THE WINDSOR MURDER.

Evening Star, Issue 8774, 15 March 1892, Page 4

THE WINDSOR MURDER.

A GHASTLY CRIME

I From Oi’U Owx |

ii. tin r, March S

A nxJ c..ld-b!oodcd and skilfully pre'v FcaN.nl murder was brought to light at ione of the suburb', of Melbourne, u-ut Thursday, ami it has been iu everyb '.Q’i moathTiacc*, Capital crimes are not oi infmiacnt occurrence in Victoria aud the other c ! mica of Australia, hut the circumstances of this murder arc of such a ghastly character awl the manner of its perpetration i-' so suggestive of devilish sagacity and coo! dct.-rmination on the part of the murderer t; it tho affair has created a profound eon- - it.Gn. It certainly takes its place among the mod shocking of London murders, and it was so well planned that had due atlenti. ii been paid to a matter of detail ia connection with tho disposal of the victim, it might never have been discovered.

For some time past there has been a vacant house in Andrew street, Windsor— No. 57 —and on Thursday a lady called to r:c the owner, Mr Stamford, butcher,_ of i sigh street, as she desired to rent it. Being satisfied as to terms, she expressed a desire to be shown over the house. The owm-r complied, and as they wore going through the rooms the lady detected a strong odor as of decaying matter, and called Mr S:am/..v'd's attention to it. He passed it oil ; but agent, Mr C mr.op, subsequently finding lz jo had ai to indicate that something must bo wrong, and tracing it t) r. bedroom firesent for the police. They opened up *L\ r’.Ac; 1 , and there, in a cavity 2ft ; y ISi.q surrounded by cement, found nude body (i a woman of middle a.;v, doubled up »nd bound with a silken w-rd, Ike cavity containing tho mangled . mains «a3 dextorout-iy built in under the irth atone and in worry, and was care;w;by cement.d The li.Rntion of the mackerel’ war, without limit, r> hermetically a! the b ■ iv co that no trn.dl should arise .'u it ; bat from some neglect on his part

I o'Q'j.r was nor. secured. The cement i-.-.d eviTiWy b* eu p-mre 1 on to the body in j- q pfid ?,t >tv, for it adhered so closely to it a: a pie';: !to be used in removing it. . .a . m oi tho body showed that the

was sw .i Ay fractured iu three places, .anl Hat the tnroat was cut. The wound in the throat commenced on the left side,

n-c it «-u3 very deep, and extended to the -•hart, aud it iipic.ua d to have been in.UAid by a right-handed man standing on : r'qhth 'nd of the woman, r.nd cu.-tiug ■ threat from toft to right, The woman

w s;c Clin in height and t.f vtiy slender i dm, her hair was light brown, and her oMiplev n fair. Her upper teeth wore. :.drc, cud set iu vulcanite. Her age might ~o anything from twenty-five to forty, .-cording to the doctors, but general tea.!..p.jy fixes it at about thirty. Notwithstanding that the murderer left row dues fur the detectives to work upon ia unravel ling a mysterious crime, they have already succeeded ia establishing beyond ail doubt that bis name is Albert William", and thathcand his wife and victim arrived in Mel-

I t.urne by tho NoukLut.dmn Lloyd steamer Hauer Wilhelm on the 15th of December mat. A good deal of their luggage wn taken :.j the Federal Coffee I'.d.vce, Collins straff, by the firm of Me- era Tate, Custom-house agents, and other portions were deposited iu • lie Custom-house stoves, Jolirnont. On toe Pith DccemVr Williams arranged with Mr • ttam-'ord to rent the homo at Wmdmv, ■■.,ieg bis r.ame as “Mr Brown.” Cm the i7;h December he bmigbt cement and tools in ft. boldi, aud had them delivered ut the ■ ore in Windsor, and on the ISth hj • and

