Illustrated Police News, October 14th, 1893.
The Bath Murder.
Arthur Stevenson Coombs, twenty, coachbuilder, was brought
up on remand, at Weston, near Bath, on Tuesday, charged with the wilful murder
of Elsie Adelaide Luke, alias Wilkie, whose remains were found in a cave on
Hampton Down. A remarkable scene was witnessed in the vicinity of the court,
hundreds of persons struggling to obtain admission long after the court had
been crowded to its utmost capacity.
Mr Cannings Collins, who was instructed by the Treasury, in
his address referred to the difficulties experienced by the police after the
lapse of so long a time – two years – since the perpetration of the murder in
unravelling the details of the mysterious crime. It would be necessary for him
at the close of that day’s proceedings to ask for a further remand, in order
that the police might continue their investigations. It might be convenient if
he offered a few remarks with reference to the case as regarded the prisoner as
distinct from that part of the case which might be said to do with the
discovery of the remains, because in a murder, and more especially where there
was an amount of mystery surrounding the circumstances, as there was here, the
subject of motive was of importance.
Where a man had become entangled with with two women, in
order to be rid of embarrassment crimes had followed, and he should show that
something had been going on between prisoner and two women, the deceased and
another woman named Polly Sheppard. It had already been shown that the prisoner
had been keeping company with the deceased. They were frequently together, and
were seen talking together on the Sunday preceding the August Bank Holiday, so
that their friendship had continued, at any rate, up to that time.
After the arrest of the prisoner the detectives went to his
home, and there, amongst other things, they found a leather bag with his
initials upon them, “A.S.C.” This bag was on Monday taken to a trunk maker’s
and unlocked, when it was found to contain a large number of letters, some of
which he proposed to read upon the subject of motive. They were letters from a
person who signed herself “Polly Sheppard,” and it was clear from the letters
that these parties were keeping company, if not actually engaged to be married.
These letters contained references to the deceased woman.
The first letter, which was dated February 5th,
1891, asked the prisoner not to think anything more about the other girl
(Luke), as she was “a beast of a girl.” Luke had apparently at that time spoken
to the prisoner about her being in trouble, and Miss Sheppard consoled him with
the remark, “Of course it cannot be true what she says. She would have told you
of it before. She only wants to get you back again. Don’t take any notice of
it.” The writer spoke of Luke’s hasty, violent temper, and in another letter
stigmatised her pretended conversion as “wicked mockery.” In a third
communication she said “Fancy that Elsie Wilkie showing herself down your way.
I should think she was ashamed to.” A letter dated April 6th, 1891,
was also read from Sheppard, in which she said, “Every cloud has its silver
lining; but that girl thinks she is going to mar our happiness, but she is
mistaken.” Another letter implored the prisoner not to take any notice of the
deceased, and added that she had put her friend to waylay the writer. There
were letters addressed to “Dear Arthur” up to June, but there was another on
July 19th addressed to “Dear Mr. Coombs,” in which Sheppard charged
the prisoner with being two-faced, and with being “mean and cruel,” and
expressing astonishment that he should take any notice of Wilkie. This was
followed by a letter of forgiveness, and Mr. Collins submitted that the letters
suggested that there was something in the man’s connection with the two women
which was at that time causing him a considerable amount of trouble, and the
question was whether it did not supply the reason for the murder. There was
nothing to show that the girl was in any way connected wiwth any other man, and
it might reasonably be supposed that the position of the prisoner between the
two women was such that he was worked up to a high pitch and led to do this
deed.
Another point, which he wished to mention was that upon the
visit of the detectives to the house of the prisoner they found a small brooch,
and that brooch would be shown to have been given to the deceased girl by a
friend. The brooch was broken when found in a box at the prisoner’s house; but
it was fair to him to say that at the time the brooch was given to the deceased
it was without a pin, and it was without a pin now. Mrs Hayman, who had already
given evidence, would, however, be recalled, and would state that the girl was
wearing the brooch on the Saturday before Bank Holiday when she called upon
her. If it were true the circumstance was of course of considerable importance.
There was another circumstance which it would be his duty to
lay before them. The prisoner on the th of August was found to be suffering
from an injury to his hand, and he sought the aid of Mr. Vigis, chemist. He saw
the gentleman on August 5th and 6th, and Mr. Vigis, he
understood, said that he was suffering from a contused wound on his hand. He
did not, however, seem to be satisfied with the treatment which he received,
and on August 7th he appeared to have gone to the Royal United
Hospital, and to have been treated by Mr. Lace, who was at that time the house
surgeon. The man who gave the prisoner’s name and address, as would be seen
from the hospital books, was suffering from a wound in the thumb, which was
described in the books as a human bite (Sensation). This was a very material
matter indeed, because whoever committed the crime probably engaged in a death
struggle on the bank of the cave, and that, coupled with the disposition of the
body and the concealment of it amongst the rocks, would not improbably lead to
some bruising and wounding of the hands of the man who committed the crime.
Evidence bearing out Mr Collins’s statement was then called,
and the prisoner was remanded until Monday, when counsel for the Prosecution
called Walter Cairn, a wine-merchant’s assistant, who stated that he was a
schoolfellow of the accused. In July, 1891, one Sunday morning, he was in the
wood leading up to Hampton Rocks, with a reiend, when he saw Coombs and Wilkie
pass up through the wood, walking towards Hampton Down. This wood is about half
a mile from the spot where the deceased’s remains were discovered. Alfred
Phillips, a friend of the previous witness, fixed the date of this occurrence
as the last Sunday in July, 1891. They were sitting in a tree, and Wilkie
nodded to witness as they passed.
Evidence was then produced identifying the boots found in
the cave as having been purchased by the deceased in July, 1891. Mr Collins
stated that that was all the evidence the Crown were at present in a position
to offer, and he suggested there might be a further remand. After Mr. Collins’s
address, Mr Titley, for the accused, asked for the release of the prisoner.
After the magistrates had deliberated, the chairman, Mr Murch, Mayor of Bath,
said the present was a case of extreme gravity, and the crime being two years
old, made it more necessary to entirely exculpate prisoner, and the Bench had
decided to remand the accused in custody until Tuesday, the 17th
inst.
In connection with the mystery a remarkable statement has
been made by a young man, whose name and address are known by the police. He
states that when the accused was speaking with some other men about a
sensational murder which was occupying general attention, Coombs remarked, “Oh,
I have committed a murder, and it has never been found out.” Those present
regarded the statement as a joke at the time, and paid no attention to it.
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