Jackson, John
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Jackson, William
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Jacoby, Henry Julius
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Jay, Horace Robert
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Jefferies, Arthur
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Jenkins, Ebeneezer Samuel
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Jesse, Frederick
William Maximillian
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Johnson, John Henry
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Johnson, Samuel
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Johnson, John William
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Johnson, Thomas
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Johnson, Michael James
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Johnstone, Edward
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Jones,Arthur Albert
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Jones, Cadwaller
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Jones, Frederick
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Jones, Henry
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Jones, Harry Benjamin
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Jones, James
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Jones, Joseph
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Jones, Joseph Edwin
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Jones, Thomas
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Jones, William Cornelius
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Joyce, John
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Judge, Patrick
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Justin, Richard
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Jacoby, Henry Julius
On 14th March 1922 Lady White, the 65-year-old widow of a former London
County Council Chairman, was found lying on her bed in the Spencer hotel
dying of head wounds. As there were no signs of a forced entry, police
surmised that the killer had some connection with the hotel. When he was
interview, 18-year-old pantry boy Henry Jacoby put forward theories as
to the murder. Police were not satisfied with his answers, he had lied
about his background, and when they searched him two bloodstained handkerchiefs
were found.
He told police that he had intended to steal from the hotel rooms where
he worked and had taken a hammer with him to 'use if necessary'. He had
found the door to Lady White's room unlocked and had entered. She had woken
up and he had beaten her to stop her raising the alarm. At the Old Bailey
in April 1922 he was found guilty, with a recommendation to mercy, and
sentenced to death. Despite the jury's recomendation for mercy he was executed
at Pentonville Prison by John Ellis on 5th June 1922.
Johnson, Samuel
Twenty nine year old Samuel Johnson was a Stretford dock worker and ex
soldier sentenced to death by Mr Justice Wright at Manchester Assizes for
the murder of Miss Beatrice Philomena Martin who was twenty three years
old. Johnson had been separated from his wife for several months and had
been courting the promiscuous Miss Martin. although whether this relationship
was the cause of his marriage break up was never made clear. Despite the
fact that Miss Martin was regarded by most people who knew her, including
her father, as unworthy, Johnson asked her if she would marry him after
he had obtained a divorce. She repeatedly avoided answering the question;
he threatened to kill her if she ever went out with anyone else. After
two months, she had still not made up her mind, and he carried out his
threat. On 27 July, Beatrice went out for the night without him. Johnson
waited by her house and as midnight approached he saw her return in the
company of a sailor, with whom she had spent the evening. He watched them
kiss at the door, and then the man walked away. Seonds later, Johnson emerged
from the shadows and stabbed Beatrice in the back and neck. The sailor,
alerted by her screams, came rushing down the street as Johnson walked
towards him with the knife, then said: 'It's alright Jock, she's dead.
Take me to the police!' At his trial, Johnson insisted on pleading guilty
and refused any sort of legal aid. As a result, the trial was the shortest
on record for many years. Hanged by William Willis and Thomas Phillips.
Johnson had refused to see his wife while in the death cell, but asked
to see the hangman for ten minutes on the eve of the execution because
he did not want to upset him! The Governor told Johnson that he would see
Mr Willis at one minute to eight and not before. Johnson did see the hangman
on the 15th December 1925.
Jones,Arthur Albert
On the 28 October 1960 a young 12 year old girl called Brenda Nash went
missing while on her way home. She was last seen alive by her friend about
a mile from her home in Heston, Middlesex, at 10pm. Her strangled body
was found in a Hampshire wood on 11 December.
Another girl had been assaulted in the same area and she had given the
police enough information for them to finally make an arrest. In her statement
she had told them that he drove a black Vauxhall car. All owners of black
Vauxhalls registered between 1951 and 1954, who lived in Middlesex and
Surrey, were interviewed, The police interviewed approximately 5,000 owners
of black Vauxhalls.
