Abbot, Burton W
*****
Abbott, Brian
*****
Abernerthy, William Henry
*****
Abramovich, Myer
*****
Absalom, Albert George
*****
Adams, Dr John Bodkin
*****
Adams, Harry Stanley
*****
Adams, James
*****
Adams, Thomas Henry
*****
Adams, William Nelson
*****
Addington, Richard
*****
Agostini, Antonio
*****
Ahmed, Sami
*****
Airey, John
*****
Alam, Faiz
*****
Alcock, Kenneth John
*****
Alcott, John James
*****
Aldred, William Thomas
*****
Alison, Paul
*****
Allaway, Thomas Henry
*****
Allcock, Joseph
*****
Allen, John Edward
*****
Allen, George
*****
Allen, Thomas
*****
Alt, Henry
*****
Amos, John Vickers
*****
Anderson, George
*****
Anderson, James
*****
Anderson, John William
*****
Anderson, Percy Charles
*****
Andrews, Frederick James
*****
Angelo, Richard
*****
Appleton, John
*****
Apted Harold
*****
Armstrong, Herbert Rowse
*****
Armstrong, John
*****
Arrowsmith, William
*****
Asfar, Khan
*****
Ashton, Charles William
*****
Ashworth, Samuel Leo Thomas
*****
Asser, Verney
*****
Atherley, Samuel
*****
Atkins, Percy James
*****
Atkinson, Clinton
*****
Atherton, Abel
*****
Atherton, Michael Francis
*****
Austin, Thomas
*****
Austin, William
George Charles
*****
Aves, Douglas
*****
Azad, Jhulam Sarwar
*****
Abbot, Burton, W
On the 28 April 1955 a young 14 year old girl,
Stephanie Bryan did not
come home from school. The police were alerted and a search was carried
out but nothing was found except a school textbook which was found in a
field.
On the 15 July 1955 the police received a phone call from a Mrs. Georgia
Abbott to say that she had been in her basement looking for something when
she had found some personal items belonging to Stephanie Bryan. She had
found a purse and an identification card belonging to Stephanie. The police
went to the house and conducted a search which revealed some school books
and a pair of glasses and a brassiere. No other traces could be found in
the house.
The Abbott's did have a weekend cabin about 300 miles away in the Trinity
mountains. The police decided to search that. In a shallow grave close
to the cabin they found the badly decomposed body of Stephanie Bryan. She
had been bludgeoned to death. The main evidence which helped to convict
him were hairs and fibres found on Abbott's car that matched those from
the girls head and clothing. Burton Abbott was arrested and charged with
kidnapping and murdering Stephanie Bryan.
Burton Abbott was a 27 year old student at the university of California
in Berkley. He was put on trial in Oakland where the prosecution established
he was a sexual deviant. The jury took seven days to return a verdict of
guilty. He was executed for kidnapping and murdering the 14 year old schoolgirl.
Abbott, Brian
At Essex Assizes, on 28th June 1962, Abbott was found not guilty
of capital murder but guilty of manslaughter. Abbott, a
16-year-old tea boy with a history of epilepsy, had beaten unconscious
with a hammer Albert Edward Crabb, a 46-year-old
storekeeper. He had then robbed the victim of £15 and burned him
alive. He then locked Crabb's body in the
store and set fire to it.
He later claimed to police that Crabb had made homosexual advances to
him, but the defence did not put this motive
forward at his trial. He was ordered to be detained during Her Majesty's
Pleasure.
Adams, William Nelson
A strange case of 'murder by request'. Adams was 17-years-old in 1919 and
had been befriended on a Thameside bench by 60-year-old George Jones. Jones
had taken the young man in and had bought him meals and drinks. The pair
were drinking in a pub in Tooting on the evening of 10th June 1919 with
a third man, Charlie Smith. The three of them left together. On their way
home Adams stabbed Jones with a shoemaker's awl, three times in the chest
and three times in the throat. Jones was found wandering around covered
in blood and was taken to hospital. Before he died, three days later,
he told police that he had no idea why Adams had attacked him.
Adams was arrested. His story was that Jones had told him that he was
worried about a huge tax bill he had received and that he could not pay.
According to Adams, Jones had asked the younger man to kill him. He had
thought about the request for a week and had then agreed. As they walked
home they passed through Sutton park and Jones had removed his hat and
coat. He had laid down and given Adams the awl, telling him to stab in
the left side of the neck. After he had stabbed the man several times he
had taken the man's shirt and wrapped it around the wounds to try and staunch
the flow of blood. He had then taken the man's money and left with Smith
who had said and done nothing throughout. Despite extensive enquiries the
police could find no trace of Charlie Smith to corroborate the story and
Adams was charged with murder.
