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MacDonald, John
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Mackay, Patrick
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Mackay, Alexander Arthur
*****
Makin, James
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MacDonald, John
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Mahoney, Arthur James
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Mahon, Patrick Herbert
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Maidment, Charles
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Maltby, Cecil
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Malcolm, Lieutenant Douglas
*****
Manning, Albert
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Manning, Frederick
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Manton, Horace William
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Manuel, Peter Thomas Anthony
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Marks, Issac
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Marsh, Henry
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Marsh, Walter
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Marshland, Thomas
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Marwood, Ronald Henry
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Marymont, Marcus
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Martyn, Walter
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Marriot, Walter
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Marshall, George
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Mason, George
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Massey, Louis
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Masterman, Bryn
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Mason, Alexander Campbell
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Matthews, Philip
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Maynard, William John
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McCabe, Henry
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McCartney, John William
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McClaren, Hugh
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McConville, John
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McCrae, Andrew George
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McCullough,
William
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McDaid, John
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McDonagh, Thomas
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McDonald, Thomas
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McDonald, William
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McEntire, Joseph Patrick
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McGill, Owen
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McGovern, Patrick
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McGowan, James
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McGuiness, Thomas
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McGuiness, William
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McHugh, James
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McHugh, Miles
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McHugh, William
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McHugo, Martin
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McKay, James
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McKenna, John
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McKenna, Patrick
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McKeown, Arthur
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McKeown, Steven
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McKeown, William
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McLaughlin, Samuel
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McLean, Michael
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McMullen, Felix
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Meade, Thomas
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Mellor, James
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Mellor, Thomas
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Meunier, Amie Holman
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Miao, Chung Yo
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Middleton, Samuel
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Millar, Walter
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Miller, William
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Mills, Herbert Leonard
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Milsom, Albert & Fowler,
Henry
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Minahan, Daniel
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Mobbs, William
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Monteau, Francois
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Montgomery,
Thomas Hartley
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Mommers, Johannes Josephus Cornelius
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Moran, Joseph
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Morgan, John
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Morgan, William James
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Morley, Joseph
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Morley, Patrick
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Moore, Edwin James
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Moore, Albert
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Moore, Thomas
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Moors Murderers
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Morris, Raymond Leslie
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Morrison, Steinie
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Mouncer, Thomas Acomb
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Muhamed, Hassan
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Muir, James
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Mullarkey, Bernard
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Munch, Franz Joseph
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Murphy, James
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Murphy, John Esmond
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Murphy, William
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Murray, Philip
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Myles, James
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Mahoney, Arthur James
Arthur James Mahoney killed Georgina
Hoffman during a fight - He maintained that on the first night he had
seen her he gave her some money so he could stay the night with her but
she tricked him going off with another girl who was also a prostitute this
of course made him angry. On the second night he had no money so gave her
his watch - On the third night he turned up with nothing and she started
shouting at him They fought and it was during this time when he stabbed
her to keep her quiet.
He was tried for murder at the Old Bailey. Arthur James Mahoney was
found guilty of the murder of Georgina Hoffman on the 6 March 1939. He
was sentenced to death but was later certified insane and sent to Broadmoor.
Mackay, Alexander Arthur
It was early in the morning of the 8th May 1868 when cafe proprietor George
Grossmith left his shop at Norton Folgate to go out on business. When he
left his wife, his son Walter (11), and Alexander Mackay were still there.
Mackay was doing some odd jobs. Just before 9am Walter left
for school and minutes later neighbours heard screams coming from the cafe.
They thought the screams belonged to Mrs Emma Grossmith. She was heard
to call out 'Oh, don't!'. three times, followed by, 'Oh. John. you'll kill
me!' Although it was not his real name Alexander, Mackay was known to everyone
as John.
A neighbour ran over to the café and on entering found Mrs Grossmith
lying in a pool of blood in the kitchen. She had been battered to death
with a rolling pin and a poker. When questioned by the neighbour Mackay
said he had not done it. Mackay then said he would go and fetch Mr Grossmith
and before the neighbour could stop him he had rushed from the house. Emma
Grossmith was rushed to hospital but despite the efforts of the doctors
she died in hospital a week later. The police had been searching
for Mackay but were unable to locate him for several weeks because he had
been arrested on a minor offence and was locked up in the cells at Maidstone
prison. He was eventually recognised from a photograph circulated by the
police and charged with murder.
Sentenced to death at the Central Criminal Court on 21 August, he was
hanged at Newgate. When the time came for the sentence to be carried
out he was so frightened that he had to be dragged to the drop whimpering
in sheer terror.
Maltby, Cecil
Maltby was a 47-year-old tailor who lived alone in a flat above his shop.
He had a mistress, Alice Hilda Middleton, whose husband was in the Far
East serving with the Merchant Navy. In the summer of 1922 she moved in
with Maltby. Maltby had a liking for the bottle and his business which
had already suffered heavily was allowed to deteriorate even further. He
and Alice would spend large amounts of time at race meetings and motorcycle
jaunts or drinking heavily.
When Alice's husband returned in December 1922 he attempted to find
Alice and being unsuccessful he contacted the police and reported her missing.
Enquiries determined that she had not been seen since the previous August.
When police visited Maltby he seemed to act very strangely and refused
them access. He told them that Mrs Middleton had left him on August 15.
The police decided to keep a watch on the shop but Maltby never seem to
leave the flat. The authorities obtained a health order on the grounds
of the premises being in an unsanitary condition. This enable the Medical
Officer of Health and armed police to break into the shop on 10 January
1923.
Officers entered the premises from both front and rear of the building.
As they got to the first floor they heard a shot from the bedroom. Maltby
had put a gun in his mouth and pulled the trigger and was dying, he actually
died a few minutes later. In a bath in the kitchen they found a corpse
wrapped in a sheet. It was the decomposing remains of Mrs Middleton. A
note pinned to the sheet read, 'In memory of darling Pat, who committed
suicide on 24 August 1992, 8.30am.' Maltby had left notes explaining that
the couple had struggled for possession of the gun after she had threatened
suicide. The gun had gone off as they struggled, killing her.
This idea of Mrs Middleton committing suicide was not upheld by the
pathologists report which stated that she had been shot three times from
behind. A Coroner's Jury returned a verdict of murder against Cecil Maltby
and that he then committed suicide.
Massey, Louis
Louis Massey was convicted at Leeds Assizes on 19 December, 1919, of the
murder of his wife on 4 November. They had separated but he kept asking
her to take him back, a request which she refused to consider. She moved
in with her sister and one day Massey called at the house. He pleaded with
her to try again but she again refused so perhaps out of frustration he
began to beat her. Hearing the commotion her sister ran to help her
but he struck her also. He did not stop his vicious attack of his
wife until she lay dead at his feet. Twenty nine year old Louis Massey
was hanged on the 6th January 1920.
Malcolm, Lieutenant Douglas
No details on this case at this time
Manton, Horace William
When some workman saw a sack floating in the River Lea near the Vauxhall
factory at Luton they were interested to know what it contained. When they
fished the sack out of the water on 19 November 1943 they were shocked
and horrified to see it contained the body of a middle aged woman. She
was naked and had been strangled and then, it would appear, beaten so severely
as to try and hide her identity. Photographs of the woman were shown at
local cinemas. Three months later in February 1944 Police were scouring
household waste on a local tip in when they found a piece of a woman's
coat that had a dry-cleaning mark. The mark was traced to Mrs Caroline
Manton who, when they checked they found had handed the coat in for dyeing
in the previous November.
When they spoke to Mrs Manton's husband who was a Fire Brigade driver
known as 'Bertie', he denied that the photos were of his wife and told
police that his wife had left him to live with her brother. To back this
up he showed them letters that he said had been written by his wife since
the previous December. Officers noticed that in all the letters a simple
spelling mistake was evident. It was in the word 'Hampstead' which in all
cases had been written as 'Hamstead'. The police asked him for a sample
of his handwriting and they noticed that he too mispelt this word.
When the police searched the house they found it had been so thoroughly
cleaned that an examination only managed to locate a single fingerprint
belonging to its former occupant. This was found on a pickle jar in a cupboard.
As the woman had lived in the house for many years they would have expected
the house to be covered in her prints so it showed he had tried to remove
all sign, but why if she had simply left him.
Satisfied that they had got the right man they arrested and charged
him with the murder of his wife. Realising that there was no way out he
confessed to killing his wife. He said that they had quarrelled and that
he had hit her with a stool. He had wheeled her body to the river on his
bicycle and dumped it into the water. He appeared for trial at Bedford
Assizes and was found guilty and sentenced to death. The sentence was commuted
to life imprisonment and he died in prison three years later.
Manuel, Peter Thomas Anthony
At 8.45 on the morning of 17 September 1956 Mrs Helen Collison arrived
at the High Burnside bungalow as she did every day to start work as the
daily help. She was surprised to find the house still locked and the curtains
drawn. When she noticed that a pane of glass in the kitchen door had been
broken alarm bells started ringing inside her head. Scared of what she
might find she went next door to ask for help. Just then, Peter Collier,
who was a postman arrived and, reaching through the broken glass, opened
the door. Mrs Collison entered the house but soon came back out again.
Lying in bed were the bodies of 45-year-old Marion Watt and her sister,
Margaret. Both of them had been shot at close range. Mrs Collison then
remembered the Watt's 16-year-old daughter, Vivienne. Moving quickly to
the young girls bedroom she was horrified to find that she too, was lying
dead in her bed.
Mrs Watt's husband, William, was a master baker who owned a string of
shops in Glasgow had gone away for a week's fishing holiday. So that Marion
would not have to be in the house on her own Margaret had been staying
with her during her husband's absence. Police investigating the killings
heard of another bungalow in Fennbank Avenue that had been burgled during
the night. The officer that investigated the second break-in recognised
the handiwork of local villain Peter Manuel. He was 30-years-old who had
been born in New York. His family had returned to Britain in 1932 and he
had a history of offences that started when he was 12 years-old. He was
currently on bail for a break-in at a local colliery. Police hurried around
to the Manuel home but could find no evidence and Manuel frustrated police
efforts by refusing to tell them his movements. A couple of weeks later
Manuel was given 18 month's for the colliery job. Police suspicions had
now centred on Mr Watts. The police had interviewed a ferryman on the Clyde
who thought that he carried Mr Watts' car across on the night of the killings.
Due to this mistake William Watts spent over two months in jail before
police were satisfied of his innocence and he was released.
On Manuel's release he paid a visit to Newcastle-upon-Tyne. On December
7 1957, at 4.30 am, he hired the taxi of 36-year-old Sydney Dunn. The next
day a policeman cycling along a moorland road near Edmundbyers, twenty
miles from Newcastle, noticed a car abandoned in a gully. Although the
car was empty it did have signs of fresh blood. He reported it and a search
was launched to find the missing driver. It was not long before they discovered
the body of Sydney Dunn. He had been shot and his throat had been slashed.
