Emanuel Pinto

Execution not confirmed

472. EMANUEL PINTO and ANTONIO DA COSTA , otherwise DE SILVA were indicted, for that they, not having the fear of God before their eyes, but being moved and seduced by the instigation of the Devil, on the 15th day of July last, at the parish of St. John, Wapping, with force and arms, on William Adair , in the peace of God and our Lord the King then and there being, feloniously, wilfully, and of their malice aforethought, did make an assault, and that he, the said Emanuel Pinto , with a certain knife which he in his right hand then and there had and held, him the said William Adair in and upon the lower part of the belly; near the groin of him the said William, feloniously, wilfully, and of his malice aforethought, did stab and thrust, giving to the said William Adair , with the

knife aforesaid, in and upon the lower part of his belly, near his groin, one mortal wound, of the breadth of two inches, and of the depth of nine inches, of which said mortal wound, the said William Adair languished till of 16th July, and languishing did live, and on the 16th of July died, and that the said Antonio Da Costa , otherwise De Silva, was present, aiding, helping, abetting, comforting, and assisting the said Emanuel Pinto, the deed aforesaid to do and commit, and that the said Emanuel Pinto and Antonio Da Costa , otherwise De Silva, the said William Adair feloniously, wilfully, and of their malice aforethought, did slay and murder . The prisoners were likewise charged on the coroner's inquisition of murder.

(The prisoners were informed by the Court, that being foreigners, they were intitled to a Jury of half foreigners and half English, which they declined.

An interpreter was Sworn.)

JOHN KEVETT sworn.

I am a sailor.

Did you know William Adair ? - No, only by seeing him go to and fro in the streets.

Did you see him on the 15th of June last? - Yes, I saw him about half an hour before the affair happened, I saw him in the house where he lodged, and I saw him in East Smithfield ; he lodged at a private house, I was at my lodgings, and I heard a noise in the publick street, I went out and I saw the shortish man, Da Costa, laying down, and this William Adair was kicking him, and I saw him get up again and run across the way, and he laid down again; I saw another man, one William Harding haul Adair away from Da Costa; then I saw him stop again in a short time, and these two men came up again, they went away from the place about twenty or thirty yards.

Where was Pinto during the time that Adair was with De Costa? - I did not see him at all till I saw him come up with the other one, when Adair stopped; then I saw them both come up, Adair and Harding walked away together; the prisoners then went up to Adair, and the prisoner Pinto said, what for you strike the little man; Adair was a tall man, and they talked some time to him, I do not know what it was; then they talked together in their own language, then the prisoner Pinto said to Adair, give the man his hat, Adair said, I have not got your hat, where is my hat, with that the prisoner Pinto put his foot across the kennel and made a shove at Adair with his knife.

Jury. Did he take it out of his pocket? - I do not know where he took it from, I saw the knife by his side, I saw him make a push, I saw him make two more shoves after that, I saw him shove the knife the first time about the waistband of his breeches.

Court. Did you see whether either of the other shoves were so near to Adair as to touch him? - I think to the best of my knowledge, that all three shoves were together, for he made a shove at the same place all three times.

Did you observe the knife in Pinto's hand before he made the first shove? - No, he just lifted up his hand from his thigh and he gave a shove directly; I did not see the knife till that time, then Adair run away, and they both run after him, I went about two doors and then I saw Da Costa coming back, and he had the spear in his hand, and he ran up to me and made a shove as he was coming back, I pushed him back, and then he walked on directly; I did not see the big one come back, till I saw them both stand together directly after he passed me, I know no more where they went, I did not see Adair afterwards; I never heard him speak, I believe he went home afterwards, I did not see any blood.

MARY BAXTOR sworn.

I live in East Smithfield, I sell things about the streets for my living.

Were you in East Smithfield on the 15th of this month? - Yes, I saw the tall man, Pinto, make three jobs at the deceased, the first job that I saw him give, was towards the bottom of his belly; I never saw the deceased afterwards, till I saw him in his

own house when his bowels were sewed up, that was the same night.

Did you see where the wound was? - It was just at the bottom of his belly, I saw it sewing up, I saw him make three jobs, but where the other two jobs were made I do not know.

Had he more than one wound? - Oh! Yes, Sir, plenty, I dare say there was a matter of eight or nine wounds.

What became of the deceased afterwards? - I saw him the next day in his bed, that was all I saw of him, till I saw him buried; I do not know what day he died on, I was not there then.

