farther in? A. Yes.
Q. Does that door lead into a room or a passage first? A. First into a
passage.
Q. And at the end of that passage there is a room? A. Yes, Sir.
Q. Who lived in that room in October last? A. It was Burke; he occupied
it in the last week of October.
Q. Look at the female prisoner. Did she live with Burke in the last
week of October? A. Yes, Sir.
On the other side of the passage there is another house in which lived
Mrs Law.
Q. Did you ever see a person of the name of Hare coming to Burke? A.
Yes, Sir.
Q. Were there any lodgers lived with the Burkes in October? A. Yes, a
man of the name of Gray.
Q. Did you, on the 31st of October, see Burke? A. Yes.
Q. What time of the day? A. I made no remarks.
Q. Did you, see any one with him? A. About mid-day I saw him with a
woman; I was sitting by the fire, and they both passed my door.
Q. Was it the prisoner? A. No.
Q. Were they going in? A. Yes.
Q. Was she a stranger? A. Yes.
Q. Was there any one in the house with you at the time?
A. Yes, Mrs Law.
Q. Did you in the course of the day go into Burke’s? A. Yes.
Q. Did you go in alone? A. Yes.
Q. Did you find any one there? A. Yes, the said woman was sitting by
the fire.
Q. Was she doing any thing? A. Supping porridge and milk.
Q. How was she dressed? A. She had no gown on, she said her things were
washing. I saw nothing but her shift, and something tied on her head.
Q. Did you see any stranger there? A. No.
Q. Was Burke’s wife there? A. Yes.
Q. Was Burke? A. I dont know. You have got a stranger, I said. Yes,
said M‘Dougal, we have got a friend of my husband’s here, a Highland
woman.
Q. Was the strange woman sober? A. I dont know.
Q. Did you hear her speak at that time? A. No.--I then went back in the
dark.
Q. What happened after you went into your own house?
A. Burke’s wife came and asked me to take care of her door until she
returned, as she was going out; my husband was sitting by the fire, and
after she went away, he said he thought he saw some person going into
Burke’s house. We took a light and went to see, but saw nobody, save
the stranger.
Q. What did you do after this? A. I said, I thought some one had come
in. She rose and followed after me, and appeared the worse of drink at
the time. She said she was going to St Mary’s Wynd to see a boy, to
hear about her son, and she wanted the name of the land of houses, that
she might return, as she said she had no money to pay for her bed. I
told her she need not go for she would not find her way back again. She
said Burke, whom she called Docherty, had promised her supper and a bed
that night. I told her if she went out the Policemen would take her as
she was bad in drink.
Q. Did she go out? A. No, she did not, she came into our house and
spoke a good while with my husband about Ireland and the army, in which
he had been.
Q. Did you ask how Burke and she had become acquainted?
A. No, but she said she intended to stop for a fortnight. I told her,
her landlord’s name was Burke and not Docherty, but she insisted it was
Docherty, for that was the name he gave himself to her.
Q. What name did she call herself to you? A. She called herself
Docherty in her own name, and Campbell as her husband’s.
Q. Did any other persons come to your house shortly after?
A. Yes, Hare and his wife; Hare’s wife had a bottle with her, and he
insisted they should have a dram. The prisoner M‘Dougal came in also
and had a share.
Q. Did you drink any? A. Yes, and my husband treated them.
Q. Did the stranger get any drink? A. Yes.
Q. Were they merry in your house? A. Yes, Hare was dancing on the
floor, so were Mrs Campbell and Mrs Burke; Campbell was bare-footed,
and got a scratch on the foot with the nails in Hare’s shoes, of which
she complained, but she was otherwise very well.
Q. Did they leave your house together? A. No, Mrs Campbell said she
would not go till Docherty, meaning Burke, came in. I insisted on her
going, but she bade me not be cruel to a stranger. Shortly after, I
told her there was Docherty now, and she rose and followed him.
Q. At what hour was this? A. I think it was between 10 and 11 at night.
She went towards Burke’s house.
