their assailants was found at Nine Elms, Vauxhall (on the opposite shore
to that on which the Spread Eagle is situated), and it was discovered to
belong to Mr. Moore, a boat-owner, from whose yard it had been
clandestinely taken on the previous night by two men named Kennedy and
Brown. Mitchell was perfectly acquainted with the persons and the
character of these individuals, and he hesitated not to believe that
they were the men who had been guilty of this outrage. Proceeding in
search of them he soon succeeded in apprehending them, together with
three of their companions, named Kitley, Lyon, and Flack, who, like
them, were of notoriously bad character, and were well known as river
thieves. Evidence was not long wanting to connect Kennedy and Brown with
the transaction. Independently of the knowledge of their having
possessed themselves of Mr. Moore's boat, on the Tuesday evening, at
about the time when Mr. Smales and Mr. Wilkinson must have been passing
the yard where it was lying, and where, a moment before, they had been
in conversation with an apprentice of Mr. Moore, named Shearing; it was
ascertained that they had been seen walking together from Nine Elms
towards Lambeth Butts, at about half past ten o'clock, on the night in
question, and that on their arrival at a beer-shop, which they
frequented there, their demeanour was confused, and entirely different
from its usual character. On the following morning they were seen at the
same house, in company with the other prisoners, Flack and Kitley, and
they all appeared to be intently occupied in the destruction of some
letters or papers, which had been produced by Kennedy. They had remained
thus employed some time, when all but Kennedy went away. Isbester, a
Thames Police officer, shortly afterwards made his appearance in search
of them, but Kennedy seemed to be instinctively aware of his approach,
and speedily vanished. Bean, the landlord, presently discovered that he
was hidden in an adjoining empty house, and having driven him out he was
immediately secured. The other prisoners were taken into custody in the
course of the same day.
It was not until Thursday morning that the remains of Mr. Wilkinson were
recovered from the river. They were then washed ashore opposite the very
spot where they had sunk. They presented in themselves sufficient
evidence of the violence which the unfortunate gentleman had suffered.
The nose was broken, and the head, face, and hands, were severely
bruised. At an inquest held on the body on the next evening, Friday the
20th of July, Mr. Davis, a surgeon, was examined, who had inspected the
body of the deceased. He declared, that the injuries of themselves would
have been sufficient to cause death, but he suggested that in all
probability they had created insensibility, and that the deceased,
having sunk, had been suffocated by drowning. The facts which have been
already detailed were proved in evidence before the jury, and a verdict
of "Wilful Murder" against Brown and Kennedy was returned; the latter
being recognised by Mr. Smales as the man with the night-cap, who had
been most active in the attack. The other prisoners were declared to be
insufficiently connected with the affair to admit of their being
included in the verdict which had been given; but the further
investigation of the case was directed to be carried on by Captain
Richbell, the magistrate at the Thames Police Office.
The subsequent inquiries of the police-officer tended to confirm the
suspicions which were entertained with reference to Brown and Kennedy.
The papers, the destruction of which it had been shown Kennedy was
anxious to procure, had been only partially burned; and some fragments
of them which were secured, were proved to bear the hand-writing of the
deceased. The coats too of Mr. Smales and Mr. Wilkinson were afterwards
discovered at the lodgings occupied by the two prisoners. The ends of
justice, it was considered, rendered it fit that Kitley and Flack should
be examined as witnesses, and their testimony afforded conclusive proof
of the premeditated guilt of their late companions of the crime of
robbery; but they asserted their belief that in determining to commit
that offence, they had no intention to cause the death of the persons
whom they attacked.
The prisoners Brown and Kennedy said that the statement of these new
witnesses was quite true, and they admitted that they had put off in the
boat from Mr. Moore's yard, intending to rob Mr. Wilkinson, but they
affirmed that although on that gentleman's jumping to their boat, they
had pushed his hands off to prevent his any longer clinging to the
gunwale, they had struck him no blows with their oars, but that the
wounds which he had been found to have received, had been caused first
by his falling, when he jumped with his face on their boat's stern; and
secondly, by the ill-directed attempts of Mr. Smales to throw to him the
sculls, with which he might assist himself, in keeping his head above
water.
