VI.

THE TRIAL OF FRANZ MÜLLER FOR THE MURDER

OF MR. BRIGGS.

The circumstances attending the assassination of Mr. Briggs on the North London Railway upon the 9th of July, the proceedings taken for the apprehension of the suspected murderer Müller, the pursuit of him across the Atlantic, his capture in New York, and delivery to the officers sent over from England to apprehend him; his return to England in custody, and his committal for trial, have been fully related in the order of their dates in the "Chronicle" of the present volume. The sequel of the trial will also be found in the same part of the work. It now remains to record the proceedings of the trial itself, an investigation which excited a higher degree of interest and more universal attention than almost any judicial inquiry of late years. The judges who presided on this occasion were the Lord Chief Baron (Pollock) and Mr. Baron Martin. The Solicitor-General (Sir R. P. Collier), Mr. Sergeant Ballantine, Mr. Hannen, Mr. Giffard, and Mr. Beasley were the counsel for the prosecution. The prisoner was defended by Mr. Sergeant Parry, Mr. Metcalfe, and Mr. Besley. The prisoner pleaded "Not Guilty," and declined to avail himself of his privilege of claiming a mixed jury, electing to be tried by a jury of twelve Englishmen.

The case for the prosecution was ably and temperately stated by the SolicitorGeneral, who explained to the jury the nature of the evidence, principally circumstantial, on which the Crown would rely, concluding his address in these terms :Undoubtedly the evidence in this case is what is called circumstantial evidence, but I would remind you that it is circumstantial evidence by which great crimes are most frequently detected. Murders are not committed in the presence of witnesses; and to require direct evidence of a murder would be to publish impunity to murderers. Direct testimony of personal identity is very liable to error, but there is a description of evidence which I may be allowed to call the evidence of facts, which cannot be false and cannot be mistaken. The main features of this case may really be summed up in a sentence-Mr. Briggs is robbed and murdered in a railway carriage; the murderer takes his watch, his chain, and his hat, and leaves his own hat; all the articles taken from the murdered man are found upon Müller, and he gives a false account of each of them. I venture to think that if these circumstances are proved, a stronger case of circumstantial evidence has rarely, if ever, been submitted to a jury. If, indeed, after hearing the whole case, you should entertain any reasonable doubt of his guilt, of course you will acquit him; but if, on the other hand, the evidence-I will not say amounts to actual demonstration, for actual demonstration is a species of proof not applicable to cases of this description-but leaves in your mind a firm and abiding conviction of the prisoner's guilt, I am sure you will not hesitate to discharge that duty which is cast upon you by your oaths."

The following witnesses were then called :

Mr. David Buchan, examined by Mr. Sergeant Ballantine.--I reside in Nelsonsquare, Peckham, and I am a nephew of the late Mr. Briggs. Mr. Briggs was about sixty-nine years of age. On Saturday, the 9th of July last, I saw him at

five o'clock. He dined with me at my house on that day. When he came he brought something with him. He had a black bag and a stick. He left about half-past

eight. I accompanied him from my house to the Lord Nelson, in the Old Kentroad, and saw him into the omnibus. He would get out at King William-street for the purpose of going to the Fenchurch-street station. When I parted with him he was in his full health and spirits. He wore a watch and chain, the chain being attached to a button-hole in the waistcoat. There was a small seal attached to the watch and two keys. In consequence of information I received I went next morning to his house. On the previous evening I noticed that he had a watch, as he referred to it before he left my house. When I went to his house on the Sunday morning he was still alive. That was between ten and eleven, but he was still insensible, and he remained so till he died. I left before he died.

Cross-examined by Mr. Sergeant Parry.-I walked with Mr. Briggs to the Lord Nelson, in the Old Kent-road. The omnibus starts from that place.-Were you aware of any threats being held out by any one against Mr. Briggs? Not to my knowledge.-Have you heard your wife say so? I have heard her say so.

Mrs. Buchan corroborated the evidence of her husband as to Mr. Briggs having dined at her house on the day of the murder.

Cross-examined.--I have heard of threats having been used against Mr. Briggs. I heard it through a third person. I understood the threats were from a person to whom Mr. Briggs had refused to lend money.

Thomas Fishbourne.-I am ticket-collector at the Fenchurch-street station, and mark the tickets of persons going by the North London Railway. For that purpose I stand at the bottom of the steps leading to the platform. I knew the late Mr. Briggs by sight. He was in the habit of travelling by the North London Railway. I saw him on the night of the 9th of July. He presented his ticket to me in the ordinary way at a quarter to ten o'clock at night. I heard of his death about twelve o'clock the next day, and went to his house and recognized him.

Harry Vernez.-I am a clerk in the employment of Messrs. Robarts, Curtis, and Co. On Saturday, the 9th of July, I went to the Hackney station of the North London Railway about ten o'clock in the evening. I was in company with Mr. Jones, who is a clerk in the same employment. Took a first-class ticket for Highbury. On the arrival of the train from Fenchurch-street I went to a firstclass carriage. I opened the door of the carriage; it was empty, and I and Mr. Jones got in. I sat on the right-hand side, with my face to the engine, about the centre of the carriage. Before the train started Mr. Jones called my attention to some blood on his hand. I immediately called the guard, who brought a light. We all got out. Two other persons had got into the carriage. The guard came with a light, and found a hat, a stick, and a black bag. The guard locked up carriage, leaving those articles in it, and I got into another carriage.

