A NORTH HEREFORDSHIRE MYSTERY. VERDICT OF WILFUL MURDER. The inquest on the body of the young man Joseph Pearce, who was found dead in the
Dark Lane, Leintwardine, on Sunday morning, 7th inst., was resumed before Mr.
H. Moore (county coroner), on Wednesday. The enquiry lasted from noon until eleven o'clock at night, v and was held in the schoolroom at Leintwardine. The evidence as to the finding of the body of the deceased, given at the previous enquiry, was read over, and was to the effect that he left Leintwardine just after ten o'clock on the night of the 6th inst., with a numnber of other young men, to go home. They had not gone far when a young man named Philip Tipton came up, and it is alleged either pushed or knocked deceased down, After that Pearce went into Leintwardine again, leaving the village afterwards at about a quarter past ten. He was not seen again till five o'clock the next morning, when the driver of the mail-cart from Craven Arms to Knighton found him lying in the road.
Although the deceased was helpless, and fell about the road when he attempted to move, the driver did not give any information at the post office or at the police station. Pearce was found dead two hours later, with his head dreadfily bruised and his skull fractnred.-A large number of witnesses were examined, and Charles
Perry, the driver of the mail-cart, was severely questioned. He said he was positive that neither his horse nor any part of the cart touched the deceased.-
Charles Morris. a mason living in a a cottage but a short distance from where the body was found, said he was fetched to see the body at about half-past seven o'clock on Sunday morning, the 7th inst. There a were no marks of any struggle having taken place, but there was a pool of blood in the road some nineyards away. There was a wheel-track near the place, but he did not see any break, as there would be if the wheel had gone over anything.-Police-constable Thomas proved finding £1 4s. lOd. on the body. Pearce had a thick hazel stick when in the village, but that was not to be found.-Merrick, one of the men who were with
Pearce, spoke of deceased having fallen down twice before Tipton came up.
Tipton accused deceased of having attempted to take liberties with his (Tipton's) sister, aged ten years, and threw off his coat and waistcoat, but witness did not see him strike Pearce. Some time after that he found that Pearce was not with them, and asked what had become of him. Tipton said, " He could not have been very drunk or he could not have run for Leintwardine." Pearce left his hat behind.-John Roberts and J. Jukes proved seeing Pearce in the village after ten o'clock that evening.-Other witnesses were examined, including William Perry, the man who was with Tipton. He denied that Tipton threatened anyone when in the public-house, and said when they were in the Dark Lane Tipton merely pushed Pearce on the breast, and did not strike him.- Dr. Cartwright said the injuries on the head of the deceased were the result of several very severe blows.
The bruises might have been caused with a stick with a, very wide knob. If the fracture of the skull had been caused by a boot, or by a blow from the shafts of a vehicle, there would have been considerable laceration of the outside skin, which was not the case.-Mr. Osmond Brown, surgeon, Knighton, agreed with the evidence of Dr. Cartwright.-The Coroner summed up at considerable length, and the jury returned a verdict of " Wilful murder against some person or persons unknown."
The Worcestershire Chronicle gives details of the injuries: Dr. Cartwright, who had made a post mortem examination of the body, said there were extensive

fractures at the base of the skull, and also over the eyes. The face and head were very severely bruised, and the right eyeball was split. The injuries could scaroely have been caused by a blow from a fist, and a kick would have caused more injury externally. If he might make a supposition as to the cause of death, he should say that deceased had received injuries such as to cause a considerable flow of blood internally, which rendered him unconcious. When he was roused by the driver of the mail cart the flow of blood would commence afresh and cause almost instantaneous death.