Abbot, Burton W
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Abbott, Brian
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Abernerthy, William Henry
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Abramovich, Myer
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Absalom, Albert George
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Adams, Dr John Bodkin
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Adams, Harry Stanley
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Adams, James
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Adams, Thomas Henry
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Adams, William Nelson
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Addington, Richard
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Agostini, Antonio
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Ahmed, Sami
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Airey, John
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Alam, Faiz
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Alcock, Kenneth John
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Alcott, John James
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Aldred, William Thomas
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Alison, Paul
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Allaway, Thomas Henry
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Allcock, Joseph
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Allen, John Edward
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Allen, George
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Allen, Thomas
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Alt, Henry
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Amos, John Vickers
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Anderson, George
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Anderson, James
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Anderson, John William
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Anderson, Percy Charles
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Andrews, Frederick James
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Angelo, Richard
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Appleton, John
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Apted Harold
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Armstrong, Herbert Rowse
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Armstrong, John
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Arrowsmith, William
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Asfar, Khan
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Ashton, Charles William
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Ashworth, Samuel Leo Thomas
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Asser, Verney
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Atherley, Samuel
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Atkins, Percy James
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Atkinson, Clinton
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Atherton, Abel
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Atherton, Michael Francis
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Austin, Thomas
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Austin, William George Charles
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Aves, Douglas
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Azad, Jhulam Sarwar
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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.
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Gregg Manning
