The Sun. — 1860-05-19 (London, England)

THE MURDER, AND SUICIDE IN SHOREDITCH.  Yesterday evening Mr. John Humphreys, the coroner for the eastern division of Middlesex, resumed the investigation, at Mr. Gill's, the Black llors< Tavern, Kinfrsland-road, into the circumstances attending the death of Ellen Hart, aged 41 years, who was found my.rdered at No. 40, Phillip. street, Kingsland-road, on Tuesday morning last. It will be remembered that every circumstance which came to light in the investigation rnai.e by the police went clearly to show that the deceased woman had met her death at the hands of a man named Joseph Itadden, with whom she cohabited, and these suspicions were strongly confirmed by the fact that on Wednesday morning his dead body was found in the Regent's Canal, with his hands so faetened as to leave no doubt that he had committed suicide: The body was removed to the Shoreditch workhouse, which being in the same district the coroner last evening also proceeded with an inquiry into the cause of the death of the alleged murderer. The jury having proceeded to view the body of the suicide the following. evidence was taken:— Sarah Parks was the first witness examined, and deposed that she lived at No. 2, Weymouth-street. She knew the deceased by working with her. She saw the deceased on Monday at five o'clock ; they then both went to No. 12, Whitmore-street, and there found Radden, deceased, and another woman at tea. Nothing in particular was said. They both stopped there till after 7 o'clock, when the deceased and Radden went to the Sir Robert Peel public house and left' about 10 o'clock.. The deceased and Radden were both the worse for drink, but they did not quarrel. She saw nothing of them till, the next morning, when she went to the house of the deceased in Phillip-street, at 10 o'clock. Witness went into the room and found the deceased lying in bed covered with blood. She immediately gave the alarm.  E. Morgan, 55, Old Castle-street, Shoreditch, said she was a companion of the deceased. She'also knew the deceased man. They were both fond of drink and occasionally given to quarrelling, but the deceased woman once threatened that she could transport Radden, or that she would " do" for him. She saw nothing of the deceased or Radden until Monday morning. Deceased was jealous of Radden. Mr. John Gay, senior surgeon to the Great Northern Hospital, said he had made an *examination of the body yesterday morning with Mr. Clark. He found the body in the middle of the bed, lying on the left side. The head was drawn back, lying on two pillows, the trunk nearly straight, the thighs bent at a right angle on the body, the right knee about three inches in advance of the ]eft, from a slight inclination of the right side of the pelvis forwards. " The right arm rested on the side, the forearm of that side was bent at right angles with the arm ; the hand was clenched firmly and lying in a pool of blood on the bed ; the left arm lay under the side; the forearm was bent at an acute angle, the hand lying on its back on the under pillow, about five inches off the chin. There was a nightcap on the head, tied under the chin ; a chemise on the body, tied in front, but leaving the neck, bare. The mouth was nearly closed, the tip of the tongue held firmly by the teeth. There were two marks, but of questionable character, each of the size of a shilling—one on either side of the nose, just above the mouth. There was a deep incised wound across the throat, extending 31 inches from the left of the middle line of the' neck to the end of the collarbone on the opposite side, and slanting from above backwards and forwards. It was 8 inches in length and 21 inches in width where it gaped most. Os the left side of the neck it was comparatively superficial in the first two inches of its course, and it did not extend to the larger vessels, but over the middle of the neck and on the right side it extended to the vertebrae—that is as deep as it could be carried without dividing the bone of the spinal column. In this part of its course it had divided the superficial and deep muscle, the trachea or windpipe, between the second and third rings, the gullet and the carotid artery, the jugular veins and nerves, besides some smaller vessels. It was deep at its termination on the right side, and carried under the skin close behind the collarbone. The muscles had retracted violently, and large cots of blood occupied the wound, and extended from it to the pool of blood in the bed. Some air-bubbles occupied the termination of the windpipe. Tie: body generally was rigid, and the right bsnd was' firmly clenched. There wure no other masks of violence on the body. There were a few spots of blood on the face. The chin was 'bloody as well as the string of the nightcap. There was blood upon the chemise and on the pillow, and a large quantity of clotted blood upon the sheet in front of the body. Some of the blood had penetrated through the bed and sacking and trickled on the floor. There was no blood under the body, showing that there had been no struggle. The wound in the throat was the cause of death. It was impossible that it was a suicide ; he was confirmed in that opinion by the direction that the wound had taken. It was evidently a wound in' flitted by some sharp instrument during sleep.  Mr. Clark said he examined the body of Raddcn soon after it was taken out of the water. The hands were tied with a handkerchief; the right coat sleeve, the right pocket of the coat, and the wristband were spotted with blood. There were no marks of violence on the body to account for death. Death was caused by suffocation produced by drowning. The Coroner, in summing up, pointed out the facts bearing on the occurrence, and alluded particularly to the evidence of Mrs. Webb, who was visited by ,Redden at two o'clock on Tuesday morning.  The court wag then cleared, and after a short deliberation the jury returned the following verdict :—" That the deceased Ellen Hart was wilfully murdered by Joseph Radden ; that the said Joseph Radden was found dead in the Regent's Canal by suffocation by drowning ; and although there was no evidence on that point the jury believed that he ueturvyeu His own life." The_ inquiry then terminated.