respectable and worthy man, Alderman Thurtell of Norwich, who twice
filled the office of mayor of that city. Early in life he went to sea,
and on his return obtained a lieutenant's commission in the German
Legion, then serving in Portugal. He also served in Spain, and was at
the storming of St. Sebastian. In 1821 he was residing at Norwich as a
bombasin manufacturer, and in that year, he came to London to receive
400_l._ for goods which he had sold to a respectable house, and which,
on his return, he was to pay among his creditors. Instead of doing so,
however, he fabricated a story that, as he was walking along a lonely
spot, near Norwich, he was stopped by footpads, and robbed of it; but
his creditors did not hesitate to tell him that he had invented this
tale for the purpose of defrauding them; and, to avoid their
importunities, he set off for London, in company with a girl, with whom
he had lived for some time. Here he commenced business, in conjunction
with his brother Thomas, but soon failed. On the 26th of January, 1823,
their premises in Watling-street were burnt down, and very strong
suspicions were entertained that the fire was wilful, and that the
object of the Thurtells was to defraud the insurance-office.
About two years before this event, by which the brothers were thrown out
of the immediate means of subsistence, John Thurtell had become a
frequenter of a public-house in Bow-street, called the Brown Bear, which
has since been removed, but which was then well known, as the resort of
sporting men, and as a house much frequented by persons addicted to
gaming. There was a room at the back of the premises, where high play
was frequently countenanced among the customers, and where Thurtell,
almost on his first introduction to the society, lost 300_l._ at blind
hookey in the course of a very short time. Mad at his loss, he appears
to have almost formed a resolution to quit a house for ever, where he
firmly believed that unfair play was resorted to; but at the persuasion
of his new friends, he became reconciled, and seemed to enter into the
sporting circles, with somewhat of a determination to endeavour, by any
means, to retrieve his own losses, and to profit by the inexperience and
indiscretion of any, who might come in his way. He was doomed to be
again disappointed, however, and to be again taught a somewhat severe
lesson. The fights between Hickman, the Gasman, and Oliver, and between
Jack Randall, and Martin "the master of the Rolls," were at this time on
the _tapis_, and Hickman and Martin were in training at Wade's Mill,
Herts. Thurtell was too good a flat to be given up yet, and on his
exhibiting some anxiety to become acquainted with the men, he was
conducted to them and introduced to them; the object being to deprive
him of any little money, which he might still possess. Weare, who was
his subsequent victim, was no less a frequenter of the Brown Bear, and
no less an admirer of all the sports of the ring, and of the field; and
having by a pretty long acquaintance with the "flash" world obtained a
good knowledge of its members, and of its habits and proceedings, he was
selected as the "plant," to be put upon the pigeon, who was to be
plucked; or in other words, he was to be introduced to Thurtell as a new
hand, and by pretending little acquaintance with the ways of the
sporting world, was to draw him out, and then, bringing his real
knowledge of all the habits of playmen into operation, was to fleece him
of all he possessed. The plan being agreed upon was soon carried out,
and another 300_l._ being eventually won from Thurtell, he swore
vengeance against those who, he now clearly found, had conspired to rob
him. They saw, however, that it was useless to proceed further against
their dupe with any chance of getting anything from him, and in order to
conciliate him, they determined to let him into a secret, which cost
them nothing, and by which he might be able to secure some return for
the losses, which he had sustained, by their instrumentality. He was
therefore informed of a "cross," which was about to take place, that is,
an unfair fight, which was to be fought, and by introducing him among
their acquaintance, they procured for him a bet, by which he secured a
sum of 600_l._ Thus successful, no effort could induce him to quit a
circle, for which he appeared to have formed a strong partiality; and he
soon became known as one of a gang of the most unprincipled and
successful gamblers. In his rounds, he frequently met Mr. Weare, and it
appears that that gentleman had originally possessed a very considerable
property, but, unfortunately, from his being a dupe, had himself become
a gambler. It was not until Thurtell had been for some time acquainted
with this person, however, as will be seen by the evidence, that the
plan was laid for his murder; and the inducement for the commission of
this diabolical offence is now well known to have been a "private bank,"
which Mr. Weare carried about him, in a pocket in an under waistcoat,
and to which he had been frequently seen to convey money, when any
"chance" turned up in his favour; and from which he had also been seen
to take the necessary funds for carrying on any game, when he saw the
likelihood of winning by the hazard of a large stake.
