July.] 



CHRONICLE. 



65 



the road he tra\ elled home from 

 market: he attacked the unfor- 

 tunate man hi a lane unawares, 

 struck him behind the ear and 

 upon the head vith a hammer, 

 and then cut his throat. He was 

 convicted on a chain of circum- 

 stantial evidence, so strong that 

 no doubt could possibly remain in 

 the minds of the court or jury as 

 to his guilt ; notwithstanding 

 which, however, it is satisfactory 

 to know that, previous to his exe- 

 cution, he made a full confession 

 of his guilt, and stated the only 

 circumstance which did not come 

 out in evidence, viz. where the 

 hammer and knife were deposited 

 with which he committed the 

 murder. The unhappy wretch 

 also made a voluntary confession 

 of two other horrid murders which 

 he had committed; the one on a 

 poor old woman (by the name of 

 Hall), who kept a small shop at 

 Dagnall, near his own residence-— 

 (he rented a small farm in the 

 same parish under the Earl of 

 Bridgewater). He stated, that 

 he went into her bouse (being 

 known to her) aboqt nine o'clock 

 in the morning; that he took an 

 opportunity of getting behind her 

 and striking her with a bill, which 

 lay in the house, behind her ear ; 

 that he then cut hjer throat with 

 a knife similar to the one he cut 

 poor Payne's throat with (a but- 

 cher's knife) ; and on being asked 

 where he had secreted that knife, 

 he said in a well on the old wo- 

 wan's premises; that he took 40l. 

 from her, 231. of which he paid 

 to Lord Bridgewater for rent, and 

 the remainder he paid away to 

 different persons in the village in 

 discharge of small debts. This 

 occurred about a year and a half 

 Vol. LIX. 



ago. In respect to the murder of 

 his wife, he stated that he follow- 

 ed her into the cow-house, where 

 she went to give some hay to the 

 cows, about two o'clock in the 

 afternoon ; that he struck her 

 unawares with a billet of wood 

 behind the ear, which nearly killed 

 her ; that he immediately after- 

 wards dragged her to the well, 

 and put her down it, head fore- 

 most. This occurred about six 

 weeks before the murder of Payne. 

 She was found in the well on the 

 same day, upon an alarm being 

 given by her husband. He could 

 assign no motive for this horrid 

 act. He admitted, he and his 

 wife had frequently words toge- 

 ther, but not on that day, and 

 stated that she was a good wife. 

 It is not only fortunate for the 

 ends of public justice, but more 

 particularly so for the immediate 

 neighbpurhod in which these hor- 

 rid transactions occuned; two 

 innocent menhavingbeen strong- 

 ly euspected of the murder of the 

 old woman at Dagnall, and the 

 whole neighbourhood being under 

 the most horrid apprehensions of 

 repetitions of the cruel scenes 

 which had so recently taken place 

 there. Munn was executed on 

 Monday morning, in pursuance 

 of his sentence ; he died as peni- 

 tent as a man could die with such 

 a weight of guilt upon his head. 

 On the scaffold he bogged the 

 spectators to take warning by his 

 fate. 



AUGUST. 



2. On Saturday there was a de- 

 plorable incident at Irvine. The 

 brig Anna had just completed her 



F cargo 



