THE BURGLARY AND MURDER AT FRIMLEY.
In our last, we gave an account of the burglary at the Frimley parsonage and the wound inflicted on the Rev. G. E. Hollest, we regret now to announce that the unfortunate gentleman, expired on Sunday night, after having suffered the most, acute agony. On the same evening, the inspector of police at Guildford, (Mr Hollington) ahd police constable Campbell, apprehended three men on suspicion of being the parties implicated the outrage. The men were taken at the Rose and Crown, in Chapel-street, Guildford, about nine o'clock; their names are Levi Harwood, Richard Trowers, and James Jones. The whole of the parties are well-known to the police as expert thieves. On Monday afternoon, Superintendents Biddelcombe and Hollington, with sergeant Thomas High, and constable Jeremiah Campbell, proceeded to Frimley to prosecute their enquiries upon the spot.
ADDITIONAL PARTICULARS.
On our reporter reaching the village of Frimley, on Tuesday morning, it seemed as if the tragical event had cast a deep gloom over the whole of the inhabitants. The shops were partially closed as were also some of the houses, and at the doors of many of the humbler tenements were to be seen groups of cottagers talking over with tearful eyes all the melancholy circumstances, so far as they had transpired, of the death of their lamented pastor. Deep and heartfelt regret was the pervading feeling, although with it there was mingled an expression of hope that the perpetrators of the horrid deed would not go unpunished.
The deceased clergyman has held the incumbency of Frimley for some years, and previously had the living of Seal and Tongham, in Surrey, to which he removed from the curacy of Petersfield, Hants. The high estimation in which he was held proves that he possessed those virtues which are the best ornaments of the ministerial office, and his last moments maintained his title to the character. Suffering intensely from the pain of the fatal wound, with the prospect of an untimely death —which would deprive his wife and young family of their natural protector—before his eyes, he forgave his murderers, and the spirit of his Master prayed with his dying breath that they might be forgiven by God. Up to the hour of his dissolution, in addition to his medical advisers, he was attended by his brother Mr Hollest, of Farnham, in whose presence he breathed his last.
The parsonage premises are situated at the confluence of the London and Ash roads, and it is pretty clear that one at least of the ruffians who broke into the premises must, by some means or other, have become tolerably well acquainted with the locality. They effected an entrance by the means stated above, and after they had ransacked the lower part of the house they conveyed the portable articles into the kitohen, apparently to ascertain what was worth carrying away, or perhaps what might be most safely taken with the least chance of detection.
Of course the unexpected resistance which they met disconcerted all their plans, and they were fain to avoid apprehension on the spot by immediate flight. Contiguous to the London-road, and within view of the room where the unfortunate deceased slept, is a large tree, and it is conjectured that beneath this tree the ruffians must have lain to watch the family retiring to rest, indicated by the extinguishing of the candles, and that one of their accomplices was left to keep guard over the road while the others were committing the burglary; for on the spot were found a decanter, an umbrella and a telescope. The decanter belonged to the parsonage, and the presumption is that after regaling themselves in the house the ruffians took out some refreshments to their companion under the tree. There was also found on the door steps bundle of clothes belonging to Mrs Hollest, which the burglars must have thrown away in their flight
On Tuesday the three prisoners, whose names are given above, underwent a lengthened examination before Capt. C. E. Mangles, a Magistrate for Surrey. The proceedings were conducted privately, it being thought desirable for the ends of justice that the circumstances which have conspired to cast suspicion upon the parties in custody, should not yet be made public. Mr Hollest, of Farnham, was in attendance, as were also Inspector Kendall, of the detective force, Superintendent Biddelcombe, and Superintendent Hollington. After lengthened examination, the prisoners were remanded till Friday.
THE INQUEST.
At two o'clock the coroner for West Surrey, C. J. Woods, Esq., attended at the White Hart Inn for the purpose of holding an inquest on the body. Mr. J. Weston of Frimley was nominated foreman of the jury.
