The prisoner, who was an alien, elected to be tried by a jury of Englishmen; and the indictment having been read, he pleaded “Not guilty.”
Evidence in proof of the circumstances which we have detailed was then produced, and the first day’s proceedings had closed, when the new and important testimony to which we have already referred, affording conclusive proof of the guilt of the prisoner, was discovered.
In the course of the inquiries which had been made subsequently to the murder, some articles of plate were found to have been removed from the house of his lordship; but, after the minute examination of the house which took place, there was good reason to believe that this portion of the transaction had occurred long before, and not after, the murder. All the efforts of the police to discover this stolen property had proved ineffectual; and although large rewards had been offered for its production, it was not until the evening of the first day’s trial that it was brought forward. An intimation was then conveyed to Mr. Hobler of the fact of its being in the possession of Madame Piolaine, the keeper of a French hotel in Leicester-place, Leicester-square; and upon its being inspected by persons who were competent to speak to its identity, they at once most positively proved that it was the same which had been formerly in the possession of his lordship. The circumstance of this most extraordinary discovery was directly notified to the prisoner’s attorney; and Courvoisier being by him consulted as to the truth of the allegations made, he at once admitted his guilt. At this stage of the proceedings, it was felt that such a confession placed the advocates who had been employed on his behalf in a condition of the greatest difficulty. For them to have thrown up their briefs would have been at once to admit the uselessness of any efforts to save their client from an ignominious death—a duty to the performance of which they had pledged themselves; and it was therefore determined that they should continue their defence of the prisoner, although the line of conduct which it became proper to pursue was necessarily much altered by the discovery which had been made to them. The instructions which they had originally received, went to the extent of calling upon them to endeavour to procure the implication of the female servants of his lordship, and of the police, who were to be charged as their companions and associates in crime in the murder of Lord Russell, and in a conspiracy to secure the conviction and execution of the valet; but although the former portion of this defence was of course deemed fit to be withdrawn, a considerable degree of abuse was heaped upon the police by Mr. C. Phillips in his speech for the defence of the prisoner, in consequence of some improper conduct of which he alleged they had been guilty, tending to prejudice his case, and even going to the length of fabricating evidence to excite suspicion in the minds of the jury against him.
To proceed, however, to the new evidence which had been obtained, we shall, in order to make it more easily understood, lay it before our readers in the terms in which it was produced at the trial at the end of the second day’s proceedings.
After being sworn, Charlotte Piolaine deposed as follows:—“My husband keeps L’Hôtel de Dieppe, in Leicester-place, Leicester-square. I know the prisoner at the bar. I knew him about four years ago. He came to our hotel in the situation of waiter. I don’t recollect that he gave me his name, nor did I know it. We used to call him John in the hotel. French is generally spoken in our hotel; and we called him Jean. He lived with me as a servant for about a month or five weeks, not longer. I never saw him since that time till about six weeks ago. He came to me at the Hôtel de Dieppe on a Sunday morning. He merely asked me how I was, staid a short time, and went away. I did not recognise him when he first came. As it had been some time since I saw him, I could not recall his features to memory. He said, ‘Don’t you remember me? I am Jean, who lived with you some time ago.’ He staid but a few moments and went away. I asked him in the bar if he was in a situation, and he said ‘Yes;’ and I said, ‘I am very glad of it.’ I saw him again on the Sunday week or fortnight afterwards, I cannot remember which. He came in and asked me how I was. It was in the evening, and he had a parcel in his hand—a paper parcel. He asked me to take care of it till the Tuesday following, and he would call for it. I said ‘Certainly I would,’ and he left it and went away. I put up the parcel in a closet. I did not know at that time what the parcel contained. It was a sort of brown paper parcel, about eighteen inches long, and it was tied up and sealed. He did not call for it on the Tuesday following, and I never saw him since until to-day. I heard once or twice of the murder of Lord William Russell. The parcel had certainly been left with me before I heard of the murder, but I did not suppose it to be connected with that event. I took it out of the closet for the first time yesterday morning. I kept it at the bottom of the cupboard. I was induced to take it out in consequence of an account which my cousin read in a French newspaper, and showed to me. I communicated with my cousin, and with Mr. Gardine, for whom I sent. He lives in King-street, Soho, and is a chaser and modeller, and I sent also for Mr. Cumming. He is a solicitor, I believe, and is a very intimate friend of ours. My cousin Vincent is my husband’s partner in the hotel. The parcel was opened in the presence of these persons. It was never opened before from the moment it came into my possession. (Mr. Cumming, who was subsequently examined, here produced the parcel, which was about eighteen inches long by six wide.) That is the parcel, and that is the paper that was on it. (The witness, by the direction of counsel, opened the parcel.) It contains spoons and forks of silver, two pairs of new stockings, a pair of gold auricles for assisting the hearing, a pair of dirty socks, and an old flannel waistcoat and a jacket. The jacket was wrapped round the other articles, and there is also some tow or yarn which would have the effect of preventing the plate from being felt or rattling. When we discovered these things, Mr. Cumming immediately put it up again, having first put in an inventory which he took down on paper, and which we all signed, and took it away. He brought it here, I believe.”