His trial took place at Guildford Assizes in July 1919. The jury disbelieved
his story, found him guilty and he was duly sentenced to death. The sentence
was later commuted by Home Secretary, Edward Shortt, to life imprisonment.
Addington, Richard
On 29th May thirty eight year old Richard Addington, a Northampton shoemaker,
and his wife attended a village festival where he indulged in an all day
drinking session and had to be helped home in a drunken state. The next
morning they quarreled about his conduct and to escape his temper, Margaret
Addington went out into the garden. A neighbor heard Addington shout at
his wife to come inside and when she refused, he stormed into the garden
and dragged her back into the house where he cut her throat with a shoe
knife. The neighbor, who had witnessed the incident from his own garden,
summoned the police and Addington was arrested. His defense maintained
he was insane, as a result of being kicked in the head by a horse twenty
years earlier, but he was still found guilty and hanged by William Calcraft
at Northampton on the 31st July 1871.
Agostini, Antonio
It was June 1944, Antonio Agostini, was found guilty of manslaughter
and sentenced to 6 years hard labour for the murder of his wife Linda Agostini.
She had been shot in the head but what had actually killed her were blows
to the head. He was tried in Sydney, Australia.
Alcott, John James
Alcott was born in 1925. His early life was rather strange. His father
left home to serve in the abroad army during World War II and young John
would leave home and wander around the countryside for days. During his
adolescence he managed to acquire a couple of convictions for petty offences
including one which earned him a spell in an approved school.
He later joined the Grenadier Guards and was posted to Germany. He claimed
to experience black-outs and, following one such attack, he wandered off
into the German countryside. He was joined by a Czech who was trying to
reach France. One evening during their travels they stopped at a small
lodging-house. According to Alcott, the night watchman there, Peter
Helm, offered the pair coffee and then threw the boiling coffee over
them. Alcott responded by attacking the man. The Czech then joined in and
smashed Helm over the head with a fire extinguisher and and empty whisky
bottle. The pair fled. They were picked up a couple of days later when
they discovered that the watchman had died. Alcott was charged with murder
and was tried by court martial. He was found guilty but, because his mother,
as next-of-kin, had not been informed that he was being tried, he was given
a pardon and freed. He was discharged from the army and returned to England.
He became a fireman and married, living in Hither Green. In August 1952
he was due to go on holiday to France with his wife. He told his wife that
he was going to pick up his holiday pay, but went to Aldershot instead.
He found lodgings and spent several days shopping for clothes in the town.
He also visited Ash Vale railway station. Here he introduced himself to
the clerk, 28-year-old Geoffrey Charles 'Dixie' Dean, as a fellow railway
worker. Alcott visited Dean on several days. One of Dean's duties was to
count the money taken by the fares office before locking the money in the
station's safe. It is likely that Alcott was present during one of these
counting sessions. At 9pm on August 22nd a porter noticed that there was
still a light on in the station office. When he looked in through the window
he saw the bleeding body of Dean on the floor. Police broke down the office
door and found that Dean had been stabbed over twenty times. About £168
was missing from the safe.
Police enquiries centred on boarding houses. At one of them they found
a blood-stained jacket that had two bloody ten shilling notes in a pocket.
In another pocket was a passport in the name of John James Alcott. The
police kept watch on the house and arrested Alcott when he returned a couple
of hours later. He soon showed officers where he had hidden the knife
in a chimney and turned over £109 that he had in his pockets.
Alcott's trial began at Kingston Assizes on 18th November. He claimed
that he had experienced another black-out and had no idea why he had killed
the man, or even why he was in Aldershot. His defense failed to convince
the jury and they returned a guilty verdict. Alcott was sentenced to death.
He was hanged at Wandsworth Prison on 2nd January 1953.
Alison, Paul
On the 24 October 1994 at the court in Newcastle Upon Tyne Paul Allison
was sentenced to life imprisonment for the murder of Alison Stroud and
Joan Douglas. He strangled Alison
Stroud with a pair of her own tights and stabbed Joan
Douglas in the chest with a knife and then slashed her across the throat
several times. He was sent to Durham Prison to begin his sentence.
Allen, George
Hanged at Stafford Gaol in 1807 for the murder of three of his children,
though he was subject to epileptic fits and would, today, be found insane.
At eight o'clock on the evening of 12th January 1807 George Allen retired
to bed and was followed, an hour later, by his wife. She found him, as
was his custom, sitting in bed smoking his pipe. When his wife got into
bed, with their baby, he asked her what other man she had in the house.