The prisoners were then committed for trial; Lyons, against whom there
appeared to be no evidence, being discharged, and the other men, Kitley
and Flack, being bound over to give evidence.
The further and final investigation of the case, before Mr. Justice
Patteson and a jury, took place at the Old Bailey, on Friday the 7th of
September. The evidence having then been gone through, the prisoners put
in a written statement, reiterating the defence which they had made
before the magistrate. A verdict of "Guilty" followed, and sentence of
death was immediately passed on the prisoners by the Recorder, and their
execution was directed to take place on the following Monday.
In the course of the trial, however, circumstances had arisen which
induced a belief on the minds of the jury, that there might be some
doubts whether the intention of the prisoners might not have been that
which they had pointed out, and whether in fact the blows received by
the deceased might not have been unintentionally dealt by the hand of
his friend, Mr. Smales. The evidence which was adduced, compelled them
to return a verdict of "guilty," but immediately after the trial a
petition was prepared and signed by them, in which they prayed that some
further inquiry might take place, with a view to the commutation of the
punishment, to which the prisoners had been sentenced. The learned judge
was equally uncertain with them, whether, in truth, Mr. Smales might not
unconsciously have struck Mr. Wilkinson, while he was in the water, and
whether the prisoners' account of the transaction might not be true; and
these doubts being increased by the production of an affidavit, which
was placed in the hands of the sheriff, that the deceased was
intoxicated at the time of the occurrence, (although this statement was
contradicted by Mr. Smales), sufficient grounds were deemed to be made
out for a respite being granted. While, however, this measure of
leniency was accorded, it was distinctly intimated, that it was only
under the peculiar circumstances of the case, that the Privy Council had
taken upon itself to recommend the exercise of the royal prerogative of
mercy. The crime of murder had no doubt been proved, but the remarkable
nature of the transaction rendered it advisable that, while justice was
impartially administered, its dictates should not be obeyed with
harshness. The respite was communicated to the wretched convicts, on
Sunday the 9th of September, when they expressed themselves deeply
grateful for the lenient view which had been taken of their case.
During their imprisonment they had conducted themselves in a manner to
show their sincere penitence for the crimes which had marked their
previous lives. They admitted their participation in many robberies on
the river, and on its banks, for which they had frequently been
apprehended, and acknowledged the wickedness of their career.
Their punishment was eventually commuted to transportation, to which
they had confessed themselves liable.
WILLIAM JOHNSON.
EXECUTED FOR MURDER.
This is an instance of murder, in which the depravity of the human mind
is painfully depicted. The victim of the foul deed was a young man named
Benjamin Danby, the son of a respectable tradesman, a forensic wig
maker, in the Temple. Young Danby, at an early age, expressed a passion
for a maritime life, and he accordingly went to sea. After making
several voyages, he returned and found that his father was dead, that
the bulk of his property was settled on his sisters, but that an
allowance of a guinea per week had been secured to him during his life.
These circumstances made a deep impression upon the mind of the young
man; but his allowance having been increased by his sisters to two
guineas per week, he became more settled. Towards the close of the year
1832, he took up his residence at the house of his cousin, a Mr.
Addington, a baker, living at Chase Side, Enfield Chase. His manners
were remarkable for all that freedom and eccentricity for which persons
in his situation are proverbial; and with his pockets well lined with
cash, and possessed of a warm and generous disposition, he soon became a
great favourite among the villagers. His acquaintance among them was
extensive, and he not unfrequently enjoyed his cigar, and a game at
dominoes, at the "Three Horse Shoes," a small public-house in the
village. It was here that he met with his future murderers. His
attachment to frolic, and his easy good-nature, had led him to form
acquaintances among persons of low character, and of abandoned habits,
in the neighbourhood; but he dearly paid the forfeit of his imprudence.
On Wednesday afternoon, the 19th of December, 1832, at about four
o'clock, he quitted Mr. Addington's house for the last time. He took his
gun with him, saying he was going shooting, but promised to return at
ten o'clock; he was carried back on the next day a corpse. The
unfortunate young man, it appears, having enjoyed his favourite pastime,
repaired to the Three Horse Shoes, where he met some of his companions.
