For today’s murderous article I thought I would take you away from London, and make a trip up to Scotland, where, so The Fife Herald reported, on Thursday the 8th of June, 1848 a terrible murder was committed.
DIABOLICAL MURDER
SINGULAR DISCOVERY OF THE MURDERER
Early on the morning of the 27th ult., a murder of a most shocking character was perpetrated in the neigbourhood of Kilmarnock, a district of country in which such barbarous occurrences are happily but rare.
About three o’clock, the dead body of a young man, apparently of about eighteen years of age, was discovered, near to Laputt smithy, about a mile and a half from the village.
It was soon identified as that of a man named Young, a servant at Fortacres, in the parish of Riccarton.
THE WORK OF AN ASSASSIN
A deep gash had been made on the jugular vein of deceased, and the appearance of the corpse indicates that a severe struggle for life had taken place.
No doubt was entertained that death was the work of an assassin.
This belief was greatly confirmed by the fact that the deceased had been robbed of his watch, and some little money, of which he was the possessor.
On the other side of the hedge, a wright’s chisel was found lying in a circumstance which at once confirmed the idea that the deceased had lost his life by foul means.
THE SEARCH BEGINS
Information was without delay communicated to the Procurator-Fiscal, and means for the discovery of the murderer were forthwith instituted.
THE MURDERER FOUND
In a singular manner,” says The Ayr Advertiser, “circumstances have been brought to light, which seem to warrant the conclusion that the villainous assassin has been found.
On the night of Saturday, or early on Sunday morning, a toll-house at Lochwinnoch was broken into, and the sum of £35 in money, and a watch, were stolen from it.
A person had been seen about the place on whom suspicion rested as being the burglar, he was hotly pursued by parties on horseback, who, by the aid of the Johnstone police-constable, succeeded in apprehending him in the neighbourhood of that town with a sum corresponding to nearly all the stolen money, and the actually stolen watch in his possession.
THE WATCH
On Monday, it was discovered that a watch having the same maker’s name and number as that worn by the unfortunate victim of the Fortacres tragedy, had in the course of Saturday been pawned in Beith.
The parties by whom the watch was pledged, without hesitation, stated that they had done so at the request of one McQuillam, an Irishman, who had some time previously been a worker at the Glengarnock Iron Works, and of whom they gave a minute description.
THE ROBBER UNMASKED
On further investigation, it turned out that a man answering his description had taken out a ticket by the railway mid-day train for Johnstone, but had left the train at Lochwinnoch; more minute inquiry confirmed the suspicion that this individual was no other than the burglar of the toll-house at Lochwinnoch now in custody.
The two men who pawned the watch were carried off to Paisley, confronted with him, and identified him as the person who had given them the watch to pledge.
He was forthwith apprehended on the more serious charge.
BLOODSTAINED CLOTHING
It is said, that when apprehended, it was found, on examination, his shirt and trousers, which had evidently been washed, bore distinct traces of blood, and further, that he was seen at a late hour of the night on Friday, between Kilmarnock and the scene of the murder.