How was he the next day, when you saw him? - Very bad, he was in bed.

Did he say, he thought himself he should die? - I do not know, I did not hear him say any thing about that.

Were you acquainted with him before? - No, Sir, I never saw any of them before to the best of my knowledge.

Prisoner Da Costa. Did you see me strike the prisoner? - No, only the big one.

WILLIAM HARDING sworn.

I am a ticket porter, I was coming home between eleven and twelve on Thursday night the 15th, and I went into the ship and star in East Smithfield, for a pint of beer, after drinking my beer and coming out of the door, I saw the deceased standing with his back against the bar window, and there was a young fellow standing along-side of him, there was a little mob, and the two prisoners stood about a yard and a half distance, and Da Costa he rushed out from some of his countrymen, and struck the deceased with his fist, then the deceased and he fell to fighting; then the deceased knocked Da Costa down, and when he was down he kicked him three or four times, then the tall one came up and wanted to strike the deceased, and I would not let him strike him, I told him to stand off and give them fair play, after that, one of the prisoners, the little one, run away to the corner of White's-yard, just by the Three Crowns, and there he fell down again, but cannot say. I saw the deceased strike him, or whether the curb stones tripped him up; I went and picked him up, and said, come away home, you will get stabbed; the deceased and I went as far as the place called George-yard, about thirty yards from the place where Da Costa fell. Soon after, the two prisoners and two or three more Portuguese came after us with knives in their hands, that might be the space of three or four minutes, I cannot say; there was five in all, they had all knives, there was these two prisoners and three more, we continued to stand at the George-yard, we had not the time to go any farther they came so close after us, then the tall one asked the deceased, why he struck the little man, and why he did not give him his hat; the deceased said, he had not his hat, where was his; immediately after he said that, the deceased run away and they after him; I cannot say that I saw them stab him.

Did you see whether Pinto had any knife in his hand at that time? - Yes, he had one in his hand down by his side, it was in his hand, I could only just see his hand and part of the blade of the knife.

Court. How far did you see the deceased run? - I suppose it might be an hundred yards, I do not know where he went to afterwards, he went out of my sight, and when the prisoners came back they run up to a young man that is here; I went into a chandler's shop and there I bought a broom-stick, or else I should have shared the same fate; when they saw me take up a broom-stick they then run away immediately, I run down after them into a bawdy house, and they came back immediately, I went with this young fellow and his wife towards home; I went to his house where the deceased lodged, I did not see the deceased; in about a minute or two after he was brought to the door, I cannot tell by whom, and set down upon the step of the door; when he was sat there he said to the landlord, Swinney, dear Swinney, I am a dead man, I shall not trouble any one long; I said, the man looks as if he

was stabbed, and turned his jacket over one side and unbuttoned his waistcoat, and on his left side over his trowsers, his bowels hung out, he was lifted in, and they applied to Doctor Blackmore , and he sent word he must be sent to the London Infirmary.

Court. Did you ask him how or at what time he received that wound? - No, I never spoke to him after.

Did he tell you at any time, how he received the wound? - No, he did not, the deceased run from the George-yard, when Pinto came up and said to the deceased, what did you strike the little fellow for, where was his hat, then the deceased took to his heels and run.

Court to Kevett. Whereabouts was it you saw Pinto give him the three shoves you mentioned? - At the corner of George-street.

Did you see William Harding there? - I cannot say I saw him there, the prisoner Da Costa had a knife as well as the rest, I immediately applied to an officer to get a warrant, as soon as ever I saw the man's bowels; I got an officer named Wilkinson, and I and Wilkinson and the landlady of this young man, went to the prisoner's lodgings, and somebody asked who was there, and would not open the door without an officer; when the door was open, the officer asked, where were the two men that had run in there, then we went up stairs, and there was Pinto getting into bed, and the little one was under the bed; getting Pinto out of bed this knife fell from under the pillow at the head part of the bed.

Prisoner Pinto. It was none of my knife.

Court. Was there any blood at all, either on the blade or on the handle? - None that I could perceive, and when we went to pull the little one from under the bed, that spear lay alongside of him, then they were apprehended and taken away to the watch-house.

Court to Kevett. You said just now, that after Da Costa got up he run across the way and laid down again, did he fall down by stumbling against the stones, or did he appear to lay down? - I cannot say which way he got down, I saw he was down all at once, but whether he fell down or laid down I do not know.