,hj s-i* ■ !e’!: the Federal Coffee L’ahce anil ..fat to live at the house. Williams ic- ! kiiic;l in . eeup.'.tioo of io for e-ame tir.i'*, . his wife wan seen tilde on one or two .-.■ocasioas, but he left without ghi-’g any Uuiieo to the landlord and disappeared. The above covera in a general way the facta which have so far bean brought to light, but there are other interesting details .;hioh may be given as i->' Heating the coldblooded fashion in which Williams set about •’•i fiendish crime. In the first place, hi:, relations with his landlord may he described. -Mr Stamford relates that about a week before Christmas a stranger called on him and expressed a desire to rent his house, Me gave no name, but his appearance was in iiis favor, and he declared his tvilliugnc's to pay his rent in advance. The stranger went through the house and expressed nimscit in everv way satisfied v/itn it, except that it had” been somewhat knocked about and wanted plastering hero and there in trivial ways, such as in the picture nail holes, etc. The bargain was at once struck, and though he was referred to the agent he Eiaid that Mr Stamford- could give him a receipt for the week’s rent, which he paid in advance. Mr Stamford did so, and took no further notice of the man that day. On the next day, however, he appeared at the butcher’s shop with a small paper bag, in which ho said he had cement to plaster up the holes he complained of. Several days later he went to the agent, Mr Connop, and said : “ I won’t take that house after all; it’s overrun with cockroaches. I’ll pay you another week’s rent in advance, however, us it is about due, and you can take a week's notice.” Up to this time he had not taken any furniture into the house, and concerning this and other matters Mr Stamford says: “I could not make him out at all. He was a bit curious, and made several different statements. He told me he was an engineers’ tool maker, who had been carrying oh his business In Sydney, and had decided, because Victoria was a colony in which a protective tariff prevailed aa against Now South Wales and Its Preetrado to set up here. He said : ‘1 am taking the house really before I want it, because I haven’t anyone to put in it as yet, I am awaiting the arrival of a lady who is going to act as my housekeeper, so I shan’t iuoch my furniture from Sydney till she comes,’ These remarks he pat in with many ■vrhers, which were upon matters of ordinary conversation, and on another occasion ha told tins clerk in the employ of the agent that it was his sister who was goiug to act us his housekeeper. Before the expiry of the second week, for which he had paid in advance, ha went to the agent and paid for four weeks more in advance. Ho was reminded jokingly of the cockroaches, of which he had previously complained. 1 Oh, that’s all right,’ he replied, ‘I think I can settle them. I’ll get something to kill them easily enough, now I come to think of it.’ ” While Williams was in occupation of the house ,he had some clothes washed at the laundry of Ernest Biicller, Windsor, and Mueller makes the following statement:— ‘About eight clays before Christmas a gentleman called here at my laundry and asked me to send up to hla residence at 57 Andrew street, Windsor, for some clothing which ho wanted washed. I went up as requested, and a lady came to the door of the .'.c.:so, and when I had explained my business :o iitt she asked my price. I answered her M Gd a dozen, shirts 6;1, and collars Id. ,'-ho said ‘Oa ! that’s too much ; wo cannot

pay that. We usually get our washing deno for 2s a dozen.’ I told her I could not work •or less than the prices I had mentioned, -.ud she said ‘ Very well,’ and closed the '.ouversation. I left the house without .. a clothes, and reported the result of :,vy viblt to my wife, who was consequently ni'icb surprised when next day the gentlecun called at our laundry, and sharply, and as U much angered, asked why she did not send up for tho washing. She told him how i had been received by the lady of the house, und he said, still angry ; ‘ Don’t mind her; she’s got nothing to do with it. Go up at once and get the and have it done for certain before Christmas.’ _ I explained that 1 was busy, and he said : * I must have the washing sent home either on Christmas eve or Christmas morning before

eleven o’clock.’ 1 promised him 1 would get it done, and 1 sent a woman in my employ to the house to get the clothes. The lady gave her the washing, putting it through the front door, which was only partially opened. The washing was not finished as promised, and on Christmas morning the gentleman called at tho laundry again. This time ho appeared to bo very vexed because of tho delay, and in u loud voice demanded why I had not sent tho washing to his houao. I told him it was nearly ready, and ho might have it iu ten minutes ; but ho still was not satistied, and said i * I cannot continually be bothered with you. Send it to morrow morning (Boxing Day), before eleven o'clock,' 1 At the appointed hour I presented myself at hia house with the washing, r. ; id I knocked several times, and loudly, without being able to got an answer. Presently I saw him coining up Andrew htreat, from the direction of Pant road. I waited till ho came, and then I delivered it over to him, and offered to take it in si do for him and unpack it. Ho declined my oll'cr, and took the basket ia through the door, which was only opened suflicieutly wide to admit the basket, Presently Hb returned and asked what he owed mo. I gave him the bill, which amounted to LI 2s 6d, and was made out in tho name of ‘ 57 Andrew street,’ as he had given no uamo to me. He said ‘That’s all right,’ and put hia hand in his pocket and pulled out a handful of gold. 11c returned the gold to hia pocket with the remark ‘ I think it will bo better to pay you with a note.’ Next he displayed a roll of notes, and selecting one and taking a halfcro.vn from hia pocket he settled my bill. I asked him for his continued patronage, and lie said ‘ You need not call again just now. I am going to shift from here ; that’s the reason I have no furniture, lam going to move further down tho street, aud as the shirt and clothes seem done to my satisfaction, I shall send for you as soon as I get settled.’ Prom that time I never saw him again.” Two important narratives have been obtained from two carriers named John Harford, of South Melbourne, aud John Featherstone, of Richmond. Tho details of the crime as published attracted the attention of Harford and Featherstone, and brought to their recollections certain facts of recent occurrence which, though at the time were seemingly commonplace, have since become extremely important. Harford says that on or about tin ISth of December—he cannot be certain to a day or so—ho was engaged by a man, who gave tho namo of Williams, to inks some luggage from the Customs stores in Jollimont to Wigley’s free stores in Queen street. The luggage consisted of several Rotes and hampers, all branded W, which were lying iu tho stores, together with a large quantity of other luggage just sent ashore horn one of the German mall boats. While Harford was putting them in his dray “ Williams ” engaged ia an altercation with a lady who was with him. Ho said something to her about tho amount of monoy she had'cost him, and how sorry ho was now that he had brought her out, and hot? glad he would bo if he could send her back. The exact words Harford dees not remember, but he gathered from the conversation that the two had just come from England by one of the German boat?, that they hud travelled '•o 'ond claa?, and that the voyage had cost L7O. Having loaded his dray and finished liia task Harford was paid, and the incident I nased ont of his mind until about n month ::go, v.lun ho was standing with his dray at Spencer street railway station. The man “Williams,” who appeared excited and in a great hurry, walked up to him and said : “ I shall come for you in about an hour to to remove those things for me which the other man took out to Windsor.” He offered no explanation and made no farther remark, but disappeared as quickly as he came, and r.a never seen again by liarford. Perth! rstore’e story fits in with Harford’s. tie ffi? plying for hire in the street one day somewhere about the ISth of Dmember, when a man camo to him aud ached him to remove some boxes for him from Wrigley’s tree store and the Federal Coffee Palace to 57 Andrew street, Windsor, He gave the mime of Williams, and was accompanied by a lady’whom lie addressed his who and spoke most rudely to voy frequently. W hen the boxes were put on tho dny “ Wi bams ’ gat up, and the lady also di shed t> ride with him, hut he refused to permit her, aud scut her ahead on a tramcar. On this wvy to Windsor “Williams” v/n chatty and pleasant. When they r aclm-d the hmise the lady had arrived, aud was waiting us the door. Sno offered to ,waist in the work of carrying tho luggage into the house, but she was roughly told to go irnii-’e and stop inside. ' It transpir.'d yesterday that Williams disposed of his property on the 7th of January, ivuHug a vacant shop iu Little Collins street for the purpose, and engaging Messrs Beauchamp Urea, as auctioned*. 'ihe goods consisted of a variety of hrand-uew articles, which appear to have been wedding present 3, and included two Arabian swords, heavily mounted in gld and silver; an Arabian knife, with silver handle ; a pair of Indian sp.-ars ; a lady’s pans"'!, with ivory hantUo ; china dinner, tea, and supper services ; an electro-plated tea and coffee set, salver, and crust; a solid silver mug, a silver cup and saucer ; two oil paintings, by Bmigard; Boland’s well-known picture ‘ Going to Market'; a m roecc -hound album for photographs; two small etchings of pictures by Sir Noel Paten ; two walking slicks, mounted with silver; a gentleman’s umbrella, similarly ornamented; a small Japanese cabinet; a lady’s Japanese writing desk, containing stationery; a marble bust of a classical charaoter, a dogskin carriage rug, a wolfskin carriage rug, a silver - mounted cut glass vinaigrette and a silver-mounted sprit flask. There was also a quantity of light literature, as well as two heavy volumes which boro indications of careful psrusal, entitled ‘ The Romance of Crime.’ It may happen that from one of the narratives in this work tho murderer drew the inspiration of the crime. There was, in addition, a large quantity of linen clothing which was all quite new, and was disposed of by the auctioneers iu about twenty lots. Side by side with this property of his own and his dead victim were offered for sale the ghastly accessories of tho murder itself—a spade and broom and a night-can, sand and cement still clinging to the inside of the latter, aud seeming to show that it had been utilised in the mixing process. A claw hammer, with which it is conjectured tho fractures ia the woman’s skulljwero inflicted, was also disposed of in the ordinary way of sale. Altogether the auction, to which limited pub licity was given, realised a sum not far shoit of LGO.

It; would appear that Williams was not a stranger to Melbourne when he arrived on the 15th of December with his wife, whom he had recently married in England. It seems likely that he represented to his wife that he intended to go into business as an engineers’ tool maker, the occupation which he seems to have followed in England. On board the Kaiser Wilhelm he expressed his intention of taking a shop in Carlton, and stated on more than one occasion that a quantity of machinery was following him out from the Old Country. He added also that he was the patentee of an important invention connected with the working of railway switches, and that he intended offering it to the Government for sale. There is every reason to believe that Mrs Williams relied upon the bona tides of her husband, but ss no machinery or tools have since reached fie colony for him it is evident that ho never intended to enter into busine. c s, and that this was a mere trick to secure her consent to the emigration, and that of the fr'eods from whom he was taking her. It is also a sufficient proof that the murder was premeditated at the time of the marriage, because the dotectives have ascertained that the couple had only been united six weeks prior to joining the vessel at Southampton. Viewed in this aspect the murder appears all the more horrible and the motive more obscure. On the occasion of previous visits to the colony Williams had formed a number of friends in town, who all knew him as * 1 Harry Dawson. ” To one of these after his arrival in December he wrote a short note upon a sheet of hotel paper, addressing his former acquaintance familiarly as “Dear old boy,” and signing himself “Your old chum, H. Dawson.”

The description of Williams prepared by the polioo is very circumstantial. He is believed to be a Lancashire man, speaks with a slight Lancashire accent, Is thirtyfive years of age, sft 7>n in height, pf stout

build, with broad square shoulders. In walking his head is slightly stooped. His complexion is fair. His hair is light, with a tendency to brown, and he wears a very large ginger moustache, but no beard, He wore a diamond collar stud, at times diamond studs in the front of his shirt, a gold watch chain of the double curb pattern, from which depended a square gold locket, in the centre of which was mounted a diamond of considerable value. His watch was a gold hunter, manufactured by Bennett, of Chcapsido, London. Ho wore a ring set with a single large diamond on tho third finger of his right hand, and now and then a gold scarf ring, bearing a similar stone, which was surrounded by diamonds of lesser value. From his manner and appearance he might be taken for a seafaring man. Prom a statement made by the dead woman herself it transpires that her mother keeps a small stationery shop in some Lancashire town not far from Liverpool.

A cablegram to hand to-day says that quite a choice crop of Williams’s misdeeds are icported from several parts of Australia, When urroatod he offered no resistance and made no statement.