Page:West-Port murders.pdf/6

6 struggle with him, and did bring him to the ground, when by compressing his mouth, nose, and throat, you did suffocate or strangle him, notwithstanding of every resistence on his part. And this you did with the wicked intention of selling his murdered body to the docters for dissection: And Farther, on Friday the 31st day of October 1828, and within your own house in Portsburgh you did, both and each of you wickedly murder Margery M'Gonegal or Docherty, when she was lying on the ground, and did in the manner above-recited, suffocate or strangle her, with the wicked intention of selling her body when so murdered, as a subject for dissection; all which or part thereof being found proven by the verdict of an assize, you and each of you ought to be punished with the pains of law, to deter others for committing ſuch crime in all times coming."

The defences for Burke and M'Dougal were then read, and objectious stated to the form of the indictment, but the Court ultimately overulled them, and ordained the public prosecutor to go to trial upon the three charges separately. His Lordship then stated his determination to proceed with the last charge, viz. for the murder of the woman Campbell or Docherty, which applied equally to both prisoners, and the trial proceeded accordiugly, and the jury were impanncled. Both prisoners pleaded Not Guilty.

Ann Black lives in Waster Portsburgh. Her house is one room. Goes down a stair to it. At the foot of the stair there is a passage. Her house is on the right in going in, and is the first door. There is another door on the same side of the passage a little farther in, and it leads into another, passage, at the end of which there is another room. In the last week of October last, Burke and his wife occupied that room, Knows Hare and his wife. There was a man named Grey, and his wife stopped there a few days with Burke in the last week of October; saw Burke pass with a woman on the 31st of