RECOLLECTIONS OF AN AUSTRALIAN DETECTIVE.

Southland Times, Volume III, Issue 16, 14 December 1863, Page 5 (Supplement)

RECOLLECTIONS OF AN AUSTRALIAN DETECTIVE.

The murder of Sophia Lewis was one of those crimes so brutal in its character, and so mysterious as regards the perpetrators, that it created the deepest sensation throughout Australia, although the victim belonged to a class who are usually regarded as almost beyond the pale of human sympathies. Sophia Lewis was an "unfortunate female," who "ailed from London for this colony in June, 1855. She was about twentyfive years of age, of an attractive appearance, and she had received an education which indicated that she was respectably connected. She was an accomplished linguist, speaking several European lauguages fluently, and such was her faculty for the acquisition of such knowledge, that soon after her arrival here she was able to converse with the Chinese, with whom she associated, in their own difficult dialect. She occupied alone a house, Nos. 148 and -]50 Stephen -street, which was frequented chiefly by foreigners. At one time Chinese appeared to be almost the only visitors. Sophia Lewis in a pecuniary sense prospered in her miserable business. Champagne was the humblest liquor which she and her guests deigned to drink.; she wore a deal of valuable jewellery, and she was known to have money in bank, and to beep a considerable amount beside her to meet emergencies. It was -even said, after her •death, that she was content wifh the pile she had mad-e — some six hundred pounds — and intended to " retire/ and ; return to England and once more lead' a virtuous life. If such was her serious! resolution, it is to be regretted that heri wealth proved too attractive for the: cupidity of some of her Mongolian, friends, and led to her premature end. Between one and two o'clock on the' morning of the Ist of December, 1856, i one of tbe constables stationed in "Stephen street, named Connor, noticed (that, tbe door of Sophia Lewis's house •was open. He entered the house, but, as his lamp burned dimly, he could only see indistinctly. There seemed, however, to be no one within, and Connor called another constable, named Matthews, to his assistance, when the two made an examination of the premises. In the parlour a supper table was laid, appu-ently for three, and there were remains of the viands and wines that had been use 1 at the evening meal. One of the knives — common breakfast knives — was missing; there were three forks, and only two knives. The constables next entered the bedroom of the unfortunate woman, which they found in a great state of disorder, as if it had been completely ransacked for plunder. A box at the foot of the bed -and a chest of drawers were broken open; -a number of articles were scattered •about the room, including about L 2 10s in silver money. In a basin there was , some blood, and also stains of blood on .3 towel. In the bed lay the lifeless form of the woman, covered with the "bed-clothes. The throat Was literal ly cut from ear to ear, the head being almost severed from the body. There were two slight cuts on the chin, and a little gash on the mouth, and these, i besides the fatal wound, were the only marks of violence. There were no footprints either before or behind tlie house ; a good deal of rain had recently fallen, aud would probably have obliterated any suc!i marks. Sti. h were the circumstances of this brutal crime, and it cost the detective force .-of Victoria many months of weary labor stimulated as they doubtless were by the hi.ndsome rewards offered by Go- • vernment, before the murderers were • brought tojustice. One fact was established clearly enough from the outset. The womaD had not committed suicide, for there was no weapon found near her.; the wound was an extraordinary one if it was supposed to be self in■flicted, and the gashes on the mouth and chin were not likely to be made as preliminary wounds by a suicide. Suspicion from the first fell upon the' Chinese who were in the habit of visiting the deceased, and a number of them were apprehended and brought up at the Coroner's Inquest. There was one named Mar.et, regarding whom SophiaLewis was heard to express her apprehensions lest he should be rendered jealous from overhearing a conversation she had had with a Frenchman. Manet, however, as were also the other Chinaman whom we arrested at this time, was able to prove an alibi, and were accordingly acquitted. It was evident also, that the motive for the murder was plunder, and not jealousy, and we directed our attention to ascertain what property had been stolen from the house. The person who, so far as we were able to learn, had last seen the deceased before her death, was a girl ! of kindred character named Jane Judge. This girl had seen Sophia about eight o'clock on the evening of the day — a Sunday — before the murder was discovered. The deceased was then lying on a sofa in tbe parlor, and the table was spread for' a supper as if she expected visitors. Judge, therefore, did not remain long, but she observed the jewellery which Sophia wore. On her fingers she had some seven or eight rings, One of which was of a peculiar design, representing a serpent with two diamonds for the eyes and a longer one in the forehead as it were of the snake. Jane Judge had seen this ring frequently, and was able to give a minute description of it, and, what was more valuable, she could also tell where it was made, for she had accompanied the deceased to the shop of Mr Drew, to whom she handed the jewel and gave orders for the making of the ring. Mr Drew handed over the order to a working jeweller, named J3rinkre:ann, who entrusted the construction of the ring to one of his workmen named Joseph Haffenegger. This man gave a minute description of

