Murder Cases - Female B
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Baker, Rose Vera
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Baniszewski, Gertrude
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Barber, Susan
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Barfield, Margi Velma
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Barney, Elvira
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Bateman, Mary
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Bathory, Elizabeth
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Baxter, Jeannie
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Beck, Martha & Fernandez, Raymond
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Beddingfield, Ann
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Bessarabo, Mme
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Biggadyke, Priscilla
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Bingham, Edith
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Black Dahlia
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Bloody Benders
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Borden, Lizzie
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Botkin, Cordelia
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Bouvier, Leone
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Brownrigg, Elizabeth
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Bryant, Charlotte
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Byron, Kitty
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Burdock, Mary Ann
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Burns, Joan
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Butchill, Elizabeth
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Baker, Rose Vera

Baniszewski, Gertrude

Sylvia Likens was found dead on October 26, 1965. She was only sixteen. An emergency call was recieved about a girl who
had stopped breathing. When the police got to the house, Sylvia was found lying on a mattress on a second-story bedroom.
She was half-naked laying on a urine soaked bed. Her body was covered with scars, burns, and welts, and on her stomach
were the words "I am a prostitute and proud of it" they had been carved into her skin. The woman that owned the home was Gertrude Baniszewski. She gave an explanation of the girls death. Baniszewski claimed that Sylvia had been staying in the house for the summer, along with her sister Jenny. She had brought the torture and death onto herself by running away. While on her own, she was attacked by a pack of boys, and died shortly after returning home.

Jenny's story was different. The real story started with the Baniszewski house's money problems. Gertrude had been keeping up the home and feeding seven children at the same time. She made a living selling soda pop at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, and small child support payments from her ex-husband. The family's diet consisted of canned soup. It was heated on an electric hot plate for they had no stove.

Gertrude was given $20.00 a week to watch the Likens children from their parents who were traveling with the Flordia circus.
They moved in with Baniszewski in July 1965. When the Likens girls parents were late with their first weeks payment for the
babysitting, Baniszewski decided to give Sylvia and Jenny a beating. While beating them she shouted "I took care of you
bitches for nothing!" Even though they paid the next day, it didn't phase Gertrude a bit. Her brutality excalated over the next
three months. From beatings by hand she moved to paddles, belts, and wooden boards. She singled out Sylvia for the harder
punishment. She also recruited others to help her beat the children. Her first helpers were two of her own children. Then were
some of the neighborhood children.

One of them used her as a human punching bag by flinging her into concrete walls and down flights of stairs as a way to practice his martial arts throws. They would also assist Baniszewski. They would, at her direction, ground the glowing tips of cigarettes into her flesh inflicting over 150 burns. The worst still was yet to happen. When Sylvia urinated on the mattress one night, the basement was made her prison. She was starved of any food and forced to eat and drink her own feces and urine. Then she was forced to stick a coke bottle in her vagina as a part of a grotesque strip tease.

Then with a heated needle she proceded to etch the words into Sylvia's belly. She died when she was knocked down onto the
concrete floor when she was trying to get the attention of the neighbors. At Gertrudes trial she was given a life sentence. In
1985, she was released on parole.

Barber, Susan

Michael had been in trouble with the police in the past for car-theft and traffic offences and in 1972 he was again in trouble, this time for indecently assaulting his six-year-old niece.

By 1980 the Barbers family had grown to three children but far from being content Susan had been living a lie almost since the day she was married. She had been involved with 15-year-old Richard Collins, who lived three doors away since a few weeks after the marriage. When Michael went off at 5am, to his job as a packer at a local cigarette factory, Richard would wait for him to go and then go around and get into bed with Susan while the bed was still warm.

On Saturday 31 March 1981 Michael left home at 4 am to go on a fishing trip He was going with some friends in the Thames estuary. Conditions were bad that day and due to a high wind the trip was cancelled. Michael returned home and found his place in bed, and his wife, being kept warm for him by Richard. Michael turned violent and hit them both.

The following Tuesday found them at their local doctor's surgery where Susan wanted treatment for a bruise on her ear where Michael had hit her.

The doctor offered to help resolve their marital difficulties and Susan expressed a willingness to patch things up. This didn't include cutting young Richard out her life though and she stayed in touch secretly by letter.

On Thursday 4 June 1981, Michael complained of a severe headache. The next day the headache was still present but now was accompanied by stomach pains and nausea. By Saturday he was feeling so ill that he called a doctor, who put him on a course of antibiotics. By Monday Michael had breathing difficulties and was admitted to Southend General Hospital where he was placed in intensive care. On Wednesday 17 June he was transferred to Hammersmith Hospital with a severe kidney condition.

