Chronicles of Newgate, Vol. 2: From the eighteenth century to its demolitionGriffiths, Arthur
History
Chronicles of Newgate, Vol. 2: From the eighteenth century to its demolition
Griffiths, Arthur
Criminals -- Great Britain; Newgate (Prison : London, England); Prisons -- England; Punishment -- Great Britain
This fixed the crime pretty certainly upon Müller, who had already
left the country, thus increasing the suspicion under which he lay.
There was no mystery about his departure; he had gone to Canada by the
_Victoria_ sailing ship, starting from the London docks, and bound
to New York. Directly the foregoing facts were established, a couple
of detective officers, armed with a warrant to arrest Müller, and
accompanied by Mr. Death the jeweller and the cabman, went down to
Liverpool and took the first steamer across the Atlantic. This was the
_City of Manchester_, which was expected to arrive some days before
the _Victoria_, and did so. The officers went on board the _Victoria_
at once, Müller was identified by Mr. Death, and the arrest was made.
In searching the prisoner's box, Mr. Briggs' watch was found wrapped
up in a piece of leather, and Müller at the time of his capture was
actually wearing Mr. Briggs' hat, cut down and somewhat altered. The
prisoner was forthwith extradited and sent back to England, which he
reached with his escort on the 17th September the same year. His trial
followed at the next sessions of the Central Criminal Court, and ended
in his conviction. The case was one of circumstantial evidence, but,
as Sir Robert Collyer, the Solicitor-General, pointed out, it was the
strongest circumstantial evidence which had ever been brought forward
in a murder case. It was really evidence of facts which could not be
controverted or explained away. There was the prisoner's poverty,
his inability to account for himself on the night of the murder, and
his possession of the property of the murdered man. An alibi was set
up for the defence, but not well substantiated, and the jury without
hesitation returned a verdict of guilty.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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