Meanwhile further north in Glasgow, a young girl, Isabelle Cooke who
was 17-years-old had arranged to go to a dance in nearby Uddingston with
her boyfriend on December 28. She left her home to meet him but never arrived.
Her father reported her missing at 9 am the following morning. Over the
next couple of days various items of Isabelle's clothing were found but
there was no sign of the girl herself. In Uddingston, at about 5.45am on
4 January, Mr and Mrs McMunn awoke to find a face peering around the bedroom
door of their Sheepburn Road house. Mr McMunn had the presence to mind
to call to his wife, 'Where's the gun?' and the intruder fled. The story
of the break-in heightened the feeling of tension that was already existing
in the street. Neighbours had felt uneasy for several days as they passed
the bungalow belonging to 45-year-old Peter Smart and his wife, Doris.
They noticed that the curtains were closed at strange times and felt that
they were being watched as they passed. All the same it was not until Peter
Smart failed to return to work after the New Year's holiday on January
6 that anyone reported anything strange. When his car was found abandoned,
the police were worried. Police went to investigate the Smart's bungalow
and forced the back door. In a heavily bloodstained main bedroom they found
the bodies of Mr and Mrs Smart and in a smaller bedroom they found the
body of their 10-year-old son, Michael. All three of them had been shot.
One person that the police had their eye on was Peter Manuel. A man who
was normally broke, was now spending freely in the local bars. They managed
to recover some of the £1 notes that Manuel had passed and found
that they were crisp and of a newly printed batch. Taking them to the bank
they asked if they could be traced. The bank checked the serial numbers
and found that they had been paid over to Mr Smart, who had cashed a cheque
in preparation for a holiday. This was all the police needed and they arrested
Manuel and put him on an identification parade. He was identified by staff
and drinkers at a bar where he had handed over other new blue notes that
were in the same sequence as the ones given to Peter Smart.
He was arrested and charged on 13 January 1958. He agreed to help detectives
and confessed to killing the Smarts and also to the murder of the Watts
and Isabelle Cooke. He also owned up to the murder of another 17-year-old
girl, Anne Knielands. Her body had been found on the fifth fairway of East
Kilbride Golf Course on 4 January 1956. He had smashed her skull with a
length of iron. He took police officers to the spot where he had buried
Isabelle Cooke in a field and casually remarked 'This is the place. In
fact, I think I'm standing on her now.'
At his trial in May 1958 he was found guilty on seven counts of murder,
being found not guilty of the murder of Anne Knielands on the direction
of the judge. When he was hanged at Barlinnie Prison on 11 July 1958 he
was still only 31 years old.
Marwood, Ronald Henry
Ronald Marwood was a 25-year-old scaffolder who's idea of celebrating his
first wedding anniversary, on 14th December 1958, was by consuming ten
pints of brown ale. Late that evening he was in the Seven Sisters Road,
Holloway, when he became involved in a gang fight. A police constable,
23-year-old Raymond Henry Summers, tried to break up the fight but was
stabbed to death while trying to separate the two gangs.
Eleven of the brawling youths were eventually arrested and charged.
Marwood was picked up and released after he denied being involved. Not
able to live with such a terrible thing on his conscience, on 27th January
1959 he walked into a police station and admitted to the killing.
At his trial at the Old Bailey in March 1959 he told the court that
he only intended to push the police officer away completely forgetting
that his hand was holding a knife. The defence maintained that the charge
should be one of manslaughter but this was not accepted and he was found
guilty of capital murder. He was hanged at Pentonville Prison on 8th May
1959.
Marymont, Marcus
On 9th June 1958 43-year-old Mary Helen Marymont was admitted in a critical
condition to the hospital on the air base at Sculthorpe, near Fakenham
in Norfolk. She had collapsed after attending a luncheon in Kings Lynn.
When her husband was informed that his wife was dying he expressed no particular
concern over her sudden illness. Despite all efforts to save her she had
died. Doctors told the 37-year-old Master Sergeant that they suspected
poison and that there would have to be a post mortem. He initially agreed
to this but then later withdrew his consent.
The authorities were already suspicious and continuing their investigations
they discovered that the man had been having an affair with 23-year-old
Cynthia Taylor who he had met in a night-club in Maidenhead. She was a
married woman but who was separated from her husband. He had told her that
he was married but that his wife and children were living in the States.
They also found out that Marymont had tried to buy arsenic from a chemist's
in Maidenhead and that he had asked two civilian cleaners at the base where
he could obtain arsenic from. Marymont's objections to a post mortem were
overruled and the pathological indications were that the dead woman had
ingested arsenic about 24 hours before she collapsed.
Marymont denied administering arsenic to his wife when he appeared before
a US General Court Martial at Denham, Bucks, in 1958. He was found guilty
of murder and of misconduct with Cynthia Taylor and sentenced to life imprisonment.
He was taken back to Fort Leavenworth Prison, Kansas, to serve his sentence.
Masterman, Bryn
No details listed for this case at this time
Mason, Alexander Campbell
Two men were seen fighting with each other in a south London suburb on
the evening of 9th May 1923. Shots were fired and one of the men fell to
the ground near a taxi. The other man ran away. The man had been fatally
wounded and was soon dead. He was later identified as Jacob Dickey, the
driver of the taxi.
Police found several items near to the body. There was the murder weapon,
a jemmy and a walking-stick with gold mount. The police decided that the
stick was recognisable so a photograph of the stick was published. As they
had hoped they soon received information that led them to interview Eddie
Vivian.
Vivian was a convicted criminal who lived with his prostitute girlfriend
in a flat in Pimlico. He admitted ownership of the stick but told police
that on the day of the killing he had been home ill with food poisoning.
Perhaps realising the seriousness of the situation he freely told the police
that he had planned, along with 'Scottie' Mason, to burgle a house but
had been too ill to venture out. Mason had borrowed the stick and left
the flat on his own. He had returned later that evening in an agitated
state and told them that he had shot a taxi driver.
Mason, a 22-year-old Canadian deserter from the Great War, denied Vivian's
account. He said that the illness was a ruse to fool Vivian's girlfriend
and the pair of them went out and it was Vivian who had fought with Dickey
and shot him. Mason was arrested and charged with murder.
At his trial Vivian appeared for the prosecution and recounted his story.
Mason was found guilty and sentenced to death. The sentence was later commuted
to one of life imprisonment and he was released in 1937. He died during
the Second World War while serving in the Merchant Navy.
McConville, John
On 30 January 1869, Philip Trainer, an Irish labourer, was shot
dead outside a Darlington public house. He had, until a few days earlier,
been a member of a secret Fenian society but left the group after disassociating
himself from their subversive activities. Shortly before midnight twenty
three year old John McConville, another Irish labourer, got into an argument
with Trainer and challenged him to a fight outside the pub. As a crowd
streamed out, McConville fired into it, fatally wounding Trainer. He was
convicted of murder and on the 23 March 1869 was hanged in Durham by William
Calcraft.
McDonagh, Thomas
Thomas McDonagh was found guilty of the murder of Ellen Rogers. He
had shot her at Loughglynn, Roscommon on 5 May, 1922. He was hanged
on the 12th December 1923 in Dublin aged forty two.
McEntire, Joseph Patrick
Joseph Patrick McEntire was a Liverpool born tailor who had been married
to his wife Ellen for twenty four years, but they had spent the last two
decades unhappy. On 4 April he got very drunk in a local pub. His wife
was later found lying in a pool of blood on the bedroom floor; she had
been beaten to death with a broom handle. McEntire was arrested on 7 April
trying to find lodgings in nearby Garston. He was tried and found guilty
and on the 31st May 1881 was hanged by William Marwood in Liverpool aged
forty two.
McMullen, Felix
Twenty six year old Felix McMullen was sentenced to death by Mr Justice
O'Shaughnessy for the murder of a Garda (police) officer, Patrick O'Halloran,
who was shot dead during a bank robbery at Baltinglass on 28 January. He
was hanged by Thomas Pierrepoint in Dublin on the 1st August 1924.
Mills, Herbert Leonard
It was August 9 1951 when Herbert Leonard Mills called the News of the
World and told them that he had found a body and he thought it looked like
a murder. The editor asked him if he had called the police and when he
said he had not they did so for him. When the police arrived he took them
to an isolated spot in Sherwood Vale where the strangled body of Mabel
Tattershaw a 48 year old housewife from Nottingham.
He gave the newspaper a full account of what had happened and told them
that he wanted to be paid for it. What he had written down almost amounted
to a confession. They handed it over to the police and Mills was arrested
and charged.
Mills had met Mabel the day before he killed her and agreed to meet
on Friday 3 August and go for a walk. He took her to Sherwood Vale which
he knew to be secluded and safe. He had already decided to commit murder
but the most disturbing fact is that he wanted to do it as part of an experiment.
He wanted to see if he could commit the perfect murder. He persuaded Mabel
to lie down and then he struck her several times with a blunt instrument
before strangling her. Once she was dead he had no further interest in
the body.
Herbert Leonard Mills then went home and waited for the discovery of
the body. He wanted to see the frustration of the police when they were
unable to solve his murder. He waited and waited but still no one found
the body. Tired of waiting on 9 August he rang the newspaper to tell them
of the body. One of the things that mills told the police which first made
them suspicious was that when they first saw the body it was plain to see
that she had been severely beaten and yet Mills told them that the woman
had
been strangled, a fact that certainly was not apparent from simply looking
at the body.
He was tried in November 1951 and forensic evidence was given that left
no doubt about his guilt. Some hairs were found on the victim which matched
those on Mills' head. Also beneath the victims fingernail they found a
small blue thread that matched Mills' suit. He was hanged on 11 December
1951 at Lincoln prison by Albert Pierrepoint..
Whenever a murder is committed it is a sad business but when the murder
is purely so that someone can see if they are capable of the perfect murder
is seems all the worse for it.
Milsom, Albert & Fowler, Henry
Police had been called to the Muswell Lodge home of 79-year-old widower
Henry Smith on the Friday 14th February 1896 by his gardener, Charles Webber.
When he had arrived for work he had found the body of his employer, still
in his night-shirt, lying on the kitchen floor. It was quite obvious that
the old man had been beaten to death. His arms had been tied to his sides
with strips of a tablecloth and he had been gagged. Next to the body, one
either side, were two penknives and nearby was found a small toy lantern.
Mr Smith had had a fear of burglars and he had the gardener set up alarms
and mantraps in the garden of the large, decaying mansion, but these had
not been set off. The sitting-room and scullery windows showed marks of
being tampered with before the killers had gained entry by way of the kitchen
window. The noise had obviously disturbed Mr Smith who had been bludgeoned
when he came to investigate. The safe in his bedroom had been opened and
rifled.
Investigations revealed that two men had been seen hanging around the
Muswell Lodge area two days prior to the murder. Descriptions of these
men fitted Milsom and Fowler and, when it was discovered that both men
had vanished from their usual haunts, warrants for their arrest were obtained.
