THE WALWORTH MURDERS

Colonist, Volume IV, Issue 317, 2 November 1860, Page 4

THE WALWORTH MURDERS

CENTRAL CRIMINAL COUBi', LONDON. «— UEtfOKH

MB. JUSTICB WILLIAMS. William Godfrey Youngman, 25, described as a tailor, was indicted for the wilful murder of Mary Wells Streeter.

There were three other indictments against the prisoner, charging him with the murder of Elizabeth Youngman, his mother, and Thomas Neale Youngman and Charles Youngman, his brothers.

The prisoner is a common-looking young man. He was well dressed, and during the whole of the proceedings he exhibited the most extraordinary coolness and self-posses-sion, and even while his father was under examination he did not evince the least emotion* He was supplied with pen, ink, and paper, and seemed to take full notes of the evidence.

Mr. Clerk and Mr. Beasley conducted the prosecution. The prisoner was defended by Mr. Best and Mr. J. Park.

The learned counsel for the prosecution opened, the case to the jury in a temperate and able speech, and proceeded to call the following evidence :-— Mr. James Bevan said: On the 30th of July last I resided at No. 16, Manor-place, Walworth. I occupy the ground floor. There are two other floors to the house. Mr. Beard occupied the first floor with his wife and one son. The prisoner's father occupied the top floor of the house. On the 31st of July his family consisted of his wife, two little boys, the prisoner, and the deceased. I understood the prisoner had come to see his father on a holiday, and he used to sleep there. About 10 minutes to 6 on the morning of the 31st I was in bed, and I heard a noise like lumbering, and a heavy fall on the top floor of the house. I immediately got up to see what was the matter, and before I could get to the door Mr. Beard knocked at it and said, "For God's sake come here—there is murder!" I went up-stairs directly, and when I got to the top of the stairs I saw the elder boy lying dead upon the landing. I did not see anything more then, but went down and dressed myself, and I then saw the prisoner standing in his nightshirt on the staircase leading from the ground floor to the first floor. He was standing still and looking down the stairs at this time. He said to me, " My mother has done all this—she murdered my two brothers and my sweetheart, and I, in self-defence, believe I have murdered her." I made him no reply, but went out and fetched the police. I heard the prisoner's father go out about half-past 5 o'clock that morning.

Cross-examined: The prisoner's father and mother appeared to live on very good terms, but they had a word or two occasionally like other people. I always received my rent regularly, but I knew nothing of the money affairs of the family. The noise I heard was like a heavy fall on the floor. I did not see any living person when I first went up. The moment I saw the boy's body I went down stairs again. I did not particularly observe the appearance of the prisoner, but I should not think he was very collected.

A plan of the house was here produced by Mr. Galger, a surveyor. The height from the ground floor to the floor of the top story was stated to be about 21ft.

Susannah Beard said: lam the wife of Phillip Beard, and I and my husband occupied the first floor in the house of Mr. Bevan. "We occupied the back room as a sleeping room, and our little boy slept in the same room. About 6 o'clock in the morning of the 31st of July I heard a noise overhead like scuffling, and I thought it was Mr. Youngman's children playing. I then heard a noise as though something had fallen on the floor. I had awoke my husband before this. The noise I heard was like something very heavy falling on the boards of the bedroom above ours. My husband went up to see what was the matter, and he.called out "Murder!" and came down stairs. He afterwards "went up again with the landlord, and, when he came down a second time I went t# the door of our room, and saw the prisoner .standing on the staircase leading from m^ room upstairs. He addressed me and said, " Mrs. Beard or Mr. Beard, my mother has done all this. She has murdered my sweetheart and my two little brothers, and, I believe, in selfdefence I have murdered her." While my husband was dressing the prisoner called out from the stairs, " Mr. Beard, for^God's sake fetch a surgeon! I believe there are some alive yet." My husband then went out to fetch a doctor. I had seen a young woman come to the house about 11 o'clock on the day before this happened. I think the prisoner came with her, and they went out together for a walk about 7 o'clock in the evening, and returned about 10 o'clock, j

Cross-examined: The prisoner and the deceased seemed to be on very affectionate terms at this time. He appeared to be very excited when I saw him on- the stairs. He was generally calm and quiet in his raanner.

