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?PUNISHED YET INNOCENT1i»g their stick* *»| the Italians' any- ___thing baady. Suddenly on* of theirVICTIMS OF CXB CTIMST ANTIAL number drawing his knife stabbedEVIDENCEWilliam Shaw Waa Hanged For a Murder He Hadn'tCommitted.It waa not till several month* after the execution of WilliamShawone of them, Harrington, being found dangerously wounded.Removed to St. Bartholomew's hospital, Harrington, in a dyingcondition, picked out Pebzriorrt from among a number of Italians as theman who had stabbed him.From the beginning things ■lor tl» muruer ol h« .4. ugh lor. U»t '“r «Je lthlihn. On. hlwr. 1.1WT in ih. dead d.ugl.Mr . hood- ; 0™ witn«w. .wore thatwriting wa* iouud .nnouncing her: «™ hl‘ commit the crime.her life by her j lt waa u**elt*«s for Pelimioni a coun-io.tr^.°l W* ^ “*'•lt;* to d-fto ^t ^o^r ft^nn.■Sotwithitonding that he era* «’ven ;* ■C°.u*f.1* ol. *** “* to occanunal ouLbumt. ol passion. perpetrated the Al-: Shaw ... upright m.n. and hn; * » .I**” °‘ “ h0,„d? ib*ri; i affectionate father Like him in! «“•**• P™»ou,«»dPellxnoni;I look*. hi. daughter. Catharine. «u «”•'** ot and wnUmce ol; also like her father in temperament; but for several years they lived together in harmony.Then came a time when Catherine met a worth leas fellow named Lawson, for whom she developed a remarkable infatuation. Not withoutMogni, on hearing the fate that'awaited his cousin, was much distressed, and confessed that his wasthe hand which had struck the mur-( derous blow.Brought to I/ondon the day before5 reason, Shaw took . etrong aversionl *» V'S'0,1' *”CT“!i to Lamoa, and forbade Catherine to, “““• M°S »»» tried for man-| keep company with him. At the I ,“d ydenced to live! Brat opportunity, too. he extracted . ^ *C'ipromiae from lav.son that he would w“ allowed his freedom I. ceaae wooing hie daughter. The A t^w trial uaa ordered re ixrioni * ; promise waa not kept. Secret meet- time being charged with the «t-, ings took place. Every day father; ‘?nP.‘fd,. ”’,rder °' one «* th« inur', ami daughter became further ra- ^ PKflt;limen when, after an e*-, tranged. Indeed, Shaw frequently! h»ust,v* exam.natlon, the prisoner' locked Catherine in her room at Lho ytop of a gloomy house in Edinburgh *in which they Uved One day there was a furious quarrel. Shaw was heard to rush at fevcr-heat down the stairs, slamming and locking the door upon Catherine. Profound silence followed, and then the neighbors were horrified at hearing groans from someone apparently in mortal agony, j INNOCENT FATHER SUFFERS.3' V. hen the door w as burst open,! Catherine wens discovered 1\ ing dead _ i on the lioor. a knife beside her. It ” * seemed plain to all that Shaw had murdered his daughter. Soon after ' ; Shaw returned to his house, but his* -grief and terror were taken for re*. f i mors*!* | At his trial he declared hia inno-- cence. and explained the fact of blood | lt;| being upon his shirt as due to an t i j accident. The jury found him guilty and he was accordingly hanged A few months later a tenant taking possession of Shaw's rooms found a letter in a hole by a place. It was in Catherine's handwriting. and in it the girl announced her intention of putting an end to her existence. There was not the slightest doubt of its genuineness. Shaw’s innocence was established, but the missive had been found too late. lt;Eighteen years ago a murder was! ’ committed in Cheshire, England, 1 I which, though the convicted person 1 has since been released, is still en-1 1 shrouded in mystery It was the 1murder of Mrs. Jane McIntyre, under peculiar circumstances, and Elizabeth Piatt, sister of the deceased woman, and Robert Travis, a publican, were implicated in the affair.AN UNSOLVED MYSTERY.About two o’clock on the morning of the tragedy, February 13th, 1886, a man named Dickinson, and his son, who lived in the house adjoining to that in which tHb tragedy was committed, were aroused by sounds lt;of furniture being smashed, by j piercing shrieks and cries of “Mur- j dai'I ”When the police arrived they found Travis, who had jumped from a first floor window on to the ground, unconscious and bleeding from a severe wound.In the bedroom upstairs they found Mrs. McIntyre dead, with a deep cut in the back of her head. Miss Platt, fully dressed, sat unconscious in a chair, a number of wounds on her brow and face. As soon as the man and woman recovered their senses they wore both arrested and charged with the murder.At their trial the story each told was different. Miss Piatt accused Travis of the murder, and related how Travis had followed her to the bedroom where she was going to sit up for the night with her sister, who was unwell at the time.There had been a scene in which Travis had twice struck her before going »to sleep on a sofa in the sitting-room. The gas-jet was alight, but some time later she was awakened an the dark by her sister’s screams received several blows on the face herself, and before losing consciousness saw Travis jump from thb window.Travis on the other hand, made a rambling statement that he and Mrs. McIntyre had been attacked by two men dressed in women’s clothes. This limp tale he persisted in again and again. He continually PROTESTED HIS INNOCENCE. After forty-five minutes' deliberation the jury acquitted Elizabeth Platt, but returned a verdict guilty against Travis, recommending him. however, to mercy.The case created a deal of excitement in the country, and within a few days no fewer than twenty-one memorials were forwarded to the Home Secretary. The result of these petitions was that the sentence was commuted to jenal servitude for life; but his friends never -elxed their efforts to prove his innocence.Finally, the Master of the Rolls was ordered to revise the case, and as a result of his inquiry', the Hume Sectetary set Travis at liberty. Ac-we j cordingly in May, 1888. two years “ after the tragedy, th? publican was released, and who really committed the murder is still a mystery.Never was the web of circumstantial evidence woven stronger round the life of an innocent man than in the case of Scrsfino Pelizzioni, who was accused of the murder of Michael Harrington. The tragedy occurred on December 26th, 1864. On this day in a public-house in Saffron Hill a number of Englishmen and Italians, in separate compartments, were noisily enjoying themselves, when the Englishmen, ooening the
Newspaper Details
Brandon Weekly Sun
Brandon, Manitoba, CA
Thu, Dec 29, 1904
Page 11
Full Page
Clipped by
Catherine A.
CA 23 Mar 2024
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