Albert Milsom was a 33-year-old petty criminal. His partner, 31-year-old
Henry Fowler, was a huge, vicious brute of a man who was on parole. They
were both labourers by trade and lived in the King's Cross district of
London. When the families of the men were questioned Milsom's brother-in-law,
15-year-old Henry Miller, identified the toy lantern as belonging to him.
A postmark on a letter led to them being arrested in Monmouth Street,
Bath, on Sunday 12th April but not before Fowler put up fierce resistance
and had to be subdued with the butt of a police revolver. The pair had
spent their time on the run with a travelling show. They both admitted
involvement in the robbery but both accused the other of committing the
murder.
At their trial which opened at the Old Bailey on 19th May the evidence
was overwhelming and the jury had no problem finding them both guilty.
They were sentenced to death. On 9th June they were hanged by James Billington,
along with a third man named Warbrick, at Newgate Prison. It was the last
triple execution at this prison and the prison was demolished in 1902 with
the gallows being removed to Pentonville.
Mobbs, William
Soon after Christmas 1869, nineteen year old William Mobbs was sitting
next to a nine year old boy on a park bench at Linford when he asked him
what he thought would happen if he was to kill. The young boy replied that
he was sure to be hanged, whereupon Mobbs pulled out a knife and stabbed
him several times in the neck. Mobbs later confessed to a policeman. He
had become obsessed with murder after seeing a picture depicting the scene
of the killing of Fanny Adams in 1867 by Frederick Baker. (Baker was hanged
on Christmas Eve the same year). William Mobbs was hanged by William Calcraft
on March 28th 1870 in Aylesbury.
Millar, Walter
On 9th May, a man called at the house of thirty five year
old Reverend Elias Huelin, claiming to be his nephew. He ordered
the removal of some furniture which included a trunk. Neighbours later
reported that Huelin and his aged housekeeper. Mrs Ann Boss, had disappeared
and enquiries led the police to a furniture warehouse where the bodies
of the missing couple were discovered; they had ropes around their necks
and had been battered to death with a blunt instrument. Walter Millar.
a plasterer from Chelsea. was identified as the man who had organised the
removal of the goods, and in spite of his claim that he was merely acting
as an agent and was innocent of any crime. he was charged with the double
murder. He was tried at the Old Bailey in July. convicted on circumstantial
evidence and sentenced to death. He tried to cheat the hangman by hurling
himself head first at a stone wall in an attempt to bash his brains out
but succeeded in only causing cuts and bruises, and had to be carried to
the gallows tied to a chair. This caused Calcraft to give him a drop that
was shorter than intended and as a result Millar struggled for several
minutes on the rope. The sentence was carried out on the 1st August
1870 in Newgate. Millar was thirty one when he died.
Moors Murderers
Ian Brady's real name was Ian Duncan Stewart and he was born on 2nd January
1938. He was the illegitimate son of a Scottish waitress, and was brought
up by foster parents in the renowned Gorbals district of Glasgow. He soon
developed a reputation as a sadistic psychopath who took pleasure in the
maiming of animals and the torturing of young children.
He found himself in trouble with the police on several occasions for
crimes such as theft and housebreaking. He was ordered by the courts to
live with his mother. She had moved to Manchester and married a man named
Patrick Brady. Ian continued with his bad behaviour and received a two
year Borstal sentence for theft.
Myra Hindley had been brought up in the Gorton district of Manchester
and seemed quite normal and unlike Brady she seemed to actually like animals
and children, She was a little shy and at some times this made her seem
a little unsociable. She was not a very pretty girl with heavy features,
a prominent nose and big hips. They first met when nineteen-year-old Hindley
joined the firm of Millwards as a junior typist. Brady was an invoice clerk
in the same office at the time and she fell in love with him even though
he seemed to completely ignore her.
One day he asked her to go to the pictures with him, to see 'Trial at
Nuremberg.' After the film he walked her home to her grandmother's house
and it was here he seduced her and from that time on theywere inseparable.
For some time Brady had been very interested in Hitler and Nazism and had
formed a sort of cult-worship which he introduced to Hindley. She dyed
her hair blonde and took to wearing leather boots. Brady called her 'Myra
Hess'.
Brady was very interested in pornography and soon they were posing together
in pornographic pictures. He actually tried to sell the pictures to make
some money but when they found that they couldn't sell them, their thoughts
turned to bank robbery. Myra joined a local gun club and started to learn
how to shoot. She also passed her driving test in November 1963, so that
they now had a getaway driver.
In September 1964 the couple went to live with Hindley's grandmother
in Wardle Brook Avenue, Hattersley. They were friends with Myra's sister,
Maureen, and her 17-year-old husband, David Smith. They had got married
the year before when Maureen discovered she was pregnant. Smith must have
seemed to Brady as the perfect pupil. He had a fondness for drink and a
record of violence and Brady set about impressing him with his boastful
talk of murders committed and the possibilities of armed robbery.
In order to prove to Smith that he meant what he said and also to make
sure Smith was firmly involved Brady picked up 17-year-old homosexual Edward
Evans on the evening of 6 October 1965 and took him back to Hattersley.
Hindley got Smith out of bed late that night and asked him to take her
home. Once at the Wardle Brook Avenue council house she got him to come
inside.
Evans was sitting on the sofa in the living-room and once Smith was
in the room Brady picked up an axe and began to hit evans over the head
with it. He struck him a total of 14 times crushing his skull but still
not killing him. Evans continued to thrash around and Brady put a length
of flex around his throat and strangled him. According to Smith he then
said , 'It's done. It's the messiest yet.' The room was in a dreadful mess
and all three of them scrubbed the living-room clean. A very frightened
Smith then helped Brady truss the body and wrap it in polythene before
carrying it upstairs.
The next morning a frightened Smith told his wife what had happened
the night before They rang the police together. When police searched the
house they found the body of Evans in a locked bedroom. Brady was immediately
arrested. Based on what Smith had told them the police then tried to find
out about the 'three or four others' that he had boasted about A thorough
search of the house revealed two left luggage tickets, for lockers at Manchester
Central Station, they had been hidden in the spine of a book so naturally
police were intrigued. Each locker held a suitcase which when opened was
found to contain a variety of coshes, wigs, photographs and tape recordings.
Some of the photographs were of a small girl. She was identified as
10-year-old Lesley Ann Downey. She had gone missing in December 1964. One
of the tape recordings was of Lesley crying and pleading to be allowed
to go home and they had indulged in sex whilst listening to the tape. Notes
made by Brady talked about another missing child. He was 12-year-old John
Kilbride who had vanished in November 1963. Some of the photographs recovered
showed Brady and Hindley on Saddleworth Moor. The police were able to identify
the areas from these pictures and it was in this way that they discovered
the graves of Lesley Ann Downey and John Kilbride which were found within
a few hundred yards of each other.
At their trial they both denied all knowledge of any harm being done
to Lesley Ann. They said that the child had agreed to pose for pornographic
photos on payment of ten shillings and that the child had left the house
unharmed.
The police began to look at other children that had gone missing over
the previous couple of years to see if Brady and Hindley were responsible
for some of these disappearances.
On the evening of 12 July 1963, 16-year-old Pauline Reade had left her
home to go to a dance at the Gorton Railway Institute. She never arrived.
A year later Keith Bennett vanished. He was 12-years-old and on the evening
of 16th June 1964 he set off for his grandmother's house in the Longsight
district of Manchester. He also vanished.
It was not until 1987 when Myra in a bid to show herself as a reformed
person made a confession stating that they had been responsible for the
deaths of Pauline Reade and Keith Bennett. Pauline's body was found on
Saddleworth Moor in August 1987.
At Chester Assizes on 6 May 1966, after a fifteen day trial, Ian Brady
and Myra Hindley were jointly found guilty of the murder of Edward Evans
and Lesley Ann Downey. Brady was also found guilty of the murder of John
Kilbride while Hindley was found guilty of being an accessory after the
fact. Brady received three life sentences and Hindley two life sentences
and a further seven years on the accessory charge. The sentences brought
to an end one of the most horrifying trials in British legal history.
Morris, Raymond Leslie
What happened on 19th August 1967 must be every parents nightmare. Seven
year old Christine Ann Darby was abducted in broad daylight from Coronation
Street, Walsall. Any hopes her family had of her being found alive and
well were dashed when her suffocated and almost naked body was found three
days later buried in undergrowth on Cannock Chase.
A massive police investigation was launched and statements were taken
from everyone nearby. Witnesses in Coronation Street told of a man in a
grey car with a local accent and two people, who had been on Cannock Chase
that day, remembered seeing a grey Austin A55 or A60. Christine had been
the third child to be found murdered on Cannock Chase in the nineteen months
leading up to August 1967 and a massive manhunt ensued, with the owners
of over 23,000 grey Austins being interviewed.
On 4th November 1968 a 10-year-old girl was offered fireworks by a man
who approached her on waste ground in Walsall. The girl sensibly refused
but determined not to be outdone the man tried to drag her into his car.
He suddenly became aware that he was being watched and leaving the girl
he jumped into his car and drove off, but not before the registration number
of his car had been noted. Police traced the car to 29-year-old works foreman
Raymond Morris, who lived with his second wife in Walsall. They also determined
that Morris had previously owned a grey Austin A55 and he had been previously
reported for molesting young girls. Initially his wife confirmed his alibi
that he had been out shopping with her on the day that Christine Darby
had vanished. After he was arrested, on November 15th, and safely in police
custody his wife retracted her story and said that she had mistaken the
day. Perhaps she had been afraid of him. He was also identified by the
two people who had seen him on Cannock Chase.
When they searched his home, police found indecent photographs of a
small girl. He appeared before Staffordshire Assizes in February 1969 and
was found guilty of the murder of Christine Darby. He was sentenced to
life imprisonment. As he was never charged and tried for the murder of
the other two girls who had also been found on Cannock Chase their cases
remain, officially, unsolved.
Morrison, Steinie
Leon Beron was a 48-year-old widower who had come to England, from Paris,
in 1894. He was a Russian Jew with a poor command of the English language.
He was a property owner and he owned nine small houses in Russell Court,
Stepney, and lived off the rents that these properties provided. He was,
considered well to do, and dressed accordingly with his, always, neat clothes
and trimmed imperial beard. He always wore a large gold watch and chain
with a five guinea piece attached and carried a purse that contained twenty
sovereigns. He rented a room above a fruitshop in Jubilee Road and dined
each day in the Warsaw restaurant in Osborn Street, Whitechapel.
Another diner in Beron's company at the Warsaw restaurant in December
1910 was Steinie Morrison. He was 30-years-old, 6' 3 tall and a professional
burglar. He was also a Russian Jew though he claimed to have been born
in Australia. His real name was Alexander Petropavloff though he also used
the names Morris Stein and Moses Tagger. He had come to England in 1898
and had spent almost all of the previous twelve years in prison.
At 8.10 on the morning of Sunday 1st January 1911 Beron's body was discovered
by PC Mumford. It was concealed in some bushes near a footpath on Clapham
Common.
Beron had been struck on the head with a blunt instrument before being
stabbed three times in the chest. There were also some superficial cuts
to his face. He had been robbed.