Philip William Beard, the husband of the last witness, said: I had seen the prisoner in our house a few days before the 31st of July. Upon one occasion he told me that he had been a valet and footman, and that he had left that and was going into the farming business. I remember being awoke by my wife on the morning of the 31st of July, and I heard a sort of rumbling on the landing over our head. The noise was like that of children running about. I went out of my room, and as I did so I heard a slight scream. When I got to the outside of my room I saw a clot of blood on the stairs, and on the top of the staircase I saw the little boy lying on the landing. His throat was cut, and he was dead and lying upon his back, with his head towards the stairs. I then saw the body of the deceased lying a little beyond that of the boy. I did not observe any other bodies at this time, as I was very much alarmed, and I came down and called the landlord^and went ?*P:?taifs together, and I went into nay own

room to tlres'si I then fetched a policeman and a surgeon* I saw the prisoner was upon the stairs, and he told me that his mother had done it all, and that he had murdered her in self-defence.

John Youngman said: I am the father of the prisoner. I resided on the second floor of the house No. 16, Manor-place, Walworth. My wife and two children lived with me. One was named Thomas Neale, and the other Charles, and there ages were 7 and 11. The prisoner came to live with us about a fortnight before this sad affair happened, and he used to sleep in the back room, where I also slept. My son Thomas slept in the same bed with the prisoner. I slept on the shop-board. My wife and my son Charles slept in the front room. lam a" tailor by trade, and am generally out at work the whole day. I returned home on the 30th of July about 10 o'clock at night. I did not see the deceased at that time. The prisoner went to bed as usual about a quarter past 11. He said he was ready, and I put the light out and went to bed, and he did the same. My boy Thomas was in bed with the prisoner at this time. I awoke about 4 o'clock on the following morning, and saw the prisoner at the foot of his bed, apparently in the act of getting in. I think the door of the room was open at this time. I go 2upat 5 o'clock, and went out about 20 minutes past, and at this time the prisoner and his brother were in bed. I did not go into the front room before I went out. I was fetched home from my work between 6 and 7, and I then j saw the body of the deceased. I knew previously that she was staying in the 1 house, and that she slept in the front room I with my wife on the night of the 30th of July. I understood that she was to be married to the prisoner, but he never said anything to me upon the subject. The constable Lock shewed me a knife which I had previously seen in possession of the prisoner. The point was not broken as it is now when he had it. He was showing it to a man in my presence, and he was told that it was not a fit knife to carry, and the prisoner said anybody had a right to carry such a knife, if he thought proper, for his own protection. This was about nine days before the death of the young woman. I never saw the prisoner use the knife in any manner. When I came back to the house I asked for the prisoner, and he was brought down in the custody of the police, and he addressed me and said, " This is all mother's doing, father." He did not say anything else. The prisoner had no property ; he had nothing but what he earned in service. He bad been in the establishment of Dr. Duncan for about six months. I don't think he ever said anything to me about insuring the life of the young woman, but I had heard such a thing talked about.

Cross-examined: TII3 insurance was talked about quite openly. My wife's mother was a lunatic, and she died inPeckham lunatic asylum. One of my own brothers also died in a lunatic asylum. My father died tolerably sensible, but he had been two or three times in a lunatic asylum. I and my wife lived on tolerably good terms, but sometimes we used to quarrel about the children, as I thought that she interfered with them too much, and used to correct them more than there was any occasion^ for. The knife was produced. The blade was something like a dagger, and it was altogether a very formidable weapon. The point was broken off.

Re-examined: My wife's mother died fifteen years ago. I don't know how long she was in the asylum before her death. She was between 60 and 70 when she died. My wife had never been in an asylum, and I never saw any sign of unsoundness of mind in her. She was rather kinder to her son Charles than to Thomas, her other son. ■■■■■■■ John Varney, a police-constable of the P division, said: On the morning of the 31st of July, in consequence of what the) witness Beard told me, I went to the house in Manor-place, and saw three dead bodies, those of the two boys and the young woman Streeter. I then saw another female body. The prisoner said to me, " Oh, policeman, here is a sight! what shall Ido ?" He stepped towards me, and I told him to go and dress himself. He had on his nightshirt at' this time, and I noticed that the right sleeve was torn, and the wristband was hanging upon the back of his hand. The. prisoner told me that his mother had done it all, at the same time that he said, "Oh policeman,.here's a sight!" He also said,." 1 struck my mother, but it was in self-defence; would you not have done the same ?" He added, " That is law."