She protested her innocence while he continued to accuse her. He suddenly
got out of bed and went downstairs. She followed him and met him on the
stairs, asking him what he was doing in such a hurry. He told her to get
back upstairs.
He went to where their three other children were asleep in the same
bed and turned back the bedclothes. His wife tried to hold him and he immediately
tried to cut her throat. She wore a scarf around her neck and head and
this prevented the wound from being fatal. She managed to escape and fell
down the stairs, still holding on to the infant. Before she could get up,
the body of their six-year-old daughter fell at her feet, with its head
almost severed.
She opened the front door and screamed to the neighbours that her husband
was murdering their children. A neighbor soon arrived and George was found
standing with a razor in his hand. When asked what he was doing he replied,
'Nothing yet, I have only killed three of them.' Upstairs, two of his
sons were found mutilated with the head almost torn off one boy and the
stomachs of both of them slashed with their bowels torn out completely.
Allaway, Thomas Henry
On 22 December 1921 an adverisement appeared in the 'Morning Post'. It
was from a Miss Irene Wilkins who was looking for a position as a school
cook. That very same day she received a telegram requesting that she come
to Bournemouth at once, where she would be met. Pleased that she had got
such an early response she immediately caught the afternoon train to Bournemouth.
The very next day on the 23 December her body was discovered in a field
on the outskirts of Bournemouth. Irene Wilkins was not the only one to
receive a telegram that day at least three others were recieved. This would
be a very important fact later in the case.
On a road nearby the body were tyre-tracks. The tyre-tracks were traced
to Dunlop Magnums and all drivers and chauffeurs in the district were questioned.
One of those questioned was Thomas Allaway, who was a 36 year old chauffeur
and ex soldier and he drove a Mercedes fitted with three Dunlop Magnums
and a Michelin.
Four months later he attempted to pass forged cheques. He disappeared
from Bournemouth and was picked up by the police in Reading. He was arrested
and, in his pockets were some betting slips with writing that matched the
writing on the telegrams. Other samples of his handwriting fixed Alloway
as the originator of the telegrams and finally he was identified by a Post
Office employee as the writer of the telegrams.
Thomas Henry Allaway was convicted of murdering Irene Wilkins. He had
killed her by striking her on the head several times with a blunt instrument.
The case appeared to be missing a motive, robbery was ruled out and although
the murder victim's clothes had been disturbed she had clearly not been
raped. All the same it was still assumed that sex was the motivation.
Allaway was tried at Winchester in July 1922 and was soon found guilty
of murder. The night before his execution he confessed his crime to the
Prison Governor. Thomas Henry Allaway was hanged at Winchester Prison on
19 August 1922.
Allen, John Edward
In 1937, Allen was a 25-year-old assistant chef working at the Lamb Hotel
in Burford, Oxfordshire. He had been befriended by the Woodward family
and often used to take their 17-month-old daughter, Kathleen Diana Lucy,
for a walk. He took her for such a walk on 21st October but he strangled
the child with a clothes line and dumped the body at the side of a road.
He was arrested a couple of days later when he surrendered to police.
On 6th November 1937 he was found guilty but insane and was sent to
Broadmoor. Ten years later he escaped from Broadmoor dressed as a cleric.
He stayed at large for two years and was dubbed by the press as 'The Mad
Parson.' After his recpture he was returned to Braodmoor. He was released
on 18th September 1951.
Anderson, John William
In August, John William Anderson, a young clerk, gave up work and took
to drink. and as a result relations with his wife became strained. They
argued constantly and she threatened to leave him unless he got a job.
On 27th August they visited a neighbor and appeared on good terms. but
later. when they returned home. another neighbor heard screams from their
house. When the disturbance was investigated, Mrs Anderson was found lying
in a pool of blood: she had been stabbed seven times. Anderson gave himself
up immediately and freely confessed to the murder. He was tried and
convicted and sentenced to hang. The sentence was carried out on the 22nd
December 1875 when he was hanged by William Marwood in Newcastle.
Anderson, Percy Charles
Edith Constance Drew-Bear was a 21-year-old cinema usher. Her body was
discovered floating in a water tank on the East Brighton Golf Course on
25th November 1934. Her body had five .22 bullets in it but the cause of
death was strangulation. Percy Anderson was arrested and charged with her
murder. He was 21-years-old and, when picked up, was carrying zinc chloride
and ammonia chloride. When his room was examined bullets, the same as those
recovered from Edith's body, were found.
At his trial Anderson claimed that he could remember nothing of the
killing, although he admitted quarelling with the girl, and put forward
a defense of insanity. It failed and he was convicted. He was hanged at
Wandsworth Prison on 16th April 1935.