In what position was he then? - He was on his side.

Which side did he lay on, when he was over the way? - I think it was his right side.

Did he attempt to get up before the deceased came? - I did not see him attempt to get up.

WILLIAM HIGHAM sworn.

I attended this man on the 15th of July between eleven and twelve at night, on my examining the body, the first thing that presented was a large portion of the intestines laying on the aperture, I will observe to you first, the wound on the intestines, I found that portion of the gut called the illion was wounded in five different places, one of which wounds was so large as to need sewing up, the intestine was part cut through; after I had done what was needful to the intestines, I gently returned them into the body, which took up a considerable time, then the external wound was about an inch and a half, or near two inches, which I likewise sewed up, I applied proper dressings and bandage, and put the patient to bed; on visiting him the next morning, I found him in a very languid state, very quick and low pulse, and every symptom of approaching death, but perfectly in his senses, there were two or three other small wounds about his body, but of no account; I visited him again about 12 o'clock at the desire of a Justice of peace, in order to take the deceased's evidence, I found him still in a weak state, but in his perfect senses, and my assistant saw him in the afternoon, he still grew worse, and about eight he died, twenty hours after the accident; the cause of his death was undoubtedly the wounds he received in the intestines, he gave me a very clear and circumstantial account, with respect to the two men.

Was it reduced into writing? - I t was taken down in writing.

 

Court to Hardings. Did you fuel designed? - I saw it signed by Mr. Green the Justice.

(The declaration read.)

"The information of William Adair , taken on oath before me Peter Green , faith, that on Tuesday evening, between eleven and twelve, standing at the Ship and Star door, an ale-house in East Smithfield, and many more present, words arose, and this informant and Antonio Da Costa fought together, and Antonio Da Costa desisted from fighting, when the said Emanuel Pinto drew a knife and stabbed him in four different parts of his body, and this informant further faith, that he is sure that Pinto is the person that stabbed him, and Da Costa was standing, aiding, and assisting at the transaction."

WILLIAM ADAIR , his X mark.

July 16, 1783, PETER GREEN .

Mr. Higham. The Justice desired me to attend to prove the man's sanity; he was clearly in his senses, as ever he was, I desired him to look round to the prisoners, and relate which man it was that stabbed him, which he did.

Prisoner Pinto. There was a great number of people in the street, and he did not strike the deceased, somebody else must strike him, for if he had done it he should not have gone to have laid himself so quietly down in his bed.

James Lurey . I heard of this murder; I went down the next morning and enquired into it, I heard the deceased was very uneasy for fear the little one should suffer. I first asked the deceased several questions, to prove whether he was in his senses, I then said to him, Will, which of these men was it that stabbed you, he looked first at the little one and then he cast his eyes upon the other, and pointed to him saying, that is he; I said, did the little one stab you, he said, no, he fought me fair; was he by any means accessary to your death, and he replied, no; I said, are you desirous he should suffer, he said, no, by no means.

EDWARD SWINNEY sworn.

The deceased came home to my door, he lodged at my house, he said my dear Swinney I am a dead man, a dead man my dear Soul, I wish you would go for the Doctor directly, I sent for the Doctor, and I went in pursuit of the prisoners, and he begged of me the next morning to bring the two prisoners to his house that he might see the right person, or he should never die with case, then these two prisoners came into the room, and he clapped his fingers on the stout man, and said that is the person that stabbed me, then he said I shall die in peace.

MARY HITCHCOCK sworn.

I keep the Three Crowns opposite the Ship and Star, the two prisoners had been in my house for some hours, and I went to shut up the shutters, and I saw this little man stand with his back against the door, he went away, I said now then I will lock him out, he went over to the Ship and Star, in about five minutes I heard a great screaming, and Da Costa came out of the Ship and Star, and I heard the Englishmen call give it him, give it well, and they threw him down, and kicked him several times; there might be four or five, at last, the man crawled from them, and he run across the street to make his escape from them, and I heard my daughter go to the man and tell him to come away for they would kill him, he made no answer.

MARY WYATT sworn.

The deceased came to my door on Tuesday night, I lived in George-yard, No. 2, he insisted on my drinking a glass of shrub, and there were five Portugueze in the room, the deceased said something to this little man, and he answered again, and seemed very agreeable, but the tall man answered in a different way, and told him he might kiss his backside.