The circumstances immediately attending the murder are so fully and so
well detailed in the opening speech of Mr. Gurney, (now Mr. Baron
Gurney,) who was employed to conduct the prosecution, on the trial,
which took place at Hertford, on the 5th January 1824, that it is almost
unnecessary to do more than to give it at length.
The prisoners, who stood indicted, were John Thurtell and Joseph Hunt.
The former has been already described; the latter was at that time well
known as a public singer, and was somewhat celebrated for the talent
which he possessed.
Mr. Gurney, in opening the case to the jury, stated that the deceased,
Mr. William Weare, was known to be addicted to play, and to be in the
habit of frequenting gaming-houses, and that the prisoner, Thurtell, was
acquainted with him, and, as it was said, had been wronged by him, in
respect to some play, in which they had been engaged, and had been
deprived by him of a large sum of money. The prisoner, Hunt, was also
known to Mr. Weare, but was not in habits of friendship or intimacy with
him. He would next describe a person, whom he should have to call in
evidence against the prisoners. He alluded to Probert, who was a party
to the murder, after its commission, although it did not appear that he
had any hand in its actual perpetration. He was engaged in trade as a
spirit-dealer, and he rented a cottage in a secluded spot, called Gill's
Hill Lane, situated about three miles from Elstree. He was himself
usually engaged in London, in his business, during the day, and his wife
lived at the cottage, which was a small one, and was fully occupied by
his wife, her sister, (Miss Noyes,) some children of Thurtell's brother,
Thomas, a maid-servant, and a boy. The vicinity of this cottage was
selected by the prisoners as a fit spot for the perpetration of the
murder, which had been already determined upon; and the mode of the
commission of which, he should now proceed to describe. Thurtell and the
deceased met at a billiard-room, kept by one Rexworthy, on the evening
of Thursday, the 23rd of October, and being joined there by Hunt, Mr.
Weare was invited by Thurtell to go to Probert's cottage, for the
purpose of enjoying some shooting in the neighbourhood, for two or three
days. He accepted the invitation, and the following day was fixed for
him to meet Thurtell, who promised to drive him down to the place. On
the forenoon of the Friday, the deceased called at Rexworthy's, saying,
that he was going out shooting with Thurtell, and at about three o'clock
he went home, to the chambers, which he occupied in Lyon's Inn, and
having partaken of a chop dinner, he packed up some clothes in a green
carpet bag, and the laundress having called a coach, he went away in it,
carrying with him the carpet bag, a double barrelled gun, in a case,
together with a back-gammon board, containing dice, &c. He left his
chambers in this manner before four o'clock, and drove first to Charing
Cross, and afterwards to Maddox-street, Hanover square; thence he
proceeded to the New Road, where he got out of the coach, but returned
after some time, accompanied by another person, and took his things
away. At this time, Thomas and John Thurtell had need of temporary
concealment, owing to their inability to provide the bail requisite to
meet a charge of misdemeanour; and Probert had procured for them a
retreat at Tetsall's, at the sign of the Coach and Horses, in
Conduit-street, where they remained for two or three weeks previous to
the murder. On the morning of Friday, the 24th of October, two men,
answering in every respect to the description of John Thurtell and Hunt,
went to a pawnbroker's in Mary-le-bone, and purchased a pair of
pocket-pistols. In the middle of the same day Hunt hired a gig, and
afterwards a horse, under the pretence of going to Dartford, in Kent:
and he inquired at the stables where he could purchase a sack and a
rope, and was directed to a place over Westminster Bridge, which, he was
told, was on his road into Kent. Somewhere, however, it would be found
that he did procure a sack and cord; and, on the same afternoon, he met
at Tetsall's Probert, the two Thurtells, and Noyes. Some conversation
took place at the time between the parties, and Hunt was heard to ask
Probert if he, "would be in it,"--meaning what they (Hunt and John
Thurtell) were about. Thurtell drove off from Tetsall's between four and
five o'clock, to take up a friend, as he said to Probert, "to be killed
as he travelled with him:" and he requested Probert to bring down Hunt
in his own gig. In the course of that evening the prisoner, Thurtell,
was seen in a gig, with a horse of an iron-grey colour, with a white
face and white legs. He was first seen by a patrol, near Edgeware;
beyond that part of the road he was seen by the landlord of a
public-house; but from that time, until his arrival at Probert's
cottage, on the same night, there was no direct evidence to trace him.