the jewel and declared that he would be able to swear confidently to its identity if it were produced. The other rings which Sophia Lewis wore the night before the murder were gentlemen's rings, with the exception of one plain wedding ring which was the only one found on her person after her death. Another peculiar article of jewellery had, however, disappeared, and this was a brooch which had at one time formed part of a bracelet, and was, therefore, of a rather unusual description. Jane Judge was also able to give a description of this article, and said that she would be ready to identify it. This also formed an important link in the chain of evidence which was ultimately brought before the court. For months there was, I, believe nothing occupied so much the thoughts of the detectives of Victoria as the two articles of jewellery I have referred to, particularly the snake ring. But for a long time no traces could be found of 1 either, or of any of the other property which had been stolen from the person j and residence of the deceased. We had soon exhausted Melbourne, so far as. the Chinamen in town were concerned, or any other person regarding whom we had any reason to entertain the slightest suspicion. Some arrests were made, but in all cases the persons were soon liberated, there being no evidence which would justify their being kept in custody. We began to feel assured that the murderers were no longer in Melbourne, but that, if they were Chinamen, they would pro- ; bably be found on some of the goldfields which were mostly frequented by the Mongolians. When in those neighbourhoods, therefore, on other duty, or specially with the view of discovering the perpetrators of Sophia Lewis's murder, we were constantly on the look out for any traces which we might be fortunate enough to find of the snake ring, or the bracelet-brooch. There may, however, be among my readers those who remember who were the fortunate finders both of the ring and brooch and I, therefore, decline saying whether or not I had anything to do with either, as I have no intention of destroying that incognito as the author of these recollections which I flatter myself I have hitherto been able to preserve. It was on the 2:2 nd of July, nearly eight months after the murder, that the celebrated snake ring was found in the possession of a Chinaman named Ah Leen, resident in Maryborough. Ah Leen was at once taken into custody, but he was able to account satisfactorily for being in possession of the ring. He had, he said, bought it for £o from one of his countrymen named Chong Sigh, and various other Chinese had seen it in this man's possession. One of them named Tan Ling had it in pledge for some time in security for an advance of money to Chong Sigh. This Chinaman was, therefore, at once arrested, and Ah Leen set at liberty. On the 24th of July, only two days after the discovery of the ring, another Chinaman, named Hing Tzan was arrested on Bendigo. In his tent the brooch had been found. He escaped immediately after being apprehended, but was again arrested on the 2nd August, at Jackass Flat. Of course in both instances we received cei lain hints which led us to the proper quarter to find bo:h jewels. These justified the arrest of oir prisoners, Chong Sigh and Hing Tzan, but we felt assured that, however important they might be as links iv the evidence, they would not be sufficient alone to justify a jury in sending the men to execution. We had, therefore, to set to wo k to find such evidence as would unquestionably incriminate the prisoners. In finding this we were more successful than we could have anticipated. It was proved that Chong Sigh was acquainted with Sophia Lewis, and a man who resided behind her house deposed that he had seen two Chinamen, one of whom he identified as Chong Sigh, in the back yard of the premises on the evening before the murder. Nor did the matter end here, for they confessed to having participated in the crime, although they implicated others as the chief offenders. Hing Tzan had said to Ah Chong, a Chinese interpreter at Bendigo, that he had been induced to participate in the murder by John Ah Loo and Ah Pin, who, he said, were the two men that took supper with the woman the night before her murder. He said that Ah Pin had committed the murder while he himself was engaged robbing in another room. He told a similar story to Loo Appa, another interpreter. This prisoner had an interview with John Ah Loo at the Detective Office, when both became somewhat violent, Hing Tzan telling Ah Loo in the most laconic Mongolian to "shut up." Added to this, there was the damning fact that the snake ring which was sworn to by Jane Judge, Mary Ann Reid, Drew, Brinkmann, and Haffenegger, had been traced to the possession of Chong Sigh, who could not give any satisfactory account of it. Judge and Reid also identified the peculiar brooch which had been found in the tent of Hing Tzan as having belonged to the deceased. There were several other less important items of evidence which it is unnecessary to recapitulate. The pri- | soners were ably defended, the Chinese inhabitants of the colony having, with wonderful impartiality, not only offered a reward for the discovery of the murderers, but also subscribed to a fund to pay the expense of defending the two prisoners, in order, as one of the Chinese witnesses said on the trial, that they might get fair play. The jury took an hour and twenty minutes to consider the case, when they returned a verdict of guilty. Both

prisoners were hanged on the 2nd of December, 1857. Hing Tzan met his fate with considerable firmness, but Chong Sigh displayed much emotion, and had to be assisted to ascend the scaffold. 1 The case gave rise to a great deal of discussion regarding the admission ot Chinese to the coloiy. Many ludicrously restrictive proposals were made, one universal suggestion being that all Chinese should bring their wives with them. Nevertheless, all the Mongolians who take up their residence among us continue to come in the capacity of j " grass widowers.