A SYDNEY HORROR.

Otago Witness, Issue 2167, 5 September 1895, Page 35

A SYDNEY HORROR.

ARREST OF TWO MEN.

Sydney, September 3.

A case, the external appaarance of which indicated some order of merchandise, waß found near the water frontage at Woolloomooloo, and as ib emitted a strong smell of carbolic acid and of decomposing animal matter the police opened it. They found that it contained the body of a young woman whose abdomen had been cut open and sewn up again, apparently by a practised hand. The Government pathologist is of opinion that the Caj'arian operation was performed on the woman. Deceased was apparently dead between SO and 30 hours. The body had b«en jammed into the box and firmly fixed by battens. The police theory is that someone skilled in anatomy, without being a regular qualified surgeon, did the deed ; that when the woman died the operator became frightened, and took this means to get rid of the body, his intention evidently being to throw it into the water, but the high gates barred his way, and the box was left in an unfrequented part of the street. A woman in the neighbourhood declares that Bhe saw a buggy driven up and the box taken out, apparently by Beveral men, who then drove cff. The body was clothed in a nightdress of expensive material.

Thomaa Meredith Sheridan, a chemist, principal of the British Medical Institute, and Edward Thomas have been arrested at the Inetitute rooms in connection with the Woollo6mooloo mystery. The detectives discovered that the" box was purchased at a city warehouse on Saturday morning, and traced it to Sheridan's rooms, where it ia alleged a nnmber of instruments stained with blood and giving other indications that they had been used in the performance of an

operation were seized. Signs of the reoeni presence of a decaying body wore also found.

The victim has been identified as Jessie Nlcholls, aged 23, the unmarried daughter of a farmer residing at Mulgrove, near Windsor.

At the inquest the mother gave evidence that her daughter left home on Tuesday morning with the alleged intention of posting a letter ana never returned, and her later movements are unknown.

A man namod Sewell and a woman named Sarah Jackson, caretakers of the institute, have been arrested on a charge of complicity. Miss Nichols bad been engaged for two ytans and a-ualf to a young farmer who w«i proactive heir to a rich uncle, who threatened to disinherit him if ha married the girl. Previous to leaving home she asked to be allowed to vinit friend* in Sydney. Her mother objected, and hid her clothes to prevent her going. The girl was only dressed in a wrapper and underclothing when she left. After her disappearance her mother went to the girl's lover, who said he was responsible for her daughter's condition. She was giing to the city to hide her shame. He offered to marry her, but she refused.

Mrs Nicholls o&mo to Sydney on Thursday, and ascertained that her daughter had stayed a day with her friends, procured clothes and left under pretence of returning home. An unsuccessful search ended in her reading aa account of the finding of the body in to-day's papers.