REMARKABLE MURDER AT WALCHA, N.S.W.

Southland Times, Volume III, Issue 30, 15 January 1864, Page 6 (Supplement)

REMARKABLE MURDER AT WALCHA, N.S.W.

A very singular murder was committed recently at an out-station of Mr Fletcher's, called Ariindunby, in the district of Walcha. BotMhe victim- . and supposed murderer are females. > We quote from the Armidale Repress. as fol.lows : — A woman named Mrs ; Patrick S.nith was taken, ill with labor ' on the abovenamed dayi'and sent for one Margaret Smith to attend her in her confinement. The last named woman Jived at some distance with a man named George Hampson, with whom she had for several ; ; years. They both accompanied ' the' 1 . messenger to Mrs Smith. Ilahipsph, at ' - the request of his mistress, waited there . until the danger was ovex y < arid then. . went back for some things: sneirequired.-: : ifter Hampson's departure, until* next ■>;'. morning, there appears to have been tto'' r: • person near the place besides tlie; sick ; woman and her nurse. Next morning : ■ about seven o'clock, a neighbor named,; Matilda Lucinda Kerr, came to: inquire ( after Mrs Smith, wheu she saw^the dead body of the nurse lying a few ; yards from the hut door, in a pool of blood. Everything in the hut was lying about in a state of confusion, as if there had been a scuffle in the place. The legs of the table had been tora~; rout of the ground, a shelf- had "been ; broken, and blankets, mattresses /and children's clothes were jlying about the ! ; floor. Mrs Patrick Smith, who was lying in bed, complained that she had been left alone, and that Margaret, , Smith had gone away for tobacco ; during the night. Mrs Kerr then told ; her that the nurse was lying dead outside, when Mrs Smith appeared to become very much alarmed, and shortly alter sat up in the bed, and began clapping her hands and shouting in a fearful way. She took a bottle of spirits that was lying at her head, and said that it was that that had killed her, for she had drunk nearly all of it. la course of this conversation, Mrs : Patrick Smith said that the nurse had dragged her out of bed during the night, pulled her outside, of the hut, and that she wanted to burn her infant, The wounds on the person of .deceased fc were of a frightful character. Dr Schroder, who was sent for, says he found, firstly, an incise wound on the forehead, about two inches in length, severing only the integuments, and ' secondly, a wound penetrating the upper lip ; on further examination, he- r > found the occipital bone, the parietal * * bone, and the temporal bone of the « - right side fractured, and portions of the j % brain protuding ; the bones were 3 broken in pieces ; the external wound -^ was about nine or ten inches long, en- \ velopiiiii the back part and side of the ' j head ; there was a sharp cut through I the right ear, and a cut on one of the l fingers of the right hand, and abrasions , 1 of the skin O:i both fore arms, but all j the other parts of the body were j free from injury; he was of I opinion that the wounds had been 1 produced by some sharp-edged instru- 1 meat, and the wound running round ~fl the side of the head was absolutely 1 mortal. The place was searched for", I any traces of the instrument with which"" J the murder had beeu perpetrated, but 1 there appeared no sign of blood on the I axes, adzes, and other tools that were'- ■ lying about. This search was rendered,, ■ unnecessary, however, by the confess m sion which Mi's Patrick. Smith mado r I that she herself was the murderer. ■ Constable Larigworth, one of the polica r fl who arrived from Wa'cha on the day-jfl of the murder, states on oath that- ■ while he was at the hut " Mrs Smith I called him, saying she wished to fpeak'B to him ; on going to her bedroom she « sii'l it was no use hiding it any longer fl — .die had done it, and was very sorry'H for il, but it could not be helped ;_ fl she was ready to die and was, ]H determined to commit suicide; but 9 soon after she Said she had !■ altered her mmd — she would rather I be hung than commit suicide; she then I handed him a knife (produced), which I she had kept concealed in her bed, and I said she was determined to abide by the I law; Hampson inquired how it hap- ■ pened ; she said she wou'd tell God's I truth ; the first disturbance began about ■ two hours after she was delivered ; it ■ was caused by deceased threatening to I I take the life of the child ; she took the ■ child from deceased, and put her out ©f ■ ( doors; immediately afterwards deceased H j broke the door open, came into her bed- H room, and dragged her from bed out of H doors ; she said that rather than deceased H should destroy her children she would H hang for it; a scuffle then ensued H between them, and she struck deceased on the head with a stick, put her out of doors, returned intoH the [hut, and fastened the doOr'on the^J inside; she repeated shat she had be-H lieved she killed the woman, and she^J wished to be hanged ; she had no wish^B to live, but was glad that her enildreii^B were alive ; deceased was drunk at the^fl time the quarrel commenced ; sbe^H found abnut two or three glasses of gia^H in a bottle, but deceased told her shc^J had more bottles, and they bad been^B used." It appears, from the statement^! of the murdered woman's paramour,^H that shp was of a hasty temper, and s "^| fond of drink that she would take " s^| much of it as she could get. AUi^H coroner's inquest, which was subse-^H quently held, the verdict returned W:i<^H " Manslaughter of an aggravated form. '^H On this charge Mrs Smith was com^H milted for trial at the Maitland Assizes^H