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Sidney Jones, also a clerk in the bank of Robarts, Curtis, and Co., said,--I went with the last witness to the Hackney station on the night of the 9th of July, intending to go to Highbury. I got with him into a first-class carriage. On entering the carriage I saw a black bag on the left-hand side of the seat nearest the door. I took the opposite seat.

Benjamin Ames.-I am a guard on the North London Railway, and was guard on the train which left Fenchurch-street station at 9.50. It was five minutes late, and in consequence the tickets were not examined before we started. On arriving at the Hackney station my attention was called to one of the first-class carriages (No. 69). I got my hand-lamp and examined it. There was blood on the cushion of the seat nearest the engine, and also on the quarter-lights. I looked

under the seat and found a hat, a stick, and a black bag. It was buttoned up and bloody. The hat produced is like the hat. There was no one in the carriage when I found these things. I locked the carriage up and it was forwarded to Chalk Farm station. It was there examined by Mr. Greenwood, and was taken to the Bow station, where it has remained ever since. Mr. Greenwood took charge of the hat, bag, and stick.

Cross-examined.—There was not a great deal of blood, but there were spots; there was the appearance of a hand having been wiped. The largest pool of blood was about the size of a sixpence. There were two or three. It was in a liquid state. I cannot give you the time we arrived at Hackney, but I can tell you when we left. We left Fenchurch-street at 9.50, and Hackney at 10.15. We left the Bow station at one minute past ten. I did not see Mr. Briggs at the Bow station. That night we were three minutes or three minutes and a half in going from the Bow station to Hackney Wick.

Re-examined.-There was also blood on the cushion of the off side, and also on

the floor.

William King. I am a guard on the North London Railway. I brought up a train of fifteen carriages from the Hackney Wick station on the 9th of July. We have to go over a canal bridge between Hackney Wick and Bow. As we were passing over the bridge my attention was called by the driver to something on the line. I pulled up the train, and on going to the spot I found the body of a gentleman between the up and down lines. He was lying on his back, with his head towards Hackney. I assisted in taking him up and conveying him to a public-house opposite. He was alive.

Alfred Agan, the engine-driver of the train of which the last witness was guard, corroborated his evidence as to finding the body, and stated that the train left Hackney Wick at twenty minutes past ten. The body was found about half-way between the Hackney Wick and Bow stations.

Cross-examined.-Where the body was found the rails run on an embankment about eight or nine yards high.

Policeman Edward Duggan.-I was on duty in Birch-lane, Bow, about twenty minutes past ten on the 9th of July. In consequence of the noise I heard I went up the embankment and on the line. I saw several persons carrying a gentleman. I assisted to take him into the Mitford Castle public-house. I searched him, and found in his left-hand trowsers pocket four sovereigns and some keys, and the half of a first-class railway ticket. In his right-hand trowsers pocket I found 10s. 6d. in silver and copper, and some more keys; also a silver snuff-box, and letters and papers, and on one of his fingers I found a diamond ring. There was a gold fastening to his waistcoat. I could not undo it. His shirt was crumpled, and there was a black spot on it. I have measured the distance from Bow station to the spot where the body was found-it is 1434 yards, and from the Hackney Wick station 740 yards.

Francis Toulmin.—I am a medical practitioner, and member of the Royal College of Surgeons. I knew the deceased, and was in the habit of attending him. He was about seventy years of age. Some time before he was murdered he had an attack of erysipelas, but had recovered. I was sent for on the morning of the 10th of July, between two and three o'clock, to attend him; he was groaning and unconscious. Nothing whatever could be done. He died at a quarter before twelve at night. I made a post-mortem examination on the Tuesday following, in the presence of other medical men. The cartilage of the left ear was severed by a jagged wound. About an inch anterior to that wound was a deeper wound. Over

the temporal muscle was a contused wound; and there were as many as four incised wounds. There was one near the crown. The others were about three-quarters of an inch, having a direction from the front to behind. Upon the removal of the scalp the skull was found to be extensively fractured. The fissures extended in various directions. In the centre a portion of the skull, an inch in breadth, was separated entirely. There was an effusion of blood between the scalp and the skull. I cannot account for the wounds on the top of the head except they were inflicted with a blunt instrument used with considerable force. The wounds at the back of the ear I believe also to have been caused by a blunt instrument. There was no wound about the head which could be attributed to a sharp instrument.

Cross-examined. There were five or six wounds altogether. The contused wound on the temple might have arisen from a fall. The incised wound on the crown was three inches long by half an inch in breadth, or not quite so much. Mr. Briggs's height was about five feet eight inches, and I should weighed between eleven and twelve stone. I should say not more than twelve stone.

