Was Mrs McCarthy the only witness silenced ?

[packers stem]

Morning advertiser
10th Nov

Mrs. M'Carthy, the landlady, might easily have seen the murderer as he passed out of the court, but she observes a strict reticence, having apparently been cautioned by the police.

[Sleuth1888]

As regards this perhaps the she gave contradictory statements when trying to identify the suspect.

[packers stem]

As regards this perhaps the she gave contradictory statements when trying to identify the suspect.

I don't think you'll find a single statement from Mrs McCarthy
If you do please let me know .
No other witnesses were told to keep their mouths shut by the police as far as I'm aware

[Cogidubnus]

Morning advertiser
10th Nov

Mrs. M'Carthy, the landlady, might easily have seen the murderer as he passed out of the court, but she observes a strict reticence, having apparently been cautioned by the police.

I suggest any seeker after truth reads the whole account as quoted in this particular edition of the Morning Advertiser...It's in the Press Reports section on this site...and then quietly files it away...I suspect this reporter spent Sunday down the pub...

Cheers

Dave

[packers stem]

I suggest any seeker after truth reads the whole account as quoted in this particular edition of the Morning Advertiser...It's in the Press Reports section on this site...and then quietly files it away...I suspect this reporter spent Sunday down the pub...

Cheers

Dave

Needs a bit more than your suspicions to dismiss it Dave
My suspicions tell me it's rather odd that someone who probably saw her every day and ran the shop wasn't interviewed ,not only by the police ,but a single press reporter.
Seems here's our solution

[Wickerman]

I don't think you'll find a single statement from Mrs McCarthy
If you do please let me know .
No other witnesses were told to keep their mouths shut by the police as far as I'm aware

Asking the witness to say nothing was more common than we might imagine.
If you read Prater's press statement on the 10th Nov. she says she heard nothing through the night. Which directly contradicts her inquest testimony.
On the 9th Nov. the Echo published a request by the police..."the police gave peremptory instructions to everyone not to allude to the circumstances in the faintest way."
By "everyone" I suspect they mean the residents of Millers Court. It's only natural many will not adhere to their request. Then others will only tell partial truths to the press, like Prater. The request is mainly aimed at witnesses who are to be summoned for the inquest.

[Wickerman]

I suggest any seeker after truth reads the whole account as quoted in this particular edition of the Morning Advertiser...It's in the Press Reports section on this site...and then quietly files it away...I suspect this reporter spent Sunday down the pub...

Cheers

Dave

I expect many did David, but McCarthy was interviewed on the Friday

Isn't this the report that mentions a customer who said she saw "such a funny looking man up the court this morning", but McCarthy couldn't remember who the customer was.
I'll bet it was Sarah Lewis.

[Cogidubnus]

Needs a bit more than your suspicions to dismiss it Dave
My suspicions tell me it's rather odd that someone who probably saw her every day and ran the shop wasn't interviewed ,not only by the police ,but a single press reporter.
Seems here's our solution

So just as one example...who discovered the body (a) Mrs M'Carthy and her son, or (b) "Bower" - because this article shamelessly touts both...and whereas Mrs McCarthy, as Jon says, was in commonplace fashion probably cautioned to say nothing to the press, what sort of time in the morning do you suppose she was up until?

[Wickerman]

Needs a bit more than your suspicions to dismiss it Dave
My suspicions tell me it's rather odd that someone who probably saw her every day and ran the shop wasn't interviewed ,not only by the police ,but a single press reporter.
Seems here's our solution

We don't know if Mrs McCarthy wasn't interviewed by the police, I'd fully expect she was.
Something I keep mentioning from time to time is absolutely relevant, but I think is often overlooked.
On the day of the murder the police only had one theory and two witnesses to that theory. They believed the victim had been murdered in the late morning, like around 9:00am.
So they had no interest in peoples coming and going through the night.

We seem to think the police were investigating a murder around 3:00am right from day one, that is not the case. They only obtained confirmation she was killed around 3:00am on the Sunday, prior to that the actual time was unknown, except for the statements by Morris Lewis & Caroline Maxwell.

