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tol from a powder-horn, which his master had given him, and went out for the purpose of sleeping at his master's farm-house, announcing his intention of being up at an early hour the next morning to look out for poachers. He was heard to go out of the farm-house, which was near his master's mansion, about three o'clock on the Sunday morning. He, however, did not make his appearance in the breakfast-hall as usual, nor at church with the rest of the servants; and being still absent at the dinner-hour, the latter became alarmed, and would not sit down to their meal until some inquiry was made about him. Several persons went in different directions, and in a very short time his body was found in the wood-yard of Sir Gilbert Heathcote, which adjoined Mr Tessier's premises, exhibiting unquestionable appearances of violence and murder. On examining his body, there was found round his neck his own silk neckkerchief, containing the stiffener, tied behind in a great number of knots, and twisted in such a manner as to reduce his neck to the size of a man's wrist; and in the twisting was inserted a piece of stick, so as to form what seamen call a Spanish windlass. He was then lying upon his back, with his legs crossed, so that it was quite evident he must have been upon his face when the neckkerchief was tied in the manner above described. His right arm, between the wrist and the elbow, was fractured; in the inner part of the same arm was a long, deep, incised wound; but the coat which covered it was untouched by the weapon, and the shirt wrist remained buttoned. The inside of the hand of the same arm had a deep gash across the fingers, as if a knife had been drawn through it; and the little finger of the left hand was nearly severed from

the limb. On the left side of the head there was a severe wound, but not so severe as to have produced death; and in the opinion of the surgeon who was examined, the death was produced by strangulation. On searching about the wood-yard, the flick of a hare was strewed about the ground, indicating that the deceased had been engaged in a conflict with some person who had been poaching. Near to the body was the pistol of the deceased, the stock of which was broken, and its contents discharged; and at a few yards distant was an odd sock made out of an old hat. Upon the gate which led from the wood-yard were the marks of bloody fingers, as of a person who had escaped that way; and near the gate was found a clasped knife, covered with blood, and which evidently must have fallen from the murderer in his retreat. These were the principal circumstances touching the causes of death to the deceased.

The facts charged against the prisoner to support the indictment were these:-The prisoner lived in a cottage, about forty yards from Sir Gilbert Heathcote's wood-yard, where the body of the deceased was found, and there was a mode of communication from the back part of the cottage to the spot where the body was discovered. On Sunday morning, the 2d of August, about six o'clock, the prisoner came home to his cottage, and was seen by his next door neighbour, who observed him from his window, to be in a very great heat, and sweating profusely from his forehead. In the course of that morning he was seen to take some water in a wash keel, and shut himself up in his house, and afterwards hang his shirt and neckcloth out to dry; upon which articles of apparel were afterwards observed by the same neighbour faint marks of blood. The

prisoner, who was a journeyman gardener, had on the following day been set to work by the person by whom he was employed, to cut strawberry roots; but instead of employing the clasp-knife which he was accustomed to use, he performed his work with a case knife. The bloody knife which was found, as above mentioned, resembled that which the prisoner usually carried about him. The prisoner had been a seaman; and as the knot which had been tied round the neck of the deceased was what is called a granny knot, which could only have been made by a person who had been at sea, or had been taught to make it by a seaman, it was urged as matter of inference, amongst other circumstances, as proof of guilt against the prisoner. When the prisoner's house was searched three hat-socks were found, one of which completely matched, in point of appearance and texture, with that which had been picked up near the body of the deceased. On the Monday morning after the murder the prisoner's forehead was observed to be scratched, as if it had come in contact with some bushes; and upon being asked to account for the scratches, he said that on Sunday morning he had got into one of his apple-trees, for the purpose of gathering some fruit, to take to his father, and that one of the branches giving way, he fell into a gooseberrybush, and thereby scratched his face. On the Tuesday he told the same story, but described the accident to have taken place on the Monday morning. His garden had been examined by Mr Howarth, the Member of Parliament, but no traces could then be found of any gooseberry-bush or apple-tree having been injured in the branches, as must have been the case if the prisoner had fallen as he had represented. Where

as, on the Tuesday the prisoner pointed out where a currant, and not a gooseberry-bush, had been broken in the branches, and had then been recently tied up; but the branches were not withered, which would probably have been the case had they been broken on the Sunday morn ing, in the then hot weather. Mr Howarth, however, positively swore that he did not observe the same currant-bush to have been broken when he examined it on the Monday. Another circumstance of suspicion alleged against the prisoner was, that on the Sunday morning, about nine o'clock, he came out of his house, and was met without any stockings upon him; and upon being asked why he so appeared, he said the reason was, that he could not find a pair of stockings handy. Under the pri soner's bed, between the sacking and the mattress, were found a pair of faded gray pantaloons and an old waistcoat, upon each of which appeared visible marks of blood, which were considerably faded. Within a few inches of the prisoner's gardenfence was found the powder-flask of the deceased, stained with blood. These were the principal circumstances adduced in evidence to sus tain the inference of the prisoner's guilt.

