England)

THE MATLOCK MYSTERY.  The adjourned inquest into the circumstances attending the death of Mrs. Martha Morrall was held at Matlock Bank, on Monday. Martha Smith,a nurse, said that on Thursday, March 26th, she heard a shot as she was coming down a corridor in the Rockside Hydropathi c Establishment. She could tell by the sound that it was a gunshot, but thought it was some one poaching.—Joseph Rowlett, boots at Rockside Hydropathic Establishment, said that Mr. Morrall came there at half past 10 o'clock on Thursday night, and asked him to go to his house as his wif e was dead and there had been an explosion in the house. He seemed excited and in a great hurry. Witness followed him up to the house with two stablemen. They all went into the house when Mr. Morrall took them into the kitchen and sliewed them Mrs. Morrall sitting dead. There was a wound on the right side of the face and blood had run down the chair on to .the floor forming a pool. Mr. Morrall pointed to the fireplace and said there had been an explosion. He also looked in the kitchen boiler and under the grate and said he could not find where it had come from. Morrall added that he was in bed at the time and heard the explosion and that as he was going downstairs he heard others. On getting down he found his wife dead. Morrall was fully dressed when he went to the Hydropathic Estalishment. The parlour was dark when they went through and there was no sign of an explosion in the kitchen. Witness could not smell any burning in the house nor was there any smell of singeing.—Sergeant Ramshall said he went to Balmoral House a few minutes past 11 after hearing of the murder. He found two or three people NI ith Mr. Morrall. The deceased was in a sitting position in an arm-chair in front of the fire, which was not quite out. There was a very large wound on the temple, and her tongue was severely lacerated. A pair of spectacles in a case lay in some blood. He noticed two panes of glass broken in the window. Several flower pots were on the table, and two had smoke upon them, lie found shot marks on the door in the passage opposite the window,the glass of which was broken and scattered on the floor. A shot fired through the bottom broken pane would account for the marks on the door and the wall, and the singeing of the blind. Time charge appeared to have been a very heavy one. On the right side of the room there was a bookcase with the glass front smashed. The bookcase was locked, and had the appearance of having been broken to take something out. The diamond pane in the kitchen window had evidently been broken from the inside. He found a quantity of glass in the garden facing the window. The other windows appeared to have been shot through. There were no other signs of an explosion in the house.—lnspector Hutchinson said no blood was found upon Morrall's clothes, except on the bottom of one leg of his trousers, which was slightly stained.—The Coroner, in summing up, said it was perfectly clear to his mind that this was not a case of suicide. It was surrounded with mystery, and he should advise them to return an open verdict. After a few miuntes' deliberation the jury found that the deceased was wilfully murdered by some person or persons unknown.