The Trial of Thomas Bedworth took place on Friday morning, the 15th of September.—Mr. Justice Heath, Sir S. Le Blanc, Mr. Justice Bailey, and the Common Serjeant were on the Bench.
The facts which were adduced in evidence were not so strong, although they in some measure confirmed the truth of the foregoing confession. The best evidence that could be given by the few witnesses who were examined, went to a presumption that Bedworth effected the bloody deed with a razor, and it was so stated in the indictment.—This, however, did not prove to be true; but Mr. Justice Heath, in summing up, observed, that this was immaterial, in point of law;—the charge implied being, that the prisoner had done the act with a cutting or sharp instrument.
Throughout the trial Bedworth manifested a good deal of agitation; but this the Editor ascertains to have arisen in consequence of the evidence of two women, who made, as he supposed, some misstatements, as to time, on the day whereon the murder had been committed. Indeed, such was the effect of these trivial inaccuracies upon his mind, that he twice solemnly addressed the court, calling upon God to witness, that the women had forsworn themselves in this respect.—This conduct was mistaken, by the court, as an attempt to deny his guilt.—But the fact was otherwise, and the whole tenor of his conduct in prison, from the time of his surrender, in July, as well as his confession, furnish the best proofs to the contrary.
The trial did not last an hour, and Mr. Justice Heath having charged the Jury, the latter almost unhesitatingly returned a verdict of—Guilty.
The wretched man was then asked by the clerk of the peace, what he had to offer in an arrest of judgment by the court—to die according to law.
The prisoner replied, in much agitation, “nothing beyond the false swearing of the women.”
The Recorder being absent, a short explanation then took place upon the bench, as to the passing of the sentence. Mr. Justice Heath, who tried the prisoner, declining to perform that duty, and the Common Serjeant expressing a wish to evade the painful task, never having been called upon to execute it. It was however, at length, settled that the Common Serjeant should pronounce the sentence of death, and, in doing so, he addressed the prisoner to the following effect:—
“Thomas Bedworth,—After a painful investigation of the crime which has been laid to your charge, a humane and impartial jury of your country, hearing the evidence adduced against you, as well as your own voluntary confession, have thought it their duty to find you Guilty of the horrid crime of MURDER!
“We see that, in all ages of the world, a terror has been held out against those persons whose ferocious and unbridled passions have led to the shedding of innocent blood, and that the life of the guilty has been demanded in retribution—a retribution however which scarcely atones for the foul deed. This is exactly the situation in which you are at present awfully placed, but it is sincerely to be hoped, that the motive which induced you to make a full and unreserved confession of your guilt, arose from devout and serious reflections upon that eternity to which you are fast hastening. Your appearance in this court, to day, before the bar of man, may have for a moment drawn you aside from that truth you had hitherto asserted, and induced you to attempt a denial of it, yet I do most charitably hope, that as you had been led to disclose the weight of your sin and guilt, as read to us this day, so you will now reflect upon the dreadful consequences of that confession, and turn, with full purpose of heart, to serious repentance and prayer. And let me inform you, that the repentance you are called upon to evince, is not a mere sorrow for the consequence that would await our crime, but a sincere and hearty sorrow for this and other crimes which you have committed, and for which you must shortly give an account.
“It is now my painful duty to acquaint you, that your time in this world is of very short duration, but you have the consolation to know, that it is not too short, or too late for repentance, and for pouring out your soul, to your Maker, in supplication and prayer, before you are called to appear at his awful tribunal. The mercy that is thus held out to you, you ill deserve, as, in a moment of jealous rage, you hurled into quick eternity, the wretched victim of your passion and lust—sent her to her dread account, without a moment for repentance of her numerous sins—without even time to implore the mercy of her God, for the base and guilty connection she had formed with you!
(Here the prisoner lifted his eyes towards Heaven, struck the bar with his hand, and, bursting into tears, bowed assent to the remark.)
“I have now only to beseech you that, as soon as you leave that bar, you fall before God, on your bended knees, and, with thorough sorrow and conviction, implore that mercy you so much require. In your prayers you will be assisted by a pious man, who will zealously aid your applications to Heaven. Fly to him for his advice, his assistance, and prayers—you need them all—and let the conduct of your future hours, in this life, be so devoted, as to prepare you, through the mercy of the Redeemer, for that awful eternity which shall shortly receive you.
“There is now nothing left for me, but to pronounce upon you the dreadful sentence of that law, which you have so grossly violated, which is:—that you, Thomas Bedworth, be taken from hence, to the place from whence you came, and from thence, on Monday morning next, to a place of execution, where you shall be hanged by the neck until you are dead.—Your body will then be delivered over to the surgeons, for dissecting and anatomising, according to the statute. And may the Lord God Almighty, through the merits and intercession of the Redeemer, have mercy upon your soul!”