Phe most sensational murder case which we have had for some few years came to's end on Saturday, when Bennett, the grocer's assistant of twenty-one, was convicted of the deliberately planned murder of his wife under circumstances of singularly revolting. brutality—cireumstances impossible to publish. The evidence was of course purely circumstantial; and while most people were morally convinced of Benuett's guilt, there was for a time some doubt whether the evidence would be considered strong enough to convict. hi Then at the last moment, people's opinions were shaken by the sudden appearance of tone independent witness, a certain Mr. Sholto Douglas, who swore positively that he had met and talked with the prisoner, Bette stranger fo hin, some ere, wear Eltham on the evening of the murder, ut atime when the Inst train for Yarmouth had already left London, With this piece of evidence to support him, Mr. Marshall Hall, Q.C., made w very powerful defence of the prisoner; but he was handicapped by the fact that he dared not put his client into the box to be crossexumined. Mr. Dougiav's evidence did not fit in with any statement thut the prisoner had ever made in his attempts to account for his whereabouts, and the jury came to the pretty obvious conclusion that Mr. Douglas's story was inconsistent with the proved facts of the case, Whether he was suffering under a hallucination or " defective memory or whether there is some other explanation of his story one would not like to determine. Bat unaccountable interpositions of thi kind in sensational criminal enses are by no means unknown phenomena, Sth March.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.