On the following morning, at about half-past six o’clock, Sarah Mancer, the housemaid, rose from her bed, and, having dressed herself, quitted her bed-room. As she passed the door of the prisoner’s room she knocked, in order to awake him, and then proceeded down-stairs. The first circumstance which she remarked was, that the warming-pan had been left at her master’s bed-room door, as if indicating that the valet had gone to rest immediately after having attended upon his master, without subsequently going below; but, upon her proceeding to the lower floors of the house, she found everything in such a state of confusion, as to excite a suspicion in her mind that thieves had entered the house with a view to the commission of a robbery. She hurried through the drawing-room, the parlour, and the passage on the ground-floor, and there she found the furniture strewed about, the drawers and boxes open, a bundle lying on the ground, as if ready packed up to be carried off, while the street-door had been unfastened, and was only upon the latch. A momentary examination of these matters was sufficient to excite alarm in her mind, and, hurrying up-stairs again, she repaired to the cook to inform her of what she had seen, by whose directions she at once proceeded to the apartment of the valet. Ten minutes had scarcely elapsed since she had before knocked at his door, and half-an-hour was ordinarily occupied by him in dressing, but, to her surprise, she now found him dressed and ready to descend. Hastily informing him of what she had witnessed below, he accompanied her down stairs; and, upon his seeing the state in which the lower part of the house appeared to be, he exclaimed, “Oh, God! somebody has robbed us.” Mancer now suggested the propriety of their ascertaining whether anything had occurred to his lordship, and they went together to his bedroom.
Immediately upon their entrance, Courvoisier proceeded to the window to open the shutters, but Mancer, going to the bed-side, saw the pillow saturated with blood, and his lordship lying in bed, quite dead, with his throat frightfully cut. His face was covered with a towel or napkin, but upon this being removed, his countenance was found to be perfectly placid while the position of his body, undisturbed, and as if in a state of repose, betokened the suddenness with which the death-stroke had been inflicted. The woman suddenly screamed and ran out of the room, and, rushing from the house, she obtained the aid of some neighbours and of the police, by whom a surgeon was called in. Upon the entrance of these persons, Courvoisier, whose conduct throughout the whole transaction was of the most singular description, was found dreadfully agitated, leaning on the bed where the body of his master lay; and although questions were asked him, he made no answer, and took no part in the proceedings which succeeded. The death of the deceased nobleman was too evidently the result of violence from another hand to render a suggestion of suicide possible. One gash only had been given, which extended to the very back of the neck, and nearly severed the head from the body; and the absence of any instrument by which such an act could have been committed, at once negatived any supposition of that description.
In a few minutes Courvoisier appeared to recover from the agitation by which he had been affected, and at his suggestion an intimation of the dreadful occurrence was conveyed to the son of the deceased nobleman, who resided in Belgrave-square. Upon his going down-stairs, he immediately took Sarah Mancer into his pantry, and pointing to some marks of violence which were perceptible upon the door, which was open, remarked, “It was here they entered.”
The police now took possession of the house, and the mysterious nature of the transaction fully warranted them in the first step which they took—the detention of the three servants. A minute examination of the premises took place, the result of which was, a firm conviction on their minds that the murder had been perpetrated by an inmate of the house, and that a simulated robbery had been got up, for the purpose of raising a belief that the diabolical crime which had been committed was the act of a nocturnal plunderer and assassin. Upon the street door there were no marks of violence perceptible, while the indentations which were observable upon the door of the pantry had been so clearly produced from within, instead of from without, as to leave no doubt of the truth of their supposition. Their belief was further supported by the position of the back part of the house and the contiguous dwellings. It was so surrounded by buildings and high walls, as to render approach from that quarter next to impossible; and a minute examination of the neighbouring roofs of houses, &c., clearly negatived the suggestion that any person had obtained access to the house of Lord William Russell by clambering over any of them. In the house, the appearances were such as to indicate that the work had not been done by any practised housebreaker or marauder; and, furthermore, instruments were discovered, in the pantry poker, and a chisel which was found in the drawing room, and which had been known to be in the kitchen for some weeks before, which exactly corresponded with the marks in the pantry door, and which, as they could not have come into the possession of any stranger, must have been employed by some person having access to, and being well acquainted with, the premises.