Q. Did you sleep that night? A. No, what disturbed me, was Burke and
Hare quarrelling. They appeared to be fighting.
Q. At what hour did you get up in the morning? A. I got up between
three and four, but went to bed again, and got up altogether about
eight o’clock.
Q. Whom did you see first? A. I heard Hare’s wife in the passage
calling to Mrs Law, who was then in our house, but she did not answer.
Q. Did any other person come to your door? A. Yes, a girl afterwards
came inquiring for John, who witness understood was Burke; it was
between eight and nine.
Q. Did you direct her to Burke? A. Yes.
Q. Did you see Mrs M‘Dougal? A. Yes, shortly after she came and told
me William (Burke) was wanting me. I went to Burke’s and found Mrs
Law, M‘Dougal, and a lad named Broggan. Burke had a bottle of spirits
and gave me a glass, he then threw the spirits up towards the roof of
the house, and upon the bed at his back. I asked him why he wasted
it, and he laughed and said, he wanted it finished to get another
bottle. I then asked Mrs M‘Dougal what was become of the old woman.
She said she kicked her out of the house, as she saw Burke and her too
_friendly_.
Q. Did Burke say anything at this time? A. No.
Q. Did you ask him what the noise was about? A. Yes, he said it was a
fit of drink, but they were all well then.
Q. Did you do anything more? A. No, Sir.
Q. Did you see any straw lying near the bed? A. Yes, there was a bundle
of straw near the bed, which had lain there almost all the summer.
Q. When you got up at the first time in the morning, between three and
four, was all quiet in Burke’s house? A. Yes, while I made my husband’s
breakfast at that hour, I heard no noise.
Q. Did any other thing particular happen in Burke’s that morning? A.
Yes, his wife sung a song.
Q. At what hour did you return to your own house? A. It would be the
forenoon.
Q. Did you go again to Burke’s on Saturday night? A. Yes, at eight
o’clock, Gray’s wife told me of something in Burke’s house and I went
with her to see.
Q. What did you see? A. I saw nothing, I was so frightened that I came
out.
Q. Did you see the prisoner, M‘Dougal? A. Before this M‘Dougal came to
me, and said the woman Gray had stolen some things out of her house,
and asked mo to watch her door, as it did not lock. This was about six
o’clock.
Q. What happened after? A. When I was making my husband’s supper, Hare
came to my door. He was going to Burke’s, but I told him there was
nobody there; and he came into my house, but soon went back into the
passage. I afterwards went to Burke’s door, and found it fastened.
Q. After you went to Burke’s door, did you see any one? A. Yes, Hare
came out of Burke’s after that.
Q. Did you see M‘Dougal? A. Yes, and Burke a good bit on in the night.
Q. Did any thing else happen? A. Yes, some one said to Burke and
M‘Dougal, that they were very much disturbed the night _they murdered_
the woman. M‘Dougal laughed, and Burke said, he would defy all
Scotland, as he never did any wrong. The Police came just after that
and apprehended Burke.
_Cross-Examined by Sir J. W. Moncrieff, Dean of Faculty._
Q. Did Burke, before he was apprehended, say any thing of the person,
who accused him of the murder?
A. Yes, he said he would go and seek the man, and he met him in the
passage along with the policeman, and they took him into his own house.
_By a Juryman._
Q. What was the cause of your fear, when you went into Burke’s house.
A. From having heard of the murder from Mrs Gray.
JANET LAWRIE or (Law) _Examined_.
Q. You lived in the same passage with the prisoners in October last? A.
Yes.
Q. Do you remember being at Connaway’s house on the 31st October, about
two in the afternoon? A. Yes.
Q. Do you recollect seeing the prisoner Burke in the passage? A. Yes.
Q. Was he alone? A. A little woman was following him, they went into
Burke’s house.
Q. Did you see Hare that evening? A. Yes.
Q. Did he go into Burke’s house? A. Yes.
Q. Did you go in there? A. Yes.
Q. Whom did you see? A. I saw Hare and his wife and Burke, and the
little woman.