The doctors were puzzled by Michael's deterioration and, when no specific infection could be identified, the question of paraquat poisoning was raised. Instructions were given for blood and urine samples to be taken and sent to the National Poisons Reference Centre for analysis. Due to a mix up it was believed that this had been done and that a negative result had been received back.

Michael Barber died on 27 June. A post-mortem was carried out by Professor David Evans and he was informed that tests had disproved the paraquat poisoning theory. Major organs were preserved and, although both pathologists suspected paraquat poisoning, judgement was reserved until histology slides became available.

Michael Barber was cremated at Southend on July 3. That very same night Richard moved in with Susan. Michael's employers agreed that she should have a £15,000 death benefit plus £3;300 per annum for each child and she received these in October. By now Susan was having the time of her life. Richard's place had been taken by another live-in lover and Susan had purchased a CB radio and used the call-sign 'Nympho'. She soon became the centre of a regular orgy of drink and sex. What she didn't know was that the net was slowly tightening.

In September Professor Evans had received the histology slides. These indicated that Michael had ingested a toxic substance, probably paraquat. This was in contrast to the earlier results. On investigation it was discovered that Barbers file did not hold the results of the earlier blood analysis. It appeared that it had never actually been carried out. Tissue samples were quickly recovered from the mortuary and sent to ICI, the manufacturers of the paraquat. Serum samples went to the National Poisons Unit. The results came back quickly, both confirming the presence of paraquat.

Nine months after her husband's death Susan Barber was arrested at her home. Richard Collins was arrested the same day. Their trial at Chelmsford Crown Court began on November 1 1982 with Susan Barber being charged with murder, conspiracy to murder and of administering poison with intent to injure. Collins was charged with conspiracy to murder. Both pleaded not guilty. Susan Barber admitted putting the poison on her husband's food but maintained that she didn't want to kill him, she just wanted to make him ill so that she could get away without him coming after her. They were both found guilty. Susan Barber was sentenced to life imprisonment and Richard Collins to two years'. 

Barfield, Margie Velma

Barney, Elvira

The neighbours had been awoken by a row between the couple shortly after the pair had arrived home, rather the worse for wear, following a party at the Cafe de Paris. The neighbours reported that they had heard Mrs Barney shout, I will shoot you, This was followed by one or more shots. Mrs Barney told the police that a quarrel had indeed happened between her and Michael Stephen, she also stated that this was a common occurrence, a statement the neighbours agreed with. Mrs Barney went on to say that during the argument she had threatened suicide if he left her and that they had struggled and the gun had gone off accidentally as they fought.

She was arrested and charged with murder on 3 June 1932. At her trial she was defended at the Old Bailey by Sir Patrick Hastings. He was able to point out to the jury that the gun had no safety catch and demonstrated that the gun only took a very light pull to fire. This, he insisted, made it an obvious case for accidental death.

Mrs Barney was found not guilty, though it was thought that several points were not satisfactorily explained in court. These included a bullet hole in the bedroom wall of the house, but no bullet, and testimony from witnesses who stated that Mrs Barney had, on another occasion, fired at Stephen, in the street outside, from an open window. Elvira Barney moved to France to live and four years later was found dead in a Paris hotel bedroom. . 

Bateman, Mary

By 1778 she had been sacked from so many posts that no-one would employ her and she moved to Leeds and took up dressmaking. She was quite successful and supplemented her income by becoming a soothsayer. She married at 24 to a wheelwright named John Bateman who had fallen under her spell. Even marriage did not change Mary and they were soon forced to move to escape accusations of theft. Mary continued with her supernatural activities and built a formidable reputation for herself as a witch.

In 1806, William and Rebecca Perigo approached Mary asking for her help. They had become convinced that Mrs Perigo had been put under a spell by a neighbour. By this time Mary had an imaginary oracle, Mrs Blythe. Mrs Blythe obligingly advised the Perigo's, through Mary to follow various courses of action, all of which enriched the artful Mary to the extent of making the Perigo's quite poor.

In April 1807 Mary went to the Perigo's and showed them a letter she said had come from Mrs Blythe. In it the oracle told the Perigo's to take half a pound of honey to Mrs Bateman so that Mary could put into the honey certain ingredients according to Mrs Blythe's wishes. Once this was done Mary would give the Perigo's back the mixture for them to eat.