Mr Common Sergeant and Mr Curwood conducted the prisoner's defence.

The prisoner, who was a very good looking man, about six feet high, and who, during the whole time, was cool and collected, and betrayed no other anxiety than another man in the like perilous situation, put in a written defence, which was extremely well drawn up, and which stated, that on the Sunday morning in question, the prisoner had risen about six o'clock, and had gone into his garden and gathered some ap

ples; and in doing so had fallen from the tree, by which means he had scratched his face against a gooseberry-bush. He then took the apples to his father's, where he remained half an hour, after which he returned to his own house, where he remained the whole day. He totally disclaimed any knowledge of the cause of death to the deceased, for whom he had the highest respect, and would have been the last man in the world to injure him, still less would he have been disposed to commit upon him the foul crime of murder. With respect to the clothes found under his bed, he said, that they had lain by there for six or seven months as old and useless, and no longer capable of being worn, as he had grown lusty in his person, and could not put them on. He admitted that he was in the habit of wearing socks made from old hats, as poor people in the country were accustomed to do; but knew nothing whatever of the odd sock which had been found in Sir Gilbert Heathcote's wood-yard. As to the bloody knife and the powder-flask he knew nothing of them, and he conjured the jury to dismiss from their minds those prejudices which some persons had taken great pains to excite against him; adding, that he relied upon the intelligence and discernment of the court and jury to relieve him from the heavy consequences of a charge of which he was innocent, and which was abhorrent to his nature.

Several witnesses were examined, whose evidence was perfectly compatible with the prisoner's statement. Two of them deposed, that the man Page, who spoke to the fact of the prisoner having been seen on the Sunday morning in a state of perspiration, was not to be believed upon his oath; and all the witnesses gave the prisoner an excellent character for

VOL. XII. PART II.

humanity and general good conduct. The other circumstances which appeared in evidence favourable to the prisoner's innocence were, that the witness, Page, never mentioned a single word of the material part of his evidence until after his second examination, and until after a reward of L.200 had been offered for the detection and conviction of the murderer; that the prisoner, after his first examination, had been discharged by the Magistrates, and remained at large, without any attempt on his part to fly from justice; and that, in point of fact, the pantaloons and waistcoat said to have been stained with blood, had been for seven months previous to the murder in the situa tion in which they were found.

Mr Justice Park summed up the case for the jury with the greatest perspicuity; and, with his wonted humanity and regard for the interests of the accused, cautioned them against any thing like prejudice, and impressed upon them the necessity of deciding the question of guilt or innocence in this case according to the facts proved in the evidence.

The Jury, after deliberating for a bout five minutes, returned their verdict of Not Guilty.

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the 3d of November, the prisoner and the deceased, William Syms, set out together in a boat belonging to a Mr Hurd, from Woollaston to Bristol. Having transacted some business, in consequence of stress of weather they, on their return, put into a place called Pyle, where they were seen in company at a publichouse. On this occasion the deceased produced several bank-notes. On Saturday, the 7th, they again betook themselves to the boat, to return to Woollaston. On their way down the Avon to the Severn, they were seen by several people. The prisoner arrived at Woollaston, but the deceased did not. This excited surprise, and inquiries were made of the prisoner as to what had become of his companion. To these in quiries he gave contradictory answers; at one time saying he had staid at Pyle, and at another, that he had put him on shore, at his own desire, at a place called the Eastern Point, and that he had expressed an intention of sailing for America. At first no suspicions were entertained, but subsequent circumstances led to a discovery of the dreadful deed. The boat was examined, and on the gunwale and after-beach stains of blood were distinctly discovered, although it appeared that every attempt had been made by means of a mop and water to eradicate them. This produced further inquiry, and it was ascertained that the prisoner had set out for Bristol in a state of extreme penury; that at the time he left Pyle, on his return home with the deceased, he was equally distressed, but that immediately after be landed at Woollaston, he seemed to have suddenly become rich. He commenced by changing two L.5 notes of the Chepstow bank; one in payment of a small sum, and the other merely for the sake of the change. He also began to live in a