Four persons, named William Johnson, the son of a gardener in the
vicinity; Richard Wagstaff, a baker; Samuel Cooper, a carter, who was
quite a lad, and the son of a labouring man; and Samuel Sleath, or Fare,
a person who appeared to have no determined occupation, were seen in his
company, and they were engaged playing at dominoes (as usual), and
drinking together, apparently upon excellent terms. At about a quarter
past ten o'clock young Danby declared that he must go home; but he had
now become somewhat intoxicated, and on his reaching the open air, he
was observed by Mrs. Perry, the landlady of the public-house, to
stagger. Johnson and Fare said that they would see him home; but their
manner induced a suspicion in the mind of Wagstaff that they were going
to rob him: he therefore called to young Cooper to come away; but his
answer was, that he had been with them all the evening, and that he
meant to "go up there" with them now. Wagstaff then went away in a
direction the contrary to that taken by Danby and the others.
On the following morning, at half-past five o'clock, a man named
Wheeler, a labourer, was passing through a place called Holt
White's-lane, about half-a-mile from the Three Horse Shoes, when he
observed a dead body in the ditch. He called a man named Ashley to him,
and they discovered that it was the body of young Danby. His legs were
towards the road, and the head in the ditch, face downwards; and on
their turning it over, it presented a horrible and ghastly spectacle.
The face was cut and slashed in a most dreadful manner; the flesh was
scored out, as it were, in five places; and the right whisker was
completely cut away, and hung suspended to the jaw by a small piece of
skin. In the throat of the murdered man they observed a deep stab,
inflicted in the manner which would be practised by a butcher in killing
a sheep, the knife having been turned in the wound. They at once
communicated the particulars of this horrifying discovery to the police
of the town, who lost no time in procuring the removal of the body to a
neighbouring public-house, "The Old Sergeant," and in conveying the
dreadful intelligence to Mr. Addington.
Inquiries were instantly set on foot, and the circumstances above
detailed having been ascertained, Johnson, Fare, and Cooper were taken
into custody. The first-named person was found sitting in his father's
house, deep in thought. He instantly consented to accompany the officer.
Fare was found in the village in the course of the day; and on his being
searched, eleven shillings were found on him, although on the previous
day his poverty had driven him to procure two shillings, parish relief;
and Cooper was found driving a brewer's waggon within fifty yards of the
spot where the murder was committed, having unconcernedly just passed a
crowd assembled at the place, gazing in horror at the scene of the
transaction to which he had been a party. At the moment of his being
secured, he was listening with well-feigned astonishment at a recital of
the dreadful discovery of the morning, although at that moment he had
upon his head a cap, the inside of which was stained with the blood of
the murdered man.
In the course of the day the spot where the murder had been committed
was minutely examined. It appeared as if there had been much struggling,
and as if the unfortunate deceased had made a desperate resistance. On
the ground near the body were found a number of shot, and a long strip
of cloth; and at some distance the handkerchief, which the deceased had
carried, was also picked up. The deceased was proved to have carried
shot with him on his quitting Mr. Addington's house, together with the
bowl of a tobacco-pipe to load his gun. Some shot, exactly similar to
those found in the road, and the bowl of a tobacco-pipe also agreeing in
appearance with that used by the deceased, were found on Fare; and the
trousers worn by Johnson were ascertained to correspond in colour with
the strip of cloth found, and to have lost such a piece of their original
fabric.
Thus much evidence had been obtained, when the prisoner Cooper sent for
one of the constables, and declared that he would tell him all. He then
proceeded to detail to him the circumstances attending the murder; but
as he subsequently repeated his statement before the coroner, it shall
be given in the more authentic form in which it was there received.
The inquest first sat upon the body of the deceased on the day after the
discovery of the murder, but its proceedings were continued from day to
day for a week from the date of their commencement.