After the jury had been sworn, they were addressed by the Coroner, who said they were aware that they were assembled to inquire into the circumstances which had led to the death of George Edward Hollest, who for some years had been pastor of their parish. He (the Coroner) was sure that the zealous discharge of the duties of his office, and the many amiable qualities displayed by their pastor in his life, he had earned and received their deep and sincere regrets. Such a person, taken away in the ordinary course of nature, must be followed by regret the most heartfelt; but how must that feeling be increased when he was taken away in the prime of life, in the midst of the duties of his station, and by a most untimely death. It was his (the Coroner's) and the jury's painful duty to investigate the facts attending his death. It would appear that during last Friday night a gang of ruffians broke into the house of the deceased, and after ransacking down stairs, two of them proceeded up stairs into the bedroom where the deceased and Mrs Hollest were sleeping, and one of them struck and maltreated Mrs Hollest, while the other struggled with the deceased, who was endeavouring to reach some weapon of defence. The deceased while doing so received a Wound from a pistol shot which ultimately terminated in his death. Now, supposing the circumstances to be these, they could have no difficulty in arriving at a conclusion. If the facts were as he had stated, them, the person who fired the pistol was clearly guilty of the crime of wilful murder, and it was quite as clear that any person who was present as a companion of him who fired it was equally amenable to the same charge, either as principal, accessory, aidor, or abettor. These were all the circumstances necessary for him to mention. It caused some anxiety knowing that it was requisite to take the evidence of the widow, but he understood that she had been prepared for it, and was rather anxious than otherwise to assist the inquiry. They would, therefore, take her evidence at the house when they went to view the body.
After the Jury had performed their melancholy duty of viewing the body, they assembled in the drawing, room to hear the evidence of Mrs Hollest. The unfortunate lady was supported to a chair by the deceased's brother. At the sight of her the sympathy of the jury was awakened to such an extent that many of them could scarcely restrain their emotion. After the unfortunate lady had to some extent regained her composure, she gave the following evidence:—I am the widow of the deceased. About twenty minutes to eleven I retired to rest, and about three o'clock, as near as I can state, I was disturbed by ?? in the room. I saw two men at the foot the bed. One, the shortest of the two, put his left hand upon me, and with his right presented a pistol to my head. The taller one was at Mr. Hollest's side, and he presented a pistol to his head. They both exclaimed several times "If you make any noise we'll blow your brains out." I seized hold of the bell-rope but the man prevented me ringing the bell, and in the struggle the rope broke. I got out of bed, and he pushed down.—He did not strike me, but pushed me back, and held my head back as if he were going to cut my throat. I have bruises on my person, but I think they arose from the violence with which he pushed me. My husband jumped out of bed his side, and I heard a struggle, and then a report of a pistol. I tried to get round the bed to assist my husband, and the man who held me looked round and somewhat loosened his hold. I succeeded in reaching the fire place and rang a large bell that was there. The men immediately left the room. I rang the bell at the window. Mr Hollest went into his dressing room, and then I heard the report of a gun. I saw out of the window two men running away. I saw only two men, but Mr Hollest was quite certain there were three, and, that one took away the watch while the other to held us. Mr Hollest came again into the room, and said the fellows had shot him; he showed me the wound. Not hearing the children, I was afraid they were murdered, and went into their room, but they were safe. There were besides myself and Mr Hollest, one man-servant, two female servants, and two children in the house. The manservant was aroused by the noise, and went off for assistance. The men I saw in the room wore light clothes, and had some linen masks on their faces. I saw all the doors fastened before I went to bed, except the stairs-foot, which we have been, the last night or two, in the habit of leaving unfastened.
By Juror—l cannot say what sort of a hat either of the men had on.
This concluded the evidence of Mrs Hollest, and the Jury returned to the White Hart to examine the other witnesses.