Probert, according to Thurtell's request, drove Hunt down in his gig,
and, having a better horse, on the road they overtook Thurtell and
Weare, in the gig, and passed them without notice. They stopped
afterwards at a public-house on the road, to drink grog, where they
believed Thurtell must have passed them unperceived. Probert afterwards
drove Hunt until they reached Phillimore Lodge, where he (Hunt) got out,
as he said, by Thurtell's desire to wait for him. Probert from thence
drove alone to Gill's Hill cottage, in the lane near which he met
Thurtell on foot, and alone. Thurtell inquired--Where was Hunt, had he
been left behind? and added, that he had done the business without his
assistance, and had killed his man. At his desire, Probert then returned
to bring Hunt to the spot, and went to Hunt for that purpose. When they
met, he told Hunt what had happened. "Why, it was to be done here!" said
Hunt, (pointing to a spot nearer Phillimore Lodge,) admitting his
privity, and that he had got out to assist in the commission of the
deed. When Thurtell rebuked Hunt for his absence, "Why," said the
latter, "you had the tools." "They were no good," replied Thurtell, "the
pistols were no better than pop-guns: I fired at his cheek, and it
glanced off." He then proceeded to detail to them the mode, in which he
had committed the murder. He said that when he fired, Weare jumped out
of the gig, cried for mercy, and offered to give up his money; but that
he had pursued him up the lane, and finding the pistol useless, had
knocked him down; that they then struggled together, and he tried to cut
his throat with a pen-knife; but that eventually he had killed him, by
driving the barrel of the pistol into his forehead, and then turning it
in his brains. Mr. Gurney then continued to state, that a few minutes
before the time at which the murder must have been committed, a gig was
heard to pass Probert's cottage at a rapid pace, and the servant boy,
who was in momentary expectation of his master's return, imagined that
it was he. He found, however, that he did not arrive at the cottage, and
he proceeded about the work on which he was before engaged. In about
five minutes after this, some persons who were near the road distinctly
heard the report of a gun or pistol, and then voices, as if in
contention. Groans were next distinguished; but they became fainter and
fainter, and at length they altogether died away. The spot from which
these noises proceeded, was Gill's Hill Lane, near the cottage of
Probert. At about nine o'clock Thurtell arrived at the cottage, and
although he had started from town accompanied by a friend, he now was
alone; but he had with him the double-barrelled gun, the carpet bag, and
the backgammon board, which Mr. Weare had taken with him from his
chambers. He gave his horse to the boy, and it had the appearance of
having been sweated; but it was now cool, and it appeared as if, after
having been driven fast, it had been allowed to stand. The boy inquired
after his master, and was told that he would soon arrive, and then
Thurtell went out again. His meeting with Probert had been already
described; and Hunt having been again taken into the gig by the latter,
from Phillimore's Lodge, they all returned to Probert's cottage
together; Thurtell walking by the side of the gig. Probert on his
arrival immediately went into the parlour, and acquainted his wife with
the circumstance of Thurtell and Hunt having come down, as they were not
expected; and presently on their joining him, Hunt, who was a stranger
to Mrs. Probert, was formally introduced to her. They then supped on
some pork-chops, which Hunt had carried down in the gig from London; and
afterwards they all three went out together, professedly with the
intention of calling on Mr. Nicholls, a neighbour, but in reality to
visit the body of the murdered man. Thurtell conducted his two
companions down the lane, and having led them to the spot where the
murder was committed, they dragged the body through a hedge into an
adjoining field, and there rifled the pockets of his clothes. Thurtell
had already taken away his purse and watch, and they now secured a
pocket-book, and any other valuables which he had in his possession.
