*****
Nash, Thomas
*****
Neal, John
*****
Neilson, Donald
*****
Nelson, Earl
*****
Newell, John William
*****
Newton, George
*****
Nicholls, James
*****
Nicholson, George
*****
Nicholson, Thomas
*****
Noble, John
*****
Noble, Joseph William
*****
Nodder, Frederick
*****
Norman, Henry
*****
Nunn, Matthew Frederick
Atkinson
*****
Nunn, George
*****
Neilson, Donald
Donald Neilson was 39-years old married man with a daughter. He lived in
Grangefield Avenue and was a man who liked to keep to himself. Neilson
liked to keep himself fit. He had been a juvenile delinquent and blamed
everyone for this except himself. ied with a teenage daughter and lived
in Grangefield Avenue, Thornaby, Bradford. Between 1972 and 1975 in northern
England a spate of break ins were recorded into sub post offices. The culprit
sooned earned the nickname ' The Black Panther',
In the early hours of the morning on the 16th February 1972 Leslie Richardson,
the sub-postmaster at Heywood, Lancashire, was woken up by a noise that
he heard. Going to investigate he came face to face with a masked intruder.
They fought and during the scuffle the shotgun that the intruder was carrying
was discharged. The shot blasted a hole in the ceiling, and during the
confusion the Sub Postmaster managed to snatch off the man's hood. The
raider broke free and escaped.
Leslie Richardson had been lucky not to have been hurt. David Skepper
was not so lucky. Almost exactly two years later after a long line of burglaries
history repeated itself. Donald Skepper had tackled the intruder only this
time he was shot and not the ceiling. Donald Skepper died instantly, the
panther had moved up a league and now there was no turning back. Police
recognised the handiwork of the same man from the distinctive method of
gaining entry.
At Higher Baxenden, near Accrington, on 6 September 1974 sub-postmaster
Derek Astin went to tackle an intruder and was shot dead in front of his
wife and children.
Sidney Grayland and his wife, Margaret, were stocktaking at about 7pm
in their post office at Langley, Worcestershire. After Sidney had gone
into a storeroom Margaret heard the sound of a shot. She ran into the store
to find her husband lying on the floor. As she bent over her husband she
was struck over the head and suffered a fractured skull. Several hours
later, two policemen on patrol noticed a light on in the post office and,
on investigating, found the couple. The panther had got away with about
£800. Perhaps he was disapointed with the return for a nights work
or maybe it was the result of increased confidence, whichever it was the
Black Panther decided to raise the stakes even further.
At Highley, Shropshire, Dorothy Whittle was puzzled when her 17-year-old
daughter, Leslie, failed to appear for breakfast on 14th January 1975.
When her mother went to her bedroom she found a ransom note demanding £50,000
which had been punched out on a piece of Dynotape. The tape instructed
the family not to contact the police but to wait for a telephone call at
a call box in Kidderminster that evening. Ronald White, Leslie's brother,
called the police and news of the kidnapping leaked to the press. The story
was carried on the evening television news and no call came to the telephone
box.
The next evening Gerald Smith, a security guard at a transport depot
in Dudley noticed a man hanging around the depot and asked what he wanted.
When he said he was going to ring the police the man shot him in the back
six times. The assailant was Neilson who had stolen a car and had intended
to leave another ransom note at the depot.
At 11.45pm on 16th January Ronald Whittle received a telephone call
telling him to take the ransom money to a telephone box in Kidsgrove, Stoke-on-Trent.
When he got to the kiosk he found another Dynotape message that told him
to go to Bathpool Park. When he got there he was to flash his car lights
and the kidnapper would reply by flashing a torch. He followed the instructions
but the kidnapper never turned up.
Meanwhile, police had examined the cartridge cases from the Smith shooting.
It was determined that they came from the same weapon that had been used
in the Black Panther killings. The car Neilson had stolen had been found
and in it were Leslie Whittle's slippers and a tape recorded message from
the girl asking her relatives to co-operate with the kidnapper.
Chief Superintendent Booth, in charge of the case, and Ronald Whittle
appeared together on television on 5 March. The next day a headmaster at
a local school told police that a pupil at his school had brought him a
torch with a Dynotape message stuck to it that read, 'Drop suitcase into
hole.' The boy who found the torch in Bathpool Park had given it to the
headmaster several weeks before but neither had realised the significance
of the find until the television broadcast.
The police decided to search Bathpool Park. The following day a policeman
examining a drainage shaft in the park discovered the body of Leslie Whittle.
On a narrow ledge was a sleeping bag and hanging below that, with a wire
around her neck, was the kidnapped girl.