The day after Brenda's body had been discovered a young woman hairdresser,
who worked in London's West End, had gone to the police and told them that
one of her workmates had told her that her uncle had asked her to provide
an alibi for the 28 October. The uncle turned out to be Jones. Jones was
arrested on 28 December and charged with the September assault. At his
trial he was sentenced to four years' imprisonment.
It was while he was in prison that he confessed to a prison officer
that he had killed the girl that the connection was made. He was brought
back to court and tried for murder. The jury took just seven minutes to
find him guilty and this time he was sentenced to life imprisonment.
Jones, Joseph
Joseph Jones had a fear of the workhouse. When he was child, in the Staffordshire
village of Pesnett, he had seen his grandfather being dragged off to the
institution. The old man survived just four weeks.
As he grew up so he went through the normal cycle of life, got a job
and worked hard, married and bought a modest house at Quarry Bank, a few
miles from where he was raised. In 1880 his wife died soon after giving
birth to their daughter. He never remarried but concentrated on bringing
up the child. Life continued as normal and, when she was twenty-one, Ethel
married Edmund Clark, a chain-maker.
The young couple moved into the Quarry Bank house. For four years this
situation prevailed with everything in perfect harmony.
Then the old man lost his job at the steel-mill. Old Joe had always
enjoyed a social drink and a little 'flutter' but with time on his hands
these small pleasures turned into habits. Joe was a proud, independent
man and had made reasonable provision for his old age but he soon worked
his way through all his savings. Edmund came up with an offer to buy the
house from the old man. Again, he was back in the bars and it didn't take
too long before he was broke again.
Edmund Clarke returned home from his Saturday game of football at 6pm
on 1st December 1906 and stretched out on the sofa for a nap. The old man
was out so Ethel nipped out to do a bit of shopping. When she returned
at about 8 o'clock it was to a nightmare as she found the living-room dripping
with blood and the body of her husband with its skull smashed and head
almost severed. Old Joe was sitting calmly in his chair. She screamed until
her screams alerted the neighbours. Without any fuss the old man calmly
walked the short distance to Brierly Hill police station to give himself
up.
His trial opened at Stafford Assizes in March 1907 and lasted less than
a day before he was found guilty and sentenced to death. When Pierrepoint
arrived to pinion the old man and escort him to the gallows, Old Joe is
said to have commented, 'This is a damned sight better than the workhouse'.
Jones, James
James Jones was a ship's fireman who was sentenced to death at the Old
Bailey for the murder of Edward White at Wapping. He stabbed him to death
when ill feeling evolved after a family quarrel. No effort was made to
secure a reprieve and Jones claimed he didn't want or expect one. He was
hanged by James Billington at Newgate on the 6th October 1896 at the age
of twenty six..
Jones, William Cornelius
William Cornelius Jones was a young territorial soldier who shot dead his
wife with his service rifle. Winifred was just eighteen and Jones was twenty
two. The couple married in late 1925 and in autumn of the following year,
they moved into their first home on Crib Lane, Halifax. Not long after,
Mrs Jones went to see a solicitor regarding her husband's cruel behaviour.
A letter was sent to Jones which caused him to mend his ways, and for the
next few months they got along well. By July however, Jones was again mistreating
his wife, despite the fact that she was now pregnant. She left him this
time and went to lodge with an aunt. Her solicitor again wrote to Jones
and informed him that divorce proceedings were being taken out against
him. On 10 July, the day the letter arrived, he called on the solicitor
and denied being cruel to his wife. He was due to attend a Territorial
Army meeting at a local rifle range, and after leaving the solicitor's
office he changed into his uniform and met up with a number of fellow territorials.
While travelling to the range, he told one of the men that he intended
shooting his wife with the live round he carried in his pocket. His companions
thought he was joking. Later that afternoon, Mrs Jones was shot dead as
she walked along Crib Lane. Jones was seen firing the single shot and was
soon placed under arrest. At his trial before Mr Justice MacCardie at Leeds
Assizes on 6 December, he claimed that the gun had gone off accidentally.
