MYSTERIOUS MURDER.

Otago Witness, Issue 620, 16 October 1863, Page 7

MYSTERIOUS MURDER.

(From the European Times ) On the Oth July, a LiJ dipping in a gordenofa floret, ia Wil'iara-street, New NorthroaJ, " Isli»«t)n, Loudon, came upon tha decapitated body of a child in as;ateof decompo-itoa. It waslutisla littb way from the surface of tha eaitli. The remains were inBpected by a medical man. and declare-- to be tbo:e cf a little fcjrl, and a qlosc eximination of the remains of lbs closing led to the belief that the bod/ is none pther than that cf a »irl, eight yenw of agn. who disappearel about fiftean montii-i since, within a couple of hundred yards of Ids spot — Elizabeth Hanter— and for wh-\se dkcaveiy her Majesty's Government offered £\OO reward. A 7 i'l:am rienry Clarke, a lad of seventeen ypars, h;w been apprehended on suspicion of buri-ijr murdered ths gir), and on the Bfc'> he wis bioujfht up on the cbarge at the Clerkenwell Polic™ Court The frst witness examine 1 was O!iarlott3 Huut^r, a si*tT of tha deceaied. who said : I last saw her in Gicen Man's-lme. She was taken away by a mai on a - Sunday evening. The ra-ui lonko I about as old a<> my father. I follnwfd him a littte while, rml then missed him in William-street. He c aiJ t>my sis'er, "Will you take a letter into Will am tlreet, aad I •will give you 2J." . I said, "No, she must not go." He took hold of hir lnnd, aad walked dovfn the street with hxr. I followed, aid sny bonnet cimj off ; and when I ' stopps'l to pick if. vp 1 I loit tfigflt of Her. { n.-ver sa.v my sister ag.iiu. I bavQ seoii the pmoner before. I <io nob know that he is tlie ja-m tint took my sister away. Mr Alexander ipecond clerk) : 1 did not ask you that. You say it was a man a.bout as old as your father.— YVitnm continued : The man vrho took my sister away had on a pork-pie hat with two ribbons on the back. I have known the prisoner

for some time. — By the prisoner : Ido not say you are the man v.'ho to>;k my sister away. Jdo not knew wheth-r the man hid a collar on or not, I do mt know what sort of c'ouiits he lud on. it Yvvt o.i Sand.ty, tl'e3othcf ?";. »'r, at ten o'rl-ck at niuht, thit my sister was taki-; n.vay. I hod aen f-ep-i-sonera H'tlo time befo.-c Ti»iis:?l invsi-Kr. an ! I have iv t seen her sine.- Police-Oun^t'iUa Nev.'l old s-iid: Fi«m instruction^ I received from Mr V i *i cman, I wi'nt trtaiiiirrerv groin.t in William frect, New North roa '. I&iw Mr WiJkinsor, I ns-ke i him if he reeoJlec ed the h;ai of a human bsins; haviiie: ba^n found iii lis nui3 y. After some co.ivoisilion he showed mo I'ic p'-ic- \vi:cre it v."s iound. I dug and found a &kul!. Ho ntt rv.auls point' d cut to 1113 ths sp>t where th" skull \*a>lo.u.d. It w:;s in a fjreenhous j unde~ tho b nvqr ' t.sn >j. * nolh v con3tabb cine; about, a..d I j aiuynp a - l iv'd boot, s 1 b ?.% \>ou!d il, a child. He aftTWird-? f!u^ up a bone, and then another bwr H>? kept il 'ipjnx aii'l fuu.i \ o'li^rbaijc? Wrs i-uian HuiiLt, in che: of the g'r!, sai 1 :- Fiom the tiiae I have tii'ts'-d !isr v ) t) no»v I hive neve 1 ' ssen h?r n'i'. r \ Cn MouUtiy night aL tb.e po'ic; t-ta'ion Isiwherb vt c i. 'j'bcv wctj t'iOj3 sh.' w»s wcaiing at the time. p& -]\n Irvi no other. 3-ast uiglii 1 taw a phce of ii.r j-^n p'ttL'oa f , aa-l likcvise a piece of h.-r cl .misc. a pee of oi uvd i petticoat she wo p, aad Up ■''o^vts cf her frock, a n>i>!! pit"} of I\jv pin 1 . 0 c, and a piece of white Jn 3 I .Jo -,v.~ sonif ot hrr h,iir. I am ceitain it is h r d v Uvlr. Her hair tt;i? very shorf. Sin v, r oa> ;,<i r.lil iilj int. I -,iw a pic."c v.hich nab very m.i.-h like it 1 h'-.ow the ehen'sj b/ the hs-n-tninur of it i^ ! i : <li lit !riN It". After 'o.uo f.ir h?r evidence from Mi 1 G'.-^e itow^, tho pi'")'ie''s raatpv lor übou r r; "lit i.nu'pis in 1831 and 18(32, dc--erioinq; t'lt finViig of t'ao romains in tho t,<rdm, Mid showinartli^r tli ;> i^oicr was orte of L'u'j lew v.lio hul access to it, the pri- on r, who luu."y pi-'ilc&led hni'd'ocpnco, va^vnif! •I. It w.issiit 1 !»>,' i!i? police thr.t li # bi I liel'^io \az\\ brou ;!i f co t'l3 sLutoj on ■ hii - ;:es of i ; cc nc . . .on c'ui'd!' r n.