Angelo, Richard
Richard Angelo wanted to be a hero. He was a former Eagle Scout, and
a fireman volunteer. He wanted to be the one to save
someones life, even if he had to make the situation arise so he could
do so. The first time he tried to do so, he injected
something into John Fishers IV tube that caused him to go into critical
conditon. This opportunity failed, John Fisher died that
night. The number of times Angelo applied this procedure at the
Good Samaritan Hospital is not known. They do have an idea of how many
times he failed at this. Between September and October of 1987 at least
three patients died due to this. In all he may have killed over 10 people
doing this. A man named Gerolamo Kucich was in the hospital recovering
from heart problems when a bearded man in a white hospital coat came in
and put some medicine in his IV. Minutes later Kucich would have difficulty
breathing, and would be gasping for air. He fortuneatly was able to reach
the button to summon the nurses. One of the people to help rescue
him was the bearded man with the hospital coat. Kucich told his story about
the man with the beard and coat to the other nurses, and Angelo was
the only one on that shift that fit that description. When Kucich's urine
sample came back it had pavulon in it. Angelo was arrested in November
after vials of Pavulon and Anectine were found during a search of his apartment.
He immediatly confessed to murder. A jury found him responsible for two
counts of second degree murder, one
count of manslaughter, and one count of criminally negligent homicide.
He recieved the maximum sentance allowed by law; a
prison term of sixty-one years to life.
Appleton, John
A peculiar case in which a man was found guilty of murder, condemned to
death, reprieved and served a life sentence even though there was no evidence
to convict him with. It was a drunken John Appleton who entered the police
station on 28th March 1905 and confessed to murder. He told the officers
that, along with a man named Joseph Earnshaw, he had robbed
and killed a man near Newcastle in July 1882. The man was later identified
as William Ledger. In the meanwhile, Earnshaw had died. Although the only
evidence was the drunken confession, which Appleton later withdrew, he
was still found guilty at Durham Assizes in July 1905.
Armstrong, Herbert Rowse
Herbert Rowse Armstrong was a fifty two year old solicitor practising in
the Welsh border town of Hay-on-Wye. A seemingly mild mannered man he was
a retired army Major. His wife was well known as a hypochondriac and a
nag. One way he had found to get away from her was to become involved in
the Territorial Army once again rising to the rank of Major. When this
did not give him the amount of freedom that he wanted he started to think
of something more permanent.
Even though she was a hypochondriac she really had been ill and when
she died it was believed to be from Gastritis. Had the doctor examined
her more closely he may have realised that she had not died from Gastritus
but from arsenical poisoning. She was buried and that might have been the
end of it had it not been for the fact that having once got away with it
Armstrong decided to use the same method again.
After a dispute with a rival solicitor named Oswald Martin, Armstrong
invited him to tea on the pretence of finding a solution to the dispute.
Martin was passed a scone which had been heavily laced with arsenic The
effect of this was to make Martin violently ill on his return home. Martins
father in law was the town's chemist and was aware of the purchases that
Armstrong had made of arsenic. Tests were done and the authorities notified.
Armstrong was arrested on suspicion and his wife's body exhumed.
Arsenic can remain in the body of a dead person for years and can even
help to preserve the body. He was tried at Hereford Assizes and found guilty
and held at Gloucester Prison until he was hanged at 8 am on 31 May 1922
by the official Hangman John Ellis. As to the reason for Armstrong to murder
his wife it would seem that Armstrong saw murder as a way of getting out
of an unhappy marriage and this was indeed his motive.
Armstrong, Janet and John
Terence, the five-month-old son of John and Janet Armstrong, died at their
home in Gosport on 22 July 1955. It was assumed that he had eaten some
poisonous berries given innocently to him by his three-year-old sister.
When the post-mortem was carried out a number of red skins were found
in his stomach and windpipe which were assumed to have come from the berries.
Although the child was buried the police were not satisfied and the skins
were examined more fully. They were found to be the gelatine capsules of
Seconol. The babys body was exhumed and the presence of the drug was confirmed.
At an inquest into the child's death an open verdict was returned. Nothing
further happened until July 1956 when Mrs Armstrong, who had since separated
from her husband on the grounds of cruelty, made a statement to the police.
In it she told them that Seconol had been in the house and that, John had
been taking it to help him sleep, after the death of the baby, her husband
had told her to dispose of the capsules, which she did.
Armstrong was a 25-year-old sick berth attendant in the Royal Navy and
investigations showed that a drugs cupboard where Armstrong worked had
been broken into and amongst the missing drugs were seconal capsules.
