THE INQUEST.
LITTLE HOPE OF SAVING WOUNDED GIRL’S LIFE.
Mr. Coroner Bell held an inquest this afternoon at the West Butterwicke Farm, near Sedgefield, upon the bodies of Jane Stephenson and Jonas Marshall.
Supt. James, of Stockton, said that he had taken the depositions of Isabella Stephenson, who stated: I left Sedgefield about 11 p.m. with my sister, Jane Sterhenson, and accompanied by Harry Ferguson, who set us halfway home, when he left us. We got as far as Pilmore Barn when Jonas Marshall came out of the hedge. He never spoke to us. He fired a gun which he was carrying at me twice, the first is my right side, and the other at my left side. He then fired at my sister, and shot her somewhere in the chest. I kissed her before – she died. She never spoke – just moaned. I heard another shot fired, and I lay on the ground till my brother Alfred came. Jonas Marshall wanted to pay his addresses to me some time ago, but I objected. We had only been on speaking terms lately – not particular friends.
Dr. F. Hunton said that he was called to the farm at four o’clock this morning. Jane was dead, and the sister Isabella was in a collapsed condition. She had a gun shot injuries on the right arm, and the lower portion of her left abdomen and hip. He attended to these injuries, and later with Dr. Turner, of Newcastle, conducted an operation, and found that her injuries were of such an extensive character as to give little hope of recovery. The girl Isabella made a statement to him that she was returning with her sister from Sedgefield, laughing and talking and as happy as could be, when Jonas Marshall appeared and shot her in the right arm. She said, “Oh don’t do that”, and he then shot at her again. She fell on her knees and struggled some distance along the road, and remembered nothing more until her brother found her.
Evidence was given that after the brother Alfred found his sister on the road he saw the body of the young man Marshall further away, and he informed the police, who conveyed it to Marshall’s Home.
With respect to Marshall, Dr. Hunton stated that the man had a wound on the right side of his body the size of a five shilling piece, from which blood was flowing. He smelt strongly of carbonic acid, and had evidently taken the contents a bottle labelled “Carbonic Acid,” which was found in one of his pockets.
Further evidence showed that last night Marshall went out with a gun for the purpose of shooting ducks.
In summing up, the Coroner said the idea in Marshall’s mind in attempting a double murder and committing suicide had not transpired and the jury would never know. That was the only point that had not been cleared up by the investigation.
The jury found that Marshall died from a self-inflicted gun wound, and in the case of Jane Stephenson, they found that she was willfully murdered by Jonas Marshall.
Sunderland Daily Echo and Shipping Gazette Fri. 15th Dec. 1911.
MURDER AND SUICIDE.
TERRIBLE AFFAIR NEAR STOCKTON.
A terrible tragedy occurred near Stockton-on-Tees last night. Two farmer’s daughters named Isabella Stephenson (20) and Jane Stephenson (18) of Butterwick Hall, were returning home from a dance at Sedgefield, between eleven and twelve o’clock when a farmer’s son named Jonas Marshall, also of Butterwick Hall, who is stated to have concealed himself in a shed on the roadside, shot them with a double barrelled gun.
Jane Stephenson was killed outright, and her sister was so badly wounded that she is not expected to recover. She was found crawling towards home by her brother. Marshall was found lying dead close to the body of the younger girl, he having apparently reloaded the gun and shot himself.
It is stated jealousy was the cause of the crime. Marshall had formerly been keeping company with Isabella Stephenson who with her sister had been accompanied so far along the road after leaving the dance by another man. Marshall appears to have followed them demanding an explanation, with the tragic result stated.
Sunderland Daily Echo and Shipping Gazette Sat. 16th Dec. 1911.
SEDGEFIELD TRAGEDY.
DEATH OF WOUNDED GIRL.
A third death occurred last evening as the result of the tragedy which occurred on the highway at Sedgefield, near Stockto-on-Tess, at midnight, on Thursday. When returning home from a dance two sisters, named Isabella and Jane Stephenson, daughters of a farmer, of Butterwick, were shot by a young man named Jonas Marshall, the rejected lover of one of them. The younger girl, Jane, who was only 18, was killed instantly, and her sister, aged 20, was so seriously injured that she died last evening. Marshall, after drinking carbolic acid, shot himself dead.
At the inquest on Jane Stephenson and Marshall the jury found that she was wilfully murdered by Marshall, and that he died from a gunshot wound self-inflicted.
The deposition of Isabella Stephenson, read at the inquest was as follows: – I am the daughter of John Stephenson, farmer, of Butterwick Farm. : I left Sedgefield about 11 p.m. with my sister, Jane Stephenson, and accompanied by Harry Ferguson, who set us half way home, when he left us. We got as far as Pilmore Barn where Jonas Marshall came out of the hedge. He never spoke to us, but fired a gun which he was carrying at me twice, first is my right side and then at my left side. He then fired at my sister, and shot her in the chest somewhere. I kissed her before she died. She never spoke, but moaned. I heard another shot fired. I lay on the ground till my brother Alfred came. Jonas Marshall wanted to pay his addresses to me some time ago, but I objected. We had only been on speaking terms lately – not particular friends.
–
Page added 17th Feb 2018