Several people had seen Beron and Morrison together the night before
and the owner of the Warsaw restaurant told police that Beron had left
the night before in the company of another man. A cab driver came forward
and told police that he had taken two men, speaking in a foreign language,
to Finsbury Park Station. The description of one of the men fitted Morrison.
Police also discovered that Morrison had worked for a time for a baker
in Lavender Hill and that he knew the Clapham Common area.
Morrison had told his landlady Mrs Zimmerman, at 91 Newark Street, that
he was moving to Paris. Instead he moved in with Florrie Dellow, a prostitute
who lived at 116 York Road, Lambeth. Police also discovered that Morrison,
calling himself Banman, had deposited a revolver and 44 rounds of ammunition,
wrapped in a parcel, at St Mary's Station, Whitechapel, on the morning
of the 1st January.
Feeling they had enough evidence the police arrested Morrison at Cohen's
restaurant, Fieldgate Street, on 8th January. Initially he was arrested
because, still being on parole, he had failed to tell police of his change
of address but this was just a way of the police gaining more time and
two days later the charge was altered to one of murder. His trial began
at the Old Bailey on 6th March 1911 and lasted nine days. The jury retired
for just thirty-five minutes before returning a guilty verdict and Morrison
was sentenced to death. He was reprieved by Winston Churchill, the Home
Secretary, on 12th April and his sentence was commuted to life imprisonment.
He was sent to Dartmoor. He continually protested his innocence and rather
than spend years in prison he petitioned the Home Office on four separate
occasions, demanding that the original sentence be carried out. In the
end he staged a series of hunger strikes and, after he had been moved to
Parkhurst, died on 24th January 1921. He never changed his story and so
we will never know if he was perhaps innocent.
Montgomery, Thomas Hartley
Thirty two year old Montgomery was a police inspector who was convicted
of the brutal murder of William Glass, a bank cashier at the Northern Bank,
Newton Stewart. Shortly after 4pm on 15th July 1871, a cleaner found the
man's body in a pool of blood behind the counter. He had been battered
to death with a hammer. Missing from the safe was over a thousand pounds
in notes, although the thief had left behind a large amount of gold. Montgomery,
the sub inspector at the local police station in Newton Stewart was identified
by two witnesses who saw him enter the bank at the approximate time of
the murder; he was also seen later to wash his soiled coat in a stream,
and his suspicious behaviour after the crime was reported attracted the
attention of his fellow officers. Despite a strong case put forward by
the prosecution, his first trial held before Mr Justice Lawson at Omagh
Assizes was concluded on 22nd July 1872, with the jury twice failing to
bring in a unanimous verdict. A retrial was ordered at the next sitting
of the Assizes and this time Montgomery was convicted and hanged by William
Marwood on the 26th August 1873 in Omagh.
Moore, Thomas
Thomas Moore was a fifty two year old former soldier who had served with
distinction in the Crimean and Indian wars, where he had earned medals
for bravery, strangled his wife after a quarrel at Ashford on 1st June.
The Wednesday before the murder he met his wife, from whom he was separated,
by appointment and on the next two days he went to work and behaved as
normal. On the Saturday he met her by chance and offered to walk her to
her father's home; along the way they sat down for a rest, during which
time he claimed he had an overwhelming desire to kill her. He accused a
member of her family for inciting trouble between him and his wife. His
unsuccessful defence was insanity. He was hanged for his crime on
the 13th August 1872 in Maidstone.
MacDonald, John
MacDonald was a discharged marine convicted of the murder of his girlfriend,
Bridget Walsh, at Stonehouse, Plymouth. On Sunday 28th June, MacDonald
quarrelled with Mrs Walsh - whom he had lived with while her husband was
at sea - over some furniture they had bought and disputed the ownership
of. A fierce row ensued during which he pinned her to the ground with one
hand around her neck, while brandishing a poker in the other. Fortunately
her life was spared - temporarily - when her son came home and dragged
him off. Next day, MacDonald bought some lead acetate poison, and after
paying off some debts, he burst into her house and battered her to death
with a bed post. He then made two attempts to end his own life. First he
drank the poison, then while waiting for it to take effect he cut his own
throat. He was arrested before he could finish the job and removed to prison
where he recovered, despite a third attempt at suicide when he tried to
starve himself to death. He pleaded insanity at his trial held before Mr
Justice Brett at Devon Lammas Assizes in July. After being convicted, he
admitted that he killed her because she had provoked him with her unfaithfulness.
He made a will shortly before his execution leaving eleven pounds which
he asked to be used to pay for her funeral. He was hanged by William Marwood
in Exeter on the 10th August 1874.
McDaid, John
McDaid was convicted of the murder of Edward Ferguson, a retired butter
merchant who was found beaten to death at his home in Sligo on 31st October
1874. The old man had not been seen for several days and when his niece
called on him she found the house locked. She ordered the door to be forced
and the body was discovered. Missing from the house were numerous valuables.
McDaid was hanged by William Marwood on the 24th March 1875 at Sligo.
Morgan, John
Morgan was a nineteen year old bandsman in the 82nd Regiment who was convicted
at Maidstone Assizes, of the murder of John Foulson on 6th March. The two
soldiers were in the same regiment stationed at Shornecliffe camp, and
on the night of the crime they were sitting in a hut with two young drummerboys.
Morgan gave one of the boys a sum of money to go and fetch some sweets
and both the drummers left. Within seconds of them leaving the hut, Foulson
rushed out clutching his neck and dashed into another hut where he picked
up a pen and wrote 'Morgan done it.' He died within minutes from the hideous
gash, his last action being to point accusingly at his killer who had now
entered the hut. Morgan denied the crime, claiming that Foulson had committed
suicide, but this was easily disproved by cuts to the victim's hands, caused
while trying to fend off the blows. Morgan wrote a last letter from his
cell asking his former comrades to forgive him for the shame he had brought
on the regiment. He was hanged by William Marwood on the 30th March 1875
at Maidstone.
McHugh, William
William McHugh was sentenced to death at Durham Assizes on 13th July for
the murder of Thomas Mooney at Barnard Castle. Early on the morning of
11th April, a witness saw McHugh and another man, William Gallagher, dragging
Mooney down to a yard, where he was then thrown over a wall into the River
Tees. As the victim was either drunk, or insensible through a blow to the
head, he was unable to swim and drowned in the murky water. Gallagher had
refused at the last minute to help McHugh throw the man into the river,
and as a result he was acquitted, although the judge censured him for not
stopping McHugh committing murder. He was hanged by William Marwood on
the 2nd August 1875 in Durham.
McCullough, William
Thirty six year old McCullough was an engine fitter, and he and his wife
shared a house with William Watson who was sixty two and a woman who acted
as his wife. On 29th March, McCullough had come home drunk and asked his
wife for some money so that he could purchase more drink; when she refused
he began to beat her. She fled into Watson's room and cried for help. As
Watson tried to calm the drunken McCullough down, he was fatally stabbed.
He was hanged by William Marwood on the 16th August 1875 in Lancaster.
McKeown, Steven
McKeown was sentenced to death by Mr Justice Fitzgerald, for the murder
of eighteen year old Mary McShane, at Forkhill on Sunday 23rd April. Several
years earlier her father had also been murdered and McKeown was suspected
of being responsible for that crime, but had fled to America before he
could be arrested. Soon after McKeown returned to Armagh from America,
Miss McShane took him to court after he had made repeated threats when
she spurned his advances. He was bound over to keep the peace and ordered
to stay away from her. On Sunday 23rd April, he followed her into a field
and brutally beat her about the head with a large stone. He was immediately
arrested. He was hanged by William Marwood in Armagh on the 21st August
1876.
Marks, Isaac
In the spring of 1874, Isaac Marks, a Jewish antique dealer, began to court
Caroline Bernard, and later, as the relationship flourished, he proposed
marriage. Frederick Bernard, father of thirteen and a fellow Jew, checked
out his prospective son-in-law and gave his blessing to their engagement.
All was well until the summer of 1876, when Marks' house was destroyed
by fire. Bernard helped Marks to make the insurance claim, and later presented
him with a hefty bill for his services. Marks was so angry at being asked
to pay what he considered an unreasonable amount, that he broke off the
engagement. This caused great animosity between the two men. On the afternoon
of 24th October, Marks waited outside a shop in Lambeth and as Bernard
emerged he fired seven shots at him, killing him instantly. He was immediately
detained by a member of the public and held until the police arrived. A
shopkeeper testified that he had sold a gun to Marks only an hour before
the crime, effectively ruining the defence of non-premeditated murder.
Marks's counsel claimed that he was insane; he was known in his family
as 'Mad Marks', and both his parents had died in an asylum. Marks was hanged
by William Marwood in Horsemonger Lane on the 2nd Januray 1877 at the age
of twenty three.
McKenna, John
A Rochdale plasterer convicted of the murder of his wife, in what the prosecution
claimed were pure unmitigated brutal circumstances. Annie McKenna was the
same age as her husband; they had been married for several years and had
two children. They did not have a happy marriage on account of his drunkenness,
which often ended in violence against his pretty wife. On 24th February,
McKenna and his heavily pregnant wife visited their neighbour, Mrs Higgins.
John McKenna sent his wife out on more than one occasion to fetch ale,
before they went home in the evening. Later, Annie McKenna returned to
Mrs Higgins to seek refuge from her husband's threatening behaviour. McKenna
who had become more drunk, went over to the Higgins house and demanded
to see his wife. Mrs Higgins, who was quite used to shielding the unfortunate
wife, told McKenna to go away and offered to buy him a quart of ale. McKenna
refused, pushed his way inside and dragged his wife home by the hair. Fearing
for her safety, Mrs Higgins rushed over to the McKenna house and saw through
a window that McKenna was beating and kicking his wife. She watched him
repeatedly bang her head against the floor before calling for another neighbour,
Henry Dunn, to intervene. Dunn and McKenna quarrelled and fought outside
the house whilst a mortally wounded Annie McKenna was treated inside. After
twenty minutes of trading punches with Dunn, McKenna forced his way back
into his house, lifted his wife's head on the pillow and started punching
her about the face. She died soon after, by which time McKenna had fled.
He was soon located in Liverpool, brought back to Manchester and convicted.
Twenty five year old McKenna was hanged by William Marwood in Manchester
on the 27th March 1877.
McGovern, Patrick
Patrick McGovern was a labourer who was convicted of the murder of John
Campbell on 23rd July. Campbell was a Liverpool butcher who happened to
be passing by when McGovern and his wife were having an argument on their
doorstep. At a request from Mrs McGovern, Campbell tried to persuade McGovern
to let his wife into the house. McGovern responded by stabbing Campbell
to death with a carving knife. He was hanged by William Marwood in Liverpool
on the 21st August 1877.