On 1st September 1956 John and Janet Armstrong were both arrested and
charged with the murder of their son. At their trial at Winchester Janet
recounted how her husband had been at home, and alone with the baby, from
lunchtime on the fateful day. She also confirmed again that seconol had
been in the house at that time.
John Armstrong was found guilty and sentenced to death but then later
repreived. Janet then astounded everyone by admitting that she had given
the seconal to the child to help him sleep. Was it in innocence or was
it intentional, we will never know.
Asfar, Khan
Asfar, a 30-year-old Pakistani, was an out-patient at a mental hospital
when he stabbed his 25-year-old cousin, Mohammed Younis Khan. He claimed
to police that Khan had been drugging him and causing him trouble.
On 13th December 1961, at Birmingham Assizes, he was found guilty but
insane. He was ordered to be detained during Her Majesty's Pleasure.
Ashworth, Samuel Leo Thomas
Ashworth was a 38-year-old Warrant Officer in the Army, who had collected
six children from his two previous marriages, and was due to move to Germany.
His third wife, Lisbeth, wanted him to have the children adopted when they
took up their new posting and this had caused a row. She told Ashworth
that he had to choose between her and the children, so he hit her with
a bottle and then strangled her.
On 21st January 1961, at Berkshire Assizes, he was found guilty of manslaughter
and sentenced to four years in prison.
Atherton, Michael Francis
Unemployed Atherton, 45-years-old, had a history of drunkenness and had
been separated from his wife from about a year. He went to her house one
morning and, when he arrived, was set upon by his two step-sons, James
and Patrick Gibbons. Atherton took a knife from his pocket and stabbed
them, with 23-year-old James receiving a wound from which he later
died in hospital.
He was charged with non-capital murder and appeared at Liverpool Crown
Court on 11th November 1959. His defense was one of diminished responsibility.
He claimed that the blows that he had received from the brothers
had left him stunned and that he could not remember taking the knife out,
or using it. He was convicted of manslaughter and sentenced to 10 years'
imprisonment.
Atkinson, Clinton
On the 25 June 1988 Clinton Atkinson was found guilty
at Oxford Crown Court of murdering Kenneth Smith and was sentenced to life
imprisonment.
Austin, Thomas
Austin was executed in Exeter in August 1694. Born in Cullompton to good,
honest parents, he had inherited their farm upon their deaths. The estate
was quite substantial, being worth about £80 per year. Shortly afterwards
he married a girl who brought with her a dowry of about £800. All
this wealth seems to have unhinged Thomas and he started to neglect the
farm. Within four years he had spent all his wife's fortune and had mortgaged
the farm.
In dire need of money he now turned his hand to the criminal. He tried
swindling his neighbours but, when caught, he was forgiven. He then tried
highway robbery. He accosted Sir Zachary Wilmot on the road between Taunton
Dean and Wellington and, when the man tried to protect his possessions,
murdered him. The assault yielded fourty-six guineas and a
sword. This booty did not last him long.
One day he went to visit his uncle, who lived about a mile distant.
When he got there he found that his uncle was out and that the house was
occupied by his aunt and her five small children. Taking hold of an axe
that lay to hand he battered his aunt to death. He then cut the throats
of the five children and ransacked the house.
When he arrived home his wife pointed out that he had blood on his clothes.
When she asked him how it had arrived on his person he took a razor from
his pocket and cut her throat as well. Not content with the current body
count he then disembowelled his two young children. Unfortunately for Thomas,
his uncle arrived unexpectedly. The pile of corpses was rather obvious,
though the uncle was not to know that a similar sight awaited him when
he returned to his own home. He grabbed Thomas and immediately took him
before the local magistrate who had him incarcerated in Exeter Gaol to
await his fate.
Aves, Douglas
Having just been sacked from his job as a sheet metal worker, 17-year-old
Aves went for a walk in the park. He was spoken to by 52-year-old Cecil
William Pietersen who told him that he could get him a job. He then invited
him home for a cup of tea. Pietersen and Aves came to blows after, allegedly,
Pietersen showed him obscene photographs and made sexual advances towards
Aves. During the fight, Aves hit Pietersen with a milk bottle and Pietersen
died later in hospital.
At his trial at the Old Bailey, Aves pleaded self-defence and on 6th
December 1960, after the jury had considered their verdict for three hours,
was found guilty of manslaughter. He was sentenced to 12 months' imprisonment.
Azad, Jhulam Sarwar
Azad, a 27-year-old Pakistani railway worker, was found guilty of non-capital
murder at Nottingham Assizes on 21st November 1960 and sentenced to life
imprisonment.