Prisoner. That was because he called me a Portuguese dog.

The deceased staid as if he was considering whether he would strike or not, or whether he would take the affront; Da Costa stood up, and the rest of the Portuguese came

round him and told him not to quarrel, and told him that if the little man was not in liquor he would not quarrel; they got the little one out at the door, and attempted to keep him out, but he made an attempt to strike the deceased in the passage; the deceased said, for why did he want to rump me?

Interpreter. That is a bye-word in the country, meaning to beat.

They got the man out a second time, and persuaded the deceased to go out quietly, and told him if he would go they would guard him that the little one should not hurt him; just as he came out of the door this little one jumped at him and struck him, the deceased struck the little man twice in return to the blow he struck him; at the second blow Da Costa fell to the ground upon his face and groaned very much, the alarm for him was pick him up, I heard the words pick him up, Da Costa run from one side of the way to the other, and the Portuguese run after him, the others made their escape and were coming home, the two Portuguese in company followed the deceased, as if watching to see where the deceased was going to, they were neither of the prisoners, they followed him to the corner of George-yard, and in about half a minute two men came up and asked the deceased about the hat, they were neither of the prisoners, immediately there came up three more Portuguese that had been in company, they had been away and came with knives, the little one says to the deceased, why you took my hat, and called him a very bad name, called him a bloody thief, and said he had stole his hat, the prisoners are two of the men, the deceased said I have no hat, where is mine? I looked towards the side of the little man, and I thought I saw by his hands moving something of a knife, I made myself sure and looked a second time, I saw him trying to hide the weapon behind my apron, I cried out immediately they had got knives, I had no sooner spoke the words but the deceased was stabbed; I did not see him stabbed.

Jury. Was the tall one near you at the same time? - Yes Sir, whilst I was looking at the dagger that the little one had, the tall one stabbed him, I was standing between the deceased and the little man, and the tall man was facing him, the weapon the little man had seemed to be the point of a dagger, and I halloo'd out they have got knives, the deceased run as soon as he was stabbed to a very great degree, I attempted to run after him, but I lost sight of the deceased in a very little time, as I was coming back the Portuguese were returned, I met the little one with the dagger in his hand, I went to see if I could find the deceased at his lodgings, but he was not come home, in the mean time the deceased came up and walked very solid, as if unhurt, I stood at the door and said, thank God here is the young man coming unhurt, as he came up to me me I said, Bill I hope you are not hurt, he answered he should not trouble any body long, as he entered the door he sat himself down at the threshold of the door, and laid himself backwards upon the flag-stones, he said to the landlord that he should be very little trouble to him, for he was a dead man, a gentleman of the faculty was sent for who refused to come, another came, and tried every necessary method.

HENRY HITCHCOCK sworn.

I was standing at my own door, I heard some people come out of the Ship and Star crying out give it him, give it him, and I saw them kick a man about for the space of eight or ten yards, which I believe was Da Costa, and he roared out very much, from that the little man run over the way into White's-yard and he fell against a post, all the crowd followed him, and the deceased fell kicking him again, and then left him, the little man got up and I followed the deceased, I saw no more of him.

JOHN MARANT sworn.

I know both the prisoners about two years, the little one I know to be quite a sober sedate young man, and never engaged in quarrels; as for the large one, I have not such a knowledge of him as to know his temper.

THOMAS FARRARA , a Portuguese, sworn.

The little man lodged at my house between

six and seven weeks since he came to England, always behaved very quiet and decent, I never saw him otherwise, neither this voyage nor the last, I know the other tall man a little, he did not lodge with me.