They then went back to the cottage, and Thurtell, with a sponge which
was in the gig, endeavoured to remove some marks of blood which were on
his clothes, many of which were distinctly seen by Probert's boy; and
having been partially successful, they all proceeded again into the
parlour. In the course of the evening Thurtell produced a gold watch and
seals, but without a chain; and he also displayed a gold curb chain,
which when single might be used for a lady's neck, or when joined, was
fit to be used for a watch. Opening the chain, he remarked, that it was
more fit for a lady than a gentleman; and he pressed it on Mrs. Probert,
and eventually made her accept it. Some conversation then took place,
and Hunt sang two or three songs, and then an offer was made, that Miss
Noyes' bed should be prepared for the two visitors, and that Miss Noyes
should sleep with the children. This, however, was declined, and
Thurtell and Hunt declared that they would rather sit up all night in
the parlour. Mrs. Probert and Miss Noyes at length retired to rest,
leaving the three men down stairs; but something had raised suspicion in
the mind of Mrs. Probert, in consequence of which she did not go to bed,
nor undress herself. She went to the window, and, looking out, saw that
Probert, Hunt, and Thurtell were in the garden. It would be proved that
they went down to the body, and finding it too heavy to be removed, one
of the horses was taken from the stable. The body, enclosed in a sack,
was then placed across the horse; and stones having been put into the
sack, the body, with the sack, was thrown into the pond. Mrs. Probert
distinctly saw something heavy drawn across the garden. The parties then
returned to the house; and Mrs. Probert, whose fears and suspicions were
now most powerfully excited, went down stairs, and listened behind the
parlour door. The parties proceeded to share the booty; and Thurtell
divided with the rest, money to the amount of six pounds each. The
purse, the pocket-book, and certain papers which might lead to
detection, were carefully burned. They remained up late; and Probert,
when he went to bed, was surprised to find that his wife was not asleep.
Hunt and Thurtell still continued to sit up in the parlour. The next
morning, as early as six o'clock, Hunt and Thurtell were seen in the
lane together. Some men who were at work there observed them, as they
called it, "grabbling" for something in the hedge; and being spoken to
by these men, Thurtell observed, "that it was a very bad road, and that
he had nearly been capsized there last night." The men said, "I hope you
were not hurt." To which Thurtell answered, "Oh! no, the gig was not
upset," and then went away. These men, thinking something might have
been lost on the spot, searched, after Thurtell and Hunt were gone. In
one place they found a quantity of blood, further on they discovered a
bloody knife, and next they found a bloody pistol--one of the pair which
were purchased by Hunt. That pistol bore upon it the marks of blood and
of human brains. The spot was afterwards still further examined, and
more blood was discovered, which had been concealed by branches and
leaves; so that no doubt could be entertained that the murder had been
committed in this particular place. On the following morning, Saturday,
the 25th of October, Thurtell and Hunt left Probert's cottage in the
gig, carrying away with them the gun, the carpet bag, and the backgammon
board, belonging to Mr. Weare. These articles were taken to Hunt's
lodgings, where they were afterwards found. When Hunt arrived in town on
Saturday he appeared to be unusually gay: he said, "We Turpin lads can
do the trick. I am able to drink wine now, and I will drink nothing but
wine;" and he seemed to be very much elated at the recollection of some
successful exploit. It was observed that Thurtell's hands were very much
scratched; and some remark having been made on the subject, he stated
"that they had been out netting partridges, and that his hands got
scratched in that occupation." On some other points he gave similarly
evasive answers. On the Saturday, Hunt had a new spade sent to his
lodgings, which he took down to the cottage on Sunday, when he again
accompanied Probert in his gig. When he got near Probert's garden, he
told him that it was to dig a hole to bury the body in; and soon after
their reaching the house, Thurtell joined them. On that night Probert
visited Mr. Nicholls; and in the course of a conversation which took
place between them, that gentleman remarked that some persons had heard
the report of a gun or pistol in the lane on Friday night, and that he
supposed that it was a joke of some of his friends. He denied all
knowledge of the circumstance to him, but on his return home he
communicated what had passed to Thurtell and Hunt. They were much
alarmed at it, and the former declared that "he was baked;" and they all
became extremely desirous to conceal the body effectually, more
