The Sun. — 1857-12-12 (London, England)

MURDER AAD SUICIDE.  This morning an inquest was held at the Wheatsheaf Tavcrn, Thornton-heath, before the coroner for Surrey, Mr. Canter, on the bodies of Mrs. Mary Smithers, a lady of iodopendent property, arid her two sons, William, aged 33, and Charles, aged 18. The death of Mrs. Smithers and her youngest Bon, Charles, had been caused by poison, administered by William, who afterwards committed suicide by the same means. The facts of the melancholy and distressing affair were as follows :—For some years past the deceased lady and hor two sons o.cupie.l the house 49, Thornton-heath, rind the family were remarkable for the love and affection which seemel to subsist between them. Will'am Holton, the elder son, has been a clerk in the Bank of England, and Charles has been engaged in the factory of Mr. Burnett, engineer, at Deptford. William had been remarkable for his steadiness and general deportment, until vi ry recently, when, unfortunately, a total change came over him, and recently he had been known to drink brae dy to excess. This change, there can be no doubt, has been occasioned by his becoming a speculator on 'Change, and the ill-luck which attended those speculations. His losses were considerable, awl from scene papers found it app. weal th rt, assignments were prepared for the dispo-al of some life policies, and also a bill f:r five hundred pounds for acceptances. It had been his (William's) custom to sleep down stairs, but fur some cause or other, he for several nights preceding the unfortunate occurrence, slept with his brother on the first floor—a proceeding objected to by his mother, who insisted on his resting in his own bed. On Wednesday night the unfortunate lady called out to her younger son, and asked " if William had g ne to his own room 2" and the answer, though not true, was in the affirmative. Nothing, however, occurred on that night to excite suspicion or alarm • the mother and brothers wont to bed as usual, and on the following morning, about seven o'.lock, the female servant, having waited some time beyond the usual period at which the family came to breakfast., went to the bedroom of Charles, and listened for a moment or so, but hearing no noise, she pushed the door open, and the first thing:which caught her view was' the face of her young master, with a dark froth .about the mouth and nostrils. The sight so alarmed her that she returned from the room, and at once ran to the house next door for assistance. Returning with the servant mail, they entered the bedroom, where they found both the brothers perfectly lifeless, and a phial and a wire Blass on the foot of tie bet'. The servant of Mrs. Smithers summoned resolution and proceeded to her mistress's bed-700111 on the same doer, anl on entering it she found the unfortunate lady quite dead. She lay on the bed with her head resting on her right hand, the bed perfectly unruffled. It also appeared from the evidence that Mrs. Smithers had been ailing for s rme days, and that her son William hal been in the habit of giving her the medicine preseribr d for her illness, and by this means had been enabled to give her the fatal dose which must in a moment have 'terminated her existence, and that the fatal drug must Lave been poure 1 into the month of the youth Charles while ho ay on his back, and that the sudden shock to the circulation had caused the froth about the month and nostrils. The quantity of Prussic acid trken by the unfortunate murderer himself wai so great that his death was immediate. The inquiry had not terminated when our reporter eft.