UNKNOWN.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XIX, Issue 6572, 9 December 1882, Page 2 (Supplement)

UNKNOWN.

A CURIOUS STORY. Copiks f two important documents connected ith the trial of CliarU-s Soutar, the person *arged with stealing the body of the late ISa oi Crawford and Balcarres, have been in le public. The first is the prisoner's dt'cLir.fOu made before the .Sherifl', the Sf. i hdtlie report of the doctor who examine. the body. In his declaration Si.m.u after admitting that lu*. wrote tin: "tters signed "Nabob," in which the '-t intimation of tly deseerr.tion w,,- "nveyed, gives the following accn:::; of the tinding of the body :—" As I through the wood I heard a stick ij.-> < n r.iy ieit-hand side. I stood still to In :-.i.m:. 1 then heard the r.istle of a man cr .'ii on my right-hand side. I thought it vi" i;. ' keepers trying to surround me. i ra:. as last as 1 couhi for the thickest part of tin wood. I had gone ab'jut twenty yards, i was tnppid up by a third party. ■\Yien 1 looked lip there were two men holdill. ... .town. Tiiey seemed yonng-like cl-ip* the middle si/e. Their laces were bai'k.'.i. d, ami 1 lelt they ha<l on winsey sl'r:- : they had neither caps nor coats Oi. In ;<bont hall a minute they were joined 1\ r.i" , "-ler lnei), being those I heard creepi,.;. 1 •..-.a oil my back. They were tall, nrj'tsi e■•its and hats oil. Tin-ir faces were -n ' half-way down, and 1 saw their white »lurt sleeves, Oi.e of tlie tall men pu> ■a pistol towards iny breast, and said to one of the men who had been hoh.:g me, 'Remove your arm, and I v.iil settle him. 7 One of the men who were holding me down took hold

oi tin- wrist of the man with the pistol and s.r.d, ' Hold on ; there's more of them.' Tiii , niPiii who said so got over me, and led the man with the pistol to on; , side, and said t--> him, 'It's all ri-i.t. it's ther.iteaichv. : he is po-iehnig.' After talking a lutle j:; whispers, which I could not make out, they called to the other till man to conic to them, which he did. The three conwi.-'.d fur a si;orc time, t'Ht 1 could not hear what they s:dd. They all came back beside me. and told the man who was holding me to let me go. They thorn let me go. I hui:ted fur an hour or two, and when daylight came I went back to the part of* the wood where I had been seized. I saw nothing of tho men, but on looking at the pUee where I had tirs: heard them, I found a place where they had concealed something. It was a heap cf rubbish. I opened it up. i found a blanker, to which I gave a pull. There was tiie dead body of a man inside it, and after looking at it I covered it up again. My impression at the time was that the man had been murdered, and tli.it an attempt had been made to destroy the body by burning it with some chemical. I came into Aberdeen by walking along the turnpike road, having missed a cart by which I expected to get to town. I decline to say what cut that was, because the driver was only a servant, and his master would visit it on him if he knew that lie drove rabbits to town for me. A few days afterwards I saw the old gardener, Mr. L'arquhar, and then went to the village of Duueeht. Tiie two men who trapped me, and who had ou winsey shirt.-', spoke with an A'lerdeeiishire accent. The men with the white shirt-sleeves seemed gentlemen. They spoke like educated men." On being to conduct tr.e police to thu spot wiiere he had seen the body. Soutar said he would rather wait until they should get those who took the iiodv. At an examination on duly '2.'5, Soutar adhered to his lirst declaration, and being told that the police had recovered tin? body, he said he was glad of that, and til:: - - they had not got it through him : and on bei::g convejed to the wood of Dunecht he retired to answer any more questions. Dr. O_'.-lun. in his report on the state in which "lie found the body of the late earl, say- :— •■ The corpse was loosely wrapped in a bia::ket and clothed iu a woollen jacket and drawers ami a linen shirt, and face and head were covered by a cotton or linen clot!., through which the forms of the head and features were easily discernible. The wrapper of the body exhaled a sweet, resinous oiour. On removing the corpse Irom the grave it was found to be intact, and that the v, r.ippings, though to a considerable extent, decayed and softened, had not been in any w.iy disturbed. The gravelly soil underneath tiie body was darkened, and to a considerable extent, to the depth of an inch, saturated with moisture, and having a distinctly aromatic odour. On the body being removed to Uune:ht House, the wrappings ■were partially removed, when it was found they were easily tearable. The surface of th-j corpse was soft and moist, ami iu z, state of commencing decay, but not exhaling the uiual odour of putrefaction."