Louis Gardine: “I am a chaser and modeller, and live in King-street, Soho. I know M. Piolaine, who keeps the Hôtel de Dieppe in Leicester-place. I remember a man bringing a parcel to the hotel on a Sunday, but I do not recollect the exact time. I was only a visitor, and did not take much notice. The parcel was wrapped up in brown paper. I do not know the man who brought it, and had not, to my knowledge, ever seen him before. I cannot identify the prisoner as the man. I was fetched by Mr. Vincent yesterday about some news that was in the paper, and I went to the hotel. We went directly to Mr. Cumming in the city. We found him there, and he came back with us to the hotel. A parcel was then produced, and Mr. Cumming cut the string and opened it, and it was found to contain some silver and some other articles; and a list was made out of its contents.”
Mr. Richard Cumming: “I am a solicitor, and carry on business in the Old Jewry. In consequence of a communication I received from Gardine and Joseph Vincent yesterday, I went with them to M. Piolaine’s, in Leicester-place; and a brown paper parcel was produced. I was consulted as to the propriety of opening it, and it was ultimately opened by me. I made out a list of the articles, which I now have, and fastened the parcel up again. Before doing so I observed the crest on the spoons, and proceeded to Ridgway’s, the booksellers, where I learned that the crest, a goat, was that of the Bedford family. I immediately proceeded to Marlborough-street police-office, to seek the magistrates’ advice and to be relieved of the possession of the parcel. I had an interview with the clerk to the magistrates, and in consequence of what transpired, I came down to the Old Bailey in a cab. I arrived here about six o’clock, and sent in a note to the solicitors for the prosecution, Mr. Wing and Mr. Hobler, to whom I made a communication. The paper brought in some time ago contains a portion of the contents of the brown paper parcel, but having placed my initials upon it and the articles, I gave up the brown paper and the remaining contents to an officer by direction of Mr. Hobler. The paper produced is the covering of the parcel, and the articles I produced were contained in it. On the back of the cover there has been an address, which is nearly erased. Besides the spoons and forks there was some ear apparatus, made of gold, in a box. I produce the list signed by myself and the other parties. The articles consisted of four silver table-spoons, four silver dessert-spoons, two silver tea-spoons, four silver forks, one leather box containing two instruments for the ears, two pairs of white stockings, with no mark on them, one pair of white socks, each marked C 4, one flannel jacket, another jacket which I have called a flannel jacket, and a small quantity of tow or yarn.”
Other evidence, by which the stockings were proved to have belonged to the prisoner by his washerwoman, and by which the brown paper in which the parcel was wrapped was proved to have been sent to Lord William Russell, around a framed print of the “Vision of Ezekiel,” from the shop of Mr. Molteno, a printseller in Pall Mall, was then produced, and the trial was again adjourned to Saturday.
On that morning, Mr. C. Phillips addressed the jury at very great length on the part of the prisoner, contending with great talent, that the evidence was that of suspicion only; but Chief Justice Tindal having summed up, a verdict of “Guilty” was returned.
The learned judge then proceeded to pass upon the prisoner the sentence of death. He said, that he had been found guilty by an intelligent, patient, and impartial jury of the crime of wilful murder. His guilt had been established beyond the possibility of doubt. The circumstances which surrounded the case were not of an ordinary description. It was ordered by the holiness of God that this crime should not go unpunished; and his power was exemplified in no common manner in the course and progress of the investigation. It was ordained that that which was hid in darkness should be brought to light, and that an offence of the greatest magnitude and the most hateful in the sight of God should not remain concealed. He (the prisoner) had felt no compunction at his conduct; he entertained no regard for the sacred duties which bound a servant to his master; but under his own roof he had committed upon him, aged and unprotected as he was, the awful crime of murder. By this horrid act, domestic and social society received a shock; and in order to prevent the perpetration of such offences by others, it was necessary that the law in this instance should take its course. He could hold out no hope to him in this world, and he earnestly entreated him to prepare to undergo the last sentence of the law. It was necessary that he should receive that punishment, in order that others should take warning, and abstain from a breach of the law. What had inclined him to commit the horrid act did not appear. The love of lucre first induced him to break the law, and that might have led to the commission of this offence. The learned judge again earnestly entreated him to make the best use of his time, and endeavour to make his peace with the Almighty; and his lordship then passed the ordinary sentence of death upon the convict.