THE MURDER AT THE MOLYNEUX.

New Zealander, Volume XVIII, Issue 1712, 7 August 1862, Page 4

THE MURDER AT THE MOLYNEUX.

[From the " Qtigo Tlmef,** July 25.] UrQOBST OK THE BODY.

It is our painful duty to record that all the suspicious that were entertained concerning the missing man; Andrew. Wilson, having met with foul play, have been more than verified by the. disclosures at, s the m r quest on the body found, in the Molyneux, A murder of the "most disabolical, character is proved-to have been committed; the whole annals of crime might be ransacked in vain for an instance of an equally atrocious deed. The evidence of Dr. Nelson, concerning the in juries, received by the,, murdered, man js almost skkeningto pursue. Six mortal wounds at least are shown to have been inflicted, ind, as if to defy identification, the face, was smashed in, and battered out of the semblance of humanity,, A short recapitulation, of the ijrev,iouseircutnßtances,mdy.make .the,,proceedings of the inquest more intelligible. Some six weeks backj' Andrew Wilson left Dunedm for the purpose of visiting the Molyneux District, in search of land he desired to purchase. His friend, MrLeary, living, in the fow,n, not hearing, of or from, him for several weeks', proceeded to fhe spot, to makfi_ in ( - quiries tor him. With' some little trouble, he traced him into Fratson's (the prisoner's) company, ana then all information, of him. ceased- The matter was put into the hands of the. police, fortunately in .time to enable Fratson to be traced to the steamer Gothen r in which vessel he and his wife and child were just about'to depart for Melbourne, having secured passages for that place. Fratson was arrested, and mandedfrom time to time,, on the strength of sundry suspicious appearing against him, forretted out by the police Amongst these may be stated the fact of .the deceased having been last heard of in the prisoners hut, the sudden departure of the prisoner, the disappearance of an axe.the prisoner was known to have borrowed on the night when Wilson visited him, and other circumstances. ' I Whilst the remands were being obtained, the police were using every exertion to find the body. The Molyneux Was dragged for several days but without avail. The way in, .-which, it was found wouldbe deemed incredible if related in romance. The Molyneux, which at Fratson's hut is 200 yards wide, with a swift current, became so low and so placid and clear, that the police constable, who w<s in search of the deceased, was able to see from the boat, as if reflected in a glass, the body of the murdered man, together with the axe, two razors, and two long sticks, lying in the btd of the river, close to Fratson's hut. An extraordinary sensation was created in the district. The river had never been know" so ..low or so quiet before; not a few regarded it as a special interposition of Divine Providence. It reads like the description in Eugene, Aram's dream,

" And I saw the Dead in the river bed, For the faithless stream was dry.''

The. body and the articles mentioned were lying close to Fratson's hut. The body itself had got en-j tangled in some snags, so that draging would havs been quiet ineffectual. Nothing but this marvellous reflection from the riverbed would have discovered the secret. The body would have decomposed, and the parts become scattered, and Andrew Wilson's fate would have always remained a mystery. The appearance of the body was shocking in the extreme. Besides the decomposition of the body, resulting from the immersion in water, the face and neck were covered with 1 wounds, any one of wffich was mortal. To use the language of Macbeth, there were "twenty mortal murders on his crown." The pockets of the deceased were rifled, only one piece of written paper was left in them, but which alone, without other evidence, was sufficient to identify the remains as those of Andrew Wilson. The axe bore marks of blood and hair on it. There were also private marks in the shape of notches on it, which served to identify it as the one lent to Fratson on the night the deceased was known to be at his hut.

