A SENSATIONAL MURDER.

Dunstan Times, Issue 1163, 13 June 1884, Page 3

A SENSATIONAL MURDER.

A cable dispatch to the New York Wot Id from London, under date of May 7, is to the following effect: —A terrible tragedy is reported to-day from Devonshire. Hugh Sbortland, a rich barrister, from Australia, has been spending the past few months in that country enjoying a acation. He made the acquaintance of a Mi-s Dines, daughter of a wealthy country gentleman, and connected with some of the most aristocratic families, and pioposed mviiage to her. Dimes,, however, objected to Shortland’a attempts, having heard some disreputable stories about the barrister’s habits, which Dimes had been convinced were those of a dissipated and profligate man. Shorthand, being clever in address and skilled in intrigue, managed to induce Dimes to postpone his final decision until he could be convinced that his impressions were erroneous, and thus maintained his entree at the residence. Taking advantage of the opportunities afforded by his probation, the Australian pressed his suit with the young lady, and finally induced her to elope with him, and they were duly married. Soon

afct-r elopement the young lady’s dead b.'dy f mud in a pond pn her father’s estate. The’head was battered in away that might have been caused by a violent suicidal plunge into the pond, or by a single heavy blow with a blunt broad instrument in the hands of another person. About the time the body was discovered Shortland, it was reported, left Devonshire, having told several persons before the discovery that his professional engagements made it necessary for him at once to return to Australia. It was generally supposed Mrs Shortland had-become morbid by brooding over her estrangement from her father and the long prospeotivelabsence of her husband after so brief an experience in married life, and bad committed suicide in a fit of despondency. This view was confirmed by a letter received from Shortland soon after the finding of the body. It was dated Brindisi, Italy, where European voyagers take the Oriental Navigation Company’s steamer for Tievant, Suez Canal, and Australia. The letter was full of loving messages to Mrs Shortland, and stated that the writer had had a successful voyage so far, and was about to embark from Brindisi for Aus« tnlia. The letter completely lulled all suspicion which might be entertained, and the coroner’s jury found a verdict of Mrs Shortland coming to her death by suicide. To-day, however, Shoi tland was recognised at Plymouth, and it was asserted he could not possibly have returned from Australia if he had sailed at the time he had stated in his Brindisi letter. On investigation it was soon ascertained that he had not left England at all since his marriage, and had written the Brindisi letter at Plymouth, and sent it under cover to a friend at Brindisi, having it mailed there in order to cover his tracks. Shortland was promptly arrested and taken back to Devonshire,where the trial, which promises to be one of the most sensational in English criminal records, will be held. All efforts to find a reason for the murder have thus far failed, and Shortland refuses to make any utterance upon the subject.