https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/13162264?searchTerm=jame...
The Sydney Morning Herald - Saturday 10 August 1867 - Page 7
REPRIEVE OF THE CONVICT CONNORS.
The following is the report of Mr Justice Faucett on the
case of John Connors, convicted before him, at the last
Bathurst Assizes, of a capital outdoor The minutes of his
Excellency the Governor, giving his reasons for com
muting the sentence to imprisonment for life was published
a short time ago, in our parliamentary report
In this case the prisoner was tried before me for the
murder of James Taylor, and found guilty
It appeared from the evidence that the prisoner was a
farmer or settler, living at a place called Mount Pleasant,
about two or three miles from Bathurst. His next neighbours
on the adjoining farm wore a family of the name of
Callan The prisoner's wife and Mrs. Callan were sisters,
and daughters of a man named Bell, a farmer or settler who
lived about a mile away The deceased, James Taylor,
was an old man, about 70 years of ago, in the service of the
Callan's
On the 11th of January the prisoner had been in
Bathurst, and returned home in the evening " under the
influence of drink "
A short time after his return, Mrs Callan, according to
her evidence, saw him coming from his own place over
to hers He was then, according to her very drunk
When she saw him coming over, she sent her children
with the servant girl, Mary Scully, out of the way, to the
river, and she herself went over to her father's Her
husband appears to have been away from home at the
time, and a servant boy had gone in the early part of the
evening to the place of a man named Winack, who was a
friend of the Bells. The deceased James Taylor, was
thus left alone in charge of the place.
'The girl, Mary Scully on her way to the river, saw the
old man turning the horses out of the stockyard into an
adjoining paddock, and spoke to him. She did not then see
the prisoner But, as she said, in about five minutes after,
when she was on the bank of the river she saw the prisoner
who appeared very drunk, coming from his own place on
his hands and knees. She saw him coming to the end of
Mrs Callen's house, and then lost sight of him She did
not see anything in his hands. In about five minutes after
this she heard the old man sing out " murder " twice He
said Oh dear ' let me up and I'll not touch you no more."
This witness also said that she heard the prisoner's voice
coming from the same place from which the old man's
cries carne, and that there was no one else near
Some time after - between 9 and 9 o'clook Mrs. Callan
returned with her father and brother and some others, and
having missed the old man and being told by Mary Scully
about the cries she had heard, they searched about the
place with candles till 11 o'clock, without finding him
Early next morning, however, they found the dead body
not far from the stockyard Near it was found the handle
of a hatchet or an axe that used to be kept in the deceased's
room at Callan's house,
Dr Machattie described the appearance of the body - There
were four severe wounds The first was a wound
over the right temple, which caused a fracture of the bones.
The second was caused by a blow which fractured three of
the ribs on one side the third was caused by a blow
which fractured two ribs on the other side and breastbone
The fourth was caused by a blow which fractured the left
arm,
The wounds, he said, caused death, and must have been
produced by a heavy instrument. Such a weapon as the
axe handle produced, would have caused them
Some minor circumstances such as the finding of a hat,
said to be the prisoner's, and his leaving his house that
evening with a hat and returning without one, as stated by
a labourer in his own employment, and spots of blood found
on his shirt, could scarcely leave a doubt that the prisoner
was the person who caused the old man's death.
I could not at the trial, nor can I now, after the most
careful consideration, see anything in the evidence that
could reduce the came from murder to manslaughter
At the same time, there is great difficulty in accounting
for the occurrence
There was no suggestion whatever that the prisoner had
any previous quarrel with the deceased, or that he entertained
any ill-will whatever towards him - indeed, the existence
of such a feeling was negatived, There was, however,
some evidence that the prisoner did not get on well
with his wife's family and one of the Bells had some time
before impounded some of his horses There was also some
evidence that he did not agree very well with his wife and
in the evening in question when he returned from Bathurst,
she was not at home - she was in fact at Winnack's place
The probable was, then, of accounting for the transaction
appears to be this -The prisoner was very excitable
when he drank, and when he returned from Bathurst,
under the influence of drink, and found that his wife was
not at home, he became very excited, and went over to the
Callan's', probably to enquire for her, and being also at the
time quite disposed to quarrel He then fell in with the
old man, who was the only person on the premises, and
from the words of the old man's will touch you no more"
it may be conjectured that either in the first instance, or
in self defence, he struck the prisoner, and the prisoner then,
carried away by his drunken excitement struck the blows
which caused the man's death Peter Faucett, May
10th, 1897