One of the ingredients that Mary added was mercuric chloride. On May 11 the Perigo's started eating the mixture and they both became violently sick. Mary gave them an antidote telling them it would soon clear up. Unfortunately for the couple, the antidote was really arsenic. William only ate a small amount which made him very ill for a few days but his wife who was more scared of the spell than the antidote ate it all. She died in agony on 19 May 1808.

Mary was arrested and charged with murder. When her house was searched they found a cache of the Perigo's property and a collection of poisons. At her trial Mary tried to blame Mrs Blythe but the court were not interested in invisible spirits Dozens of witnesses testified to Mary's criminal activities including fraud, extortion and abortion.

The jury had no difficulty finding her guilty and she was sentenced to death. Old habits die hard and while she was waiting for her appointment with the gallows she couldn't resist temptation and swindled fellow prisoners with promises of reprieves. She was hanged at 5am on 20 March 1809 by John Curry. Her body was displayed in public and thousands paid to view it, with the proceeds going to charity. Strips of her skin were sold as charms to ward off evil. 

Bathory, Elizabeth

The Hungarian, Elizabeth Bathory was born in 1560 to George and Anna Bathory. She is known as the countess who tortured and murdered more than 600 victims. Elizabeth was raised at the Bathory family estate at Ecsed in Transylvania. She grew up at a time when much of Hungary was a battleground between the Turks and the Austrians. As a child, she suffered from seizures accompanied by intense rage and uncontrollable behavior.

In 1574, Elizabeth became pregnant to a peasant man, and was sequestered until the baby was delivered because she was engaged to marry Count Ferenc Nadasdy. They were married in May of 1575, but Count Nadasdy was a soldier and was frequently away from home for long periods of time, so Elizabeth took on the responsibilities of managing the affairs of Sarvar, the Nadasdy family estate.

During that time period, it was common for those in power to treat their servants cruelly, but Elizabeth was uncommonly cruel. She would find excuses to inflict punishment and torture mostly upon young servant girls. She would stick pins in various sensitive places on the body, such as under the fingernails, and during the winter, she would execute victims by having them strip, led out into the snow, and then would pour water over them until they were frozen. Elizabeth's husband would join in occasionally and sometimes actually teach her new forms of torture, such as in the summer, having the victim stripped, covered with honey, and then left to be bitten or stung to death by various insects.

Count Nadasdy died in 1604, and Elizabeth began to spend time at her estate at Beckov and at a manor house in Cachtice, both of which are located in present-day Slovakia. Her main partner in the sadistic behavior was Anna Darvulia, but Anna died in 1609, and Elizabeth turned to Erzsi Majorova. Majorova encouraged Elizabeth to include a few noble women as her victims, and so she killed a young noble woman and called it a suicide.

Sometime during the summer of 1610, an initial inquiry had begun, and on December 29, 1610, she was arrested. During her trial, a register with the names of 650 victims was found in Elizabeth's living quarters. She was sentenced to life imprisonment in solitary confinement and spent the rest of her days in a room in her castle at Cachtice. She died on August 21, 1614.

She is considered a true vampire not because she drank blood, but because she would bath in it to keep her skin youthful. It was said that one day when she was having her hair combed by a servant girl, the girl accidently pulled her hair, so Elizabeth slapped the girl and some of the blood got on Elizabeth's hands. When she rubbed it on her hands, they seemed to take on a youthful appearance, and thus brought about her reputation for desiring the blood of young virgins.

Apparently, Bram Stoker also used some of her characteristics as a basis for his Dracula. Originally, the novel was to take place in Austria (Strigia) not Transylvania. Also, Dracula became younger and younger as the novel progressed, which alludes to Elizabeth becoming younger by bathing in blood.

Baxter, Jeannie

Beck, Martha & Fernandez, Raymond

Raymond was a 37 year old confidence trickster who seemed to have a way of persuading them to give him their savings. He married 66 year old Janet Fay and immediately went to work releiving her of her money.

During an argument Fay was murdered using a hammer and her body put in a trunk. This was shipped back to New York and then her body was buried in the cellar. Beck and Fernandez then went to Michigan where they once more put their new talent into action by murdering Dephine Downing with a gun and drowning her 20 month old child. Once they had done this they buried the bodies in the cellar and then went off to the cinema. On returning they found the police waiting for them. Their earlier murder of Janet Fay had been detected. They were both charged with murder and convicted. They were both electrocuted on 8 March 1951 at Sing Sing prison 

Beddingfield, Ann

After the affair had been going for three months Ann decided that it would be better if her compliant husband was removed from the scene entirely. She persuaded Ringe, with the promise of half the estate, to join her in her plot. Even now the pair had no concept of discretion. Instead of them carrying out their plan themselves, Ann told a servant of the master's imminent demise and Ringe, who had bought some poison, tried to persuade a kitchen maid to add it to the master's drink.