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Mr. Breardon, surgeon, living in the Bow-road, stated that he was the first surgeon called in. He found Mr. Briggs in a lower room of the inn on a table; had him removed to an upper room. He had a jagged wound across the left ear; in the front of the same ear there was another jagged wound. Above the same ear there was also a swelling, and there were two deep wounds on the top of the head. At the time he thought the wounds on the side of the head were to be attributed to a fall, and those on the top of the head to blows from some blunt instrument. Was with him all night till last witness came. At six in the morning he examined the carriage at Chalk Farm station. He saw blood on the near side of the panel of the door, on the iron step, and on the wooden platform or step, and on the wheel of the carriage. He found a link of a chain on the seat of the carriage.

Mr. Cooper, surgeon, who was also called in to see Mr. Briggs, likewise described the nature of the wounds at the top of the head, and said he thought the wounds at the top of the head were caused by a blunt instrument, and that the wound by the ear was caused by a stone when he fell out of the carriage.

George Greenwood, station-master of the Chalk Farm station of the North London Railway, stated that on Saturday night, the 9th of July, his attention was called to a first-class carriage at the Chalk Farm station. He took a bag, a hat, and a walking-stick from the carriage. They were the same as were now produced. The lining of the hat was torn.

Police-constable Lewis Lambert proved receiving the hat, stick, and bag from the last witness on the afternoon of the 10th of July. He took them to Mr. Briggs's house in Clapton-square, where they owned the stick and bag, but not the hat. He handed the articles over to Inspector Kerrissey.

Mr. Briggs, jun., said he could not own the hat, and that he knew nothing

of it.

Walter Kerrissey, Inspector of the K division of police, produced the hat, bag, and stick which he received from the witness Lambert. On the 11th of July he handed over the hat to Inspector Tanner. On the morning of the 10th of July he went to the Bow Railway station about ten o'clock. Saw a railway carriage, No. 69. The handle of the off side of the carriage was bloody; he meant the off side supposing the carriage was going in the direction of Hackney. Also found

blood in the inside, on the cushion, on the front part of the carriage, and likewise on the near window; a little blood on the off window, a little on the off foot-board outside, on the step, and on the panel of the carriage outside. He afterwards went to Mr. Briggs's house, in Clapton-square. Arrived there about eleven o'clock. Mr. Briggs was then alive but insensible. He observed on his waistcoat a hook fastened on the third button-hole. He now produced it. Mr. Thomas Briggs gave it to him on the Tuesday; he saw him take it off the waistcoat. He also produced a ring he received from Police-sergeant Prescott. It was a ring of a kind commonly called a jump ring. He also produced a gold chain, with seal and two keys attached to it, which he had received from Mr. Death.

Cross-examined.—I had directions from Sir Richard Mayne to go to New York on the 22nd of July. Up to that time I had been making inquiries respecting this case. I know a person named Thomas Lee. He was not examined before the coroner in my presence. The first reward was offered, I think, about the 11th of July; it was 2007.; 1007. by the Government, and 1007. by the bank. Afterwards the North London Railway Company offered another 1007. I cannot say how soon after; less than a week. The fact of the rewards being offered was placarded. The handle of the door was bloody. There was no blood on Mr. Briggs's hand.

Dr. Letheby deposed that he had made an examination of the railway carriage No. 69, and of the articles handed to him, which were stated to have been found in it. He examined the carriage on the 26th of July. He found blood on one of the cushions. It had all the characteristics of huinan blood. It was in the centre of the cushion, and the cushion was on the left-hand side of the carriage. There was also blood on the glass on the left-hand side of the carriage immediately over the cushion. It was blood that was living when it was placed there, and it contained particles of brain matter. It was in the shape of two large spots, and appeared to have been splashed by a blow upon a surface containing a little blood. The splashes were almost the size of a sixpence. If a person had been sitting at one side of the carriage, and struck on the head, that effect would have been produced. On the opposite cushion there were about thirty drops of blood, small. There were two drops of blood on the next cushion, on the same side, and a spot also on the other. There was blood on all the four cushions. I examined the door and the handle. There were spots of blood outside the door and on the wheel. I examined the stick which has been produced to me. There was blood on it to about six inches from the top. It was a thin layer, and on a large surface, but in quantity it was not much.

Cross-examined.-I used chemical tests, and I used the microscope. The microscope is the surest test.

John Death.—I am a jeweller, at 55, Cheapside. I first saw the prisoner at the bar on Monday, the 11th of July. He came into my shop just before ten o'clock in the morning. I was called into the shop by my brother, who handed me a chain, and said the customer wished to part with that in exchange. My brother asked me to value it. The chain produced is the chain. I examined the chain closely with a magnifying glass. I weighed it, and said it was worth 37. 10s. He finally accepted that, and said, "I want one at the same cost." I selected a chain at 31. 158. He made some objection to that chain, and he then said he would take it if I would give it to him at the same price. That I said I could not do, and I then looked in my stock and selected one at 37. 5s. ; I showed him it, and he promptly accepted that chain. I asked my brother for a box, and I put it in the box and made a parcel for it. After a moment's pause I said, "What