Marsh, Henry
Henry Marsh and Henry Bidwell worked together in a forge owned by Thomas
Mays who was seventy six years old, at Wymondham, Norfolk and during the
summer both men learned that they were to lose their jobs as Mays was retiring
and selling the business. Marsh was particularly upset as he had been employed
at the forge for thirty seven years, and while out on an errand he called
at a pub and had several drinks. When he returned to work he got into a
row with Bidwell and in a rage beat him to death with a heavy iron bar.
A servant girl at the house saw the attack and rushed to tell the elderly
owner. When Mays entered the forge, Marsh turned on him and declared: 'Might
as well swing for two as for one,' and beat the old man to death as well.
He was hanged at Norwich Castle prison by William Marwood on the 20th November
1877, he was fifty when he died.
McDonald, William
McDonald was a fisherman from St Andrews who was convicted at Perth Court
and sentenced to death on 7th September for the murder of his wife, whom
he shot dead on 13th June. McDonald had failed in an attempt to take his
own life, and pleaded that he was innocent because his wife had died as
part of a suicide pact. Despite a strong recommendation for mercy he was
hanged by William Marwood on a scaffold erected in the garden of the prison
above a ventilator shaft. The execution took place on the 3rd October
1878.
McGowan, James
1878
November 19th: James McGOWAN (55)
Manchester
As a result of being a heavy drinker, fifty five year old McGowan,
a Salford bleach worker, began to suffer delusions and became convinced
that his nephew, whom he had taken a sudden and unexpected dislike to,
was attempting to break into his house. He told his wife of the break in
and, knowing it to be all in his head, she refused to help him. This caused
him to grow angry and as a result he threw her to the ground. She climbed
to her feet and they began to struggle, during which he hacked away at
her throat with a pocket knife. She died and he collapsed in a drunken
heap. When he recovered his senses he reported the crime to the police.
William Marwood performed the execution on the 19th November 1878 in Manchester.
McGuiness, William
On Friday 19th October, McGuiness returned to his home at Barrow from his
job as a labourer on a building site at Carnforth railway station. He had
made a threat to a workmate that he'd commit murder before leaving Barrow
for his native Ireland. Later that night a neighbour heard a disturbance
at the house but paid no heed to it. A week later the next door neighbour,
while hanging out washing, climbed onto a fence and looked through Mrs
Ann McGuiness's window and saw her body on the floor. When the body was
examined, it was discovered she had been kicked to death. McGuiness was
traced to Dublin after a magazine carried a description of the crime and
wanted man; he was arrested and brought back to face trial. Sentenced to
death by Mr Justice Thesiger at Lancaster Assizes, and hanged by William
Marwood on the 11th February 1879 at Lancaster. He was forty years old
when he was hanged.
1880
January 16th: Martin McHUGO
Galway
Convicted at his third trial, after the first two ended with the jury
failing to agree on a verdict, of the murder of Michael Brehaney. He had
become incensed at Brehaney who was taking out proceedings against him
for defamation of character. On Christmas Eve 1879, he followed Brehaney
down a quiet lane at Woodford, County Galway, and battered him to death
with a large stone. He pleaded an alibi but the presence of a piece of
cloth in the dead man's hand which matched perfectly with a piece torn
from McHugo's raincoat was enough to convince the jury of his guilt and
he was convicted. Hanged by Marwood.
1881
May 17th: Albert MOORE (23)
Maidstone
A soldier sentenced to death at Kent Assizes for the murder of Mary
Ann Marsh (74). On 15 February, she was left in charge of 'The Woodlands',
the residence of a Lieutenant Scriven of the 52nd Regiment, at Gravesend,
during his temporary absence. On his return he found her dead inside the
house. Her throat had been cut from ear to ear. Moore, a private in the
Regiment, who worked as the Lieutenant's batman, was identified as the
man seen leaving the house shortly before the murder was discovered. Hanged
by Marwood.
1882
December 4th: Bernard MULLARKEY (19)
Liverpool
Convicted of the murder of a Tom Cruise at Maghull, Liverpool, in September.
Mullarkey, Cruise, and another man, Tom Jordan, were three labourers employed
on a farm owned by a John Sumner, where they were allowed to sleep in a
hay loft. During the summer, Mullarkey was heard to make repeated threats
to Cruise, and one witness reported hearing him say that he would 'Burn
the place down and hang for Cruise.' On Monday 25 September, a serious
fire destroyed the hay loft and when it had burnt itself out, police found
Cruise's body among the remains. They ascertained that the victim had been
killed by a blow to the head before the fire started. Mullarkey was immediately
under suspicion, and was later charged with murder. Hanged by Marwood.
1884
March 10th: Michael McLEAN (18)
Liverpool
McLean was one of a gang of Liverpool street corner hooligans who set
upon two Spanish sailors as they made their way back to their ship at Liverpool
docks on 5 January. One made it back unharmed, but when the other, Jose
Jimenez, failed to return, a search party was set up. Police had already
discovered the body and soon had the four youths in custody. Jimenez's
companion was able to testify that McLean was the ringleader and the other
three were released. McLean was hanged by Binns, who had arrived at the
prison drunk. The Governor had taken the precaution of contacting Samuel
Heath, who waited on stand-by. Despite Heath's presence, and Binn's drunken
state, he still carried out the execution, botching it so badly that McLean
took twenty minutes to die through strangulation. Following a complaint
filed by the Governor, Binns was dismissed.
1885
December 7th: Daniel MINAHAN (28)
Newgate
A labourer from Bromley. Kent, sentenced to death by Mr Justice Smith
at the Old Bailey on 17 November, for the murder of his wife Bridget, whom
he beat to death. They lived happily together with their two children until
an incident at home on the morning of 28 October when Minahan was woken
up late
for work. In a mad rage, he picked up a hammer and battered his wife
to death, inflicting over a dozen head wounds and massive chest injuries.
He pleaded guilty to manslaughter caused by great provocation but was convicted,
and hanged by Berry.
1886
February 22nd: Owen McGILL (39)
Knutsford
Early in the morning of 31 October 1885, Owen McGill, an Irish farm
labourer, drove a cart of corn into Birkenhead from his home at nearby
Lincarton. He was accompanied on the journey by his wife, and on the way
back they called at a couple of public houses but both were sober when
they returned home. Later that afternoon, his wife Mary stopped him getting
into a fight with a couple of farm hands, calming him down and preparing
his tea. In the evening a neighbour saw Mary McGill run screaming from
the house, and soon afterwards, another neighbour saw Owen standing over
his wife and telling her to get up. The next morning, he visited his cousin
and asked her to come quickly as his wife was ill, but when she arrived
she found Mrs McGill dead. McGill told the police that she had fallen off
the cart the previous day but his story didn't tie in with what witnesses
had reported,
and as it was apparent that she had received a vicious beating, McGill
was arrested and charged with murder. Sentenced to death by Lord Chief
Justice Coleridge on 3 February. he became the first man to be hanged at
Knutsford prison which had taken over from Chester Castle as the execution
prison in Cheshire. Hanged by Berry.
1886
November 29th: James MURPHY
York
In March, Murphy, a collier from Dudsworth near Barnsley, was arrested
by a PC Austwick on a charge of drunkenness. He received a summons and
later a fine, and as a result he bore a grudge against the officer and
swore revenge. On 31 July, a neighbour reported a disturbance at Murphy's
house, and as s result PC Austwick went to investigate. Murphy recognised
him at once and shouted: 'Oh, it's you I want, wait here!' Murphy then
rushed off, returned shortly with a gun and shot the officer dead; the
shot was heard by the PC's wife at their home nearby. Murphy fled and was
at liberty for many weeks. A reward was offered for information but it
was still some time before he was finally taken into custody. He was convicted
at York Assizes and remained calm to the end. Introduced to Berry on the
eve of his execution, Murphy, who was eating at the time, said in a letter
to his family that despite the meeting, he consumed his meal none the worse
for it. On the morning of the execution as Berry adjusted the noose, Murphy
said to him: 'Put it right old boy and don't be nervous.'
1887
November 21st: Joseph MORLEY (17)
Chelmsford
Convicted on overwhelming evidence at Chelmsford Assizes on 10 November
for the murder of a young married woman with whom he lodged at Dagenham.
After sentence was passed, he confessed that he had killed the woman, a
Mrs Rogers, by cutting her throat with a razor he had found in her bedroom,
but denied that when he had entered the room he had intended to kill her.
Hanged by Berry.
1889
January 14th: Arthur McKEOWN (32)
Belfast
Sentenced to death at Belfast Assizes before Mr Justice Holmes, for
the murder of his paramour, Mary Jane Phillips. The couple lived in a house
on Robert Street, one of the roughest areas of Belfast. On Sunday morning,
26 August 1888, her body was discovered battered to death in the kitchen.
Police arrested McKeown who had already served a six month sentence for
assaulting her. Hanged by James Berry.
1890
August 27th: Francois MONTEAU (51)
Newgate
Monteau was a Belgian immigrant who worked as a cabinet maker in Marylebone.
He was friendly with several Belgians in the area, one of whom was a Francois
de Grave. Monteau had been living with his Belgian girlfriend, Marion Du
Pond, since her arrival in 1887. They had a happy relationship until the
end of May 1890. v hen she left him and went to stay at the same house
as De Grave. Monteau became very angry and decided to kill her if she wouldn't
return to him. On 28 May. he bought a gun and arranged to meet her in Leicester
Square. They talked for a while and then she returned home. Later that
day. Monteau called at the house to see her and was told by De Grave that
she wasn't home. He asked De Grave to come outside. and when he did so,
Monteau shot him dead. He was tried before Mr Justice Grantham at the Old
Bailey and pleaded that the gun had gone off accidentally after someone
had caught his arm. The judge said that an example must be made of people
firing guns in public and sentenced him to death. Hanged by Berry.
1890
December 30th: Thomas McDONALD (32)
Liverpool
On the morning of Saturday 15 November, a young schoolboy discovered
the body of his teacher Miss Elizabeth Ann Holt, lying in a field at Belmont,
near Bolton. The police ascertained that she had been kicked and stabbed
to death, and although her clothes had been ripped there was no sign of
rape. Police learned that she had been missing for a week. As she spent
weekends with her family at home, and weekdays staying with the headmaster
at the school, both thought she was with the other. The head assumed she
was off sick and the family had no idea she had failed to reach her destination.
Witnesses revealed that shortly before she had vanished, she was seen walking
along a path a few hundred yards ahead of Thomas McDonald, a man well known
to the police as a local villain. and until recently a suspect in a mysterious
death. He had a long criminal record, which included rape and police called
on him to ask for a statement. He admitted being in the area but claimed
that he had passed the spot where the body was found and gone to work at
a nearby pit. A quick check with the mine owner proved he was lying and
he was taken into custody. McDonald was tried at Liverpool Assizes by Mr
Justice Cave on 13 December, and convicted after the prosecution put forward
a strong case. Shortly before he was hanged by Berry, he was reported to
have confessed to a relative that he had killed the girl.