When this failed they decided on a course of direct action. In March 1763 Ringe entered the mans bedroom and strangled Beddingfield while he slept. He burst into Ann's room and told her I have done for him. Then I am easy, replied Ann. This was certainly not the most sensible conversation to be had as Ann had a young servant girl in bed with her as a bedwarmer. On hearing this news the girl leapt from the bed and ran to her masters room to discover her master dead and displaying obvious signs of strangulation.

At the Coroners Court none of the servants gave evidence and a verdict of 'death by natural causes' was returned. The jury somehow felt that the man had somehow strangled himself with his own bedding while having a nightmare. Unbelievable though it sounds it looked as if the couple were going to get away with it.

Perhaps the murder had somehow soured their relationship or maybe it had simply run its natural course, anyway over the next few weeks the relationship between the murdering pair deteriorated. The servant girl who had been in bed with Ann on the fateful night waited until she had received her wages and then went to the authorities and recounted all she knew. The pair were charged and brought to trial in April 1763. Ann maintained her innocence while Ringe, after hearing testimony from the servants, confessed his part in the crime, perhaps he was hoping that if he confessed he would be shown mercy, he was very wrong.

They were both convicted and sentenced to death. On 8th April 1753 they were both drawn by sledge to Rushmore, near Ipswich, where Ringe was hanged and Ann was burnt alive at the stake. 

Bessarabo, Mme

When the body was found and examined it was revealed that the body had also been beaten badly around the head. Both mother and daughter were arrested and charged. It came to light that the mother had been taking drugs and had been entertaining several young men. Hera at first confessed but later retracted the statement. As Paule had helped her mother dispose of the body she was also charged with murder but in order to save herself Paule made a detailed statement to the police in which she implicated her mother. At the trial in February 1921 she was aquitted while her mother was sentenced to 20 years imprisonment. 

Biggadyke, Priscilla Mrs

On the 30 September Richard came home from work in the evening as normal and after eating his tea he settled down in front of the fire for a quiet evening.  He was soon writhing in agony and was dead by the following morning.  Up until then he had been a very healthy man and his death was so unexpected that the doctor decided to have his stomach contents analysed.  He was right to have done so as it turned out to contain quantities of arsenic.

When challenged Mrs Biggadyke said that she had seen John Proctor put some powder in her husbands drink.  It is hard to imagine that if she had seen this happen she had not mentioned it or questioned Proctor as to what he was doing.  Anyway the police soon released him due to lack of evidence and continued with their enquiries.  It was not long before the police had arrested and charged Mrs Biggadyke with her husbands murder. She was later convicted and sentenced to death. Her execution was carried out by Yorkshire hangman Thomas Askern on December 28th 1868. Mrs Biggadyke, in a faint. had to be assisted to the scaffold and when the drop fell she struggled violently for several minutes before eventually succumbing.

Bingham, Edith

A post mortem revealed arsenic in his body and Edith was put under suspicion. The Home Office ordered William and Margarets body to be exhumed They were also found to contain quantities of arsenic Edtih was charged with murdering her father, sister and brother in order to gain property. Strangely enough as well as being a museum and art gallery Lancaster Castle was also the home of the Assize Court so Edith was actually tried in the same building as she had been accused of commiting murder.

A search of the property had revealed quantities of arsenical weedkiller but nothing to connect this to Edith. In fact it was all circumstantial evidence and supposition. Having a possible motive and knowing the cause of death is not enough. The trial went well for Edith and the judge Mr Justice Avory summed up in her favour. She was found not guilty and released. 

Black Dahlia

Her body was discovered on waste ground. She was naked and the body was badly mutilated. The murderer had crudely cut the body in half at the waist. On one of her thighs had been cut the letters 'bd' which stood for Black Dahlia which was Elizabeths nickname due to the fact that she always dressed in black.

As with many murder cases the police recieved several confessions but none of them were true. The police did receive some of her belongings in the post but were unable to trace the sender. The case remains unsolved to this day. 

