Empire Sydney
21 may 1856
MURDER AT TUMUT.
To the
Editor of the Empire.
SIR - would
you permit ma to draw your attention, and that of your readers, to circumstance
which occurred here on the 11th instant, involving the dilatory manner in which
the affairs concerning the welfare of our community are conducted by our paid
Government officials, and the necessity of some amendment in the law to meet
the requirements of the very extensive population now in the bush arising from
this maladministration.
On the ll th instant, at about six o'clock in
the evening, a man apparently betwixt forty and fifty years of age, and whose character
is here spoken of well, was stabbed with a butcher's knife in the abdomen with
so much violence as to cause his death in nine hours after, the occurrence.
The chief
constable of the district, Mr. Murphy, was in immediate attendance, and he took
the perpetrator of this foul deed into custody.
It unfortunately
happened that there was but one old man, who is almost too deaf to hear a
question addressed to him unless by someone with stentorian lungs, present, who
saw the crime committed and the circumstances attending it, consequently, it
was absolutely necessary that corroborative testimony to this man's statement
should be obtained, at all events it ought to have been palpable to the
individual occupying tho important post of chief constable, that it was his
duty to acquaint the nearest magistrate with the transaction in order that the dying
declaration of the wounded party might be taken ere it be too late, and more
especially when Doctor Large gave
it as his decided opinion (and the, chief constable knew it) that the man could
not survive beyond the following morning.
This
important step there was ample time to effect in this case, and would have obviated
that disposition to prevarication so prominent in judicial inquiries of every
nature in this country amongst witnesses of a certain class.
No such
information was, or even
attempted to be, transmitted as stated; but through, actual negligence of the
authorities proofs of an atrocious crime wore left solely at the option of an
almost imbecile, and the statement made by this person to Doctor Large when bringing him to attend
the case.
"That he saw the stab given," and clearly described the
injury inflicted-was for want of corroborative testimony so disgracefully
neglected, so mutilated, and altered, before the magistrate the next day, that,
instead of no crime being developed tantamount to murder, not even one to which
the title of aggravated manslaughter could be applied was arrived at, but
justice almost entirely defeated.
I chanced to
visit the patient with Doctor Large at
twelve o'clock on the evening in question, and suggested to the parties who had
concerned themselves in the matter the propriety of obtaining the prompt
attendance of a magistrate, that the legal forms of a dying declaration might
be compiled with, in which Doctor Large urgently joined me; but the scheme
being considered impracticable from the great distance (4 miles) to the residence
of the nearest magistrate, and feeling the urgent necessity of then deviating
from the legal formalities in the absence of magisterial power in the bush, and
from the probability of a speedy termination to the wounded man's life.
I
immediately, and in the presence of a few respectable and creditable witnesses,
at Doctor Large’s request, proceeded to take down upon paper, the dying
declaration of the man, which corroborated the statement of the witness alluded
to above as given to Doctor Large, which was duly attested by three others as
well as Doctor Large.
This
document was delivered to C. N. Lockhart, Esq., J.P., on the judicial enquiry
next day, who pronounced it, for want of the legal formalities which his
officials did not deem possible to comply with, "no better than the paper
it was written upon," and the only reprimand the chief constable received
Was that "he ought to have sent for Mr Lockhart."
I can only
add that had the declaration been received, and Doctor Large been examined upon the
first statement made to him, which would have induced the witness to speak out,
and the case properly adjudicated, the decision should have assumed a far more serious aspect ; but the
negligence of the authorities in addition to-the admissibility of certain evidence,
unless in a certain form which circumstances rendered it impossible to comply with,
although rendered nugatory through the inactivity of the constables, is permitted
to defeat the ends of justice, even as concerns our very lives, it were therefor
expedient that some means are adopted to produce a more healthy tone of
administration in the bush without delay.
Your obedient servant, '
THOS. B.
SLATER.
Tumut, 13th May,
1856.
The
Goulburn Herald and County of Argyle Advertiser NSW
27 Sept 1856
Wednesday
Sept. 24
Before his
Honour Mr. Justice Therry.
SENTENCES.
MURDER.
William
Nowlan was indicted for the wilful murder of Nicholas Creaghan at Tumut, on the
11th May.
At the
request of his Honour, Mr. Blake with Mr. C. H Walsh conducted the defence.
Mr.