There had been some bad feeling between Azad and Mohammed Aslam, his
brother-in-law, and Azad suspected that his wife's relations were trying
to kill him in a family feud. He virtually beheaded Mohammed with a butcher's
knife and then left letters near the body, supposedly from 'John' and 'Albert',
to divert suspicion.
Anderson, John William
In August, John William Anderson, a young clerk, gave up work and took
to drink. and as a result relations with his wife became strained. They
argued constantly and she threatened to leave him unless he got a job.
On 27 August 1875 they visited a neighbor and appeared on good terms. but
later. when they returned home. another neighbor heard screams from their
house. When the disturbance was investigated, Mrs Anderson was found lying
in a pool of blood: she had been stabbed seven times. Anderson made no
attempt to deny the crime and gave himself up immediately. He was tried
at Newcastle and hanged on the 22 December by William Marwood.
Abigail, William George
At 6am on Tuesday 25 April 1882, twenty two year old Jane Plunkett
was found shot dead in the room she shared with William George Abigail.
At the time Abigail worked as a waiter at the Star Hotel, Norwich, and
it was here where he had first met Plunkett who was employed there as a
chambermaid. She didn't tell him she was already married, and later they
went through a form of marriage and moved in with his half-brother at New
Catton. It was his brother's son who reported hearing the shots, and Jane
Plunkett was discovered blasted in the head and chest. Abigail confessed
he had killed her when he found out she was already married. He was tried
and convicted in Norwich and hanged by William Marwood on the 22 May 1882
at the age of nineteen..
Anderson, James
In Lincoln on the 19 February 1883 fifty year old Anderson, a Lincolnshire
coal miner was sentenced to death by Mr Justice Cave at Lincoln Assizes
for the murder of his wife at Gainsborough on 6 December 1882. Anderson
had cut her throat, and then his own after a quarrel. He expressed deep
regret for the crime and despite a petition signed by thousands of local
people, he was hanged by William Marwood.
Alt, Henry
Henry Alt was a German baker who was convicted of the murder of Charles
Howard, whom he stabbed to death in a jealous quarrel over a woman. Alt
had been paying his attentions to a middle-aged woman and proposed marriage
to her. She turned him down and later announced to Alt that she was going
to marry Howard. As they were drinking in a pub, Alt stabbed Howard to
death then wounded the woman and himself. He was convicted at the Old Bailey
in June, and after a plea for a reprieve by the German Embassy failed,
he was hanged by Berry at Newgate on the 13 July 1885 aged just thirty
one.
Arrowsmith, William
On 11 November 1887, William Arrowsmith, a labourer from Denton, visited
his elderly uncle George Pickerill who was eighty, who lived in a lonely
cottage near Whitchurch. He brutally killed him by beating his brains out
then cutting his throat, before stealing some property and a small sum
of money he knew to be in the house. He was arrested when he was seen selling
some of the stolen goods, and charged with murder when police matched his
footprints with those found at the scene. He was hanged by James Berry
on the 28 March 1888 at Shrewsbury.
Allen, Thomas
Twenty Five year old Thomas Allen was a Zulu who had arrived in Swansea
on a Cuban ship on which he served as a steward. On 10 February he called
into the Gloucester Hotel, a dockside pub frequented by sailors, the landlord
of which was Frederick Kent who was thirty eight. At 4am the next morning,
the landlord's wife heard someone strike a match in their bedroom and woke
her husband. Kent climbed from his bed and began to struggle with the intruder,
who attacked him with a knife. His wife reached under the pillow for their
revolver but hesitated to use the gun for fear of shooting her husband.
She finally got the stranger in sight and shot him in the leg. He fled
from the building, leaving Kent mortally wounded on the bedroom floor.
Detectives found a sailor's cap which had been lost in the fracas. They
soon traced it to Allen who was arrested when found hiding in the nearby
docks. He was taken into custody after nearly being lynched by an angry
public. It was alleged that he had hidden on the premises after closing
time, and police suspected that he may have been guilty of other recent
unsolved crimes in the area. He was hanged by James Berry in Swansea on
the 10th April 1889.
Allcock, Joseph
In September, twenty six year old Joseph Allcock, a collier's agent, was
drinking in a Nottingham pub, when he told a friend that he was heartbroken
and that his wife had wronged him. He returned home, and after a quarrel
he cut his wife's throat then gave himself up to the police. There was
no evidence that his wife had ever been unfaithful, and it seemed that
he had wrongly imagined her adultery. He was hanged by Billington and Warbrick
on the 23 December 1896 in Nottingham.