The parcel which had been observed by the woman Mancer was examined, and was found to contain many articles of his lordship’s property. A cloth cloak, which had been hanging up in the hall, was found rolled up, and within it were his lordship’s gold opera-glass, his gold toothpick, a silver sugar-dredger, a pair of spectacles, a caddy spoon, and a thimble belonging to the cook; but it was remarked, that the latter articles were of a nature which a thief would rather have put into his pocket than have packed up in so large a parcel; and although the drawers of the sideboard in the parlour, and of the writing-desk in the drawing-room, were pulled open, nothing was found to have been extracted. In his lordship’s bedroom a state of things presented itself which tended to confirm the suspicions of the police, and to supply a motive for the crime. His lordship had been in possession of a case containing ivory rouleau boxes, which are usually employed to contain gold coin. The boxes belonging to his lordship would hold about five hundred sovereigns, and it had been remarked by Courvoisier, that although he was entrusted with the keys of his master’s drawers and trunks, his lordship would never permit him to go to this case. Upon examination by the police, the rouleau case was found to have been opened, and the rouleaux having been searched, fruitlessly for money, they had been placed on one side. The jewel-box and the note-case of the deceased had also been opened, and while from the former several articles of small value had been taken, from the latter a 10l. note, known to have been in the possession of his lordship, had been carried off. A purse containing gold had also disappeared. The rushlight, which had been lighted by the valet, according to his own statement, when his lordship went to bed, was found to have been extinguished within about an hour and a half after it had been left; his lordship’s gold watch, together with its appendages, had been removed; and, furthermore, an attempt had been made to give an appearance to the room as if his lordship had been attacked while reading in bed. A book which his lordship was known to have been reading in the course of the evening, “The Life of Sir Samuel Romilly,” who, by a most remarkable circumstance, came to his death by cutting his throat, was lying by his bed-side, and near him was a wax-candle, burned down into the socket of the candlestick, but placed in such a situation as that it would have afforded no sufficient light to enable his lordship, in the position in which his body was found, to read one word by its light. These circumstances induced a strong suspicion against Courvoisier, and his boxes were searched, but without anything being discovered tending to fix upon him the guilt of the crime; but it was nevertheless thought advisable that he should remain in custody, or under surveillance, until an examination of the drains of the house should have been made. For reasons of precaution, the women servants were also detained, and the most active exertions were made by the police to discover evidence which should lead to the discovery of the murderer. The commissioners of police, and several members of the nobility were indefatigable in their efforts to render assistance throughout the whole investigation, and through their instrumentality some discoveries were made.
On Friday, the 8th of May, it was thought that a more comprehensive search ought to be made through the house, and particularly in the pantry, and some most important disclosures took place. Some appearances were observed on the mortar and on the skirting-board of the room, which induced a police-officer to remove them. He examined the floor, the skirting, and the sink, and behind the skirting-board he found five gold rings, most undoubtedly the property of his lordship. In the same place were also found five pieces of gold coin and a piece of wax. Behind another part of the skirting was found a Waterloo medal, which was known to have been in the possession of his lordship, with a ribbon attached to it; and there was also found the 10l. note which has been mentioned before. The fact of the discovery of this note was a most important feature in this case. If it had been removed from the note-case, in which it had been placed, by any ordinary thief, it would undoubtedly have been carried off by him. Found as it was, however, concealed within the skirting-board of this pantry, it was taken as almost conclusive of the guilt of the valet, because no hand but his could have placed it in that position; for it is to be observed, that, from the moment of the discovery of the murder, he was placed under surveillance, and could not, therefore, have conveyed away anything from the house. A further search was subsequently made, and a split gold ring, on which his lordship kept his keys, and which had been attached to his watch by a ribbon, was found; and then, on the evening of the next day, a locket was taken from Courvoisier’s pocket.
