Posted with permission of the transcriber, Barb. Baker. Geo. THE TIMES, Tuesday, January 5, 1858 MURDER IN CUMBERLAND. - The discovery of a murder in one of the secluded nooks of Cumberland has just been made, the horrid crime being rendered more dark by the fact that the victim and the supposed murderer are near relations. At the small village of Fenton, which lies about a mile from the Howmill station of the Newcastle and Carlisle Railway, and not far from the famed walks of Corby, there lived an old man named ROBERT IRWIN. Under the same roof resided JACOB SKELTON, a labouring man, his wife (IRWIN's daughter), three children, and an old woman. IRWIN was formerly engaged in agriculture, but since his daughter's marriage, he has occasionaly resided with her and her husband, paying them 5s. a week for his lodgings. He had saved about 200 l., which he had invested on security. Some time since he made a will, bequeathing this sum to his grandchildren, and only leaving the interest to his daughter, independent altogether of her husband's control. On the morning of Christmas day, he rose about half-past 5 o'clock for the purpose of attending a prayer-meeting in the village. Contrary to his wont, the son-in-law also got up, and would seem to have lighted the fire. The old man left the house with a lantern and his stick, and the son-in-law and his wife both say the door was bolted after him. In little more than an hour, the old man was found on the roadside weltering in blood. He was quite insensible, and was taken home by the neighbours. He lingered till the next morning, when he died. A post mortem examination of the body was made by MR. JOHNSTON, surgeon, of Brampton, and DR. JOHNSTON, of Corby-hill. They found a large contused and lacerated wound of the scalp, about two inches in length by one inch and a half in breadth, situate near the crown of the head. They also found another scalp wound, not so contused as the first, and not quite so long. From these appearances the medical gentlemen were of opinion that the deceased had come to his death by foul means. In corroboration of this opinion, it was noted as a very significant circumstance that the place where the old man was found was not upon the hard road, but upon a soft grass plot. Suspicion at once attached to the son-in-law, and the first inquiry of the coroner was adjourned till Saturday last, the 2d inst. On that day, a number of witnesses were examined, and among others the son-in-law and his wife. They both swore that the door was immediately shut upon the old man, that SKELTON never left the house, and that they knew nothing of the injury to the deceased till he was brought home. It was found, however, that the wife of SKELTON had told a person that her husband had accompanied her father to the front gate; but when she was confronted with this witness, she denied that she had made such an admission. It was also deposed by other witnesses that SKELTON ill-used the old man, and had openly wished for his death. The hammer which was found in his house, was stated by the medical men and the police to be such a weapon as would inflict the wounds on the old man's head. Under the circumstances, the coroner deemed it best to adjourn the inquiry for a fortnight, but the police authorities were of opinion that there was sufficient evidence to justify the apprehension of SKELTON on the charge of murder, and he was accordingly taken into custody. ***********************************************************************