The prosecution contested the point and claimed it was wilful murder. The
jury needed only minutes to return a guilty verdict and Jones was later
hanged by Thomas Pierrepoint and Robert Baxter at Leeds on the 5th January
1927.
Johnson, Michael James
On Boxing Day, 1868, the landlord at the Cambridge Arms, Salford, evicted
twenty year old Michael James Johnson from the pub because he was drunk
and being abusive to other customers. A police officer arrived but after
promising him that he would go home to bed, Johnson returned to the pub
and asked the landlord to come outside and fight. An itinerant musician
and casual barman in the pub, Patrick Nurney, told Johnson that he would
be wise to go home and went to close the door, but as he did so Johnson
drew out a knife and stabbed him fatally in the shoulder. He was arrested
the next day hiding under a bed in his cousin's house. He was convicted
at South Lancashire Assizes and hanged by William Calcraft on March 29th
1869 at Manchester..
Jones, Frederick
On 10 December 1871, Emily Gardner was walking home with her elder sister
Alice from a large house in Cheltenham where Alice was employed. They were
accompanied by a young baker, Frederick Jones, who had been courting
Emily for several months. As they reached the street where Alice lived,
the sisters parted and Jones promised to see Emily safely home. Less than
an hour later, Jones walked into a police station and admitted that he
had killed his sweetheart by cutting her throat. Her body was found at
the house. Jones claimed he was drunk and had committed the crime through
his jealousy of a man who lodged with Emily and her father. He was tried
at Gloucester Assizes and found guilty and then sentenced to death by Mr
Justice Keating on 22 December 1871. He was hanged by William Calcraft
at Gloucester on 8th January 1872 at the age of just twenty years old..
Jackson, William
Twenty nine year old William Jackson was a soldier discharged from the
77th Regiment after serving in India. Soon after moving back in with his
parents, he began to have frequent arguments with the family. These altercations
were mainly caused by Jackson's heavy drinking. After one particularly
fierce series of rows, he packed his bags and told his parents that he
was leaving home, and on 5 May he set out for Ripon. On the journey he
came across his sister Elizabeth who was sixteen years old; the next morning
her body was found dead in a field with a cut throat. From letters on her
person the police suspected that Elizabeth's boyfriend was the murderer
and he was detained but later released when other evidence led them to
her brother. Jackson was later detained and charged. No motive was clearly
established but he was convicted, and hanged by Askern inside York Castle
on the 18th August 1874..
Johnson, John Henry
During the evening of 26 December 1876, John Henry Johnson and his paramour,
Amelia Sewell, visited several Bradford pubs. When they entered the Bedford
Arms they met Amos White, an old acquaintance. Later, as Sewell walked
across a yard to the toilets she was accosted by White and screamed for
Johnson to help. The two men squared up and traded a few blows before being
separated. Johnson then staggered home, returning later with a gun with
which he shot White dead. A friend of the victim helped detain Johnson
who was immediately arrested. He was convicted before Mr Justice Lopes
and hanged by Askern who badly botched the execution. Firstly the rope
snapped and when a new one was secured, the drop wasn't sufficient to cause
instant death, leaving Johnson slowly choking on the end of the rope. Even
so the job was finally completed on the 3rd April 1877 in Leeds. Johnson
was thirty seven years old when he died.
Jones, Cadwaller
Cadwaller Jones was sentenced to death for the murder of thirty six year
old Sarah Hughes in June. They began an affair when Jones fell out
of love with his prim and proper wife. Hughes disappeared on 2 June and
no trace of her was found until parts of her body were washed up from a
river. Police ascertained the body was Sarah Hughes and investigations
led them to Jones. He confessed that he had killed her. by striking her
with a large stone, after she told him she was pregnant and began to pester
him for money. He was hanged by William Marwood on a scaffold borrowed
from Chester Prison on 23rd November 1877 at Dodgelly aged twenty five..