Isaacs having stated the case to the jury, called-
Eliza
Eggleton, who, on being sworn, deposed:
I am the
wife of William Eggleton, of the Tumut; he is a blacksmith by
trade; I remember the 11th of May. know prisoner; I knew Nicholas Creaghan; he
was working for my husband; both were living at my husband's;
I was at church
on that day; on returning home we had dinner, and later in the day I prepared
the table for tea; I remember placing on the table a knife which was frequently
used for cutting up meat;
I recollect seeing prisoner take the knife of the
table, and while holding it in his hand said to me that he would have
satisfaction that evening he sat down by the side of the fireplace, I said
"nonsense, man, put the knife down;"
I went out to call the children
to tea, therefore cannot say if he put the knife down; I was absent from the
room ten or twenty minutes; I went back on being called by my husband; he was
outside the house with the deceased man,
Nicholas Creaghan; my husband said
Creaghan was stabbed; I saw a wound in Creaghan's side; there was a great deal
of blood;
I went into the kitchen, the prisoner was there and an old man named
Simmons; I found the knife on the table, it had blood on it to the handle, I afterwards
gave it to the constable.
By his Honour:
When I saw deceased, Nowlan with my husband was outside the house; he had his
land to his side; he was supported by my husband; when I went into the room where
prisoner was, I charged him with having stabbed Creaghan; he said "that's
a pretty yarn, he fell down and did it himself.
By Mr.
Blake: Creaghan was not in the room when I went out to call the children to tea.
By his Honour:
The prisoner is a blacksmith, Creaghan was a shoemaker.
(The knife
was here handed to the jury: it is a cutting up knife, such as used by
butchers.)
William Eggleton
sworn: I am a blacksmith and live at Tumut Creaghan and prisoner were living at
my house in May last; about six in the evening I met Creaghan coming out, of
the house; he was stabbed in the left side, his bowels were out; the knife
produced is that which we were in the habit of using for carving, but cannot
say that it was on the tea table that night; I was induced to go to the kitchen
from hearing a noise as if someone had pushed up against the table.
Robert
Simmons, who is an old and very deaf man, deposed I lived with the last
witness; I recollect a quarrel taking place between the prisoner and deceased,
one evening in May last; it took place in Eggleton's kitchen; deceased and
prisoner had some words; owing to the witness's deafness he could not say what the
words were:-
prisoner was sitting on a stool by the fire; the deceased,
Creaghan, went up to the fire to light his pipe; the deceased struck the
prisoner and knocked him down, and afterwards struck several blows and fell on
the top of prisoner; Creaghan got up and went out;
prisoner afterwards drew the
knife across his own throat and then chucked it down on the tablet the knife
produced is the one which I saw used; Mrs. Eggleton came in a minute or two afterwards;
she said that Creaghan was stabbed; I went out and saw Creaghan he was wounded
in the side his bowels were hanging out; Eggleton wanted me to put them in, but
I refused and went for the doctor; prisoner was not in the kitchen when Mrs.
Eggleton came in and said that Creaghan was stabbed.
By his Honour:
The prisoner did nothing to the deceased before deceased struck him.
George Curl,
sworn: I am a constable in the Tumut police
on the 11th May, while I was going on duty, I heard Mrs. Eggleton call me; she
said " there is a man stabbed " on going into the house I saw Nicholas
Croaghan; there was some blood on him ; Mrs. Eggletoton called out to me that
the prisoner was going away at the back of the premises I went up to him and
brought him back to where Nicholas was; I said "Nicholas, what's wrong with
you;" prisoner was standing close to me at the time; deceased said
"my guts are out "
I asked him who had done it; he turned round, and
pointing to the prisoner said, "he had done it;" deceased had the
other hand holding up the guts;
I told prisoner I must take him in charge for
stabbing; when I was putting the handcuffs on he said he supposed they were for
life; I then took prisoner to the lock-up; I cautioned the prisoner; I told him
not to tell me anything as I would keep no secrets; he said that deceased was
setting the tea things on the table that he went to the fire to light his pipe,
and fell down with the knife in his hand, and that was how he was stabbed.
Robert Simmons,
by his Honour recalled: When the prisoner drew the knife across his throat he
did not cut himself.
Dr. William Large, sworn: I am a duly qualified
practitioner, and reside at Tumut;
I knew Nicholas Creaghan ; on Sunday evening, 11th May, I was sent for; I found
a stab under Creaghan's left rib; the bowels were obtruding; there was a quantity
of blood; I had deceased removed from
the ground and placed on the table, and commenced replacing the obtruding Bowels;
I discovered three cuts in the intestines; I think they were all inflicted with
one prod; having returned the intestines I brought the lips of the wound together;
I saw deceased again at 12 o'clock; he was sinking; next morning it was
reported to me that he was dead; death was caused by the wounds inflicted; they
were simple incised wounds and could be inflicted by the knife produced; they
were three or four inches deep; is soon as I Saw the deceased I told him he
could not live till morning; I made a postmortem examination;
I then
discovered a fourth wound which could have been inflicted at the same time as
the others; after I told the deceased he could not live he made a statement,
but at the same time he (deceased) had hopes of his own recovery.