On the return of the jury to the inquest room, the first witness who was called was
Richard Giles, who deposed that, he was usually called by the name of Richard Parker. He was in the service of the late Reverend George Edward Hollest, who was the incumbent of Frimley; he had been in the service of Mr Hollest for the last eight years. On Friday night last he went to bed soon after ten o'clock; he slept in a room at the top the house; the window of the room faced towards the west. On Saturday morning, between two and three o'clock, as near ashe could recollect, he was awoke by hearing what appeared to him to be the report of a gun or pistol, apparently fired off in the house; he listened, and almost immediately afterwards he heard the screaming of two persons, and the violent ringing of the large hand bell which was kept in his masters bedroom; he then heard the footsteps of some persons, as if they were jumping about the room without shoes on. He got up, and hastened down stairs; on leaving his room, he heard what seemed to be the report of a gun fired near the front door; he opened the door at the bottom of one the staircases, and there met Mr Hollest, who was coming up the other staircase from below; he followed Mr Hollest into his bedroom, where saw Mrs Hollest, who told him that the rogues or the thieves had broken into the house, and had shot Mr Hollest. He asked her what he should do, and she told him to call up Ellen, one of the women servants; he was proceeding to do so when he met the two women servants, who were coming down the stairs. He told them to wait a minute while he went up to his room for walking-stick; he did so, and returned immediately, and they all three went down stairs to the front door; they then went back again to the door leading to the deceased's bedroom; he knocked and called, "It's only Parker and Ellen;" he called twice, and the door was then opened. He inquired whether he should go for a doctor, and Mr Hollest told him to do so. He first went and knocked up the parish constable Macey, and another man, and they searched round the house; he saw that an entrance had been effected through the scullery window at the back of the house; holes had been drilled through the window shutter; the window was then unfastened (a hand being passed through a pane broken for the purpose), an iron bar was then removed, and by those means it was evident that the burglars obtained admittance; he continued the search, and he saw the footsteps of two persons, or of one person who had walked backwards and forwards. He directly went to York Town, Blackwater, a distance of about two miles from Mr Hollest's house; he procured the attendance of Mr Davies and his assistant, with whom he returned to his master's house. He then continued his search, and upon the lawn in front of the house he found the screw-driver produced by Superintendent Biddelcombe; he then searched under the large cedar tree in front of the house—he there found a decanter, an umbrella, and a telescope; he also found some pieces of old stocking, and some portions of an old handkerchief. The umbrella belonged to one of the servants of the house—the decanter was the property of the late Mr Hollest, and had been taken from the house.
By the Foreman—He saw no person in the house except his master and mistress and his fellow servants.
Mr William Davies, surgeon of York town, Blackwater, was next examined. He deposed that on Saturday morning last, between three and four o'clock, he was called up by the last witness, who informed him that the house of his master had been broken into, and that Mr Hollest had been shot by one of the burglars. Himself and his assistant immediately accompanied the witness to Mr Hollest's house; he found Mr Hollest in bed; he did not at that time appear to be suffering much pain; he was perfectly composed, and told him (Mr Davies) the whole of the circumstances relating to the burglary. Mr Hollest shewed him his night shirt which he had on—it was saturated with blood: he examined the stomach of the deceased, and he found a slight abrasion of the skin on the right side of the naval, and about an inch and a half below the abrasion there was a jagged orifice into which some foreign, body appeared to have penetrated; he probed the orifice to the depth of about two inches; he could not probe further in consequence of the probe coming in contact with the integuments or muscels; he did not come in contact with any foreign body or substance; he minutely examined the lower part of the abdomen, but could not discover any foreign body that had penetrated; he was perfectly satisfied from the first, that the jagged orifice was occasioned by a gun or pistol-shot. He remained with the deceased till about eight o'clock: he considered—directly he saw the wound—that from the direction the foreign body or missile had taken the wound would terminate fatally; he expressed that opinion from the first, to Mr W. Hollest, the brother of the deceased. He was with the deceased —with the exception of about two hours—up to the time of his death; he died about 20 minutes after 8 o'clock, on Sunday night. His sufferings, up to the time of his death, were most excruciating, in fact, he never knew a person suffer so acutely. Deceased first became aware, about half-past one o'clock on Sunday afternoon, that he could not survive, and at his own desire the sacrament was administered to him. He made no statement after he had become aware of his approaching death. He had that day made a postmortem examination of the body of the deceased. In doing so, he was assisted by Mr Clarke, of Farnham, who was called In in consultation. He traced the external orifice, of which he had before spoken, to the internal orifice, and from thence to the bowels. He saw no external mark or bruise—except the one he had described. On laying open the coverings of the abdomen, he found, a considerable extravasation of blood over the convolutions of the bowels. In one of the convolutions of the bowels he found an aperture passing right through from the top; he found the bowels adhering together from an acute recent adhesive inflammation. On examining the lower part of the cavity of the bowels, he found, loose, in the folds of the peritoneum, and between the bladder and the rectum, a small marble, which he produced, it was a small stone marble. The aperture of which he had spoken would have been caused by a foreign substance like the marble, which corresponded with the external orifice, and with the abrasion of the skin. Deceased stated to him that while he was stooping to pick up the poker, a pistol was discharged at him, and from the appearance of the wound, he believed that that was the case. He had carefully examined the body, and he found no other marks of violence or bruise upon the body, and, in his opinion, the cause of death was the gun or pistol shot wound which he had before described.