especially as Probert considered that he should be in danger, in the
event of its being discovered in his garden. Thurtell and Hunt promised
to go down to do it on the next evening; and in order that Probert's boy
should be out of the way, they took him to town with them on the next
day, and lodged him at Tetsall's in Conduit-street. They returned, in
obedience to their promise; and while Hunt engaged Mrs. Probert in
conversation, Thurtell and Probert went into the garden, and having
drawn the body from the pond, placed it in Thurtell's gig to be carried
away. Hunt was then apprised that all was ready; and he and Thurtell
drove away with the body, refusing to tell Probert the place in which
they intended to conceal it. He should now describe the circumstances
under which this fearful and cold-blooded crime had been discovered, and
its perpetrators brought to justice. The discharge of the pistol in
Gill's Hill Lane, and the subsequent suspicious finding of the
blood-marks, and of the knife and pistol, were circumstances which had
induced great alarm in the minds of the inhabitants and magistracy of
the surrounding neighbourhood; and although at first there was little to
prove the absolute fact of murder having been committed, the whole of
the appearances of the case were such as to leave little doubt that the
two prisoners and Probert could explain, if they would, the real cause
of the events which had produced so much confusion and suspicion. They
were all, in consequence, taken into custody; and although Hunt had
shaved off his whiskers, which had been previously very large, and had
otherwise disfigured himself, he was proved to have hired the horse and
gig which Thurtell had taken to Gill's Hill, and in which it was known
that a person who was now nowhere to be found had accompanied him.
Strict inquiries were made, and the most active investigation carried on
by the magistrates, but nothing could be elicited which could in the
slightest degree lead to the discovery of who was in reality the
murdered man, for that murder had been committed was now presumed to be
beyond a doubt; but at length, on the Thursday morning, Hunt, upon a
species of understanding with the magistrates, pointed out a pond near
Elstree, at a considerable distance from Probert's house, and there,
sunk to the bottom by means of stones, in a state of nudity and covered
only by a sack, were discovered the murdered remains of a man, who
afterwards proved to be the unfortunate Mr. Weare, the former friend and
companion of the prisoner Thurtell. The learned counsel having stated
these circumstances, declared that in order to prove them all, he should
be compelled to call before the jury Probert as a witness, who was
confessedly privy to the concealment of the body, if not to the actual
murder; but he should so build up and corroborate his testimony by that
of other witnesses, that he conceived that no doubt could be entertained
of its veracity. With regard to the prisoner Hunt: he was charged as an
accomplice before the fact. He hired the gig, and he procured the sack.
The gun, travelling-bag, and backgammon board, were found in his
lodgings. These constituted a part of the plunder of Mr. Weare, and
could be possessed only by a person participating in this crime.
Besides, there was placed about the neck of Probert's wife, a chain,
which had belonged to Mr. Weare; and round the neck of the murdered man
there was found a shawl, which belonged to Thurtell, but which had been
seen in the hands of Hunt.
The collateral circumstances were then proved by a variety of witnesses,
whose examination occupied the court during several hours.
Ruthven, the officer, deposited on the table a pistol and a pistol-key,
a knife, a muslin handkerchief spotted with blood, a shirt similarly
stained, and a waistcoat, into the pockets of which bloody hands had
been thrust. A coat and a hat marked with blood were also produced, all
of which belonged to Thurtell. Ruthven then produced several articles
belonging to the deceased--the gun, the carpet bag, and his clothes.
Symmonds the constable, when sworn, took from his pocket a white paper,
which he carefully unfolded, and produced to the court the pistol with
which the murder had been committed. It was a blue steel-barrelled
pistol, with brass about the handle; the pan was open, as the firing had
left it, and was smeared with the black of gunpowder and the dingy stain
of blood. The barrel was bloody; and in the muzzle a piece of tow was
thrust, to keep in the horrid contents, the murdered man's brains.
Against the back of the pan were the short curled hairs, of a silver
hue, which had been dug from the dead man's head, and were glued to the
pan firmly with crusted blood.
We shall now give the evidence of Probert and his wife, who were called,
and which discloses the circumstances attending the murder, and the
disposition of the property of the deceased, with more exact minuteness
than the statement of the learned counsel. Probert's evidence was as
follows: