The Colchester Murder.

Hastings Standard, Volume V, Issue 1426, 17 January 1901, Page 3

The Colchester Murder.

(By Telegraph.; Wellington, January 17. Sergt. Frost, of the Colchester police, and Mr Marsh, keeper of the Colchester town hall, arrived yesterday for the purpose of identifying, if possible, the man Lillywhite, now in custody, on the theory that he is Blatch, the person charged with the Colchester murder. When the case was called on in the Magistrate's Court to-day, Sergeant Frost said be bad known Blatch well and had saen him whan he was at Colchester nearly every day. Accused resembled Blatch very much, but witness could not positively say he was Batch. The more witness looked at him the more he was convinced that he was the suspected man. Later on in the examination he said he had formed the opinion that accused was Blatch. In crnss-examination he said he could not recognise the voice as like Blatch's, could not say Bktch was marked with small-pox as accused was. He could not say positively it was Blatch, but the more he still looked at him the mora he was convinced he was. Mr Marsh said he did not at first recognise accused as Blatch, but since be had been in court he had formed the opinion that be was. In cross-ex-amination he said Blatch bad a place worn in his teeth from holding his pipe. He did not find the same peculiarity in accused. As neither of the witnesses had seen Blatch with a beard accused consented to be shaved.