The Sun. — 1844-04-01 (London, England)

LEFT SPEAKING.)  MURDER AND ATTEMPTED SUICIDE.  On Saturday evening the neighbourhood of St. Marylebone, was thrown into a state of great excitement by the perpetration of a most dreadful murder, committed by a man named Wm. Crouch upon the person of Frances Crouch, his wife, and the subsequent attempted suicide of the murderer. The scene of the horrible occurrence is Little Marylebonestreet, leading out of Great Marylebone-street, near High-street. The murdered woman, who is about 26 or 27 years of age, had been married to her wretched husband, who is about 25 years of age, in the month of July, 1842, and had a child, now about nine months old. Since their marriage Crouch has led rather an idle life, acting as a horse-keeper occasionally, but never being in constant employ, while his wife was a most prudent and industrious woman, maintaining him for a part of the time by her labour, and the assistance she received from her mother, who is living, in the situation of a lady's maid, in the neighbourhood of Wilton-place. For some time they were living together at No. 7, Little Chesterfieldstreet, but his conduct towards his wife was very bad, and her mother declined any longer to assist her unless she consented to part from her husband, which step she adoped about a fortnight since, when the lodging in Little Chesterfield-street was given up, the landlord relinquishing 1/. rent which was due. Mrs. Crouch from that time slept at the house of a person namel Hembury, Corn-dealer, 22, Great Marylebonestreet, to whom she was well known, and during the daytime left her infant in the care of a female named Line, the wife of a journeyman tailor, living at the house of Mr. Davis, circulating library, No. 4, Little Marylebone-street, at which house the murder was committed. Crouch still remained at No. 7, Little Chesterfield-street, in the room of another lodger, where his wife, notwithstanding they were parted, almost daily took the child to him that he might see it. On Saturday morning Mrs. Crouch went to chair at the house of Mr. Bubb, bottle merchant, No. 11, Westmoreland-street, in the same vicinity, leaving the child, as usual, with Mrs. Line. On leaving her work, shortly after six o'clock, she went to Mrs. Line's for the purpose of suckling the child, and while doing so began to mend a pair of stockings for her husband. Mrs. Line, shortly after Mrs. Crouch had entered the room, which is on the attic story, left it for the purpose of cleaning the stairs, leaving in the room with Mrs. Crouch her own child, of about six years of age. While so engaged the husband, William Crouch, came up the stairs, and was allowed by Mrs. Line to pass her and go into the room: He had not been there, however, above a minute before Mrs. Line was alarmed by the loud cries of her child, "Oh, mother, mother and on her hurrying up, and entering the room, she saw Mrs. Crouch in the act of falling off her chair, with the floor deluged with blood, and her husband standing by a chest of drawers, wiping a razor with a piece of rag. On seeing Mrs. Line the murderer instantly rushed pasther, and ran down stairs into the street ; but she immediately followed him, and raising an outcry of " stop him," he was stopped, after running about two hundred yards, and given into the custody of Sergeant Bennett, 18 D, who came up at the moment, by whom he was taken back to the house. On their return to the apartment, a most horrid spectacle presented itself, the murdered woman being found on the floor in a sitting posture, with her back against a turnup bedstead, having in her lap her unconscious offspring, whose clothes were completely saturated with her blood, which was flowing from a most desperate wound in her -throat. The child was immediately given into the care of a female in the house, and removed from the tragic scene. Mr. Joseph, surgeon, of No. 15, Great Marylebone-street, arrived in a minute or two after the discovery of the murder, and, OR examining Mrs. Crouch, declared life to be quite extinct, the instrument with which the wound was inflicted having completely severed the windpipe, with the whole of the arteries and veins of the neck, leaving only the vertebrae. In the meantime the murderer was removed by Sergeant Bennett and others of the police to the station-house in Marylebone-lane, followed by a large concourse of persons, where, on his arrival, he was immediately searched by order of Inspector Brown, when the razor, which was stained with blood, was found in his trousers pocket. While searching him he was noticed to hold his chin down in his neckerchief, and on Inspector Brown telling him to hold up his head, it was found that he also had a wound in his throat, from which a considerable quantity of blood had flowed inside his clothes. Mr. Clark, a surgeon, living opposite the station-house, was instantly sent for, who, on examination, found a wound, about three inches and a half long, on the left side of the neck, full one inch deep, and gaping about two inches, which extended nearly to the windpipe. Mr. Clark, finding great difficulty in dressing it in the station-house, had the prisoner removed to his own surgery, where the wound was sewed up and properly dressed. While dressing it Mr. Clark asked Crouch how he could have been guilty of so horrible an action ? to which he replied, "It's all drink ?" He was then removed back to the station-house, where Mr. Joseph had by that time arrived, when the charge was entered on the sheet as follows :—" William Crouch, charged with murdering his wife, Frances Crouch, at No. 4, Little Marylebone-street, by cutting her throat with a razor, and with attempting to commit suicide." Crouch was then, on the recommendation of a surgeon, removed in a cab by Inspector Tedman and Sergeant Bennet to the infirmary of St. Marylebone workhouse, in the New-road, where he will remain until he is brought up for examination at Marylebone Police-court.