[Cogidubnus]

I expect many did David, but McCarthy was interviewed on the Friday

Isn't this the report that mentions a customer who said she saw "such a funny looking man up the court this morning", but McCarthy couldn't remember who the customer was.
I'll bet it was Sarah Lewis.

The murder took place on Sunday 9th, the Newspaper was published Monday 10th - it is in the Casebook Press section, and is still at the stage of promoting Caroline Maxwell's evidence, and therefore speculating a death between 8am and 11am, times when it might be reasonable to guess Mrs M was around...assuming the murder took place during the early hours it seems more likely Mrs M was abed...

[Cogidubnus]

We don't know if Mrs McCarthy wasn't interviewed by the police, I'd fully expect she was.
Something I keep mentioning from time to time is absolutely relevant, but I think is often overlooked.
On the day of the murder the police only had one theory and two witnesses to that theory. They believed the victim had been murdered in the late morning, like around 9:00am.
So they had no interest in peoples coming and going through the night.

We seem to think the police were investigating a murder around 3:00am right from day one, that is not the case. They only obtained confirmation she was killed around 3:00am on the Sunday, prior to that the actual time was unknown, except for the statements by Morris Lewis & Caroline Maxwell.

Quite...and now I really must away to my own bed...night Jon..

[Wickerman]

The murder took place on Sunday 9th, the Newspaper was published Monday 10th - it is in the Casebook Press section, and is still at the stage of promoting Caroline Maxwell's evidence, and therefore speculating a death between 8am and 11am, times when it might be reasonable to guess Mrs M was around...assuming the murder took place during the early hours it seems more likely Mrs M was abed...

What murder are you talking about?

[packers stem]

Asking the witness to say nothing was more common than we might imagine.
If you read Prater's press statement on the 10th Nov. she says she heard nothing through the night. Which directly contradicts her inquest testimony.
On the 9th Nov. the Echo published a request by the police..."the police gave peremptory instructions to everyone not to allude to the circumstances in the faintest way."
By "everyone" I suspect they mean the residents of Millers Court. It's only natural many will not adhere to their request. Then others will only tell partial truths to the press, like Prater. The request is mainly aimed at witnesses who are to be summoned for the inquest.

Prater did give interviews though , one mentioning crochet work so that's a different case to mentioning that the police had advised her not to speak as in other interviews she expanded a lot including looking through the window ,her stories were numerous .
Nobody else was shy , some gave false names however as their statements show them to be the same as others .
McCarthy was singing like a canary and he was always going to be attending the inquest

[packers stem]

The murder took place on Sunday 9th, the Newspaper was published Monday 10th - it is in the Casebook Press section, and is still at the stage of promoting Caroline Maxwell's evidence, and therefore speculating a death between 8am and 11am, times when it might be reasonable to guess Mrs M was around...assuming the murder took place during the early hours it seems more likely Mrs M was abed...

Thursday and Friday .....
it's a little presumptive to suggest she would be tucked up in bed though if the shop was often open til around three .
I don't think McCarthy mentioned being in the shop or what time it closed, but I stand to be corrected, that night so she may have been able to shed some light .

[packers stem]

We don't know if Mrs McCarthy wasn't interviewed by the police, I'd fully expect she was.
Something I keep mentioning from time to time is absolutely relevant, but I think is often overlooked.
On the day of the murder the police only had one theory and two witnesses to that theory. They believed the victim had been murdered in the late morning, like around 9:00am.
So they had no interest in peoples coming and going through the night.

We seem to think the police were investigating a murder around 3:00am right from day one, that is not the case. They only obtained confirmation she was killed around 3:00am on the Sunday, prior to that the actual time was unknown, except for the statements by Morris Lewis & Caroline Maxwell.

It's overlooked because it's not that relevant .
They had no idea regarding time but no way would they have ruled out the time between midnight and 9am based solely upon a couple of sightings considering the timings of the previous victims .
it may have been the focus but there's no way any time was ruled out at that point