Mr. James Dann, inspector of the P clivision of police, said that he went to the house, accompanied by a constable named Lock, and saw the prisoner standing on the landing of the second-floor, and he told him it was his mother's doing; she came to' the bedside where he and his brother were sleeping, killed his brother, and made a stab at him, arid in his own defence he wrenched the knife from her hand and

killed her, if she was dead. The constable Lock pointed to the body of the deceased, and asked the prisoner,if that young woman was lying there at the time he killed his mother. The prisoner hesitated a little, and then said he did not know. At this

time thiee bodies were lying on the landing. Thomas was lying with his head close to the top of the stairs, on his back. He was in his night-shirt, and his right leg was a little drawn up. There was a great deal of blood near him. The young woman, Mary Streeter, was lying on the landing, with her head inside the doorway of the back room. The body was lying on the right side. ■ She was also in her night-dress, and she had*no slippers or anything on her feet. Close by her head there was a great deal of blood, and it had flowed into the room under the^ bed. . The body of the prisoner's mother was also upon the landing, with her face downwards, and close to the

thigh of the young woman* and her shoulder rested partly upon her body. The other woman was also in her night-dress, and without anything on her feet. There was a great deal of blood close to her head and throat, and it had spread for a considerable distance. Upon going into the front room witness saw the body of the youngest child lying upon the bed, outside the bed-clothes, arid quite dead. The body was lying on the right side, and the feet were towards the head of the bed. The bed-clothes were completely soaked through with blood. There was no pool of blood on any part of the floor of this room, but blood appeared to have been trodden on the floor by the foot of a grown-up person. Upon examining the bed in the back room witness discovered some smears of blood, as though wiped off some person's hands. There was no pool of blood about this bed, but some blood appeared to have been trampled about the floor of the room, besides the flow of blood that had gone through the door. Witness observed that both the prisoner's hands and feet were bloody, and his night-shirt was also very bloody. He did not see any wound upon his person, and he did not complain of being, cut or wounded. On the same day witness went down to Wadhurst, where the father of the deceased resided, and obtained some letters, which he. produced. Upon his return to town he opened a box belonging to the prisoner, and found in it the policy of assurance upon the life of the deceased, which he produced.

David Lock, a police-constable, deposed that he accompanied the last witness, and saw the bodies lying in the position that he had described. He picked up a knife that was lying between the bodies of the two women. The knife was open, in the same state as it now appeared, and' the point and a portion of the guard were broken. The prisoner pulled his right shirts leeve up, and said, "Here's a job; my mother has done all this." Witness said to him, " Where is your mother ?" and he pointed down to the elder woman's body, and said, "There she lies." He then said, " I struck her in my own defence." Witness asked him if the young woman was lying there when he struck his mother. The prisoner hesitated for a moment, and then said, " I don't know."

Mr. Payne, the superintendent of the P division, deposed that, on the morning of the 31st of July, he asked the prisoner if he knew anything about the knife that had been found, and he said it was his, and that he used it to cut his bread and cheese with, and that he had had it a few days, or nearly a fortnight.

At this stage of the case the Court adjourned for the purpose of taking some refreshment, and after a short interval the trial was resumed.

. The witness Varney was recalled, and he stated that the prisoner told him that the young woman Streeter had slept in the front room with his mother and his little brother.

Mr. W. B. Boddy, snrgeon, deposed that he was called in to examine the bodies of the deceased persons. Three of the bodies were on the landing, the two women and one of the children, and the younger child was on the bed in the front room. All the bodies were quite warm—as warm as when alive. Upon examining the young woman he found a stab in the left breast, which penetrated into the cavity of the chest. The throat was literally cut from ear to ear, and a very strong and very sharp instrument had evidently been used to inflict the injury. The carotid artery and jugular vein were completely severed and the wound extended down to the bones of the neck. This wound must have caused instantaneous death, and the person receiving it could not have called out. It would have required a strong arm to inflict such an injury. The deceased appeared to be a strong healthy young woman. Upon examining the body of the elder woman he found three stabs, two near the blade bone of the left arm, and one upon the breast bone. There was also a deep slit or cut on the left side of the neck, which divided the carotid artery and jugular vein on that side and reached down to the bones of the neck. The injury was a mortal one, but would not have caused death quite so quickly as that inflicted on the young woman. There were no injuries about the hands of either of the women. Witness then examined the body of the boy Charles, and found a wound on the chest bone and two cuts on the left arm. There was also a deep cut on the back of the neck, which divided the bones of the neck and completely: severed the spinal cord. This wound must have caused immediate death, and the child could not have cried out. Upon the elder boy's body he found two stabs on the chest, a cut on the lower lip, a cut all round the throat, which merely divided the skin, and six stabs, some in the neck, and some on the ribs. Some of the fingers of the left hand were also cut through completely to the bone. The stabs in the chest were both mortal; one had penetrated the covering of the heart, and the other the lungs. The injuries to the child's hands were such as would be occasioned by grasping a sharp instrument and having it drawn through his hand. The whole of the wounds he saw were such as might have been occasioned by an instrument such as the knife that had been produced before the point was broken. There were no appearances upon any of the bodies to denote that they had struggled, except in the case of the elder boy.

Cross-examined: The wounds on the boy's breast must have caused almost instantaneous death. If" Mrs. Youngman, the mother had been in a state of delirium, he had no doubt that she was strong enough to have; inflicted all the ■: injuries that he observed on the dead bodies.