1891
July 21st: Franz Joseph MUNCH (31)
Wandsworth
Munch was born in Germany but when he was ordered to sign on as a conscript
in the army, he emigrated and settled in London. He found work as a foreman
baker for a Mrs Bridget Kenrath at Bermondsey, and was much enamoured with
his employer, although a rival for her affections existed in the shape
of one James Hickey, an Irishman who had come to the bakery from Manchester.
On 22 April, Munch went out for the evening and after becoming rather drunk,
he lay in wait for Hickey, eventually shooting him dead in a dark alley.
After he was sentenced to death, Munch appealed for a reprieve on account
of extreme provocation. He also contacted the German Embassy to act on
his behalf but when they learned why he had left his native country, they
refused to have anything to do with him. Hanged by Berry.
1892
March 1st: James MUIR
Newgate
A shoemaker from Whitechapel, Muir had split up from his paramour,
Abigail Sullivan after a drunken row. He went to live with another woman
but Sullivan still pestered him for money and took to calling on him at
work. Muir told her that if she came to the works again, he would stab
her, and later told a friend: 'Something will happen tonight and if anyone
tries to interfere they will be served the same.' After work, he called
at her house and was told to leave. He refused and stabbed her fatally
in the breast. Hanged by James Billington.
1892
December 20th: James MELLOR (33)
Manchester
On 17 October, the body of Mary Jane Mellor was discovered buried beneath
the staircase at her home in Oldham. She had last been seen alive on 3
September and since that time her husband had behaved as normal. A search
had failed to reveal her whereabouts and she was treated as a missing person
until the police were told that Mellor may be hiding something. Detectives
ordered a thorough search of his house and found her body: she had been
stabbed to death and her throat had been ripped from ear to ear. Mellor,
a factory worker, was tried at Manchester Assizes and convicted of her
murder. Hanged by James Billington.
1893
January 10th: Andrew George McCRAE (36)
Northampton
On 6 August 1892, the dismembered body of a woman was discovered inside
a sack beside the Northampton to Rugby road. The sack was traced to a Northampton
butcher, Edward McCrae, who told police that he and his brother often sold
bags to the public. The police requested that McCrae tell his brother to
call at the station to clear himself. The police had no further leads and
on 29 August the coroner recorded an open verdict. Police received information
that a man named McCrae had sold a bundle of women's clothing. When they
learned that Edward McCrae's brother Andrew had failed to report to the
station as requested, they decided to track him down. It was learned that
Andrew McCrae had a wife and family in Birmingham but had moved to Northampton
to work with his brother. Police also discovered that he had had an affair
with a young woman called Annie Pritchard. It was thought that she had
sailed to New York with a man named Anderson after she had become pregnant.
Police decided that Anderson and McCrae were the same person, and concluded
that he had killed his lover when she became pregnant, probably to rid
himself of the financial burden. A search of McCrae's property produced
the calcined remains of human bone and other parts of the body. McCrae
was tried at Northampton Assizes on 20 December. He strongly protested
his innocence but the case against him was strong and the jury took only
a short time to return a guilty verdict. Hanged by James Billington.
1893
January 18th: William McKEOWN
Glasgow
In October 1892, McKeown, a gardener, had been left in charge of his
employer's house on Maxwell Drive, Pollokshields, Glasgow. He was joined
by a sailor, Thomas McNeilly, and during the afternoon they were visited
by Elizabeth Connor. When Connor was later reported missing, enquiries
were made and it was discovered that she had been seen in the vicinity
of the house. The police searched the garden where they found the stabbed
and mutilated body buried. McKeown had fled the scene and when he was later
arrested at Cardonald, he had made an attempt to cut his own throat. McNeilly
was also found but he had an alibi for the time of the crime and was discharged.
McKeown was tried at Glasgow Circuit Court on 28 December before Lord Adam.
He pleaded guilty to culpable homicide in an attempt to escape the gallows
but the jury convicted him of murder. He was hanged by James Billington.
1893
March 16th: Albert MANNING (37)
Gloucester
In 1873, Manning took up lodgings with a Mrs and Mrs Flew at Kingswood.
near Bristol. He became very friendly with his landlady. so much so that
her husband left home and emigrated. leaving them to carry on with their
relationship. Ten years later. Manning returned to his native south Wales
and married his long time sweetheart but he soon left his wife at home
and returned to Mrs Flew. By 1890, he was very jealous of another man who
vied with him for her attention. On 28 September he left work and called
at her shop, which he had helped her to purchase. Soon after he entered,
a passer-by heard a shot, and moments later Manning ran from the shop as
Mrs Flew staggered outside and collapsed. Manning returned to the shop
and hid upstairs but was discovered, arrested and charged with murder.
He refused to plead at his trial at Gloucester; he was found guilty, and
hanged by Billington and Thomas Scott.
1893
July 19th: Amie Holman MEUNIER (25)
Worcester
A German immigrant sentenced to death by Baron Pollock at Worcester
Assizes on 28 June, for the murder of Charlotte Pearcey (71). Mrs Pearcey
and her husband lived in a cottage near Bromsgrove and kept a shop. Meunier
had fallen on hard times and on 13 January entered the shop with the intention
of stealing something. It would seem that the old lady caught him and as
a result Meunier pulled out an axe and hacked her to death. He was identified
by a witness as the murderer but when police went to arrest him he had
fled the country. He was traced to Belgium where he was detained and extradited
to face a murder charge. He attempted suicide in the condemned cell before
he was hanged by James Billington.
1893
December 6th: George MASON (19)
Winchester
Aka George Beckworth. Mason was a former costermonger who had enlisted
in the 3rd Battalion of the East Surrey Regiment, stationed at Portsdown
Hill. On 26 June. he was confined to barracks after being reported by Sergeant
James Robinson. The next day while taking part in rifle practise. Mason
pointed the gun at Robinson and shouted: 'Now I am level with you,' and
shot him in the chest. His defence at Winchester Assizes was based on hereditary
insanity but he was convicted of murder and hanged by James Billington.
1895
June 4th: William MILLER
Liverpool
Convicted of the murder of Edward Moyse. who kept a bookstall at the
Liverpool ferry landing stage. The two men were homosexuals. and Miller
stabbed Moyse to death during a jealous quarrel after he had seen him with
another man. Moyse was found dead in his bed. and Miller was identified
as being seen to leave the house on the morning of the crime. Hanged by
James Billington who gave him a drop of seven feet five inches. assisted
by William Warbrick.
1895
December 31st: Patrick MORLEY (38)
Leeds
An Irish labourer convicted of the murder of his wife, Elizabeth, at
Batley, after she had left him and refused to return. She had walked out
on him because of his constant violence towards her. On 21 September, while
drunk, he called on her and asked her to lend him a shilling. When she
refused, he shot her. He was tried before Mr Justice Grantham and pleaded
insanity, also claiming that the gun had gone off accidentally. Unfortunately
for Morley, Grantham's summing up was heavily in favour of the prosecution
and he was found guilty. Hanged by Billington.
1896
February 4th: William James MORGAN (56)
Wandsworth
A hawker convicted of the murder of his wife at Lewisham in September,
1895. They had been living apart and met up one night in the street. A
quarrel ensued and Mrs Morgan threatened to set her son on her husband
if he didn't leave her alone. In anger, Morgan pulled out his knife and
stabbed her to death. After his conviction, Morgan, a former champion sculler
who had been presented with cups by Gladstone, bequeathed his trophies
to his former colleagues. Hanged by James Billington and William Warbrick.
1896
July 21st: Philip MATTHEWS (32)
Winchester
A coachman employed by Teignmouth Council and convicted of the murder
of his daughter. Matthews had married his second wife in 1892 and she cared
for his daughter from his first marriage as if she were her own. In the
autumn of 1895 he met Charlotte Mahoney and concealed from her the details
of his family circumstances, leading her to believe he was a wealthy single
man. He was so infatuated with her that he proposed marriage and when she
accepted he had invitations printed. He was then faced with the difficulty
of telling his wife, and when he did, she threw him out and refused to
accept any further responsibility for his child. Matthews looked after
the child but kept it secret from his intended bride and eventually it
became a serious problem for him. On 7 April, a child's body was found
strangled in a wood at Teignmouth. Enquiries soon led officers to Matthews
who was arrested and charged with murder.
1899
July 18th: Charles MAIDMENT (22)
Winchester
A labourer who murdered his ex-fiancee Dorcas Houghton at Swanwick.
New Faversham. in April, after she had broken off their engagement. They
had arranged a meeting to return gifts to him. After failing to persuade
her to go out with him again, he shot her dead and gave himself up to the
police. He pleaded insanity at the trial but the prosecution called two
doctors who refuted the claim and he was hanged by James Billington.
1900
August 16th: Thomas MELLOR (29)
Leeds
A Holbeck labourer convicted of murdering his two children Ada (6),
and Annie (4) after failing to find places for them in a workhouse. Mellor
drowned them both in a Leeds canal. He claimed at the trial that he had
been driven to the crime by the Holbeck Board of State who had refused
him aid in looking after the children, although when he had been arrested
Mellor was in possession of enough money to afford lodgings for his family.
Hanged alongside BACKHOUSE [above] by James and William Billington.
1901
December 3rd: Patrick McKENNA (53)
Manchester
A Bolton labourer who stabbed his wife to death after she refused him
money to buy more beer. McKenna enjoyed a respectable income as a joiner
until his business collapsed and he was forced to find work as a labourer.
He never recovered from the depression of losing a job he enjoyed and took
solace in drink, which was to be his downfall. On 30 September, Anne McKenna
returned home after going shop- ping and had another row with her husband
over beer money. She left soon after and took refuge at her daughter's
home. For several hours that afternoon McKenna searched for his wife but
everyone he asked had been forewarned and could offer no help. Eventually
he visited his daughter's house and spotted his wife in the kitchen. Following
yet another row, he picked up a knife and fatally stabbed her. He was chased
by irate neighbours and locked in a coal shed until the police arrived.
McKenna was convicted at Manchester Assizes on 13 November and sentenced
to death by Mr Justice Bicknill. He was hanged by James Billington and
Henry Pierrepoint. Billington was well known to McKenna as the hangman
was the landlord of a public house he frequented. It was the last execution
Billington carried out as he was very ill at the time, and he passed away
ten days later.
1902
May 20th: Thomas MARSLAND (21)
Liverpool
A labourer sentenced to death by Mr Justice Wills on 2 May at Liverpool
Assizes, for the murder of his wife Elizabeth. They had married in November
1901, and for a time lived in lodgings before finding a house of their
own. Following a quarrel, he cut her throat with a razor and then gave
himself up to the police. Marsland confessed before he was hanged by William
and John Billington.
1902
July 15th: Samuel MIDDLETON
Worcester
A labourer who murdered his wife at Foxlydiate near Redditch. Middleton
attacked her with a poker and a machete then set their house on fire. Her
remains were found in the ashes. He confessed in the death cell and was
hanged by William Billington.
1902
September 30th: John MacDONALD
Pentonville
A hawker who stabbed to death John Groves at Spitalfields on 28 July.
MacDonald had accused Groves of stealing five shillings from him and when
a fight broke out he withdrew a pocket knife and stabbed him in the throat.
