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At the Old Bailey, Martin Clinch and Samuel Mackley were capitally
convicted of the wilful murder of Mr Fryer, in the parish of St.
Mary, Islington. It appears by the evidence, that the deceased and
his cousin, Miss Fryer, were walking across the fields in their way
from Southampton Buildings, Holborn, towards Islington: that, when
they arrived at the field called the cricket field, near White Conduit
house, they heard a noise, as of some person in distress; this induced
the deceased to go to the spot. At this time, Miss Fryer, the principal
witness on this occasion, was at some distance from him. By the time
she came to the stile, which she had crossed in his way to the place,
she saw Clinch fire, when the deceased fell into a small pond. Clinch
then took his watch out of his fob, and a sum of money out of his
pocket. By this time Miss Fryer had got on the other side of the stile,
when the prisoner, Mackley, held a pistol to her head, and took her
cloak from her. They then went away, and Mr. Fryer was taken to a house
at a short distance from the spot, where he died at eleven o’clock
the same evening. The evidence in support of the above statement, as
given by Miss Fryer, was clear, artless, and unembarassed. When asked
if she really believed Clinch to be the man who shot Mr Fryer, she said
she believed from her soul he was; with regard to Mackley, she seemed
not quite so positive; several witnesses, however, proved his being
seen in the same field within a few minutes of the time the murder
happened, who all had noticed him, on account of his having red hair.
The prisoners being called on for their defence, they only said they
were innocent, but could give no account where they were at the time
the murder was committed. The jury went out for about half an hour, and
returned with a verdict--Guilty.
The sessions being ended, the same were adjourned until Wednesday, July
12, 1797.
THE EXECUTION.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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