Court. Gentlemen of the Jury, The first of the transaction seems to have been when the deceased spoke to Da Costa in the alehouse, and according to the account gave by Wyatt, the deceased accosted him in a civil way; this is very material; after the deceased had gone across the road with Hardy, some of them tell you that there was a conversation between the Portuguese in their own language, then the Portuguese came across the road with knives in their hands; that evidence is given by two witnesses; now with respect to the Prisoner Da Costa, very much will depend on what is your opinion of the transactions of that moment, for at first he does not appear to have had the possession of any weapon till he came across the street, and it is clear that he gave no blow; so that as to this unless you should be satisfied that at the time of that conversation which passed between the Portuguese, and immediately after, when they all crossed with knives in their hands; unless you are satisfied that at that time they all went across the street, with one common design of stabbing the deceased, there will be no ground to impute the crime of murder to the prisoner Da Costa. It is clear that the deceased got his death by the wounds which he received from the hand of Pinto; he was the person that actually stabbed him, the other was present, and if he was acting on the same design, and crossed the road with the same view, he and every person acting with that design, are as guilty as the man that gave the blow; therefore it is extremely nenecessary for you to be satisfied whether he was actually engaged in that design or no: with respect to the other prisoner, his case stands on very different grounds, the boxing was over, but even if it had continued, it is a very violent conduct taking out a knife and stabbing a man, but especially by a man that had not been struck himself; the deceased had crossed the street, and left the Portuguese without any apparent intention or design of returning to them again; the Portuguese crossed the street with knives, and it is material to see how they conducted themselves when they did so cross, for all of them came with their knives and weapons secreted as much as they could: The first prisoner Pinto is proved to have had his hand down by his side, and the weapon in a great degree hid; one witness says he saw only just the point of it; then when he comes over, what is his conversation to the deceased; here had been no fresh quarrel, no violent heat, but Pinto accosts him by asking where is the little man's hat; this is a cool remonstrance, and if you think made use of to watch the opportunity of that purpose which he intended, shews that it was done with a malicious view, and his conduct shews that he could not do it with any other view. If you should be of opinion that the other went over the street with the same design, he is then guilty of the same offence; he went over with the weapon in his hand, and had it secreted, and endeavoured to hide it under the woman's apron: You must observe also the conduct of the deceased, for I cannot help feeling myself for the generosity of an English sailor, even in the hour of death; at that moment he seems to be extremely anxious to distinguish between the two prisoners, and peculiarly so that the prisoner Da Costa should not suffer; he said Da Costa had fought him fairly, and that he was not at all accessary to his death. This is evidence out of the mouth of the deceased, and besides that it is perfectly clear he did not give any blow, whatever was his intention: therefore, unless you are of opinion that he crossed the street with the same intention that the other prisoner did, you will distinguish in the verdict that you give between the men.

Jury. We beg to ask the Surgeon whether he thinks the other wounds were given with the same instrument with which the wound was given that was the occasion of

the death? - It is impossible to distinguish, they were so very slight they might have been given with the point of a knife.

EMANUEL PINTO , GUILTY , (Death.)

ANTONIO DA COSTA , otherwise DE SILVA.

NOT GUILTY .

Emanuel Pinto was also found guilty on the corner's inquisition.

Tried by the first Middlesex Jury before Mr. Justice BULLER.

The Deputy Recorder then passed sentence as follows:

Emanuel Pinto , you have been indicted, tried, and found guilty of the wilful and malicious murder of William Adair ; in the course of your trial, the Court and the Jury have conducted themselves with anxiety to reach guilt on the one hand, and to protect innocence on the other; and this has been particularly displayed in your condemnation and the acquittal of your associate: Under whatever religion you have been bred and educated, you must be sensible that the crime with which you are charged, is equally a violation of the laws of God and man, and that in every community it meets with the punishment of death; you have not therefore the plea that is usual to foreigners, that you have been guilty of a crime peculiar to this country alone, nor can you in any respect suffer from your ignorance of the laws of this country; you must likewise be sensible that the crime is of such a nature as to encourage no expectation of mercy, but from God alone, and that his mercy is to be obtained by sincere repentance and contrition; you will be attended by those that will awaken your mind to a due sense of your guilt, and will endeavour to confirm in you those dispositions which through the divine goodness of God may obtain you mercy: It is necessary likewise to inform you, that in abhorrence of your crime and to awe others who are maliciously disposed from the commission of a crime of the like nature of the law has allowed a shorter interval between the conviction and the execution of the sentence than in other felonies. Nothing therefore remains for me, but to advise you to make the best use of this short interval, and to pronounce the sentence of the law; which is, that this Court doth adjudge, that you Emanuel Pinto , on Monday next, be hung by the neck until you are dead, and that your body be afterwards delivered to the surgeons, to be dissected and anatomized pursuant to the statute , and may God have mercy on your soul.

see Old Bailey Proceedings Online (www.oldbaileyonline.org, version 7.0, 25 June 2014), July 1783, trial of EMANUEL PINTO ANTONIO DA COSTA , otherwise DE SILVA (t17830723-1).