A nationwide manhunt was launched but it was not until 11 December that
the killer was apprehended, and then by accident. Two policemen in a patrol
car, Stuart Mackenzie and Tony White, were driving through Mansfield Woodhouse,
Nottinghamshire, when they noticed a man with a holdall standing outside
a post office. When they stopped to question them he produced a shotgun
and forced them into their car with Mackenzie driving and White seated
in the back. He told them to drive to Blidworth, six miles away. As they
drove along he told White to find some rope. When White noticed that the
gun was no longer pointing at Mackenzie he made a grab for the weapon and
forced it upwards. Mackenzie braked, the car coming to a stop outside a
chip shop. The gun went off and two men ran from the queue at the chip
shop to assist the officers. They subdued the man, whose face looked a
mess in photographs taken immediately afterwards, and handcuffed him to
some railings. When they searched him they found two Panther hoods. When
police searched the attic at Neilson's home they found guns, hoods and
house-breaking tools.
Neilson's trial for the kidnap and murder of Leslie Whittle began at
Oxford in June 1976. His defence was that the girl had accidentally fallen
from the ledge and had hanged herself. He was found guilty. A trial for
the killing of the three postmasters followed immediately, where the defence
was again one about how they were all a series of tragic accidents. Again,
a guilty verdict was returned. He received four life sentences for the
murders and 61 years for the kidnapping.
Nelson, Earl
Earle Leonard Nelson was born in 1892. Whilst still a child he had an accident
which left him with a head injury. After this accident he often complained
of severe pain. In 1918 he assaulted a child and was put in a home for
the mentally defective. He did not like it here and escaped three times.
He was finally judged to be insane by a Californian court.
As far as we know Nelson commited his first murder on the 20 February
1926. His prey was a 63 year old lady who ran a boarding house where Nelson
was staying. In less than two years he had run up a tally of 22 murders
compiled of mostly the landladies of the boarding houses where he stayed.
After killing them he stuffed their bodies under his bed before going to
sleep.
He is known to have committed twenty-two murders and was suspected of
at least three more. He was tried in Winnipeg in November 1927. His plea
was one of insanity but the jury were satisfied that his efforts to avoid
capture were not the actions of an insane man but those of a man trying
to escape the consequences. He was found guilty and hanged on 13 January
1928.
Norman, Henry
Henry Norman was a thirty one year old painter who was convicted of the
murder of his adulterous wife. Norman was jealous of the landlord where
he and his wife lived and after discovering she had been unfaithful he
stabbed her to death. He had told his mother that he had forgiven her for
a number of previous indiscretions but after discovering she had been with
the landlord he stabbed her through the heart as she slept. Norman claimed
he had no recollection of committing the crime, but after listening to
the evidence against him, the jury didn't even need to retire before finding
him guilty. He was sentenced to death by Mr Justice Hawkins at the Old
Bailey on 17 September, and hanged by James Berry on the 5th October 1885
at Newgate.
Nash, Thomas
Thomas Nash was a labourer employed by Swansea Corporation, who was
convicted at Cardiff Assizes on 9 February for the murder of his six year
old daughter, whom he killed by throwing her off a pier into the sea. He
was visited in the condemned cell by his other daughter but his wife refused
to see him. He was hanged by James Berry in Cardiff on the 1st March 1886.
Nicholson, George
Fifty two year old George Nicholson was a journeyman baker sentenced to
death at Warwick Assizes on 17 December 1888 for the murder of his wife
at Aston. During a quarrel at their home on 22nd September, he struck her
over the head with a hatchet, fracturing her skull. Nicholson fled to Walsall
where he was identified and arrested later that day. He confessed his guilt
in the condemned cell and had to be supported on the way to the scaffold
where he was hanged by James Berry. The sentence was carried out
on the 8th January 1889 in Warwick.
Neal, John
On 24 January, John Neal, a bricklayer, and his much younger wife, Theresa,
moved into new lodgings at Islington. Four days later he stabbed her to
death in a fit of jealousy and was arrested. On the gallows, he claimed:
'I'm sorry I committed the murder but she was a bad wife to me.' He was
hanged in Newgate by James Berry on the 26th March 1890 at the age of sixty
four..
Noble, John
John Noble was a forty six year old chimney sweep who was convicted of
the murder of Mrs Mary Elizabeth Swift at Chelsea on 4th February. They
had lived together for four years after she had split up from her husband.
When she announced to a drunken Noble that she was leaving him as well,
he cut her throat in a jealous rage. She ran from their house and made
it as far as the local pub where she collapsed and died. He was hanged
by James Billington on the 29th March 1892 at Newgate.
Newell, John William
John William Newell was a former Royal Marine who was sentenced to death
on 21st November for the murder of his wife, Isabella, at Loughborough.
