SHOCKING MURDER AND SUICIDE.

New Zealand Herald, Volume I, Issue 280, 5 October 1864, Page 6

SHOCKING MURDER AND SUICIDE.

(I'rom the Erp.uimj E.rj,riss.) CiX Monday a shocking murder was discovered to have been committed in .Smith-street, Vomers Town. For some years past the murdered woman, whose proper name is Rosma Bishop, has 1 cen. cohabiting with a man of tbe name of James Brown, a carpenter, about tifly years of age, the deceased being only about thuty-t'i'.e. They lived together in the above house ii- m.m and wife, and occupied tiie two parlors and the back l.itch-.ii, the front i.itchen tint! the tirst floor being l-.-t to lodgers. In addition to being kn-,\vn as ireqiientiv giving way to drink, they ijiiarrelled, and the man has frequently ill-used tlio woman, so much si. that the neighbours and lodgers have tor a long while declined to interfere between them. On Tuesday morning hist both parties were seen about together, and they were apparently on the best of terms. A short lime afterwaids they weie heard quartelling in the kitchen, and the deee-sed was hi aril to scream as if in-great agony, and then a heavy fa.l was heard. The man Brown was seen about the house as usual that day, and on the following he reported thai he and his old woman had tiatl it row", and that .-he had left him. On the Saturday night lie returned as usuvl, and appeared as if nothing had happeno J. His son, a youth, called to see him, and they, it is stated, had supper together, and they slept in the same bed. ■ At the usual hour on Sunday morning both got up, and as it was supposoJ that the murdered woman did not intend to return, the man Brown was invited to take dinner with his lodger oil the first ami he did so. Ho ato a hearty dinner, anil late on Sunday night retired, as it was thought, to bed, ho at tlio time being as cheerful as ho usually was. .Next morning an old woman wiio occupied the front kitchen took notice of a very unpleasant smell that pervaded the whole house, which apparently had its origin in the back kitchen. The woman's suspicious being aroused, she determined on entering the room, and said if the body was anywhere it was in the coal cellar under the stairs, us there was one in her house very iike the ouo there. The window was forced, and" one of tlio women entered, and Irom her exclamation the other followed, and they were horrified to lind, on. opining the cellar door, the body of the deceased woman. The face of the woman was black, and the whole body was much decomposed. Oil the side of the head was a fracture so large that a man could put his list in it. On the legs were six large bruises, and their appearance denoted that- they had been inth'cted shortly before death. Inspector Uib.-on finding both parlor doors shut and iocked, proceeded to break upon the frolic parlor door. On entering- he was surjiri ed to lind the boily of the man hanging close to die folding doors. It was close to the ground, with his lie-id leaning on one side, and round his neck was a common clothes' line. He was in a sitting position, and appeared to have died without a .struggle. 'J lie inspector immediately cut him down, and the doctors pronounced that from till appearance he had teen dead for many hours. To make a fa telling for the rope the mail had tied a piece of stick to the cord, and having placed the cord over the top portion of the door, had shut it closely to. The appearances denote that it must have been a mo>t determined act of suicide, as the murderer, although only a tow inches from the ground, had to hang his head on one tide to : under the vopo taut. On searching the back kitchen, tlio -list point that aUv.ici-tl ywt tl»o that Ow ht».rU\

iii front of the firc-place had "been recently taVcrn im md it was removed by the police with the greatest oitfc ; hut immediately under it ran the drain, i.nd it is believed that, hut for this circumstance preventing there being suflicient room, the murderer would have buried the body. Having replaced the stone, Dr. Sut'ierin next directed attention to the hearth-rug, -which lay folded up in thf> corner. On being opered, it was found saturated with blood, and contained a quantity of brainsand amongst them, of a triangular form, and verv cleanly cut, a piece of the unfortunate woman's skull, measuring two inches on two sides, and nearly two inches on the third. This clearly indicated the lact that the murder had been perpetrated on the hearth-rug and in front of the fire-place, corroborative evidence being afforded by ilie fact that the murderer must himself have collected a portion of the brains and skull after the commission of the act and thrown them on the fire, as a portion of brain I and clotted blood partly burned were found adhering to the back of the grate.

On Tuesday morning, between eight and nine o'clock, Inspec tor Gibson found at the bottom of the water butt, a large sized axe such as carpenters use for choppiug wood. It was at once taken possession of and sunt to Platt-street station, where, on beiiir* examined by I)r. Suthcrin, it was found to still retain, notwithstanding the action of the water, evidences of human blood, and a large quantity of female's liuir adhering to it, leaving no doubt that it was the instrument with which the diabolical deed was committed.

Jt appears (hat flic man Brown, although he slept in the back parlour on the Tuesday night after the murder, and on 1 lie niglit following (\Vednesday), had not been seen in the place from that time until Saturday. ]t is believed that lie had been afraid to sleep in the house by himself, and that finding himself alone lie then determined on suicide. On opening the safe in the bad;, there was found a, considerable sized piece of cooked loin of pork mid a part of a currant pie, both of which were mouldy, as iveli as a quantity of hard stale bread, indicating that no one had touched it since the date of the murder.