The hiqiu»b '.vis o> en 'oit'eß',>. '• he rcrn jim cn-ntril cf i tolcrib',, 1 c ■> •»>•■ t". &kri" C n of f,cd s : z", arrant 'lii;M in p ,' C" shvLc'icr, and a f-itnli qiiiiititvof'i^ldi'ii-cl'-r .'. h.-i 'i.i a pieoe jf nnv-nap;! 1 . The w,tr.e?-^: fxam'. o! b f n tin in v»>' tm'e reseated tbr-i; cvid ■ . 'c be'ors <ho oviiei'h j try. Mis lluDter i\ nt : !i. 1 t!i •bots a? thise rf h-r daughter, r.wl add- 1 that lip ] rl? p.oducci, tho pmli ns of a pcfuLOi . sic v. mid c!kui ; so, Wdie al^o her dnu'hln'j. Tir:-e w ■•? not'iin^ thoiv but formed porlio'u of t ] v dci "d's 'Ir ej. The bit nf tap 3 f^tcned tho In!;.\n 1 r,ipiforo.— Mm i-.ri'lgJs siid t!,.at. in F biuai ', 18G2, he sot a p:ii- cf cliiMren'.i Iml? iio .i i'o llinfccrs to mend. He soled, heeled and in- cappel them- Il^wawiokel then ti "mikj tldn s r.»ng." He, therefore, did wi.at was v-iy uisisml with ftirl's ! o.;ti— ho put large stael -pv'ms on lii-m. lie knew that thsy were f'-r EKzahel'i Ilu'iter. Tli-3 bjiis pro 'need were th« b^ob ho so mendel. Dr. Biliii-o;-hurst said he had made a minute examination of tho bonej foun.l in tho greenhouse, ile p'accd them in a»po«ilion and jound tl.at they were thos-s cf oiie indivi !ual, a»od apparently from eight to ten year.-. 11,- arrived at the delusion as to tha a<?e from His development of the skull a-id tha advanced o-^iacaiirn of the long boa <». The second t-eth weio developed. Two or t'nei loeth that seemed not to have came down may have bean driven in by a f d! ; tlie-o were no ma'ks" of violence in the bones. There was no frac'ure of the skull or the long bones. (?i.o of tha ribs was broken, but that, no doubt, w.-'s fiom a I>Lv.y of the s-;a'!e whpnit was being dug up. Th le was no moans of fotming an opinion as to the w-.y in which the person met her death. Lime had acted on tbe bines, an ; nil fcho inlesanvnte and the lower j iw wore gon*. It wa3 stated that c ireful search L^l been nif.de for the jaw, the enrth liaving been sifted. Tha coroner said that it bt uck Lim that there was blood upon the ftont of Up dr<-ss. Dr Billinih jrst said he thought not. to far a- he had r-x 'ruinsd there wrs no trace of blood. Ev-ry thine; had bsen snbjectp<! to tbe action of limp. The coroner s-.id that the polici were st present enar.!?ed in obtaining evidence, that it wa=i hoped would leal fo import ; r,t r'sults with regard to the case. He should thoief >re adjourn the Court to K.ive necessary time for the completiun of die invest'f<aiion.

On the Oth, Mr Rowe, the p opietor of t c nuis?rygronnd, found a document which will probably form an important feature in tin forthcoming 'trill ; it is a slip of paper containing a short account of an attempted r.s«ault on a girl six yea^s of aw which >Vi!|iam Henry Clarke was charged with in 1881. The eha-ae was not >pre-=-e-l by the pa"ents of the c'dld, but Mr Rowe took a short memorandum of Ciarkes proceedings at the tiuip, from his own stal-ment, and this is dated October 9, the year being s.ated to be 1861, fchouqh this date does not appear up. n the paper*. If this document should be re"*tv«-<l as evidence, it will be valuable jvj showing what CaTkc did on this occasion. It slates that that he met a little girl whom J.e dscoye] int j the garden by Riving hßr"twopenc3h B r"twopenc3 to cairv a letter to William-street ; thai he tied a hairiker-ltief round her mouth to prevent her sciearaincc, and onlydenateJ fivm hLs design upnn bein^ dibt'uib^l. In Janaaiy followin^(./anuary, 'lß32) hew is charged with a similar at lack uuon a much oiler cirl in the same placp ; but this eha-™ v/,is :t: t S3 not preo^od by the parent i, who dis'ikc I t'sc publici'y of a prosecu tion. In the M-fL 1 :!! follow ii^— on Saturday, rh<30th — Elizibeth Hunter disappeared in the manr.pr already describe I ; aid on the 19th of April, 1863, Clarke left Mr Howe's service.