Witnesses told police that they had heard MacDonald make repeated threats
to kill Groves. At his trial, the defence asked for a plea of insanity
caused by drink, but it was rejected. Hanged by William Billington and
Henry Pierrepoint; MacDonald was the first man to be executed at Pentonville,
on the scaffold that had been removed from Newgate prison.
1904
January 5th: Joseph MORAN
Londonderry
An agricultural labourer sentenced to death, at his third trial, for
the murder of Rose McGann in November 1902. Moran called on Mrs McGann
at her home in Badesy, Co Tyrone, where she lived with her twelve year-old
son. Her husband was working in America. Following some altercation, Moran
stabbed Mrs McGann to death with his knife. At his first two trials, the
jury failed to reach a verdict. His third was in December 1903, and he
was convicted and sentenced to death. Hanged by William Billington.
1906
August 9th: Thomas Acomb MOUNCER (25)
Wakefield
A Middlesbrough butcher sentenced to death by Mr Justice Grantham York
Assizes on 21 July, for the murder of Elizabeth Baldwin with who he lived.
Mouncer strangled her on 12 May after they returned home drunk following
a night out. He confessed to the police when he awoke the next morning.
Hanged by Henry and Thomas Pierrepoint.
1906
December 27th: Walter MARSH (39)
Derby
An ex-sergeant who had served with distinction in the North Staffordshire
Regiment, charged with the murder of his wife, Eliza (23), at Chesterfield
in August. Following his discharge from the Army in 1901, he entered into
a series of business ventures, all of which failed. His marriage was also
faltering on account of the disparity in their ages. He accused her of
being lazy and intemperate while she accused him of brutal treatment. On
9 August, she left home and went to stay with neighbours but later that
afternoon she returned home after he promised to mend his ways. Shortly
after 5pm, he walked out of the house with a razor in his hand and shouted:
'I've done for her this time.' The police found her lying on the bed with
her throat so savagely cut that her head was almost severed. Marsh claimed
at the Derby Assizes trial before Mr Justice Ridley that it was self defence
after she had attacked him, but the prosecution argued that she had been
murdered in her sleep and he was convicted. Hanged by Henry Pierrepoint
and John Ellis.
1907
April 2nd: Edwin James MOORE (33)
Warwick
An ex-private in the Royal Warwickshire Regiment, who murdered his
mother at Leamington. Moore had returned home drunk after a night out,
and during a quarrel with his mother he threw a lamp at her. The lamp missed
but he then set her blouse on fire with newspapers and as a result she
died from extensive burns. Moore then made a vain attempt to put the fire
out before help arrived. After being convicted, largely on the testimony
of his younger brother, he was visited in his cell by his father who told
his son he forgave him for the crime. Moore in turn left a note forgiving
his brother and also warning him to be wary of drink as it had been his
downfall. Moore claimed that crime was not premeditated but because the
Court of Criminal Appeal was not yet in operation, the sentence could not
be contested and the Home Secretary allowed the execution to proceed as
scheduled. John Ellis and William Willis officiated and as they walked
away from the drop, a warder asked Ellis if Moore was dead. 'Yes,' he answered.
'Well you've just hanged an innocent man,' he stated. Ellis replied, 'Well
we can't help that. We had to carry out our orders.' It was one of the
quickest times on record between crime and punishment, taking just thirty
three days for the arrest, trial, conviction and subsequent execution.
1909
January 6th: John Esmond MURPHY (21)
Pentonville
Aka James McDonald, an engineer convicted at the Old Bailey before
Mr Justice Pickford of the murder of Frederick Schlitte, a foreign banker.
On 7 November 1908, Murphy entered an office on Shaftesbury Avenue, London,
and stabbed and shot Schlitte to death prior to robbing the premises. At
his trial, Murphy, who was born in India, pleaded insanity caused by sun
stroke he had caught in his home country. A medical officer told the court
he could detect no trace of insanity, and the jury took only a short time
to return a verdict of guilty of murder. Hanged by Henry Pierrepoint and
William Willis.
1909
March 12th: Thomas MEADE (23)
Leeds
Whilst very drunk, Meade and Clara Howell spent most of the night of
27 November 1908, quarrelling at their home in Crook's Yard, Leeds. He
was overheard to say that he would 'give her a good hiding.' The next day
she was found battered to death. It was said at his trial at Leeds Assizes
on 10 February before Mr Justice (later Lord) Coleridge that he had struck
her down with a broomstick then punched her to death with his fists. After
conviction his counsel appealed to the Court of Criminal Appeal, alleging
that the judge had misdirected the jury on a point about being mad with
rage as opposed to insanity, which they suggested had swayed the jury from
returning a verdict of manslaughter. Mr Justice Darling, presiding over
the appeal, rejected it and Meade was hanged by Henry Pierrepoint and John
Ellis.
1910
February l5th: William MURPHY (49)
Caernarvon
A labourer and former soldier from Leigh, Lancashire, convicted of
the murder of Gwen Ellen Jones at Holyhead on Christmas Day 1909. She had
left him the previous year and, taking her two children from an earlier
marriage, had gone to stay with her father in Bethesda, North Wales. She
later moved on to Anglesey where she lived with friends. Murphy tracked
her down and after failing to persuade her to return home with him, he
cut her throat and threw her body into a drainage ditch. He immediately
gave himself up and was sentenced to death after a short trial in January.
He was hanged by Henry Pierrepoint and William Willis, and he went to the
gallows in good humour. As the hangmen entered the cell, Murphy climbed
onto the table and jumped down. He turned to Willis and said: 'I suppose
it will only be like that.' Told that it would, Murphy walked firmly to
the drop.
1911
December 12th: Walter MARTYN (23)
Manchester
A hotel worker sentenced to death at Manchester Assizes by Mr Justice
Avory on 21 November, for the murder Edith Griffiths. Miss Griffiths, Martyn's
sweetheart, was found strangled at Plumpton Wood, near Heywood. On 28 September,
the couple went for a walk into the woods and began to quarrel over his
alleged affair with another girl. Martyn was upset by the allegation and
grabbed Edith tightly around the throat. To his horror, she fell dead,
and realising his predicament, he decided to make it appear that she had
committed suicide by tying a handkerchief around her neck. At his trial,
the defence claimed that there was no malice involved and argued that it
was really a case of manslaughter, committed by a man who was suffering
a form of insanity. The jury debated for three hours and twice had to ask
the judge for guidance on certain points of law. Martyn was eventually
found guilty, sentenced to death, and hanged by John Ellis and George Brown.
1913
August 14th: Hugh McCLAREN (29)
Cardiff
A marine fireman sentenced to death at Swansea on 18 July for the murder
of Julian Birds, whom he stabbed during a fight at Cardiff docks. Hanged
by John Ellis and William Willis.
1915
August 10th: Walter MARRIOT (24)
Wakefield
A Barnsley miner sentenced to death at West Riding Assizes by Mr Justice
Rowlatt, for the murder of his wife. Walter and Nellie Marriot lived unhappily
together at their home on Wortley Street, Barnsley, and frequently quarrelled.
On the night of 6 June, a neighbour heard a scream followed by a thump,
and minutes later saw Marriot run out into the street crying: 'Oh my poor
lass, what have I done?' Police arrived and found Nellie dead from a knife
wound to the neck. While Marriot claimed it was an accident, a doctor concluded
that the wound had entered the neck behind the left ear and had penetrated
deep into the left lung, and could no way have been an accident. At his
trial, Marriot then claimed it was self defence, saying that his wife had
threatened him with a bottle and he had picked up the knife to protect
himself. A plea of manslaughter was rejected and after conviction he was
hanged by Thomas Pierrepoint and William Willis.
1915
August 17th: George MARSHALL (43)
Wandsworth
A barman sentenced to death at the Old Bailey by Mr Justice Avory on
20 July for the murder of Alice Anderson. whose throat he had cut at Walworth
seventeen days earlier. Hanged by John Ellis and George Brown.
1915
December 29th: John William McCARTNEY (40)
Wakefield
An army cook convicted of the murder of Charlotte Kent at Pocklington
on 9 September. McCartney had changed his name, moved to a new area and
bigam- ously married Charlotte after a disastrous first marriage. He was
housed in a billet and she took lodgings across the road from the camp.
On 25 June, he paid a visit to the lodging house and accused her of drinking
with soldiers while he was confined to barracks. She denied it and her
landlady backed her up. He made the same accusation again later on in the
year. On 9 September, he obtained a pass for the night and they went out
together. Her landlady refused to allow him to sleep in the lodgir.g house,
and they tried in vain to find a room for the night. Eventually, they returned
to her house where they quarrelled. He pulled out a razor and savagely
cut her throat before turning the blade on himself. He was tried before
Mr Justice Atkin at York Castle where he pleaded temporary insanity. After
sentence of death was passed, he was taken to Hull prison where the execution
was to have been carried out. Later, he was transferred to Wakefield prison
where he had the dubious distinction of being the last person to be hanged
there. Thomas Pierrepoint carried out the sentence, assisted by Robert
Baxter.
1917
May 16th: Thomas McGUINESS (25)
Glasgow
An unemployed labourer, who was described as a wanderer and waster,
convicted of the murder of Alexander Imlach, the 5 year old illegitimate
son of the woman he lived with. McGuiness met the child's mother while
she was employed as a domestic worker in Aberdeen. He fell in love with
her and proposed marriage, unaware that she was the mother to a young child.
When he learned of the young boy, he retracted the marriage proposal but
persuaded her to leave Aberdeen and wander the country with him. Within
a few days she tired of life on the road and fled to Edinburgh. He quickly
traced her and once again talked her into joining him, this time in Glasgow.
After they settled in Glasgow, he began to treat the young lad brutally.
He would stub his cigarettes out on the boy's arm and push him down stairs.
His mistreatment coincided with the mother being taken ill and confined
to bed, making her powerless to intervene. On 8 March, McGuiness threw
the boy down the stairs then punched and kicked him about the head, killing
him. McGuiness told the mother that her son had suffered a fit. When a
neighbour called, McGuiness told her the same story but she was unconvinced
and called the police. McGuiness, in the meantime, fled the house but was
arrested when he returned the following day. Sentenced to death by Lord
Johnstone, McGuiness, who stood less than five feet tall, was in a state
of extreme terror before the execution but refused a drop of brandy saying:
'I have been a tea-totaller all my days and I'll manage without it now.'
When John Ellis, on his first trip to the city's Duke Street prison, placed
the noose around McGuiness's neck, he saw that he was about to faint. He
yelled at Robert Baxter, his assistant, to move as he darted to push the
lever. Baxter just managed to leap clear as doors crashed open below his
feet. A similar situation had also occurred at the execution of O'DONNELL
two months earlier.
1920
April 16th: Miles McHUGH (32)
Leeds
McHugh had separated from his wife in January 1918, leaving her and
their two children. He then moved from their home town of Chorley and subsequently
settled in Middlesbrough where he found a job as a labourer which enabled
him to send his wife a weekly allowance. In June of that year, posing as
a single man, he met Edith Anne Swainson, who had just broken up with her
fiancé. They began a relation- ship and in March 1919, she gave
birth to a child. They were happy enough together until the winter, when
Edith's ex-fiancé, a man named Holman, reappeared on the scene.
When McHugh learned that she had been seen talking to him he flew into
a rage and moved out of their house, despite her reassurances that nothing
untoward was going on. McHugh continued to return to the house to see his
child. but these visits usually ended in fierce arguments and reached a
climax on Christmas Eve when neighbours had to restrain him from attempting
to strangle her. On the evening of 24 January. 1920. a young man walking
down a Middlesbrough street spotted something suspicious lying under a
nearby railway arch. On closer examination. he found himself looking down
upon the body of Edith Swainson. She had an horrific throat wound. McHugh
was soon arrested and identified as being seen ith the woman shortly before
she was found dead. McHugh told police that he had been with her that afternoon
but had left her after a quarrel. Fearing that she may do herself some
harm. he claimed to have returned after a short time and was horrified
to find her dead, a cut throat razor by her side. In a panic, McHugh said,
he threw the razor away and fled. He was tried before Mr Justice Bailhache
at York Assizes on 9 March. He repeated his story about her committing
suicide and him finding the corpse but this was quickly discredited by
a doctor who had examined the body and testified that there was no way
the wound could have been self-inflicted. From then on, there was only
one verdict and the jury took just eighteen minutes to find McHugh guilty.
Hanged by Thomas Pierrepoint and Edward Taylor.
1923
August 8th: Hassan MUHAMED (33)
Durham
A ship's fireman convicted at Durham Assizes for the murder of Jane
Nagi at South Shields. Mrs Nagi was the English widow of an Arabian seaman.
Whilst the couple were sharing a meal at a restaurant owned by one Salam
Alli, they began to quarrel noisily and the police were called. They received
a warning but when the officers left, Muhamed and Nagi resumed the argument
during which she scratched his face and grabbed him by the throat. He left
the restaurant, returned with a gun, and shot her dead. During the investigations,
Muhamed tried to blame the murder on Salam Alli but evidence suggested
otherwise. Sentenced to death by Mr Justice Hewart and hanged by Thomas
Pierrepoint.
1923
October 30th: Phillip MURRAY (31)
Edinburgh
A Dundee born newsvendor convicted of the murder of William Ronald
Cree (30), who died as a result of being thrown through a second storey
window on 23 June. Murray claimed at the trial that he had returned to
the house on Jamaica Street, Edinburgh, that he shared with his girlfriend
and found her in the bedroom with Cree. The two men began to argue and
Cree leapt from the window to escape a beating from Murray, who was well
over six feet tall. The prosecution alleged that Murray had thrown Cree
through the window in a jealous rage after catching him with his girlfriend.
He was found guilty by a majority of 11-4 on 8 October, and sentenced to
death. The jury added a recommendation for mercy, and after Lord Constable
had passed the sentence, Murray reiterated his innocence and thanked his
counsel for their help. 22,000 people signed a petition for a reprieve
before Murray walked, carrying a crucifix, to the scaffold where he was
hanged by John Ellis. It was the last execution at Calton prison.
1925
August 11th: James MAKIN (25)
Manchester
Jim Makin had taken to drink since losing his job at a Manchester bleach
works. He had not long been married and he and his wife rented a house
on Cross Street, Newton Heath, Manchester, from her uncle. One afternoon
in May, he called into his local pub for an afternoon drink and had not
long been settled in his seat when a young woman came over and began talking
to him. He had chatted to her a few nights earlier but could not recall
her name. He later found out that she was twenty four year old Sarah Cullen
from Liverpool. What he did not know at the time was that she was a prostitute
and went under the name of Sadie. They talked until closing time that afternoon
and then walked out together into the street. Makin. who by now had discovered
her line of business. bade her farewell and began to walk home. As he neared
his house he was dismayed to find that she had followed him back, determined
to procure a little business for herself. He told her to go away and entered
the house. quickly closing the door behind him. Moments later there was
a knock on the door, but hoping that she would go away, Makin ignored it.
After several minutes of relentless knocking, he decided to see the woman
off once and for all. Opening the door, he noticed that a shopkeeper across
the street was watching intently through her window and so, not wanting
to make a scene, he reluctantly admitted Sadie into his house. Shortly
after Spm, Mrs Makin returned home from work. Knowing Jim would be home
she called out his name in greeting upon entering the house. There was
no answer, or any sign of him downstairs so, assuming that he had gone
out for an early evening stroll, she went upstairs to change her clothes.
She entered her bedroom, and on the floor below the window she found the
disfigured body of a woman. The victim had severe bruising to the body,
deep cuts to her face and neck, and three fingers on her left hand had
been cut down to the bone. Beside the body was a bloodied carving knife,
and glass from a broken beer bottle littered the room. She guessed that
her missing husband was the likely murderer. She informed the police who
quickly arranged for all exits from the town to be covered, but later that
night Makin walked into Newton Heath police station where he readily confessed
to the murder. At his trial at Manchester Assizes he pleaded guilty through
extreme provocation, but the jury found him guilty and he was sentenced
to death by Mr Justice Wright. Hanged by William Willis and Robert Baxter.
Willis later recalled that Makin's guards had thought their prisoner would
'crack up' on the morning of the execution, but in fact he walked to the
drop as a firm as a rock.
1926
June 27th: Johannes Josephus Cornelius MOMMERS
Pentonville
Convicted of the murder of Augusta Violette Pionbini, an Italian woman,
at Thundersley, Essex, on 7 May. Mommers had been lodging with the Pionbini
family, and one evening took Augusta out. Later, she staggered home with
a cut throat and died. Mommers was quickly taken into custody. Sentenced
to death at the Old Bailey and hanged by Robert Baxter and William Willis.
1926
July 15th: James MYLES (22)
Dublin
Convicted of the murder of John Smith, who was shot dead at Town Parks,
Ardee. on 27 February. Sentenced to death by Mr Justice Hanna after a trial
on 17 June. The jury recommended him to mercy. on account of the state
of the country at the time. The Judge. in passing sentence, stated that
he did not agree with the jury's recommendation. The hangman was not recorded
but was probably Thomas Pierrepoint.
1926
November 24th: James McHUGH (31)
Dublin
Sentenced to death by Mr Justice O'Byrne on 27 October, for the murder
of William Dollinson, whom he kicked to death at Now Ross on 24 April.
Hanged by Thomas Pierrepoint and Robinson.
1926
December 9th: Henry McCABE (48)
Dublin
'La Mancha' was a large, picturesque house situated within a sea-side
resort in the north east of Dublin. Its occupants were the McDonnell family:
brothers Peter and Joseph, and their sisters, Annie and Alice. All were
unmarried and they had retired to live at the house in 1918 after running
a successful business. On 31 March 1926, Henry McCabe, their gardener.
alerted the police that the house was on fire. A neighbour helping to look
for the occupants of the house spotted a can of parrafin in one of the
rooms which was not ablaze. Further evidence that the fire was not accidental
was noticed when the first body was found in the house. It was clear that
the victim had been beaten to death, not burned. A few hours later. there
were six bodies lying dead on the front lawn. all removed from the house
which by now had been destroyed by the blaze. Thes included all four members
of the McDonnell family and two servants. James Clarke and Mary McGowan.
The only member of the household to survi e was Henry McCabe. who. it was
noticed. was wearing a pair of trousers that had belonged to one of the
dead brothers. It was clear that the fire had been started to cover up
the slaughter that had taken place inside the house, for all the victims
had been beaten to death with a blunt instrument. Not only that, but they
had also been poisoned with a dose of arsenic sufficient to weaken them
and render themselves defenceless against a personal attack. McCabe was
the prime suspect from the first moment and as evidence was built up against
him he was charged with the murders. In November he stood trial before
Mr Justice O'Brien. The case against him was strong but there was a definite
lack of motive. The best offered was that he was afraid that the impending
sale of the house would cost him his job. McCabe made a poor show in court
and numerous witnesses testified against him, including a guard who had
looked after him while on remand. He claimed that McCabe had asked him
to pass a message to his wife asking her to lie about the trousers he was
wearing by saying that he had been given them a few weeks earlier. The
truth was that McCabe had changed into a pair of Peter McDonnell's trousers
after spoiling his own during the arson. The jury took less than an hour
to convict him and he was later hanged by Thomas Pierrepoint and Robinson.
1927
January 24th: James McKAY (40)
Glasgow
Convicted of the murder of his aged mother, Mrs Agnes Arbuckle; parts
of her dismembered body were found in a sack on the banks of the River
Clyde, while the other sections were discovered in a coal bunker at her
Glasgow home. Sentenced by Lord Ormindale at the Glasgow Circuit Court
in December 1927 after his plea of insanity was disregarded. A witness
at the trial told the court that McKay had invited him to Mrs Arbuckle's
house on 12 October to help move a heavy tin trunk. Together they moved
it to McKay's lodgings. The next day, the trunk was back at the house,
only now it was considerably lighter than when it had left. Another witness
told how she saw McKay on the day that his mother had disappeared, covered
in mud. After sentence was passed he called out 'Cheer up' to sobbing relatives
in the court as he was ushered from the dock. His appeal. the first in
a Scottish court, was heard in Edinburgh, and dismissed after the appeal
court agreed with the original finding. Hanged by Robert Baxter.
1927
July 27th: William John MAYNARD (36)
Exeter
Maynard earned a good living as a rabbit trapper in his home town of
Poundstock, Cornwall. His traps (over a thousand) were in place in most
of the farms in the area and he needed two assistants to run the business.
A few miles from Poundstock lived an old recluse, Richard Francis Roadley
(84), who occupied a cottage at Titson. Although he lived in terribly squalid
circumstances, it was a popular rumour that the old man was an eccentric
sitting on a tidy sum. On Sunday afternoon, 19 February, the old man was
found battered about the head in his cottage, and he died before he could
be taken to hospital. The house had been rifled and the contents of the
drawers strewn across the floor. Maynard was interviewed as part of the
routine inquiries and denied any involvement. There was nothing to suggest
he was not telling the truth and the officers left. The next day, he made
another statement and admitted that on the night of the murder he had called
at the house with an accomplice. Maynard claimed that he had waited outside
while his friend went in to see what he could thieve. When the old man
offered resistance, the accomplice beat him to death. Maynard then told
police where they could find two stolen watches. The man Maynard blamed
for the murder was able to satisfy the police that he was in no way involved.
As a result of his efforts to shift the blame, Maynard found himself before
Mr Justice Swift at the June sitting of Bodmin Assizes. He reiterated his
statement that the accomplice committed the crime but the man's alibi was
strong and the jury took only a short time to return a guilty verdict.
Maynard was duly hanged by Thomas Pierrepoint and Thomas Phillips for a
crime attributed to 'elemental avarice.'
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For more information contact:
Gregg Manning