On 21st August, they had a quarrel during which he accused her of being
unfaithful and in a rage he beat her to death with a coal hammer. After
he was arrested, he declared: 'I'll go to the gallows in good heart if
I know she is dead.' He was hanged by James Billington in Leicester on
the 10th December 1894 at the age of forty two.
Nunn, George
Eighteen year old George Nunn was a young labourer convicted of the murder
of Mrs Eliza Dixon at Wrotham in July. He waylaid her as she returned home
with some beer for her husband's supper, and made improper suggestions
which she rejected. He then killed her by stabbing her in the throat. He
was recommended to mercy on account of his age but hanged by James Billington
in Ipswich on the 21st November 1899.
Nicholson, Thomas
Thomas Nicholson was convicted on circumstantial evidence of the murder
of Mary Stewart, a young girl of seven who was raped and strangled in a
quarry near Newcastle. On 16th August, the young girl had left home on
an errand but she failed to return home. A search was organised that resulted
in the discovery of her outraged body. Suspicion fell upon twenty four
year old Nicholson who was seen wearing blood stained clothing, and when
accused, he hung his head in shame and made no comment. He was hanged
on the 16th December 1902 in Durham.
Noble, Joseph William
Joseph William Noble was a Gateshead blacksmith, employed by the LNER Railway
convicted of the murder of John Patterson who was shot dead at a Co-o store
at Windy Nook. To combat increasing burglaries at the store that autumn,
the owner posted a number of watchmen. All was quiet until one night at
the beginning of November 1907, when two watchmen saw an intruder enter
through a back door. He was immediately set upon by one of the watchmen
called Ather. The other guard, John Patterson, was fearful that his colleague
was handing out a beating too brutal and told him to calm down. Both men
then took hold of the intruder but he managed to pull a gun from his pocket
and fired point blank at Patterson who fell dead. The intruder continued
firing while watchman Ather secured all the exits, but the man managed
to escape through a window and vanish into the night. He was arrested soon
after and identified as Joe Noble, a local railway blacksmith who also
made and repaired handguns. Noble protested his innocence but was found
in possession of some items stolen from the store. Noble was tried before
Mr Justice Chanell at Durham Assizes, and when asked if he had anything
to say before sentence of death was passed he remarked: 'You may break
my neck, but you won't break my heart!' Henry and Thomas Pierrepoint carried
out the execution on the 24th March 1908 in Durham. Noble was forty
eight at the time of his death.
Nicholls, James
Thirty five year old James Nicholls was a Norfolk labourer hanged by Henry
and Thomas Pierrepoint for the murder of Susan Wilson, an elderly lady
of seventy, who was found battered to death at her home in Fertwell. After
being convicted and sentenced to death by Mr Justice Grantham, it was revealed
that he had three previous convictions for serious crimes. The sentence
of death was carried out on the 2nd December 1908 in Norwich.
Newton, George
George Newton was a gasworker who was sentenced to death by Mr Justice
Grantham for the murder of his sweetheart, Ada Roker aged twenty one at
Stratford. Despite their youth, Newton and Miss Roker had become engaged
but the relationship was fraught, due in the main to his jealousy. They
had intended to marry in the first week of the new year but following a
quarrel on Christmas Eve, he cut her throat. His plea of insanity failed,
and the judge scoffed when the jury added a recommendation for mercy after
finding him guilty of murder. He was hanged by John Ellis and William Conduit
on the 31st January 1911 in Chelmsford at the tender age of just nineteen.
Nunn, Matthew Frederick
Atkinson
Matthew Frederick Atkinson Nunn was sentenced to death on 14th
November for the murder of his sweetheart, Minetta May Kelly, at Tantoble,
Newcastle. Reports suggest that Miss Kelly had become friendly with another
man, and it was alleged that while she was walking with Nunn through a
field, he cut her throat and then attempted to commit suicide. He was hanged
by Thomas Pierrepoint on the 2nd January 1924 in Durham at the age of twenty
four.
Charles Duffs book The Handbook
of Hanging records the following: 'From the moment Atkinson was sentenced
to death he diligently applied himself to preparation for the happy life
to come after the hangman had finished with him. At the ceremony when the
drop fell there was a rattle, a crash, a 'horrible' thud, and the criminal
had disappeared, and from the gallows was seen the broken end of the rope
dangling in the wind. A half strangled man, conscious of all that had taken
place was below the drop, bound hand and foot, his jaw to use a euphemism
'horribly wrenched'. Twenty four minutes elapsed before the readjustments
were made and the official parliamentary report concludes the second hanging
was successful.
Go to the top of the page
For more information contact:
Gregg Manning