Borden, Lizzie

On the 4 August 1892 Lizzie apparently found her father and stepmother dead. They had been killed with an axe and their skulls had literally been smashed in. The murder weapon was found in the house and as Lizzie was the only one there she was suspected of the murder. She was duly charged and brought to trial. At first the feeling in the town was very strongly against her but as the trial went on and she was able to demonstrate her considerable talents by regular fainting actions which she used to slowly win the public opinion over to her side. She was found not guilty and released although no-one else was ever arrested for the murder.

She continued to live in the town of Fall River until her death in 1927. One theory is that she did commit the crime but did so while suffering from an epileptic fit and so did not realise what she had done nor did she remember doing it.

This crime became a bit of a folk tale in American history and a rhyme was written about it which goes like this,

Botkin, Cordelia

He was a journalist and when he was called away to cover the Spanish - American war she feared that on his return he may go back to his wife. She purchased some candy which she laced with arsenic and then sent this to Mrs Dunning with a note. Mrs Dunning and her sister in law ate the candy and died. Two children who also ate some managed to survive. The police traced the handwriting on the note and charged Cordelia with murder. She was sentenced to life imprisonment on 31 December 1898. She remained in prison until her death at San Quentin in 1910, never once confessing to the crime. 

Bouvier, Leone

She bought a gun which she had with her when she next met Emile. She supposedly was hoping for a reconciliation but when this did not come she shot her lover through the neck. She was tried for murder but incredible though it seems even though she had gone to the meeting with the gun premeditation was not proved. She was found guilty and sentenced to life imprisonment in December 1953. 

Brownrigg, Elizabeth

By the time Elizabeth had reached her mid-40s, her husband had prospered and the family had become quite wealthy. In 1765 they moved to their new home in Fetter Lane, London. Elizabeth proved to quite an adept midwife and she was kept very busy. Her practice became so busy that she found it necessary to take on an apprentice from the local workhouse. The first apprentice that she took on was Mary Mitchell. Once the initial one month trial period was over Elizabeth started mistreating Mary, punching, kicking and generally abusing the girl. As the months went by Elizabeth found that she enjoyed the feeling of power the abuse of the girl gave her.She soon took on another apprentice from the workhouse, Mary Jones.

Again, the poor girl was subjected to all manner of beatings and humiliations, not just by Elizabeth but now also by her husband and son who also found pleasure in torturing the servants. Unlike Mary Mitchell, Mary Jones was made of sterner stuff. Even though she was made to sleep under a dresser in the Brownrigg's bedroom each night, she managed to escape early one morning. She was found wandering, dazed and emaciated, and was taken to a hospital. She was blind in one eye and covered in bruises. The hospital wrote to the Brownriggs demanding damages but, because they failed to reply, the matter was allowed to lapse with the hospital informing the Brownriggs that Mary's apprenticeship was terminated.

By this time Mrs Brownrigg had obtained the services of another apprentice, 14-year-old Mary Clifford. Again, the girl underwent all sorts of inhuman treatment. She was given lice-infested clothes to wear, she was beaten, she was hung naked from a hook in the ceiling, she was beaten into unconsciousness with an iron bar. On July 12th 1767 Mary Clifford's step-mother, Mrs Deacon, turned up at the house asking to see the young girl. Elizabeth refused the woman entry and denied that there were any apprentices in the house.

Mrs Deacon was not satisfied with this answer and after talking ot one of the neighbours who confirmed that there were apprentices in the house she fetched the authorities. The Brownriggs again denied that Mary Clifford lived in the house but did produce Mary Mitchell. She was in such a bad way that she was rushed away to hospital to be treated. When the parish officials returned they decided enough was enough and forced their way into the house. A search of the premises found Mary Clifford in a small cupboard. She, too, was rushed to hospital. Mr Brownrigg was apprehended but, by this time, Elizabeth and her son had escaped. They made their way to Wandsworth and lay low at a local inn. Despite the efforts by the staff at the hospital on 9th August 1767, Mary Clifford died. Her body had been covered in ulcers, cuts and bruises and her mouth had been slashed so she could not speak.

The inn-keeper recognised that his two guests fitted the description of the two persons sought by the authorities and turned them in. They were arrested and taken to Newgate. The three Brownriggs were tried at the Old Bailey. The trial lasted eleven hours with both husband and son blaming Elizabeth for all the wrong-doing. Incredible though it sounds they were believed and the husband and son were fined one shilling and given six month's imprisonment. Mary was found guilty and sentenced to death. On September 14th 1767, Elizabeth Brownrigg was taken by open cart to Tyburn and hanged. 