On Monday the 24th of December, Cooper made his statement in the
following terms:--
"On the Wednesday night, about ten o'clock, I went to the Horse Shoes
public-house, to get me a pint of beer, and there was John Taylor,
Charles Jackson, Danby, and Richard Wagstaff playing at dominoes;
William Johnson and Samuel Fare were also there. When they had done
playing at dominoes, Fare and deceased began tossing for beer and gin;
they gave me some of the beer and gin to drink. We all went out together
about eleven o'clock, or a little after; I went out first, and Johnson,
Fare, Richard Wagstaff, and the sailor (deceased) followed. The man who
was murdered fell against the rails of the river, near the door of the
Horse Shoes, and then asked some of us to lead him home; Johnson and
Fare took hold of him, and led him as far as Wagstaff's. In going along,
Wagstaff persuaded me to go home, but I did not go. I had got as far as
Wagstaff's, and the others were a little farther on; Fare, Johnson, and
the deceased had a scuffle, and Wagstaff went into his house just at
that time. Fare fell down, when deceased took hold of me by the arm, and
asked me to lead him home; I and William Johnson and the deceased went
on, and Fare stopped behind. When we got opposite Mr. Addington's,
Johnson persuaded the deceased to go on, and get a pint of beer; the
deceased said, 'With all my heart;' and then me, Johnson, and the man
went on. I thought he was going to Mr. Cutliffe's, but he went on to
Holt White's-lane, or Chase-road, as it is called; a man and a woman
passed us there, and I wished them good night; Johnson, the deceased,
and me, went up the Chase-road, and I thought we were going to get some
beer at the top of the hill; we went up until we almost came to
Pinnock's (a beer-shop), when Johnson turned us round; I had hold of one
arm of the deceased and Johnson the other; and on Johnson turning us
round, I was next to the ditch, I having hold of the left arm; on going
down the road, and when we had proceeded about eight or nine poles,
Johnson said, 'I am cursed if Sam (Fare) harn't robbed me;' about
half-a-minute after, Johnson put his foot behind the deceased and threw
him down on me, and I fell in the ditch with the deceased upon me; my
head was underneath the head and shoulders of the deceased; I drew
myself from under the deceased, and my cap came off; I felt about for my
cap, and found it underneath the man's head; it was all over blood; I
said to Bill Johnson, 'What have you been doing with the man? Don't hurt
him;' he said, 'I've done him;' when I got out of the ditch, and stood
in the middle of the road trembling, Johnson came away from the man to
me; when deceased lifted up his head, and said, 'O, don't, don't, pray
don't, I know;' Johnson then said, 'Here, take this knife, and go and
finish him;' I replied, that I would not; Johnson said, 'Don't say a
word,' and shook his fist at me; he then went and killed the man
directly; I should have run away, only I was afraid I should have been
served the same; I saw Johnson pick up something from the side of
deceased; he then took a handkerchief from the deceased, and gave me a
piece of bread out of it, which I threw over the hedge; we then came
away down the road, and Johnson several times said, 'Don't say anything
to anybody;' I wanted to go to my own house, but he said, 'Come this way
across the fields, don't go that way.' We then went across Mr. Corney's
field, and over the New River bridge; Johnson washed his hands and his
knife in the river; it was a black-handled clasp knife, which I have
seen several times; after washing the knife, we went over the Horse-shoe
bridge, and turning down by the river side, near Mr. Robinson's, Johnson
took the deceased's handkerchief from his pocket, and threw it into the
water; we then parted, Johnson again urging me to say nothing; I then
went home; Fare left us near Mr. Cutliff's (near the house where
Wagstaff lived); I did not see him again after I took hold of the
deceased to lead him away."
The prisoners, Johnson and Fare, were introduced into the room before
the case was concluded, and the nature of the evidence against them
stated to them. They contented themselves with denying the truth of the
allegations which were made, and conducted themselves throughout with
extraordinary composure.
The jury at the conclusion of the proceedings returned a verdict that
the deceased had been wilfully murdered by Johnson and Cooper, and that
Fare had been accessory before the fact.
The prisoners were then committed to Newgate to await their trial Cooper
being also detained in custody to give evidence.
On Friday the 4th of January, 1833, the prisoners, Johnson and Fare,
were put upon their trial at the Old Bailey. The inquiry lasted during
the whole day, and the court was much crowded. There being now no
further evidence than there had been before the coroner, to implicate
Fare in the actual murder, he was acquitted, and removed from the bar;
and Johnson was then called on for his defence. He put in a written
statement, commenting upon the prejudices which had been excited against
him, and declaring that Cooper's must have been the hand by which the
deed was done, for that he and Fare had left the deceased with him at
the end of Holt White's-lane on the night of the murder, and had seen no
more of either of them afterwards.