Q. At that time were they merry? A. Yes.
Q. You were not long there? A. About twenty minutes.
Q. Did you get any spirits? A. Yes.
Q. At what hour did you go to bed? A. About half-past nine; sometime
after I heard a noise of dancing and merriment.
Q. Did you hear any singing? A. No, Sir.
Q. Fighting and scuffling? A. There was a great noise.
Q. Did you distinguish any particular voice? A. No.
Q. Did the noise last long? A. Yes. The next morning Mrs Burke came
into my house to borrow a pair of bellows, and asked me if I heard
Burke and Hare fighting in the night time.
Q. Any more about the fighting? A. I asked her then what she had done
with the little woman? She said, she kicked her out of the door,
because she had been using too much freedom with William, (meaning
Burke.)
Q. Did she go after that? A. Yes, that was about eight. She afterwards
returned about nine to borrow a dram glass, and asked me to come into
her house.
Q. Did you go? A. Yes, and saw Hare there and Burke and M‘Dougal; and a
man of the name of Broggan.
Q. Did Gray and his wife come in before you left? A. Yes, and Mrs
Connaway.
Q. Did you remark any thing particular? A. Yes, Burke took a bottle of
spirits, and sprinkled it about the bed and room; he said, because none
of them would drink it.
Q. Was there a good deal of straw lying at the foot of the bed?
A. Yes. This took place on the Saturday morning, and Burke was
apprehended that night.
Q. Did you see Mrs Connaway at Burke’s house? A. Yes.
Q. Did you go to the Police Office on Sunday? A. Yes, and was shewn the
body of the little woman I saw at Burke’s on Friday night.
_Cross-Examined._
Q. Was the straw that was near the bed there before? A. Yes.
Q. Was it in use? A. Yes, it had been used for some time as a bed for
Gray and his wife.
HUGH ALSTON _Examined_.
Q. Do you live in the same land with Burke? A. Yes, I live in the flat
above the shop, and he lives in the flat below the shop.
Q. Did you hear any noise on the night of the 31st October when going
home? A. Yes, I heard some going along the passage between eleven and
twelve that night.
Q. Tell us what you heard? A. I heard two men quarrelling; but what
particularly attracted my attention was, the cry of murder from a
woman. I went down a part of the stair towards Burke’s house.
Q. Do you know Connaway’s door? A. Yes.
Q. Did you go so far as that? A. Yes.
Q. Now tell us distinctly as far as you can what you heard? A. I heard
two men quarrelling, and a woman crying murder, but not in such a way
as would lead me to think she was in danger. She continued to do so for
a few minutes; then something gave three cries as if it was strangled.
Q. Did it resemble the sound of a person or animal that was strangled?
A. Yes.
Q. What did you hear after this? A. I heard no noise on the floor, only
speaking loud. After these remarkable sounds, I heard the female voice
who cried murder, strike her hand as if against the door and call for
the police, they were murdering her. I went immediately for the police,
and could not get one. I returned and went down the stair a little way.
Q. Did you hear any thing after? A. Nothing but the voices of the two
men which appeared at a great distance.
Q. While you were listening, did you hear feet moving on the floor? A.
Yes.
Q. How far might you be from Burke’s door when you heard those
remarkable sounds? A. About three yards, or ten or fifteen feet.
Q. Was the outer door shut? A. I think it was, and that on the same
door the woman struck her hands.
Q. When did you hear a body had been found? A. On Saturday evening, and
that fixed my recollection of what I heard before.
_Cross-Examined._
Q. You said you went in search of the Police? A. Yes.
Q. How far did you go? A. Only to the mouth of the passage. When I
returned I did not consider it necessary to interfere farther.
Q. Was the voice you heard of murder the same you heard when you first
went down?
A. Yes, it was like the voice that said, for God’s sake go for the
police, there is murder here. I since sent a person to strike on the
_inner door_ to see if it sounded the same as I heard before, and
I think it did not.
_Re-examined._
Q. Was the last cry for the Police? A. Yes, and that there was murder
there.
_By the Jury._
Q. Have you any doubts the cry of murder you heard in the passage came
from Burke’s house? A. I have no doubt of it.
ELIZABETH PATERSON, _Examined_.
Q. Look at the prisoner, do you know him by sight? A. Yes, I do.
Q. Did you see him on Friday, 31st October? A. Yes, he came to my
mother’s house on Friday night to ask for my brother David, and I said
he was out. He then went away.
Q. Did you go on the next morning to Burke’s house? A. Yes, my brother
sent me for Burke, and I went and inquired for his house at Mrs Law’s.
DAVID PATERSON, _Examined_.
Q. Where do you live? A. At No. 26, West Port.
Q. What is your occupation? A. I am keeper of the Museum of Doctor Knox.
Q. Do you know the prisoner? A. Yes.
Q. At what hour did you go home on the 31st October?
A. About twelve.
Q. Did you find any person at your door? A. Yes, the prisoner; he told
me he wanted me to go to his house.
Q. Did you go? A. Yes.
Q. Did you find people there? A. I found Burke and another man and two
women.
Q. After you went in, what passed? A. The prisoner told me he had
procured something for the Doctor, pointing to the head of the bed,
where there was some straw; he said it in an under voice. I was near
him at the time.
Q. Was any thing shewn to you at that time? A. Nothing.
Q. What did you understand he meant? A. I understood him to mean a dead
body, a subject.
Q. What were his exact words? A. His words were--“There is something
for the doctor (pointing to the straw) which will be ready to-morrow
morning.”
Q. Was there sufficient straw to cover the body? A. There was.
Q. Was that woman, the prisoner at the bar there, (pointing to Mrs
M‘Dougal?) A. She was.
Q. Would you know the other two persons who were present?
A. Yes.
Hare and his wife being brought in.
Q. Do you know these people? A. I know them by the name of HARE, they
are the other persons that were at Burke’s house that night.
Q. Had you any further conversation with Burke, while you remained
there? A. No, but I sent my sister for him in the morning, and he came
alone about nine o’clock.
Q. What did you say to him when he called on you? A. I told him if
he had any thing for Dr Knox, to go to himself, and agree with him
personally. I afterwards saw the prisoner Burke and Hare in Doctor
Knox’s Rooms in Surgeon’s Square, along with Doctor Jones, one of
Doctor Knox’s assistants. This was between twelve and two.
Q. Did any thing pass there? A. Either Burke or Hare told Dr Knox, they
had a dead body for him, which they would deliver there that night;
and I had orders from Doctor Knox to be in the way to receive it, or
any parcel that might come. I was there about seven, when Burke and
Hare, and a porter named M‘Culloch, brought a tea-chest. They carried
it in, and it was put in a cellar, (Mr. Jones was present,) and when it
was locked up, I went to Newington to Dr Knox, and told him the parcel
was delivered. Hare, Burke, and the porter had either gone before or
followed. I saw them when I came out of Dr Knox’s house. He gave me
Five Pounds to give the men, with orders to divide it between them,
and in order to do so, I took them to a public-house, and got change,
and gave each Two Pounds Ten Shillings. They left something for the
porter. It was understood they were to return on Monday, by which time,
if Dr Knox approved of the subject, they would get the remainder of the
price, which I believe, was Eight Pounds.
Q. Did you hear the prisoner say any thing about women? A. Yes.
Q. Did you see any women loitering about? A. No.
Q. What happened after? A. The next morning, Sunday, Lieutenant
Paterson and Sergeant Fisher of the Police came to me, and I went to Dr
Knox’s cellar along with them, and gave them the package which was left
there the night before.
Q. Was it still roped? A. Yes, as it had been received.
Q. Did you assist at the opening of it? A. Yes, and found it to contain
the body of an elderly female, apparently fresh and never interred.
The body was doubled up in the box, all the extremities doubled on the
chest or thorax for want of room.