Johnson, Thomas
On 23 March, Thomas Johnson and twenty one year old Eliza Parton,
visited a house of ill repute at Liverpool and after spending an hour or
so drinking, they went upstairs to a room. Soon afterwards Eliza came downstairs
with scratches on her face. Moments later Johnson followed and without
a word, stabbed her in the neck and then rushed out. He was arrested soon
after and could offer no defence, claiming that he had done it through
cruelty. The determined looking and powerfully built man broke down as
the sentence of death was passed and had to be carried in tears from the
dock. He was hanged by William Marwood in Liverpool on the 28th May 1879.
When Johnson died he was just twenty, one year younger than his poor victim.
Jay, Horace Robert
Horace Robert Jay was executed for the murder of Florence Kemp. At
Christmas in 1883. Jay (aka Thorpe) met Florence Kemp, then just sixteen,
and they immediately fell in love. They lived together until July 1884
when she left him and went back to live with her parents. On 15 November,
at his invitation, they had tea together at his lodgings. He asked her
if she would move in with him again and when she answered by saying she
had met another man, jealousy got the better of him and in a rage he cut
her throat, and then his own. He was tried before Mr Justice Hawkins at
the Central Criminal Court on 22 December. His defence that he was insane
and drunk failed, and he was hanged by James Berry on the 13th January
1885 at the age of twenty three at Wandsworth Prison.
Judge, Patrick
Forty seven year old Patrick Judge was a former soldier who was sentenced
to death at Newcastle Assizes for the murder of his wife, Jane. They lived
unhappily together at Walker-on-Tyne, and on Saturday 9 July, they had
a disagreement that ended with Judge pulling out a revolver and shooting
her twice in the head. He was hanged by James Berry on the 16th November
1886 at Newcastle.
Jackson, John
Thirty three year old John Jackson otherwise known as Charles Wood Firth,
Jackson was serving a six month sentence at Strangeways Prison, Manchester,
after being convicted on a burglary charge in April. Due to his apprenticeship
as a plumber, he was asked to fix some gas pipes in the house of the matron.
He agreed to the work and on 22 May was taken to the house and accompanied
by a warder, Ralph Webb (45), with whom he got on well. At 4pm that afternoon,
the matron heard a noise in the bedroom and when she went to investigate,
she found the door locked. She called for help and three warders arrived
and forced the door open to find Webb beaten to death on the floor, and
a hole in the ceiling from which Jackson had made his escape. He was at
large for several weeks while a massive manhunt went on. He was eventually
arrested at Bradford, after he had been caught breaking into a house. Back
at the station, he was identified as Jackson and taken to Manchester on
a murder charge. Tried by Mr Justice Grantham at Manchester Assizes on
Friday 13 July, the jury needed just six minutes to find him guilty. He
was hanged by James Berry on the 7th August 1888 in Manchester.
Jones, Harry Benjamin
Harry Benjamin Jones was a gas worker who from time to time lodged with
the family of Richard Harris at Aston. The two men had met three years
earlier when they worked together, and when Jones became homeless his friend
offered him a room. When he discovered that Jones was having an affair
with his wife, he asked him to leave but was unable to get him to go. In
desperation, Harris uprooted his family and moved to Gloucester. Soon afterwards,
Jones tracked them down, and while Harris was out at work he went to see
Mrs Harris, got into a row with her, then shot her. The wound wasn't serious
but it was enough to land Jones in prison, and while he was safely locked
up, the family took the opportunity to move back to Birmingham. Following
his release from prison, an undaunted Jones also moved back to Birmingham,
and again found the Harris'. With Richard Harris away working, Mrs Harris
invited him to stay, and the affair began again. Rumours spread that he
was the father of her youngest child. On 11 June, Harris returned home
from working in Wales and told Jones to get out. This time he managed to
evict the unwanted guest but three days later Jones returned to the house
in a drunken rage and shot the family. All were wounded but a daughter,
Florence, succumbed to her injuries. He was sentenced to death by Mr Justice
Wills and was hanged by James Berry on the 28th August 1888
in Birmingham.
