A MURDERER'S CONFESSION.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume XI, Issue 3784, 13 April 1891, Page 2

A MURDERER'S CONFESSION.

The Clifton Sill TragadLy.

The following statement was made by Wilson, the Clifton Hill murderer, before his execution in Melbourne : Melbourne Gaol, Saturday evening, 21st March, '9l. As I am about to die on Monday morning, ana must then meet my God, I wish to make a short statement, which may be published after my death. I now know that I must die, and that L must soon give an account of what I now say to God and in His sight. I solemnly declare the following to bo the truth concerning the awful deed that brought me here and sent poor Stella, that I loved so much, so suddenly into eternity. I had been engaged to her about two months, and I always respected her when out with her, and believed she was a moral girl. I was greatly annoyed when I saw her out with him on Saturday night, for I loved her dearly, and had been spending all my wages in giving her things. On Sunday morning the 25th January I went to St Kilda to have an explanation of her conduct the night before. When I saw her I asked her why she had treated me in that way, as I had always been good and kind to her. She said she had met him by accident on Saturday night, and that she had only walked ap the street with him as a friend. I asked if he had gone home with her, and she declared he had not. I did not believe her, and asked her to give me back my ring . and letters, and I would go and leave her to have M'Ewan or anyone else. ; She then cried and begged me not to ' do that. She asked me to come back in the afternoon, and she would try and go out with me and explain matters more fully. I said " No ; give me the ring and I'll be doDe with you." She wept more, and begged me at any rate to stay to the evening. I consented to stay, and went to the beach to spend the time; and I met there Mr Peak, the barber, I with whom I had dinner at the St Kilda Coflee Palace. When on the ! beach, in taking a cigar out of my pocket, I found, for the first time that day, that 1 had the razor with me. I had been carrying it with me , for weeks in a general way to keep it f from the children, and I solemnly ! declare that I did not know that I had it on me when I left Clifton Hill , that morning, nor had I any intention . of doing her any harm that Hay. I . fully expected to break oft the engagement and be done wi£k her. . It is not true that I offered to . pay Mrs Johnston if she would stay in and let Stella come out. 1 returned to Mrs Fox's in the after- . noon and she said Mrs Johnston, the j cook, had gone out, and she could not go till after tea, but asked me to come i in and stay in her room till she cleared the tea away, and she would go out with me. When in her room , alone I saw on the table my own i letter to her, and among them love letters from McEwan and others. s This greatly enraged me, as I saw , now she had met McEwanby appointment, that she had been telling me . lies, and was simply fooling me by ; taking my presents, and going on with other men. Then, when alone . in her room a strong feeling came over me to kill her, and at once destroy myself. When she came in I [■ charged her with deceiving me. She again denied it, and I showed her the ' letters which I had just read. She s then owned up, and confessed that > the Saturday night meeting was by • appointment, but she was very sorry , for it. She fell on my neck crying, J and begged me to forgive her, and J declared that it-would never happen again, and that she still loved me more than anyone else in the world, etc. She said she, would leave her . plajo at once and come with me to , Reid's. and then go home till! could marry her. At first I was very , angry, but she talked me over, and I became satisfied, and promised that I would not break off the engagement bnt go on as usual. In that reconciled frame of mind we . left St Kilda, and came by tram to , Mrs Reid's place. When reflecting on the tram I was horrified at how near I had been to destruction in her room, and I felt thankful that I , had been delivered from that awful feeling which came over me ■ there. When- we arrived at Eeid's we were fully reconciled, and we were loving enough, and 1 had no wish to go further that night. After being there for a while she wanted me to go for a further walk. I really did not want to go and had no thought of doing her any harm; but as she wanted to go—l suppose to show me more fully how she loved: me—after a while I said, come on then, and asked Miss Mina Reid to go with us, but she refused, and we went out. Itjseems to me that I was half dazed from the time we left Reid's that night, for while I remember walking along the road to the gardens, I cannot recall anything we talked about, though I oan remember distinctly everything we said before we got to Eeid's. Still I remember getting to the gardens, and of getting near the pipe where we had often been before, but I don't remember whether we sat down or not. After \ getting near the pipe I don't remember any more till I came to my senses 1 cutting my own throat. Ihen I saw ' her on the ground with a cut in her ' neck, the razor in my hand, and ' blood on it. I was horrified when I ' saw what I must have done; but ' before God and man, I now declare ' that I was not conscious when I did it, nor can I now recollect the act, I then went home and told them, but I did not know what I told them or the police till I heard the evidence at the inquest. I am now heartily sorry for what I did, though God knows that I did not do it wilfully or knowingly. I can now say that God, in His great mercy for Christ's sake, has pardoned me. I now trust only in Him to save my soul. I am so 1 grieved that this lias brought a dark J cloud over that once bright and 1 happy home. Oh, that young men

would resist temptation at first ana walk in right ways. Oh, that I had taken my Father's hand when young and walked with Him in the way of righteousness.