The Road murder : being a complete report and analysis of the various examinations and opinions of the press on this mysterious tragedy / by a Barrister-at-Law.

  • Barrister at law.
Date:
1860
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: The Road murder : being a complete report and analysis of the various examinations and opinions of the press on this mysterious tragedy / by a Barrister-at-Law. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by Royal College of Physicians, London. The original may be consulted at Royal College of Physicians, London.

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    in a collected manner whether they had Master Francis in their room, as he was not m his crib The impression of the child’s body still remained on the bed and pillow, but the under blanket was gone, and the coverlid carefully folded down. They replied that they had not seen him, and remarked that he must be somewhere in the house. The house, however, was searched to no purpose ; and, in continuing the search, the body of the hapless child was found in the privy, wrapped in the blanket, his head nearly severed from his body, and his breast stabbed through with a knife or some such sharp instrument. The body was cold, having been dead about five hours. Some pieces of newspaper, with smears of blood upon them, were picked up in the vault of the closet, where there was also a great quantity of blood. The privy was searched most minutely, and the only result was the discovery of an unrecognised piece of flannel. It was supposed at first that this article might lead to the detection of the person who committed the murder; and the laundress of the family was sent for to identify it; but she positively declared she never washed such an article for any of the family. _ , Information was immediately forwarded to the police, when Mr. Superintendent r oley, or the Trowbridge force, was soon on the spot with a staff of men, and took charge of the body and clothes, and all connected with it that had been found, and immediately communicated with George Silvester, Esq., coroner, of Trowbridge. An active and diligent search was then made by the police all over the premises and grounds for the instrument with which the deed had been committed, but their search proved fruitless. Every inmate of the house was also searched by male and female searchers, but not a spot of blood, or the slightest clue tending to criminate any one in the commission of the crime, could be found. How an individual could have taken the child from his cot, placed the bed clothes tidily, carried him through the drawing-room (which is on the ground floor), across the lawn, through a shrubbery and stable-yard, where a watch dog was loose roaming about, thence into the water-closet, deprive the child of life, and decamp, without leaving behind them the slightest clue to their guilt, or disturbing the inmates, or awakening the child, or coming into collision with the dog,—is a mystery indeed ! The route from the drawing-room window, to the place where the body was found depo- sited, is a circuitous one, and, to a stranger, as we found it, quite a labyrinth ; so that it is clear the murderer must have been acquainted with the premises. The strangest part of the story is that no stain of blood has been found on any of the household linen ; nor is any knife or razor missing. And yet Mr. Parkins, the surgeon who was sent for from Beck- ington, declares it to be his opinion that had a skilful surgeon inflicted the injuries, he must have been covered with blood. Doubtless, further search may throw light on this strange transaction; but at present its object, motive, and perpetrator, are alike wrapt in profound obscurity. We understand that in the morning when the child was missed, and before a policeman arrived on the premises, the father drove off to Trowbridge (a distance of four or five miles), asserting that the child had been stolen, and for the purpose, as he intimated, of requesting Mr. Foley to send out men to scour the neighboumood. As he was returning from his interview with Mr. Foley, he met a messenger who told him that the body was discovered. This feature of the case is explained by the fact that he has been in the habit of consulting Mr. Foley as often as he thought that gentleman could be useful to him. Of course the search pursued under these circumstances cannot have been so satisfactory as if no one had left the premises. It will be seen from the evidence that the witnesses were subjected to a rigid cross-exami- nation, both by the Chief Constable of Wiltshire, Captain Meredith, and the jury, for the purpose of ascertaining whether their food or drink had beeu tampered with to produce sound sleep, but their evidence remained unshaken, and not the shadow of suspicion rests upon any of them respecting the blood of this murdered innocent. On Monday morning the inquest was opened at the Red Lion Inn, Road, but owing to the want of room, adjourned to the Temperance Hall before George Silvester, Esq., coroner, and a respectable jury, the Rev. Edward Peacock, of New Church, foreman. The jury having been sworn, proceeded to view the body. It was that of a pretty little boy, but it presented a r^H'ibl0 spectacle, from its hideous, gaping wounds, which gave it a ghastly appearance; still, the child’s face wore a placid, innocent expression, clearly indicating that the ruthless hand of the midnight assassin effectually accomplished its demoniacal deed at one fearful now, nearly severing the little head from the body, while the child was still asleep. D.Eodiwy, Esq., solicitor, of Trowbridge, watched the case on behalf of Mr. Kent. I he following evidence was adduced :— fsarah Cox, housemaid to Mr. Kent, deposed! It is my duty to fasten the front of the ouse, and in the evening of Friday, the 29th of June, I fastened the windows and shutters and doors of the drawing-room. The windows could not bo opened from the outside without damaging the glasB and woodwork. There has beeu no disagreement betwoen myself or any o my fellow-servants and our mistress. On Saturday morning, the 30th of June, I came f own stairs at five minutes past 0, and found the drawing-room door open, and the shutters