The new fact in relation to the supposed murder at
Richmond, —commonly called, from the place where the box containing the remains was discovered, the Barnes murder,—is that Mrs. Thomas's servant, Katharine Webb, or Webster, as her name is now given, has been apprehended at Enniscorthy, in Ireland; that she proves to have been a bad character, frequently im- prisoned before, and that she has accused a man of the name of Church, residing at Hammersmith, who certainly aided her in disposing of some of the goods, of being the actual murderer. But her story does not appear to be borne out by the evidence which the police have obtained,—evidence which does not point to the renewal of this woman's acquaint- ance with Church till a day or two after the murder. The probability is that Mrs. Thomas was murdered on Sunday, the 2nd March, the Monday being used in cleaning and washing the house, so as to get rid of the traces of the murder. The renewal of Katharine Webster's relations with Hammersmith did not take place till Tuesday, March 4th,—the day that the box with the remains was thrown into the river ; while on the last day of February, Katharine Webster seems to have been to Kingston, where the police are trying to find traces of an accomplice, if accomplice she had. It appears that she had obtained sugar of lead,—a violent poison,—of some person at Kingston. Katharine Webster's so-called confession is not a statement on the truth of which any sort of reliance can be placed.
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