Bryant, Charlotte

Charlotte was not a good housewife and she neglected her family while she went in search of any extra-marital pleasures that might be available. Her husband found it easier to ignore his wife's nymphomania and did not even object when she brought men to the house to share her bed.

One of her numerous lovers was a horse-dealer of gypsy origin named Leonard Parsons. He started lodging in the Bryant house sometime in 1933. Parsons did not lodge on a regular basis as his occupation often required him to travel. He was himself a married man with four children.

Charlotte, however, was in love with him and decided that she would rather have him as her husband. Charlotte was not very discreet and early in 1934 Fred was sacked, possibly because of the gossip surrounding his wife. They moved to Coombe, near Sherbourne, in Dorset. In May 1935 Frederick was taken ill with stomach pains. The doctor was called and he said that Frederick was suffering from gastro-enteritis and that he would recover within a few days, he did but then fell ill again on the 11 December, again recovering within a few days.

On 22nd December he was taken violently ill again and this time he died. His body was examined and four grains of arsenic was discovered.

When the police searched the house they found a tin that had contained arsenical weedkiller amongst rubbish at the back of the house and traces of arsenic were found on shelves in the house and in one of Charlotte's coat pockets.

Charlotte was arrested on 10th February 1936 and charged with the murder of her husband. Her trial was opened at Dorset Assizes, Dorchester in front of Mr Justice Macnaghten, on Wednesday 27th May 1936 with Charlotte seemingly unable to follow the proceedings. She protested that she had been on very good terms with her husband but witnesses were to refute this. On Saturday 30th May 1936 she was found guilty and sentenced to hang. She was executed at Exeter Prison on Wednesday 15th July 1936 by Tom Pierrepoint. She was thirty-three years old. 

Byron, Kitty

Baker told the landlady that Kitty had agreed to leave if he could keep the room, but she refused. This conversation was overheard by a maid and the landlady later told Kitty what had been said. She was livid, saying 'I'll kill him before the day is out.'

On the morning of the Lord Mayor's Show, 10th November, Kitty bought a strong-bladed knife. Around 1pm she sent a telegram to Baker, at the Stock Exchange where he worked, from the Lombard Street post office. The message said 'Dear Reg, Want you immediate importantly. Kitty.'

When Baker arrived a furious argument began which spilled out onto the street. Kitty then brought out the knife and plunged it into Baker, twice. Kitty collapsed sobbing over his body.

Her trial took place in December 1902. She had the public's sympathy with her and did not testify. While the defence pleaded
manslaughter the judge did not agree and summed up in favour of a murder verdict. The jury duly returned a guilty verdict on the charge of murder with a strong recommendation to mercy.

The Home Secretary received a 15,000 name petition asking for a reprieve and it was duly granted with the sentence being reduce to life imprisonment. This was, in 1907, reduced to one of ten years.

Burdock, Mary Ann

Mary could see that it was just money standing in her way of happiness and tried to think of a way around it. Mrs Clara Smith was another of Mary's lodgers, she was an elderly lady and Mary knew she had a box which she kept under the bed with her savings in. She was not sure how much money the box contained but believed it to be several thousand pounds. By early 1835 Mary was becoming desperate for the funds to help Charles. She knew, of course, about the cache under the old woman's bed so decided to get rid of her. With the aid of some arsenic she poisoned the old lady and claimed the money for herself and Charles Wade. She now looked forward to married life and happiness.

Unfortunately for Mary things did not go according to plan. A relative of Mrs Smith was suspicious when he heard from Mary that the old woman 'died very poor.' He knew that the old woman had a considerable amount hidden away and communicated this information to the police. The body was exhumed and arsenic was found in the corpse.

Mary was arrested, tried and found guilty of murder. She was hanged on the 15 April 1835. It was not known if it had been completely her own idea but there was never any evidence to suggest that Charles Wade knew what was going on. 

Burns, Joan

Joan Burns had a history of mental disorders and this included six months she had spent as an in-patient in a mental hospital. She tragically drowned both of her daughters and then tried to commit suicide.

She was arrested and charged but found unfit to plead at Newcastle Crown Court and, on 8 October 1957, was sentenced to be detained during Her Majesty's Pleasure. 

Butchill, Elizabeth

The body was soon recovered and was identified by Ester Hall, the girl's aunt. Elizabeth was arrested and soon confessed to her awful crime, she was tried and found guilty. She pleaded for mercy but was shown none. The judge told her that since she had 'been deaf to the cries of the innocent' he would show her no mercy. She was just twenty-two years old when she was hanged on 17th March 1870. 

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