Q. Describe the state when it came out of the box? A. I examined
all the body externally, stretched on a table. The face had a very
livid colour, there was blood flowing from the mouth. The appearance
indicated evident marks of strangulation, or suffocation from pressure.
I found no external marks on the body that might have caused death.
By the Court.--Q. Did the eyes project? A. No.
Q. Was the tongue hanging out? A. No.
Q. Was there any marks about the throat? A. No.
Q. Was there any injury about the lips and nose? A. Yes, they were dark
coloured and marked with blood.
JOHN BROGGAN _Examined_.
Was at Burke’s the morning after the murder. Saw Burke spill spirits
about the room, and detailed several indecent speeches of Mrs Burke,
about the way she got a shot of the old woman. He was desired by Burke
to remain, but did not.
MRS GRAY _Examined_.
Q. Do you know the prisoners Burke and M‘Dougal? A. Yes.
Q. You lodged in their house at the end of October? A. Yes.
Q. You saw a strange woman there? A. Yes.
Q. What had she on? A. A dark printed gown, and a pink bed-gown over it.
[Witness was shewn the clothes, and identified them.]
Q. You saw the little woman there once or twice on Friday?
A. Yes.
Q. Did Burke say how he met her? A. He said, he met her in a shop at
nine or ten that morning.
Q. Did you remain at Burke’s house that night? A. No; Burke told me
I should leave the house for that night as my husband and I were
quarrelling; and if I would go, he would pay my lodgings, and he said
I was to go to _William Hare’s_. I went away with Hare’s own wife, and
returned about nine o’clock for some things of my child’s. Hare and
Burke were dancing, and Mrs Docherty was singing to them. In the course
of the day Mrs Docherty wanted to go out, but Mrs Burke would not let
her.
Q. At what time did you return to Hare’s? A. Almost immediately.
Q. Did Hare and his wife come home? A. Yes, and Mrs Burke came to
supper; after that they all went out together, and the Hares did not
return that night. The first thing in the morning that occurred, was
Burke coming to my husband to give him a dram. Then went to Burke’s
house and saw there a number of people, but not the old woman. I asked
where she was, and was told, Mrs Burke had turned her out as she was
drunk.
Q. When you went to the house, did you go back for any thing? A. Yes,
for a pair of my child’s stockings. When looking for them, Burke told
me “to keep out from there;” that is, from the straw. There was whisky
then used. Burke threw it about, and said he wanted to get quit of it
to get more. Burke then ordered me to put on some potatoes; and I went
to reach under the bed for some, when Burke told me to come out of
that, I might set the bed a-fire with my pipe.
Q. Was Broggan there? A. Yes, during the day, and Burke desired he
would sit there, on the chair next the straw, until he Burke came back
again.
Q. Did Broggan remain? A. No, he only stopped a few minutes.
Q. Did Burke bid you clean the house? A. No; but I said it would be
better to wash the floor, and put a little sand on it.
Q. What did you do after Broggan went out? A. I went to look for Burke,
but I could not find him. I went out again, and met him at the West
Bow, he went to take a dram.
Q. Did you discover a dead body in that house after Broggan went out?
A. Yes.
Q. Where did you find it? A. Under the straw at the foot of the bed.
Q. Why did you go back? A. Because my suspicions were raised at seeing
Burke throw the spirits about, and I was determined to see what it
meant. The first thing I seized hold of, was the woman’s right arm. My
husband took her up by the hair of the head, the body was naked, and
there was blood on the nose and mouth. My husband went away before me;
he met Mrs Burke on the stair, and told her what he had seen, and asked
her about the body. She told him to hold his tongue, and it might be
worth Ten Pounds a week to him.
Q. Did you say any thing to Mrs Burke? A. Yes, I spoke to her about the
body, and told her, that was the woman who was well, singing on the
floor; and she bade me hold my tongue, and she would give me Five or
Six Shillings. She repeated the words again, and said, if my husband
would be quiet, it would be worth Ten Pounds a week to him. I said
that I would not wish to be worth money got for dead people.
