5G 



ANNUAL REGISTER, 1814. 



not perceive then any discljarge of 

 blood, but lie observed her gown 

 ragged on the right ride, and very 

 black, occasioned by gunpowder : 

 he supported her in his arms. 

 When Elizabeth Pilcher was un- 

 dressed, a large wound was fouud 

 under her right breast, and a co- 

 pious discharge of blood from it. 

 Mr. Cartwriglit's son was the first 

 who seized the prisoner, and took 

 a pistol from him, the barrel of 

 which was completely burst and 

 shivered to pieces ; the lock of the 

 pistol could not be found : the 

 prisoner being properly secured 

 was conveyed to St. George's 

 watch-house, where Sir John Hip- 

 pesley, who is a magistrate for 

 the county, attended, his house 

 being opposite to Mr. Cartwiight's. 

 The prisoner, on his examination, 

 confessed that he had shot Eliza- 

 beth Pilcher, having been in her 

 company on the afternoon previous 

 lo that night, and he added, that 

 he was instigated to the horrid 

 <leed in consequence of her refus- 

 ing to comply with his wishes ; 

 he was asked to explain what these 

 were, but he refused. He pro- 

 fessed, however, to be in love with 

 her. 



Wm. Dean, a constable, searched 

 him, and found upon him a large 

 brass pistol, not loaded, which 

 matched the other found upon him, 

 which was burst: the bursting of 

 it he explained to he owing to his 

 having loaded it to the top. Both 

 the pistols had J. P. engraved on 

 the brass-work of the butt-ends ; 

 and on his being called upon to 

 explain these initials, he stated 

 that the pistols had been the pro- 

 perty of Elizabeth Pi'cher's father, 

 who died about twelve months 

 since, and he had i)urchased them 



of the widow, under a pretence of 

 keeping them for his sake. He 

 and the deceased were in the 

 Excise together, and when Mr. 

 Pilcher was on his death-bed, he 

 had made the prisoner promise to 

 take care of his family, which 

 produced an intimacy between 

 him and the family, in conse- 

 quence of which he formed an at- 

 tachment to Elizabeth Pilcher, 

 which she had resisted. He con- 

 fessed himself to be a married 

 man, but had not lived with his 

 wife for a length of time. This 

 conduct besides being infamous, 

 was extravagant, he being a man 

 to appearance between 40 and 50 

 years of age, and having no per- 

 sonal recommendations. During 

 the night, he was extremely sick 

 in the watch-house, and he drank 

 between 3 and 4 quarts of water. 

 Those who had the care of the 

 watch-house thought at first that 

 it was owing to the heat of the 

 weather, the closeness of the place, 

 and the agitation of mind; at last 

 they observed something particu- 

 lar in his conduct which indicated 

 more than common illness, and 

 questioned him as to what he had 

 taken : he confessed that he had 

 intended to poison himself with 

 arsenic at the time he shot Eliza- 

 beth Pilcher, but had taken such 

 a small quantity that it only made 

 him very sick; this was owing to 

 the pistol bursting, which knocked 

 the phial out of his hand, which 

 contained the arsenic. This was 

 confirmed by a piece of glass being 

 found, which had the appearance 

 of being part of a small phial, 

 with arsenic adhering to the sides, 

 and small pieces of glass being 

 found on the steps, and at the 

 door of Mr. Cartwright's house. 