Andrews, Frederick James
Andrews was convicted of killing Mrs Francis Short who was a widow who
lived with Andrews at Kensington. She was a hardworking woman who supported
him by selling fruit and vegetables from a stall. Andrews frequently ill-treated
her and after a quarrel in March, he cut her throat and then stabbed her
over forty times with a pen knife. He then went out and pawned her clothes.
On the 3 May 1899 he was hanged by James and Thomas Billington in Wandsworth
at the age of forty five.
Apted Harold
Harold Apted was convicted of the murder of Frances O'Rourke, who was
found lying face down in a pond at Southborough, near Tonbridge, after
being sent on an errand by her parents. She had been stabbed to death and
a knife found near the body was identified as belonging to Apted. He had
been seen in the area earlier in the day, and when questioned by the police
they noticed blood stains on his clothing. He was hanged in Maidstone on
the 18 March 1902 at the age of twenty
Ashton, Charles William
Charles Ashton was a nineteen year old farm labourer who was employed at
Scrampton, near Malton, North Yorkshire, he was convicted of the murder
of Annie Marshall, a young domestic servant employed at the same farm.
On 20 September, her body was found floating in a river; she had been savagely
raped and then shot before being thrown into the water. Ashton confessed
to the police that he had killed her but added that he never intended to.
He was convicted at York Assizes before Mr Justice Grantham and recommended
to mercy on account of his youth. The reprieve was refused and he was hanged
in Hull by William and John Billington on the 22 December 1903.
Austin, William George
Charles
Thirty one year old William George Charles Austin was convicted of the
murder of Unity Anne Butler who was just thirteen, the daughter of the
family with whom he lodged at Windsor. The young girl mysteriously disappeared
in July. After a search, she was found strangled and suffocated beneath
a mattress in Austin's room. She had been bound with two pieces of cord
and a dirty grey handkerchief was stuffed in her mouth. He was convicted
at Berkshire Assizes before Mr Justice Jelf and hanged by Henry and Thomas
Pierrepoint in Reading on the 5 November 1907.
Atherton, Abel
Able Atherton was a twenty nine year old miner who murdered Mrs Elizabeth
Ann Patrick, the wife of his former landlord, at Chopwell near Gateshead.
He lodged with Mr and Mrs Patrick until they told him to leave because
he was paying too much attention to their fifteen year old daughter. Despite
finding new lodgings, he was still a frequent visitor to his former residence,
but his visits would usually end with a row. After one particularly fierce
argument, he went home to collect a shotgun, then returned and fired two
shots at Elizabeth Patrick, who fell dead in the doorway. Atherton said
it was an accident but he was found guilty and hanged by Henry Pierrepoint
and William Willis in Durham on the 8 December 1909. Right up until the
trapdoor opened he continued to claim that he was innocent.
Atherley, Samuel
Samuel Atherley was a former soldier who murdered his girlfriend, Mrs Matilda
Lambert and her three children John, Annie, and Samuel, by cutting their
throats at their home at Arnold, Nottingham, on 10 July. He had lived with
the woman for seven years and killed her after she told him to leave. He
struck her over the head with a hammer before he took out the razor. After
he had cut their throats, he turned the razor on himself but survived after
being treated in hospital. He was hanged by Henry Pierrepoint and Thomas
Pierrepoint in Nottingham on the 14 December 1909. He was thirty
years old at the time of his execution.
Abramovich, Myer
Twenty two year old Myer Abramovich was a Polish costermonger who was
convicted of murdering thirty six year old Soloman and his wife Annie
Millstein who was thirty seven at their restaurant in Spitalfields on 27
December, 1911. They were stabbed to death and robbed of money and jewellery.
The restaurant was then burnt to the ground in an attempt to hide the killings.
After being convicted, Abramovich confessed that he had committed the crime
after losing all his money gambling and being heavily in debt. He was hanged
in Pentonville by John Ellis and Albert Lumb on the 6 March 1912.
Amos, John Vickers
John Amos was convicted of a triple murder at Bedington in April. Amos
was the landlord of the Sun Inn until he was given notice to quit. He refused
and the owners called the police to assist in the eviction. During the
ensuing fracas, fifty two year old PC George Mussell and Sergeant Andrew
Burton who was forty, and the wife of the new landlord, Mrs Sarah Grice
who was thirty three, were shot dead by Amos who had held a large crowd
at bay. He was convicted and sentenced to death on 4 July, He was hanged
by Thomas Pierrepoint and William Willis in Newcastle on the 22 July 1913
at the age of thirty five.