Q. Did your husband give information after that to the police? A. Yes.
Q. You saw the body there? A. Yes.
Q. Was it the same? A. Yes.
Q. Did you return with Mrs. Connaway to Burke’s? A. No, I sent her in,
but did not go myself.
Cross-Examined by Sir James Moncrieff.
Q. Did you sleep in Burke’s house on Thursday night?
A. Yes, on the bed of straw.
Q. Did you continue there all the forenoon of Friday?
A Yes, I never went out but for a stoup-full of water.
Q. What time did you go to Hare’s? A. About dark.
Q. Did any one ask you to come back to Burke’s that night? A. No, I
thought as it was Halloween night they did not wish to have me amongst
them.
Q. Who went with you to Burke’s at the time you say you went for your
child’s clothes? A. My husband. It was about nine o’clock, we did not
stop many minutes.
Q. Were they all making merry? A. Yes, they were dancing and singing.
Q. Do you remember was Mrs. Connaway there? A. No.
Q. You went away in a few minutes? A. Yes.
Q. You say that Hare afterwards came home, with Mrs. Hare and M‘Dougal?
A. It was before I went back for the clothes and not after.
Q. Did they ask you to come and have some sport with them? A. No; next
morning Burke came, and went out to give my husband a dram, and he told
us to come down to breakfast, and we did.
Q. When you went down to breakfast, did you see Hare or his wife then?
A. No.
Q. Are you sure? A. Quite sure, she came home before I went to
breakfast. I did not get up until eight o’clock.
Q. Did M‘Dougal say any thing to your husband or yourself about the
body when it was found? Did she say, My God I cannot help it? A. Yes, I
recollect now, she did.
Q. Did these words follow her offer of the ten pounds a week? A. Yes.
By the COURT.
Am I to understand she said, “My God, I cannot help it,” after you
said you did not wish to make money by dead people? A. Yes. [Here she
recapitulated her evidence in a very distinct manner.]
Q. Did the woman make no reply, when you said the woman was dead, whom
you saw well and singing the night before? A. No.
Q. What did you say after? A. I said, if she could not help it, she
ought not to remain in the house.
Q. Were these words, “My God, I cannot help it,” used after M‘Dougal
had spoken to your husband of ten pounds a week, and he had refused to
be silent? A. Yes, it was after the offer of money; and I said, did she
mean to bring a family to disgrace, that prisoner replied, “My God, how
can I help it.”
JAMES GRAY, Labourer, Husband of the foregoing
Witness, _Examined_.
Q. You lodged at the prisoner’s house? A. Yes, for a few nights at the
end of last October.
Q. Do you remember Burke having any conversation with you about
sleeping out of his house on the 31st of that month?
A. Yes, Burke said we must go out that night, that he had provided a
place for us, and that we might come back in the morning to breakfast.
Q. Did he give any reason for desiring you to leave his house that
night? A. No, not that I recollect. He took us to Hare’s, and pitched
on a bed he used to occupy himself.
Q. Did you know that Burke brought in a strange woman that morning
before, and ordered breakfast for her? A. Yes. He said, he suspected
she was some relation of his mother’s, as she had the same name, and
was from near the same place.
Q. Did you return the night you left Burke’s? A. Yes, about nine, with
my wife, where we saw a good number of people at Burke’s; we stopped a
few minutes. Next morning Burke came, and my wife and I went down to
breakfast.
Q. In the course of that Saturday, was you present when your wife found
a dead body? A. Yes, it was covered with straw, and lying near the head
of the bed.
Q. Was it the woman you saw there the night before? A. Yes. I then
packed up my things that were there, and was on the point of taking
them to a house opposite, when I met Mrs. Burke, I asked her, what
was the meaning of that thing I saw in her room. She asked what; I
said, I suppose you know, the body. She then fell upon her knees and
supplicated me, offered me five or six shillings, and said, if I held
my tongue, it might be worth ten pounds a week to me. I said, my
conscience would not allow it.
Q. Did she say the same thing to your wife? A. Very near.
Q. Did she say she could not help it? A. She did.