style of extravagance, quite at variance with his former state of poverty. It was next found that the deceased, on the day of his leaving Pyle, was in possession of three L.5 Chepstow Bank notes, together with some smaller ones of the same bank. These, he was observed, previous to his embarkation, to put into his lefthand breeches pocket, which, when his body was subsequently picked up, was found turned inside out. To these were added other facts equally suspicious. On the morning of the supposed murder, a handkerchief was seen in the hands of the deceased; it was marked W. S.; and this handkerchief was traced to the possession of the prisoner. Upon an alarm being raised, he had lent it to a man of the name of Davies, who would be called as a witness. It further turned out, that the prisoner, shortly antecedent to the disappearance of Syms, had been repeatedly applying to Hurd to lend him a few shillings. His shoes had accidentally burst, and he then declared "that he was unable to refit himself, and that he must box hard to raise the wind to buy himself a pair of shoes, though he should go to the devil for it." Upon being called upon to account for his increase of wealth, he stated that he had borrowed L.8 from an old shipmate of the name of Jones, while he was at Bristol; but unfortunately for him, and happily for the ends of justice, this statement was discovered to be utterly without foundation; for, independently of the fact that, at the moment he was leaving Bristol, he had not the means of paying for his breakfast, it would be proved by the wife of Jones, (the man himself being at sea), that at the time in question Jones had been very much distressed for money, and could not have made any such advance; added to which, his intimacy with the prisoner was

of so casual a nature as to forbid such an act of friendship, even if he had had it in his power. All these disclosures tended more strongly to confirm the guilt of the prisoner, which became still more apparent in the morning of the 27th of November, when the body of the unfortunate Syms was found floating on the Severn in a state of putrescence. It was, however, soon identified, and on being examined by competent persons, presented two dreadful fractures on the front and back of the head, either of which would have been sufficient to occasion instant death. Mr Ludlow having concluded his detail, called his witnesses. William Hurd proved the fact of the prisoner and the deceased setting out for Bristol in his boat on the 3d of November; they remained at Bristol two days. He remembered seeing them together afterwards at the Swan public-house at Pyle. Syms called for two glasses of rum and water. He said, "I have a five-pound bill in my pocket." The landlady said, "I should like to see it." Syms upon this pulled out three five-pound bills, two of which were Chepstow bills, quite new. He put them on the table, together with three or four L.1 notes. Witness and Syms slept together that night he heard the clock strike five in the morning, and said to Syms, "It is time to get up; I wish you would help Burton to take the boat up, and stand into the Old Passage, where I will meet you." Syms agreed to this. Witness was then going to Tockington. They parted soon after five. Witness went to Bristol on the Friday following; and did not go to the Old Passage, for it rained hard, and he got wet through. He looked for Syms at Bristol, but did not see him. Burton's shoes were in a very bad state.

John Purcell deposed, that he lived

at Pyle, and was acquainted with the deceased. He saw him at Mrs Chaffey's, at the Swan, on the 6th of November. He also saw him and Burton going down the river next morning in the boat together. It was about seven o'clock. The tide was low.

Stephen Hook saw the prisoner and the deceased together in the boat on the morning in question.

John Wade lived at Woollaston. On the 7th of November he saw the prisoner alone in a boat on the Severn, going towards Chepstow. He asked him if he was going to Chepstow? He replied he was. lt was about two o'clock. Witness said, You have had a fine tide this morning. The wind and the tide were fair, and the boat was drifting up. Witness also observed to the prisoner that his shoes were not water tight. The prisoner answered, “No, master, but I'll have better before Í go back." Old Hurd asked the prisoner where Syms was left, and he said, "Not at Pyle." He afterwards said he had landed him at Eastern Point.

John Bundy picked up the body of the deceased floating in the Severn. The left-hand breeches pocket was turned inside out. He tied a rope round the arm, and drew it on shore. This was on the 27th of November.

Mr John Else lived at Framptonon-the-Severn. On the 28th of November he was called to examine the body. He could not say how long it had been dead; it was in a putrid state. He examined the head, and found several wounds. At the back part of the head there was a mortal wound, the skull being shockingly fractured. There was a heavy blow over the nose, and on the upper part of the frontal bone. He was clear the man's death had been occasioned by these wounds.

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