The jury retired to deliberate upon their verdict; but after an absence
of two hours, they declared the prisoner to be "Guilty." Sentence of
death was instantly passed, and the prisoner was ordered for execution
on the following Monday, a doom which he heard with little emotion.
On the appointed day, the 7th of January 1833, the sentence of death was
carried out upon the body of the malefactor. There was an immense
concourse of spectators; and on the appearance of the culprit on the
platform, the groans and exclamations of disgust on the part of the mob
were deafening. The unhappy culprit was, however, lost to all sense of
the misery of his condition, and was totally unable to stand without
assistance. The rope was placed round his neck as quickly as possible;
and at the usual signal the drop fell.
During the time intervening between his conviction and his death, the
wretched man appeared to become alive to the awful position in which he
stood. He was frequently exhorted by the worthy ordinary of the jail, to
whom he declared his sincere repentance. On the Sunday he was visited
by his wife, to whom he had been married about three years, and who was
now in an advanced state of pregnancy. The interview was exceedingly
affecting; and Johnson, who, it would appear, had not been a kind
husband, seemed deeply to feel the harsh conduct of which he had been
guilty, and entreated her forgiveness. After his wife had gone, he sunk
gradually to a state of stupor, from which nothing could rouse him.
He had previously made a statement to Mr. Sheriff Humphrey, of which the
following is a copy:--"I had with others been drinking at the
public-house, and afterwards, about eleven or half-past, we left,
accompanied by Danby, the deceased. On going home Fare left us, and then
Cooper went with Wagstaff. On being left alone with Danby, he informed
me that some one had robbed him, and I was so frightened for fear that I
should be taken up for highway robbery, that I was determined not to
leave, but to get him to some house of safety; and, on passing his
relation's (the baker), I wanted to knock them up, but he would not let
me, and said they were gone to bed, and so we passed on; but I now wish
that I had stopped there, then this would not have happened; but it is
now too late. As we were going on, Cooper came up; he had been away
about five minutes, and the moment Danby saw him, he said, in great
excitation, 'This is one of the chaps that robbed me,' and he flew at
him (Cooper) like a tiger, and said he would serve him just in the same
way as he served a black man in the East Indies, and in the scuffle we
all went down on the ground, by the ditch, and I do most solemnly say,
that I did not trip up the deceased; and he (Cooper) also was on the top
of him (deceased); and while he was down, Cooper had a knife (a
clasp-knife, I think, but the night was so dark I could not say which,
and the point was as broad as my two fingers), and he was cutting the
deceased. I do also most solemnly say, that I also took the knife, and
cut Danby, and did help to kill him; but the knife was not mine, nor do
I know where the knife came from. Cooper had it in his hand when the
deceased was on the ground in the ditch. Knowing I must leave this world
soon, I do most solemnly avow before God, in whose presence I must soon
appear, that Cooper first cut the deceased, and I afterwards struck him;
and afterwards I stood by and saw Cooper take something out of his
pockets. He said, 'I have got three-halfpence,' or 'one penny and one
halfpenny.' We were both very much frightened, and left the deceased in
the lane, and went home across the fields. I do also most solemnly say,
that when we left the public-house we had no idea of killing him. I do
not know who robbed him, but suppose it must have been Fare, as the
money was found on him, and it was proved he had been applying for
relief from the parish. I can only say, I had no hand in robbing him,
either directly or indirectly; and what possessed me to participate in
killing him I know not; but, after the deed was done, I was ready to
kill myself; and I now say, that I ought to die for committing such an
act. The knife which Cooper said, in his examination, was mine, and that
it was a black-handled one, and small blade, I do most solemnly avow I
had lost some time before, and had no knife with me when we left the
public-house. The night was so dark, I could not distinctly see the one
the deed was done with, and after it was done I threw the knife into the
ditch, and suppose (the knife not being found) that Cooper must have
picked it up; and the reason of Cooper's confession I believe was made
thinking I should tell of him first and have him convicted; but we
[Illustration: _Burglars in a Farm House._