[The statement
could not be received as it was not made after the deceased had himself no hope
of recovery.]
Charles Norman
Lockhart, Esq., deposed: I am a magistrate of the territory, and live at the Tumut.
I know the prisoner; he was
before me in May on a charge of murder.
After the proceedings were closed, and
he was committed for trial, he intimated to me that he wished to speak to me; he
made a statement; he was not cautioned before he made it.
Mr. Blake
objected to its reception.
Mr. Isaacs:
It is not affected by the Act, as it was no part of the proceeding; it was
after they were closed.
Examination
continued: When prisoner was brought to me, he said that he wished to open his
mind in the case and to ease it. I told him that I should write down whatever
he said.
By his
Honor: This statement was offered either one or two days after the committal of
this prisoner.
After an argument
by Mr. Blake and Mr. Isaacs, his Honor
ruled that the statement was admissible.
The
following is the statement made by the prisoner: He states that on the previous
examination he had been warned not to criminate himself, but that now he wished
to open his mind in the case.
“On the
Sunday evening when this accident occurred, I was sitting by the fireside
myself and old Bob. Deceased came to the fire, and asked for liberty of the
fire; he had the knife in his hand. I told him there was as much room for
himself as for another, he- stooped to the fire to light his pipe, and put a
coal on his pipe with the point of the knife. As he rose from the fire he said,
“You bloody wretch.” I looked at him as he spoke. Turned towards the fire to
take my countenance off him.
As soon as I did so, he up with his fist and hit
me on the neck, and knocked me on to the floor.
He fell on to me on the floor,
assaulted me with his knees and his right hand.
I confined the left hand, in which
the knife was in.
After some struggling, I received the knife from him, and I
stabbed him in the left side with the knife, seeing that he made an attempt on
my life, and I had no other way of releasing myself.
He rose, and went out and
told Eggleton that I had struck him. I saw no more of him until the constable came
and took me. Creaghan went in and sat by the fire, and made some motion to the
constable that I struck him. This occurrence was done through the deceased's
own doings.
I was
sitting quietly, molesting nobody.
The case for
the Crown having closed,
Mr. Blake
addressed the jury for the prisoner, contending that the evidence went merely
to prove the lesser offence of manslaughter against the prisoner. His Honor
minutely summed up, pointing out the distinction between murder and manslaughter.
The jury
retired at a quarter past one o'clock to consider their verdict, and returned into
Court at a quarter to two with a verdict of murder, coupled with a strong recommendation
to mercy, on account of the provocation the prisoner had received.
Mr. Isaacs
having prayed the judgment of the Court upon the prisoner, His Honour, in
passing sentence, said, that the recommendation of the jury would be
represented in the proper quarter; but as there was nothing in the
circumstances of the case which could induce him to doubt the propriety of the
verdict, he saw no reason for withholding the sentence of the law.
His Honour invited
the prisoner to prepare for the awful change which awaited him, by occupying
the time with the devotions of religion.
He besought
him to think no more of this world, but to fix his thoughts on the next.
The sentence
of the Court was, that he, William Nowlan, be taken to the place from whence he
came, and, on a day to be hereafter appointed by the Governor General, to be
taken to the place of execution, and there to be hung by the neck until his
body is dead. And the Lord have mercy on his soul.
[His honour
was much moved while passing sentence.]
The
Prisoner, who had listened to the trial with fixed attention, heard the judgment
of the Court without exhibiting any emotion.
He was then handcuffed, and
removed to gaol.
The
Sydney Morning Herald NSW
30 Sept
1856
SOUTHERN
DISTRICT.
(From the
Goulburn Herald of Saturday.)
THE
CONDEMNED CONVICT. - Nowlan,
who was sentenced to death on Wednesday last for a murder at Tumut, is a blacksmith by trade, and
was some time since employed as such, by both Mr Daniels and Mr Williams of this town.
LINK TO: DR Large Country practice 1.
http://leathemhistory.blogspot.com.au/2014/04/dr-william-james-large-1806-1881.html
LINK TO: DR Large Country practice 2.
LINK TO: Dr Large Obituary:
http://leathemhistory.blogspot.com.au/2013/10/obituarys-of-dr-william-large.html
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