The discovery of this small article was one to which very great attention was paid, and which formed a very singular feature in the case. Upon it being taken from the pocket of the valet, he claimed it as his own. It was well known amongst the family and domestics of the deceased nobleman, that he had always carried a locket about him, containing a small portion of the hair of his deceased lady. A short time before his murder, he had missed this relic, to which he attached great value, under circumstances of considerable mystery. He had been staying at Richmond, accompanied by no other servant but his valet, and during his sojourn there he occasionally went to Hampton, to visit his relative, Lady Sarah Bailey. In the course of a conversation which he had with her ladyship, he dropped the locket out of the case in which he usually kept it, and quitted her ladyship’s apartments, without having discovered his loss, to attend divine service at the chapel of Hampton Court. On his return the locket was presented to him, and he placed it in his pocket, but from that moment he never saw it again. It was missed, and the most diligent search was made for it, but in vain; and his lordship, grieved at his loss, eventually returned to London without having recovered this relic of his former affections. Upon the discovery of a locket in the possession of Courvoisier, a presumption was raised that it was that of his deceased master, with which it corresponded in every particular; but, in obedience to his repeated asseverations that it was his own, it was returned to him. On the next day, by a most remarkable accident, the same locket, of the identity of which now no doubt any longer remained, was found concealed in a small hole under the hearth-stone in the pantry, the room in which Courvoisier remained. Upon this the police thought fit to take him into custody, and he was conveyed away from the house; and, after he had been taken off, still further discoveries were made. On the 11th of May, a chased gold-key was discovered; and, on Wednesday the 13th, it was determined to examine the sink in the pantry. A part of the sink was covered with lead, and that portion having been removed in the course of the investigation, it occurred to the police-officer that there was something extraordinary in the appearance of the lead. He turned it up, and there he found the watch, which had been placed at the noble lord’s bed-head on the night of the murder, but which on the next morning was discovered to have been removed.
These were the material facts adduced in evidence against Courvoisier upon his various examinations before the magistrates; but strong as were the suspicions excited against him, it was felt that there was still good reason to believe that he would escape conviction. An experienced attorney, Mr. Flower, was engaged to conduct his defence; and so strong a feeling had been excited in his behalf, that a liberal subscription was raised among the foreign servants in London to defray the expenses of employing the necessary counsel to appear for him at his trial. Mr. Hobler, an attorney, was engaged on behalf of the prosecution; and at length, on Thursday, the 18th of June, the trial of the prisoner came on at the Central Criminal Court, before Lord Chief Justice Tindal and Mr. Baron Parke.
The court was then crowded with persons whom curiosity had drawn together to procure a sight of the prisoner, and to hear the evidence adduced against him; and, amongst the noble and distinguished individuals present were, the Duke of Sussex, who remained during the whole of the day, and appeared to take great interest in the proceedings; the Countess of Charleville, Lady Burghersh, Lady Sondes, Lady A. Lennox, Lady Granville Somerset, Lady Julia Lockwood, Lady Bentinck; the Earls of Sheffield, Mansfield, Cavan, Clarendon, Lucan, and Louth; Lords Rivers, Gardner, and A. Lennox; M. Dedel, the Dutch ambassador; Marshal Saldanha, the Portuguese ambassador extraordinary; Sir Gilbert Heathcote, Sir Stratford Canning, Sir W. Montagu, Colonel Fox, Lord Frederick Gordon, Hon. Mr. Villiers, &c. As a proof that every part of the court was brought into requisition, it may be mentioned, that the prisoners’ dock was filled with chairs, every one of which was occupied.
Mr. Adolphus, Mr. Bodkin, and Mr. Chambers, appeared for the prosecution. The prisoner was defended by Mr. C. Phillips and Mr. Clarkson.