MYSTERIOUS MURDER.

Temuka Leader, Issue 1804, 18 October 1888, Page 4

MYSTERIOUS MURDER.

Lloyd's Weekly News of Augmt 19tb, contains the following particulars of the first of the series of awful tragedies whioh has caused 10 muoh excitement in Bo gland : The murderer, or murderers of the woman found stabbed in 39 places at 37 George-yard buildings, on Tuesday, the 7th instant, are ■till undiscovered, but suipioion points to soldiers, and guardsmen in particular. All doubts of the woman's identity are now set at reat. The difficulty of identification arose out of the brutal treatment to which the deceased was manifcfl'y subjected, the being throttled while held down, and the faoe and head so swollen and distorted in consequence that her real features are not dieoernible. Although she was variously identified as a Mrs Withers and a Mary Bryan, she povei to be a woman known as Martha Turner. Mrs Bousfield, in whose house she lived till three weeks back, states that she had resided in her house for two months with Turner. The deceased had told her that her real name was either Staples or Stapleton, and that she had left her husband thirteen years and had taken up with Turner. Both she and this man g'ot-their living by Belling trinkets in the itreets, such as atudi, links, ohains, aid menthol'donee. She used to stand in Cheapside and various plaoes, while Turner occupied other ground. Turner left her some few weeks ago, and then deoeaied, who paid 8i per week for her room, got two weeks in arrcar, and as ehe could not pay she suddenly left.—ln addition to being identified ( by, Bousfield, the deoeaied haß already been identified by* one or two other women, •who saw her in oompany of some soldiers at neighboring publio-houies. There was a dispute', and one of the soldiers struck the com--paoion of the deceased a blow. This was just ;b7; George yard, a long and dark thoroughfare, and It is believed that the deceased was foroibly dragged up to the plaoe where she was found so brutally illtreated and so fearfully wounded.

At noon on Wednesday there was a parade of-Coldstream and Grenadier Guards at the Wellington batraoke'.' Boon' 'after eleven o'clock two 1 polios officers—lnspeotor Beid jnd Deteotive Sergeant Gaunter arrived with Mary Ann Connolly (otherwise " Pearly Poll") and the " assembly" call wae at onoe ■ounded and the men were drawn up in quarter-column, after which they filed through a passage, where Inipeotor Beid, Sergeant Oauntley, and another police officer were stationed with " Pearly Poll." The woman wai asked to icrutiniie the faoei ofj the loldiera ae they passed, for the purpose of' seeing if she could pick out either of the men' who were with her and the deceased on the night on whioh the murder was committed,, After a email number had fit d past, "Pearly Poll" picked out am.n wear-' in* stripes, aid taken by her to be a corporal, as the one wbe went away with the deoeased women. " Ihat'a him," exolaimed the { .'• I'm poiitiTe." The inipeot wai temporarily! detained, and the filing by of the other* con-' tinued. When a few more had passed, the woman, eoanning the features of every one intently, pointed to a private' ai being the second man. She positively declared that he accompanied her to a house in the distriot where the murder took plaoe. "Are you poiitiTe?" was asked, and "Pearly Poll" nodded and replied, "Certain." Tho military authorities immediately plaoed all the books, showing the time at whioh the impeded men left and returned to the barraoks on i the night mentioned, at the disposal of Inspeotor Eeid and Sergeant Gaunter. Ii was pointed out that the "corporal" was but a private with good-conduot stripes, a man of exemplary charaoter, who was in the barraoks at 10 o'clock on Bank Holiday night. Other evidence as to his innooenoe, and also respecting the private's movements on the night of the crime was also forthcoming. The former man was at once exonerated, while tire "second, also a man of exceptionally good character, was forma' ly told that farther inquiries mmt be made. Then inquiries were duly conducted, and he, too, was told that no stain rested upon him, as it was clearly a c se of mistaken identity. It is asserted that as "Pearly Poll" has " identified " two innocent men, who could not have been in Whiteohap'el at the time she says, the police will not further seek her aid in elucidating the mystery. Neither of the men wore sideaimi when they left the barracks on Bank Holiday, ard could not poiiiblyhave been in' each other's company. Screams, it is now laid, were heard in the vicinity ef Greorge itreet, where the unfor tunate woman met her death onTßtank hpliday,,the6bh ihst., the night of the crime, from this facta theory has been advanced that the woman may have met her death in the vioinity'and not actually in (Jeorge-yaid building', and that her body may ruye beer dragged where it wai diicoverer. Two sig niflcant inoidents discredit this, first, a woman having thirty nine wounds would no doubt bleed severely, and there were no signs of a blood-trail i next, it is, at all

events, unlikely that the body would have bsen dragged up the numerous steps. However, it it now asserted "that theie were fllsveral rowi in the immediate neighborhood at about the time at whioh it ii preiumed the orime was committed. There wai another row at abont the tame place on Wednesday night. It ii said that during its progreii some alluiioni to the crime were made. Theie were noted, and may prove of servioe to the police. There were extra polioe put on on Wednesday night, and eomeof them up till near midnight were engaged in inquiringai to who were engaged in the quarrell. ' Mr John Saunders Beeves and Mrs Beevst, who oooupy the top room at the end of the George-yard building, from the baloony outside their rooms, pointed' ont' to the' polioe the exact place whenoe on the night of the murder the terrible shrieks are said to bare prooeeded. Their balcony overlooks a part of Wentworth street and George street, where habitations "and common lodging-houses of an older time fctill stand. Mrs Beeves says that it was between eleven and twelve when the first row ocourred. Calls for help began. She and her husband could see when they went oat to the baloony the crowd by the closed gates, and the dead walls of Lutterworth buildings in George street. When that row had subsided she and her husband want indoors again. About twenty minutes pat twelve they were disturbed again, and as there was some horrible soreaming they went onto the baloony again. The row was then proceeding in Wentworth'street, whioh runs at right angles with George street. The crowd moved off out of sight. Shortly before one there were again dreadful shrieks and cries of "Murder!" and she and her husband went; out on to the baloony a third time. This time they saw that there were two rows going on, one in Wentworth street and the other in George street. The row in George street this time was not many doors from the houie wh'ere the murdered woman and her companion, " Pearly Poll," sometimes lodged, whilst the row in Wentworth street was not far from a house in Angel alley, whioh the woman " Pearly Poll is said to have admitted ehe visited that evening. These two rows, Mr and Mrs Beeves says were of a very noity ai)d quarrelsome oharaoter. The orowds surged b»okw*rds and forwards a great deal. At last the police came and dispersed the orowd. This did not eonolude the riotous proceedings of the night. About two o'olook Mr and Mrs Beeves heard more screams. The screams this time were very pieroing. Only a few roughs seemed ro constitute the orowd, whioh seemed to be moving in the direction of George yard. However, the noise soon lessened in volume, and Mr and Mrs Beeves then retired for the night. To these series of rows the police are directing attention.