Anderson, George
George Anderson was a Cheshunt labourer sentenced to death by Mr Justice
Lawrence at Hertford- shire Assizes on 21 November, for the murder of Mrs
Harriet Emily Whybrow who was thirty one at Waltham Cross. Harriet's mother
was Anderson's second wife. When her own marriage broke up, she moved in
with her mother and step-father. After the mother died, Harriet and Anderson
began some form of relationship. Anderson was of intemperate habits and
on 30 June, while in a drunken stupor he cut her throat. No motive was
clearly established at the trial and having been found guilty he was hanged
by John Ellis and George Brown on the 23 December 1914 at St Albans.
He was fifty nine at the time of his execution.
Asser, Verney
Verney Asser was a thirty year old Australian soldier who was
sentenced to death by Mr Justice Avory at Wiltshire Assizes on 16 January
for the murder of Corporal Joseph Harold Durkin. Both men were training
instructors in the 2nd Training Battalion stationed at Sutton Veney camp
on Salisbury Plain, and specialised in handling the new Lewis machine gun.
On the night of 27 November 1917, Durkin was found shot dead in his bunk
after Asser had raised the alarm in response to a weapon's discharge. At
first it appeared that Durkin had committed suicide but investi- gation
by Sir Bernard Spilsbury ruled out the possibility. As Asser was the only
other occupant of the hut, suspicion fell on him and he was later charged
with the murder. He was hanged by John Ellis and William Willis at Shepton
Mallet on the 5 March 1918.
Adams, James
Thirty one year old James Adams was sentenced to death at Glasgow High
Court by Lord Salveson on 22 October for the murder of Mrs Mary Doyle,
a soldier's wife, by cutting her throat with a razor. Adams, an engineer,
with a young family had recently separated from his wife and had been having
a relationship with Mary Doyle, who was also estranged from her partner.
On 1 August, Adams visited her house on Cameron Street, Glasgow, where
she informed him that their affair was over because she was going to attempt
a reconciliation with her husband. Adams became angry and produced a razor,
with the intention, he later claimed, of cutting his own throat. They started
a scuffle, during which she received a fatal wound to her throat. Adams
surrendered to the police on the following morning. He was hanged by John
Ellis on the 11 November 1919 in Glasgow.
Aldred, William Thomas
William Thomas Aldred was a fifty four year old cotton worker from Pendlebury,
Salford, sentenced to death at Manchester Assizes by Mr Justice McCardie
on l3 May for the murder of Ida Prescott who was forty four, a widow
and workmate whom he had courted. Aldred was a frequent visitor to Ida's
home and although they were good friends, she refused to take the relationship
further. On 16 February, he called at her house and after failing to persuade
her to to go out with him, he cut her throat with a razor. Ida's daughter
fetched a policeman and Aldred was immediately arrested. He was hanged
by John Ellis in Manchester on the 22 June 1920.
Atkins, Percy James
Percy Atkins was a railway guard who was charged with the murder of his
wife, whose body was found buried on an allotment at Chaddesden, Derby.
Percy and Maud Atkins had been married for eight years when, after a series
of rows, she left home and returned to live with her parents in Huntingdonshire,
leaving her children to be looked after by their father. While she was
absent from the area, Percy Atkins entered into a bigamous marriage with
a Miss Margaret Milton. In November 1921, Maud Atkins returned to Derby
to discuss gaining custody of the eldest child. On the 21st of that month,
Percy and Maud went for a walk and headed towards his allotment. What happened
next was never made clear but according to Percy, they had a quarrel which
ended when she threw her wedding ring at him and rushed away. Atkins claimed
he spent a while looking for the ring before going off in search of his
wife. When he found her, he said, she was lying dead on a pile of rocks,
apparently having committed suicide. Fearful that he would be blamed for
her death and charged with murder, he concealed her body in a pre-dug hole
on the allotment into which he had planned to plant an apple tree. The
body was discovered six weeks later, by which time doctors were unable
to state for certain what had been the cause of death. It was thought that
she had either been strangled, or knocked unconscious then buried alive.
Convicted at Derby Assizes before Mr Justice Horridge on 17 February. Due
to the closure of Derby prison, he was hanged at Bagthorpe prison, Nottingham,
by John Ellis on the 7 April 1922. He was twenty nine years old at
the time of his execution.
Absalom, Albert George
Albert George Absalom was a twenty eight year old fish and chip shop
manager who was convicted of the murder of his sweetheart, Alice Reed who
was twenty six, a factory worker, whom he stabbed to death in a fit of
jealousy. He was tried and found guilty and sentenced to death by Mr Justice
Talbot at Lancashire Assizes on 15 June, he was told to place no hope in
the jury's recommendation of mercy. He was hanged by Thomas Pierrepoint
and Henry Pollard in Liverpool on the 25 July 1928.
Back to the top of the page
For more information contact:
Gregg Manning
