Α

while she was so doing, she observed him come down from the garret, which she wondered at, as she knew not any business he could have in that part of the house; and she remarked that he had changed his dress, and seemed unusually agitated. He now sent her with a letter to Suffolk-street, and on her return told her, that her mistress was gone out in a coach with a gentleman. The maid, knowing that she had not been absent long enough for her mistress to dress herself, did not credit this story; but presumed that she and Gardelle had been very intimate in her absence; Mrs. King not having been a woman of unblemished reputation. gentleman, named Wright, having lodged on the first floor, but gone into the country for the benefit of the air, his servant came at one o'clock, and ordered preparation to be made for his return in the evening. In the interim, the maid thought that her mistress continued in bed, being ashamed to appear after her supposed commerce with Gardelle. The wretched man went frequently up and down stairs till three in the afternoon, when he again sent the girl to Suffolk-street, and during her absence resolved, if possible, to discharge her from the family, to prevent a discovery of the murder. As the gil could not write, and Gardelle knew not enough of English to draw up a receipt, he wrote to a Mr. Brocket, to write a proper receipt to which the girl might affix her mark. This gentleman asked, if she knew that Gardelle was authorized to discharge her. She answered in the negative; but Brocket told her, he wrote word that he had such authority; that Mrs. King was gone out, and when she returned would bring another servant. The girl thought that the true reason of her dismissal was

the

the intimacy between her mistress and Gardelle; and soon after her return the latter paid her her wages, gave her a gratuity, and took her receipt which Mr. Brocket had written. Meeting Mr. Wright's servant as she was going out, she told him, if he would wait a little, he might probably see her mistress, who had been in bed the whole day; but the man declining to wait, Gardelle was left alone. Hereupon he went to Mrs. King's chamber, stripped the body, and laid it on the bed. Her bloody shift he hid in a bag, uuder his own bed; and locked his own shirt, which was likewise bloody, in a drawer. The bed-clothes being stained, he left them to soak in a tub of water. Mr. Wright's servant returning, said his master had procured other lodgings, but himself slept in the garret, as it was not convenient to remove his effects. On his asking for Mrs. King next morning, Gardelle said she was gone out, and told him she was not come home, when he made a similar enquiry in the evening. On the Saturday, two days after the murder, a gentleman named Mozier, who had been intimate both with Gardelle and Mrs. King, called at the house for the latter to go with him to the opera, according to promise. The answer Gardelle gave was, that she had suddenly gone to Bristol or Bath: the other, however, observing that he seemed out of humour, and attributing it to her absence, sent a girl of the town to keep him company. Gardelle did not seem pleased - with her sudden visit, but said he had some shirts to mend, which she promised to begin on the Monday following. In the interim, the body remained as he had left it on the Thursday night, for he had not gone near it since; but now, anxious to conceal

bis crime, he left his bed, and went down stairs: however, being followed by the girl, he was obliged to desist for the present. He arose soon after seven the next morning, leaving the girl in bed, who did not come down till after ten, and then she found him lighting a fire. How he had employed himself in the mean time can only be conjectured. After breakfast he sent the girl for a charwoman,whom she brought in the afternoon. On the Monday morning Gardelle instructed this charwoman to tell Mr. Wright's footman, that the girl in the house had been sent by Mrs. King, to look after it in her absence but the footman paid no credit to this tale, as he had seen Gardelle and the girl in bed together. This footman, whose name was Pelsey, repeatedly enquired for Mrs. King, and Gardelle as repeatedly said she was gone to Bath or Bristol; but without being credited. Peley going up stairs on Tuesday, remarked a disagreeable smell, and asking Gardelle what it was, he answered the burning of a bone, which was partly true; for the wretch had been burning the bones of the murdered woman in the garret. After Pelsey was asleep at night, Gardelle sent his girl to bed, and then cut Mrs. King's body in pieces. The flesh which he cut from the bones he secreted in the cock-loft, and threw the bowels into the vault. On the Wednesday evening he dismissed his girl, telling her that Mrs. King was to return that night. The footman and charwoman still remained in the house, and the water failing in the cistern, the latter went to the water-tub in the back kitchen, in which she felt something soft, and mentioned this to Pelsey; but there was yet no suspicion of murder: however, the following day the bed-clothes which Gardelle had thrown over Mrs. King's body, were found in

the

the water-tub. Hereupon Pelsey found the maidservant whom Gardelle had discharged; and she denying the having put any such clothes into the tub, the footman told his master what he suspected; and Mr. Baron, an apothecary, being applied to, went to the house, and asking for Mrs. King, Gardelle told him the same story he had told the others. The late servant-maid being examined before Sir John Fielding on the Saturday, a warrant was issued to take Gardelle into custody, and Mr. Baron attended the serving it. Gardelle denied the murder, and fell into fits; but soon recovering, they demanded the key of Mrs. King's chamber, but he said she had it with her in the country. On this the constable got in at the window, and let Mi. Baron and others into the room. On examination, they found the bed bloo y; and then going up stairs, they discovered the bloody linen which had been secreted by Gardelle. Hereupon he was car ried before Justice Fielding; but, not giving direct answers to the questions asked him, was committed for farther examination. In the meantime a bricklayer and carpenter were directed to search the house, and they found the flesh of a human body in the loft, and the bowels in the vault: they likewise observed some burnt bones in the garret, where it was evident a fire had been made. A gentleman had received a box from Gardelle, on the Thursday before he was taken into custody, with an injunetion to keep it safely; but opening it, when he heard he was apprehended, it was found to contain Mrs. King's watch, and other articles. While

Gardelle was in New Prison, he took opium, with an intent to destroy himself; but the strength of his constitution counteracting the poison, he begged to be carried before a magistrate, to make a full

con.

·

confession. This the justice heard, but would not permit him to sign it as evidence against himself; he was then re-committed for trial: and after this he swallowed a number of halfpence, in order to destroy himself, but this did not answer the end. He was brought to trial at the Old Bailey, on the zd of April, and capitally convicted. His behaviour at first was outrageous, but the next day he was more resigned. He said it was with the utmosť horror that he associated with the woman that Mozier had sent to him, but was afraid to dismiss her, lest a surmise of his guilt should arise; and when asked why he had not escaped abroad after committing the murder, he said it was for fear that some innocent person might be charged with it. He was conveyed to the place of execution in a cart, which stopped a while near the spot where he committed the murder. He suffered in the Haymarket, April 4, 1761, amidst an immense crowd of spectators, who testified their joy at his exit in a manner too turbulent for so solemn an occasion. He was afterwards hung in chains on Hounslow Heath.

GARDINER, STEPHEN, (HOUSE-BREAKER), was born in Moorfields, of poor parents, who put him apprentice to a weaver, but his behaviour soon became so bad, that his master was obliged to correct him severely; on which he ran away, and associated with idle boys in the streets, and then was driven home through mere hunger. His friends now determined to send him to sea, and put him on board a corn vessel, the master of which traded to France and Holland. Being an indolent and useless hand on board, he was treated so roughly by his shipmates, that he grew heartily tired of a sea-faring life and, on his return from the first