Jenkins, Ebeneezer Samuel
Ebeneezer Samuel Jenkins, otherwise known as Wheatcroft was convicted of
the murder of his fiancée at Godalming. Jenkins was an artist who
rented a studio in the town. His fiancée had told him she wanted
to end the relationship but they agreed to meet later that week on 7 January
at the Three Crowns Inn, Godalming. After leaving the inn, they walked
to his studio where she was found strangled the next morning after he had
confessed to his crime. He left a note for his mother saying that he would
never let his fiancée leave him, and when arrested he told detectives
that he wanted to be buried next to her. Hanged by James Berry. who experimented
at the execution when he stood Jenkins on the drop and strapped seven pound
weights to each leg to compensate for the prisoner's small & light
frame. The additional poundage allowed Berry to use a drop of six feet
six inches which resulted in a satisfactory execution. This was the only
time the procedure was adopted. The sentence was carried out on the 6th
March 1889 in Wandsworth prison. Jenkins was only twenty years old when
he died.
Johnson, John William
John William Johnson was a forty nine year old farm labourer from
Hetton-le-Hole, Durham who had been living with a Mary Addison for sometime.
In September she told him of her intention to marry someone else. After
she left, he followed her and shot her dead. He refused any form of legal
aid and insisted on pleading guilty. He was convicted and hanged by James
Billington on 22nd December 1891 at Durham.
Jones, Thomas
Thirty five year old Thomas Jones was a hawker who was sentenced
to death by Mr Justice Wills, for the murder of Mary Burton, with whom
he lived. He had deserted his wife and was residing with Burton in a common
lodging house at Ffestiniog. After a quarrel on 1 March, her body was found
on a secluded hill, covered in bruises and wounds. He denied the crime
but was convicted, and hanged by James and Thomas Billington in Carnavon
on the 3rd August 1898.
Joyce, John
John Joyce was an ex-soldier who stabbed to death John Nugent who was eighty
four years old on 10th June. They often drank together and would sometimes
argue when drunk. On the night of the crime they had returned to the old
man's house. While there, Joyce knocked over a paraffin lamp and Nugent
threatened to call the police. In a drunken panic, Joyce stabbed him in
the heart. He pleaded insanity and claimed he had contracted sun-stroke
while serving in India, but to no avail. Following conviction, a reprieve
was refused and he was hanged by James and William Billington in Birmingham
on the 20th August 1901 aged thirty six.
Jones, Henry
Fifty year old Henry Jones was a collier who was convicted at Staffordshire
Assizes before Mr Justice Kennedy of the murder of Mary Gilbert at Hanley
on 29th January. Jones lived with Mary Gilbert in a house they shared with
another man, of whom Jones was intensely jealous. Eventually his feelings
got the better of him, and he cut Mary's throat and then his own as they
lay in bed. He confessed that he had killed her because of her feelings
towards the other man. He was hanged by John Billington and John Ellis
at Stafford on the 29th March 1904.
Jefferies, Arthur
Arthur Jefferies was a cobbler and part-time poacher who was convicted
of the murder of Samuel Barker at Rotherham on 12 November. The two men
had been best friends since childhood but on the night of the crime they
quarrelled. Jeffries heard that Barker had gone poaching with some friends
and had not told him. Drunk, they had an angry exchange of words which
ended when Jeffries stabbed his friend with a file. Jeffries was tried
before Mr Justice Grantham at Leeds Assizes. The judge, a country squire,
was well known to have no sympathy for people involved in poaching because
his own land was often invaded. The defence tried to show that there was
no premeditation in the attack and that before the murder both men had
been the best of friends, and asked the court to accept a verdict of guilty
of manslaughter. The judge came down on the side of the prosecution and
directed the jury that if they believed that Jeffries had killed Barker,
then the only possible verdict was murder. The jury took just over thirty
minutes to return a guilty verdict, adding a strong recommendation for
mercy, but he was sentenced to death. He was hanged by John Billington
and Henry Pierrepoint in Leeds on the 28th December 1904 at the age of
forty four..
