A verdict of Wilful Murder was returned yesterday, at the inquest, against George Nicholson, a journeyman baker, of Aston, Birmingham, for the brutal murder of his wife. The Prisoner deliberately smashed the woman's head in with an axe, took her watch and chain, pawned it, and with the proceeds made off to Walsall, where he was arrested on Sunday. The prisoner was heard to say "I'll make a Whitechapel job of her."
Telegraphing last evening our Newcastle correspondent says:- "No arrest has yet been made in connection with the murder of Jane Beatmore at Birley Fall, near Gateshead, on Saturday night. During the hole of to-day an entire search has been made by the police for the ? man. It is believed that, if alive, the murderer is somewhere in the vicinity. With this view, the authorities have had the disused coal pits in the neighbourhood thoroughly searched, and all the cornfields and outhouses for miles round have undergone the closet investigation. During the morning, Dr. Phillips, the medical man who examined the body of Annie Chapman, the last victim of the Whitechapel murderer, and Inspector Roots, of the Criminal Investigation Department, Scotland-yard, arrived at Birtley from Durham, which place they had reached last night from London. They were accompanied by Colonel White, Chief Constable of the county of Durham, and Superintendent Harrison. Dr. Phillips saw the body during the afternoon, and made a searching examination of the wounds, to see if they bore any resemblance to the injuries inflicted on the Whitechapel victims. The result of the examination, and the effect it had upon the doctor's mind, were, of course, not made known, but it is reported that the authorities have little belief in the theory that the murderer had any connection with the events in London. In the case of the woman Chapman, it will be remembered that the perpetrator of the crime displayed a certain amount of anatomical knowledge in the horrible dissection he practised upon the body; but in the case of the woman Beatmore the murderer was clumsy in his method, and appears rather to have overcome his victim by brute force. The resemblance in the two cases, however, is striking in the common fact that the wounds were made in the same parts of the body, and in both instances a mere fraction of the mutilation which took place would have been sufficient to have accomplished the murderer's object, if killing was the only desire. Inspector Roots was engaged throughout the day with the local police in making notes of the circumstances, and obtaining their views as to the outrage. Ever since the murder was discovered, the police have been endeavouring to discover a man who, it is said, kept company with the deceased. He has not been at his lodgings since Friday. No reason can be assigned for his sudden disappearance. To-day, crowds of people visited the scene of the murder and the cottage where the body now lies. Policemen have been engaged searching a field of oats adjoining the waggon way for the weapon with which the deed was committed, but they have not succeeded in finding it. An opinion prevails that the murderer has committed suicide, but a telegram from Spennymoor states that a man answering the description of the one wanted was seen at Byers Green Colliery, about fourteen miles away, on Sunday morning. Inspector Roots left Birtley for London this evening."
Charles Ludwig, aged 40 years, a German, who was unable to speak the English language, and described himself as a hairdresser, of No. 1, Minories, was charged on remand with being drunk and disorderly, and intimidating Alexander Feinberg, a young man living at Leman-street, Whitechapel, by threatening to stab him with a knife at High-street, Whitechapel. About half-past three o'clock in the morning the Prisoner went up to a coffee stall in Whitechapel-road in a drunken condition, and threatened to stab Feinberg with a knife, and the latter took up a dish in self defence. Ludwig was given into custody, and it was stated last week, when he was brought before the Magistrate, that he had threatened an unfortunate woman the same morning with a knife in a narrow and dark alley running out of the Minories. The woman he had threatened, it was stated, was in the precincts of the Court, and her name was Elizabeth Burns, but she was not at present called as a witness. - Inspector Abberline asked for a further remand, as he had not had sufficient time to institute inquiries. - The Inspector and the Interpreter at the Court were permitted admission to the Prisoner's cell, to put certain questions to him. -No additional evidence was at present offered, and Mr. Saunders remanded the Prisoner.
CHARLES LUDWIG, described as a hairdresser, was charged, on remand, at the Thames Police-court yesterday, with being drunk and disorderly, and threatening with a knife a young man, named FEINBURG at about half-past three o'clock in the morning. When the case was heard last week, it was stated earlier that that hour. Prisoner had threatened a woman with his drawn knife. On the application of Inspector ABBERLINE, LUDWIG was remanded, and the officer, with an interpreter, was permitted to question him his cell.