Mr Clarke, surgeon, of Farnham, deposed that he had assisted the last witness in making the post mortem examination. He had heard the evidence of that gentleman, and he fully agreed with it in every particular.
It was here announced to the Coroner that a witness was prepared give important evidence to the effect that she had seen the prisoners, or two of them in front of her master's house at Frimley, near the parsonage house, between twelve and one o'clock on Saturday morning. The witness was taken, into the tap-room where the suspected men were sitting among a number of other persons; she immediately identified the two men who gave their names as Jones and Trowers. She then gave the following evidence :—
Mary Gouldstone deposed that she was in the service, of Mr. Maybury surgeon, of Frimley. She was nursery maid in the service of that gentleman. On tbe morning of Saturday, the 28th September, she was nursing the baby. She was in a front room up stairs. She had occasion to pass from her sleeping room to the room adjoining, in order to prepare some warm food for the baby, who was very restless. She had pass the top of the staircase. There was a clock there. She looked and she saw that it was half past twelve o'clock, on her return she looked out of the window, and she saw three men standing just in front of her master's house, close by a post near to Mrs Young's house; they were all standing together. She watched them for several minutes. The moon had been obscured by clouds during the former part of the night, but just then it shone out with great brilliancy full upon the faces of the three men, whose features she could distinctly perceive. She opened the window and the three men looked up at her. They then began to roll and stagger about as if they were intoxicated. The middle one was rather taller than either of the others, and he appeared to be the most intoxicated. She took particular notice of the men, in fact she felt interested in them as they appeared to be very drunk and quite unable take care of themselves. The one in the middle was dressed in lightcoloured shooting coat or jacket, dark felt hat apparently daubed over with white, and lightish trousers. She did not take particular notice of the dresses of the other two men. She was perfectly able to identify the features of two of those men. She had never seen them before, but she had since seen them. She had seen them that afternoon in the tap room of the White Hart. She had not the slightest difficulty in recognising them from among a number of other men, from the perfect recollection she had of their features. She had not the slightest doubt as to the identity of them. They now wore the same dresses that they had on on Friday night. On the following morning, directly she heard of the burglary, she informed her master and mistress of the circumstances, and also of what she had seen of the men, stating that she suspected it was those men who had committed the burglary. Shortly after having seen the men in the first instance she again looked out of the window and she saw the same men standing together near to the Post Office, about 60 yards nearer to the house of Mr Hollest the deceased. It was her opinion that the men intended to have come to her master's house had they not seen her about.
The three men were now brought into the jury room, and the witness immediately pointed out Jones and Trowers as being two of the men she saw. She could not identify Harwood. The prisoners said they could bring respectable witnesses to prove that they were not at Frimley at the time spoken of by the witness Gouldstone.
The Coroner said they could produce that testimony upon the proper occasion. They were then removed in custody, and the room cleared for a few minutes. On our re-admission we were informed that the inquest was adjourned till Tuesday next.