THE GORSE HALL MURDER MYSTERY.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 910, 1 September 1910, Page 5

THE GORSE HALL MURDER MYSTERY.

_—_> — — ANOTHER ARREST MADE. TRAGIC FIGHT IN A MOORLAND . MANSION. ' ... AN EX-SOLDIER SUSPECTED. By Telegraph—Press Association—Oopyrliißt London, August 30. . ■ There has been another development in the so-lar impenetrable mystery surrounding the deatli of Mr, G';. H. Storrs, the wealthy mill-owner who was done to deatii in November.. last in his lonely mansion of Gorse Hall, on the moors of Cheshire. . ■.-/'■• ' . . An ex-soldier named Mark Wilde is now suspected of having been the murderer, and is. being, detained at Knutsford Prison, Cheshire, where he has just completed a term of imprisonment.' -' . Sir. Storrs's. assailant was seen by his wife, a niece, and two servants, and a detailed description of the man was published at tho time. Subsequently Cornelius Howard, a cousin of the dead man, was-arrested and charged with the crime. No motive was suggested, and Howard successfully; proved an alibi,, and was acquitted in March last. ■' , It is stated ,that Wilde" strongly' resembles Howard, who was about thirty /years of age,, and'tallied, with the description of the: njurderer given by the eyewitnesses, being of medium height, very fair, and with unusually thin features.: The police believe that'.Wilde owned the revolver with which' Mr. Storrs. was first'threatened, and which .Mrs.. Storrs' secured during the death struggle between her husband. and his unknown assailant. AN UNSOLVED CRIME. ' Gorse Hall is a mansion standing in the uiidst of a. great estate stretching away over the moors on the borders of Lancashire, and Cheshire. .There-Mr. Storrs, one of the largest builders and. contractors in England, resided withr his wife. . They had no children. ;' '■..', The, murder,, which.is believed to have been one of revenge, .took place on the night of November 1. -It was ■past nine, on a'.ivet arid misty, evening, and Mr. Storrs, . his wife,' and Miss Lindley, an adopted daughter, were .in; the dining-room.: ; The isolated mansion was "quiet and tranquil; there was no-, i thing apparently to- disturb the. domestic peace '•' of ' -. the . household. -, Suddenly screams are heard in the hall, and the cook.rushes, into, tho room. She had' seen a man:hiding in a recess in the kitchen. .'. He presented a •". revolver *at her. "Now,-.not a word,".-he exclaimed. She \ ran away'- siircaming'to the. dining,robm, and the alarm.: instantly stirs,tho whole family to'excitement.; Mr. Storrs dashes out: into;'. the, -hall, and .almost at the, door of .the'■'.dining-room ■ encounters, tlie unknown' man, who', had . followed ! hotly on the. heels, of .the servant. , ; "Now, I've Got You.' , . • : '~. The stranger's , .-words' are proof that his: object is not burglary.'.The " person he seeks is Mr. Storrs.. He.shouts, "Now I've got you," and the-two men close at once in a fierce struggle. . ■ : . ■ ■-- ' .Mrs. Storrs took up a great club, with which;she might have dashed out" the assailant's brains. "Don't hit me," said the man.'and gave her the revolver. Mrs, Storrs thereupon forbore to strike, asishe l' might have injured her j husband. ■ She, however, ran to the alarm, bell and began ringing ■•it.. ■■ •..'..'■•.-■' .'?;/■., ;„.,-■ -;>,'.,; 'Air,'Storrs was, a magnificent:specimen of manhood..- He belonged to a'family, of giants. Hβ was 6ft. .3in., i in height, lCst.'. in .weight;, and, in' tho prime l! of'Tffe." l His , ' antagonist. was a comparatively, small man of about. sft. 7in., thin in form and, features.' It" is surmised that he must. , :have got in a'deadly stab in the struggle. Blow Upon Bjow, - - Up and down the passage the two men struggled, until. Mr. Storrs rushed. :his antagonist down the passage'and into the scullery, where he locked him inJ The man was.by no means done with, however; With' a milk-can he shushed..' the scullery windows, climbed out,'and rushed round through the kitchen door./ What happened then is. merely conjecture, 'as ; there' were no witnesses. The'probability, is, .however, that Mr. Storrs, ; mortally wounded, had . collapsed near-the kitchen door.'. .His murderer:then rained,: .blow •0n. , 810w-upon his-prostrate victim,. completing his fearful work. \When' found, Mr.. .Storrs' was ;j'ust able, to gasp, "I'm I dohe," : arid after asking ,'about his wife, passed away. ■ ; . • -; .When the body came to-be examined it was. found that : there were no fewer thari sixteen wounds. There were '• several wounds in the back, and these, it , is supposed, were struck after Mr. Storrs had fallen. 'The miscreant-then rushed away and was not seen. again. In the darkness.and mist he' would have every opportunity 'of getting clear away unobserved. . •-'■.-.' ..-■; ■';'..-• A few. days later the body'of. Mr. Storrs's coachman, John Worrall, ' was found hanging from a beam in the stables.. Worrall was a" man 53 years of age, arid had been.with the family for seven years. .He had- been much upset by the murder. ;•'•-. ' '.'■ The First Trial. ■ ■ ;-. : :', "''••'. ; " On November 17, Cornelius; Howard, , a cousin, of tho murdered' man, was arrested : and charged with having committed the crime. Ho was an ex-soldier, and. had served for seven years with the Koyal Field Artillery in India. In April of this year he was-drafted into , the reserve, and, with the exception of a brief visit to Stalybridge this summer, little was known of his movekents after he left the Army. He was thirty-one years of age and unmarried. ■'■ Howard declared that he was in Huddersfield on the night of tho murder, arid on his trial at Chester in March this alibi was supported to , tho satisfaction of the jury, and he was exonerated and set free. : ■ .. ■■" ■'■■■'■' .