Immediately on the finding of the body being known, the Commissioner of Police, Mr. Branigan, proceeded to the spot accompanied by Dr. Nelson. The prisoner Fratson was also sent.up. The inquest was held before the newly-appointed coroner, Mr. Edwin-Rich, who it is only right to say acquitted himself singularly well, especially considering this was his first case. The body was identified by several witnesses. Dr) Nelson'B evidence was listened to with horror—his cxaminatipn of the body disclosed the most frightful injuries. There were, three, cuts in,the backof the head cutting through the, vertebra and spine, each instantaneously mortal. The. face, to use the Doctor's words, was beaten tq pulp. There, was a stroke of the axe as if made when deceased was lying on his back, cutting the nose right through perpendicularly ; there were six distinct wounds ou the face, some given with the sharp side, the others with the backof the axe. Another wound is described as being above the right eye penetrating through the skull into the brain, fracturing the frontal and temporal bones, this wound was also stated to be. instantaneously mortal. The Doctor frequently exclaimed during his evidence that in his whole expe-i rience he had never seen such butchery. Mr. Braqigari conducted the case, in person fur the crown. The, Jury returned a unanimous verdict of wilful murder.: Tha prisoner, who was in charge of Detective TnckwellJ preserved an obstinately stolid demeanour during inquest, but since its conclusion a wonderful and fearful change has come over him. He is scarcely to bo recognized as th" same person, and it will be necessary to watch him to prevent his injuring himself. He is a native of Yorkshire, about 35 years of age. He was fully committed for trial. We subjoin a report of the evidence given at the inquest.— Police Constable Blatch, who had been engaged with another person in dragging the river, stated that, on the 15th instant, he found the body of a man amongst some suags in the river, and he afterwards conveyed the body to the police stable. On the following day, on further search, he.found two razors, a piece of rope, and two long poles; the razors he found nearly opposite the prisoner's hut. The day afterwards he found an American axe.

The body was identified by William Henry Leary as being that of Andrew Wilson, whom he had known, having been in the same employment, with him.] James M'Naughton stated, that about twelve weeks ago he had lent an American axe, which was peculiarly marked, by various notches being cut in the handle, and identified, the axe produced as the one he had lost.

A man named Wm. Hope swore to having seen the prisoner in possession of the axe described by James M'Naughton. He was the better able to identify it, haviug had it in lijs own possession,on a previous oc-! casion.

Martin Fabcy remembered Wilson coming down to inquire about .land, and afterwards saw him in company with Fratson. Detcctive,Tuckwell gave evidence as to the apprehension of the prisoner on board the Gothenburg, when Fratson X first denied having been in company with the missing man, but afterwards acknowledged having been with a person answering his description. Evidence was also given of the prisoner's wife having purchased provisions at a store, stating she had a visitor at the i hut staying for tea. Dr. Nelson stated that he had examined the body, which was far advanced in decomposition. He found, in the outer jacket of the deceased four cuts, the upper one being three inches long. The second cut was the same length. These two cuts were half an inch or so i apart on the left side, and joined together on the right. The third cut was thrceinches long just at the junction of the collar and coat; the fourth cut was lower down and of the same length. All the cuts were transverse. On.examining the neck, he found three incised wounds; the first rather,on the left side, sloping upwards three inches long, and dividing the intogumente and muscles, penetrating' and dividing the spinal cord. This wound would alone have been, mortal. The, second wound was three, and, threequarter inches long, going through the spinal marrow to the vertebral column. This wound must also have been instantaneously mortal. The tliird wound was three idehes long, penetrating skin and integuments, and cutting through the loft spinous process, of the third vetebra). This wound must also have caused instantaneous death. Dr. Nelson gave it as his opinion, that the wounds had been given by a heavy cutting instrument whpn deceased was lying on his face. In giying his evidence as to the state of the deceased's face, Dr. Nelson stated that lie had seen many cases, but none like this. The features were completely battered in by a heavy blunt instrument after having been cut by a sharp one. There were six cuts and wounds penetrating through tho skull into the brain, fracturing the frontal and temporal bonos and must have been mortal. The eye on. one side was completely destroyed.; One of the wounds cut perpendicularly through the nose dividing it exactly, and must have been given from behind the head when deceased was lying on his back.

After hearing the evidence the jury found a verdict of wilful murder against John Prutsou, who was accordingly committed on the Coroner's warrant.