Re-examined: The mark round the neck was evidently occasioned by an attempt at cutting the throat,

Mary Ann Wooton deposed that she was in the service of-Dr. Duncan, ojf Henriettastreet, Covent<*garden. The prisoner was in the same service, and left on the 16th of July last. She identified the prisoner's handwriting in the letters that were produced.

Dr. Duncan said that he resided in Hen-rietta-street, Covent-garden. The prisoner came into his service as footman on the 18th oi April last, and left his service on the 16th of July. Witness, of course, saw him very frequently, and he did not observe anything peculiar about him. Cross-examined: Witness was well acquainted with the description of a monomania known as homicidal monomania, and he believed that it was possible for a man to have an impulse to destroy another, while at the same time possessed of his reason, and that he might commit the act although aware that it was a wicked one; in fact that he might be unable to control the impulse for destruction.

Edward Spice deposed that he kept the Green Dragon public-house, in Bermond-sey-street and was well acquainted with the deceased young woman and her family. She came to his house on a visit on the 23rd of July, and the prisoner visited her there, and he understood they were going to be married. The deceased remained at his house until the following Thursday, and the prisoner came there every day, and in consequence of something he saw in his conduct he put some questions to him, in answer to which he paid that he was independent, and that his independence' consisted of houses in several parts of London. He was so dissatisfied with the prisoner's conduct that he advised the deceased not to marry him, and said he would rather see her take a rope and hang herself in his skittle-ground than be united to such a man. The deceased went away with the prisoner on the 25th of July, and he never again saw her alive. Before the prisoner left he told him that he was going to take a lodging for himself and the deceased either at Brighton or Hastings, and that he and his wife should live independent. Samuel Wells Streeter, the father of the deceased, deposed that he resided at Wadhurst, in Sussex, and was a farmer. The prisoner came to his house on the Bth of July, and he stayed there one night. Witness had never seen him before, and his daughter had not told him that the prisoner was paying his addresses to her. After his daughter went to London to the prisoner the inspector of police came to his house and he handed to him a writing-desk belonging to his daughter, which contained the letters that had been produced in evidence.

Mr. T. Tanner, a gentleman connected with the Argus Insurance Company, proved that the prisoner made a proposal to insure he life of the deceased for £100, and in the proposal he described himself as having retired from the business of a tailor. On the 19th of July the prisoner came to the office accompanied by a young woman, who paid the premium, and the policy was delivered to the prisoner. A quarter's premium only was paid, which amounted to 10s. 2d.

This was the case for the prosecution. Mr. Best then proceeded to. address the jury for the prisoner. He said it was clear, as stated by his learned friend in his opening address, that they could not convict the prisoner upon this charge, without at the same time declaring by their verdict that he had committed the horrible crimes of murdering his own mother and his two innocent brothers, and he earnestly entreated them to pause before they came to such a dreadful conclusion. He then proceeded to argue that the theory set up by the prosecution was a most montsrous and improbable one, and that it could hardly be possible for a human being to have arrived at such a pitch of wickedness as to destroy a young woman for whom he always appeared to have expressed the most ardent affection, and also to kill his own mother and brothers, for the sake of obtaining the paltry sum of i€loo. The learned counsel next proceeded to endeavor to show that the story told by the prisoner of his mother having killed his sweetheart and the children, and of her having, in a moment of frenzy, also attacked him, and that he slew her in self-defence, might possibly be true; and he said that ifany, even the smallest doubt, remained upon the point, the prisoner was entitled to the benefit of it.

Mr. Justice Williams then summed up the evidence with great care and impartiality, and particularly called the attention of the jury to the fact that the prisoner had himself stated that he wrenched the knife from his mother after she had, as he alleged, murdered his sweetheart and his two brothers, and, if this story was true, she was then powerless and might easily have been secured, and there was no necessity to destroy her. life.

The jury retired at 10 minutes past 6 o'clock to deliberate upon their verdict, and in about 10 minutes they returned into court and found the prisoner Q-uilty. Mr. Avery, the clerk of the court, then, in solemn form, asked the prisoner whether he had anything to urge why he should not be sentenced to die according to law?

He replied, " I am not guilty." The learned Judge then put on the black cap, and, addressing the prisoner, said that he had been convicted of the crime of murder, and of one of the most heinous murders that was ever committed, It;waß no part of his office to dwell on the enormity of his guilt; his only duty was to pass upon him the sentence of the law. His Lordship then passed sentence of death in the usual form.

The prisoner maintained the same coolness he had exhibited throughout the trial, and when his Lordship had concluded, turned round deliberately an 4 walked with a firm step out of the dock.