Johnstone, Edward
Edward Johnstone was a Londonderry born miner, living in Dunfermline who
was sentenced to death by Lord Ardwell at Perth Circuit Court on
23 June, for the murder of Jane Wallace (or Whithers), his common-law wife,
at Collyford, Fife. On 7 June, Johnstone cut her throat after he had caught
her kissing another miner at a dance. His defence, that he was not responsible
due to drink, was rejected and he was hanged by John Ellis and William
Willis. The scaffold used was transported from Glasgow and assembled in
a store room in Perth. He was hanged on the 19th August 1908 and
was thirty two when he died.
Jones, Joseph Edwin
Joseph Edwin Jones was a thirty nine year old Wolverhampton miner who shot
his wife in November 1908. He still maintained his innocence when visited
in the condemned cell by his children. He was hanged by Henry and Thomas
Pierrepoint on the 14th April 1909 in Stafford.
Justin, Richard
Thirty one year old Richard Justin and Annie Thompson had married in October
1908. They lived on Lepper Street, Belfast, with Annie's four year old
daughter, also named Annie, from a previous relationship. Early in 1909,
young Annie was seen sporting bruises which, she told a neighbour, had
been inflicted by her step-father. He denied the claim, although it was
clear that he was not fond of the girl. On 12 March, the child was found
dead. She had been beaten with an iron bar, and a pathologist likened her
injuries to those inflicted by a hundred lashes with a 'cat o nine tails'.
Justin was hanged by Henry Pierrepoint on the 19th August 1909 at Belfast.
Jones, Joseph
By the time Joseph Jones had enlisted in the army, soon after hostilities
had broken out, he had amassed a long criminal record for crimes of violence.
During 1917 he was invalided out of the army and took up with a pair of
Australian deserters preying on soldiers in London on leave. They perfected
a ruse of befriending the man before luring him, on the pretext of visiting
some gaming club or brothel, into a dark alley where they would beat and
rob him. On 8 November, 1917, Jones, in the company of the two Australians,
Ernest Sharp and Thomas Maguire, made the acquaintance of two Canadian
soldiers, Privates Oliver Gilbert Imlay and John M'Kinley. The five spent
some time drinking before leaving a club in the Waterloo district whereupon
the Canadians were set upon by their erstwhile friends. The two were attacked
with coshes and although M'Kinley was able to escape, Imlay died in hospital
from the beating. Jones, Sharp and Maguire were soon arrested and each
tried to blame the others for the attack. From various testimonies it became
clear that it was Jones who had beaten Imlay, using a policeman's truncheon.
The three stood trial before Mr Justice Darling at the Old Bailey in January.
Sharp turned King's evidence against his former friends and after pleading
guilty to robbery he was sentenced to seven years. For his part in the
attack on M'Kinley, Maguire received ten years. It was Jones alone who
was charged with the murder of Private Imlay. He was convicted and received
the death sentence. He was hanged by John Ellis and William Willis on the
21st February 1918 aged just twenty six..
Jesse, Frederick William
Maximillian
Frederick William Maximillian Jesse was lodging with his aunt, Mrs Mabel
Jennings-Edmunds, who was separated from her husband, at her home in York
Road, Lambeth. On Saturday 21 July, they had a dispute over a family matter
and to escape further nagging, he retired to his room. His aunt followed
and carried on the argument, during which she whipped him with a heavy
police whistle she kept on a length of cord, cutting him above one eye.
He fell to the bed and she then threw the contents of a bottle into his
face. Jesse lost control and the next thing he knew was that his aunt lay
dead on the bed. He had strangled her. At his trial, he claimed that after
killing her he panicked and that a voice in his head told him to cut up
the body and dispose of it. Following the dismemberment, he was unable
to find anywhere to dispose of the parts and he eventually lost his nerve
and confessed to the police. Sentenced to death by Mr Justice Swift at
the Old Bailey in September, and hanged by John Ellis and Robert Baxter
on the 1st November 1923 at Wandsworth prison.
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For more information contact:
Gregg Manning
