Murderous Monday - Men Who Kill - John Carter - Wife Killer

On Tuesday 5th December 1893 at Reading Gaol, John Carter a cowman from Watchfield, Berkshire met his marker at the end of James Billington's rope for the murder of his third wife Rhoda Carter nee Titcombe.

John Carter was born in 1850 In Wachfield, Berkshire to William Carter, an agricultural labourer, and his wife Elizabeth Anger.  John first appear on the 1851 Census aged eleven years living with his parents and siblings in Watchfield, Berkshire.

On 17th July 1871 John Carter married his first wife, Elizabeth Ann Thatcher in Farringdon, Berkshire.  Together John and Elizabeth had six children together, Elizabeth "Annie", Clara, Elizabeth Louisa who sadly died in infancy, Martha, Thomas and William Henry.  The 1881 Census shows John and Elizabeth, along with Annie, Clara and Martha, living in Cottage House in Worton Hamlet, Cassington, Oxfordshire. 

On 18th June 1887 the marriage ended when Elizabeth mysteriously fell down the stairs at Broadleaze Farm in Watchfield, breaking her neck.  The coroner recorded the death as accidental.  Later that year on 19th October John Carter married his second wife, Elizabeth Ann Alder.  John and Elizabeth had one child together, a son Nelson.  In the September of 1889 Elizabeth mysteriously disappeared.

In 1893 John married again, this time to Rhoda Ann Titcombe.  Three months after their marriage things began to sour.  On the night of 20th June 1893 young Thomas Carter lay awake in bed with his younger brother:

"At 11 p.m. on 20 July 1893, 9-year-old Thomas Carter lay in bed with his younger brother listening to an almighty row between his parents; a not unusual event. At just after 11.30 p.m., he heard his mother Rhoda cry, ‘No, John, no!’, then almost beseechingly, ‘Lord have mercy on me,’ followed by silence. The Carter children, who were farmer boys, were up at 4.30 a.m. the following morning to do their chores. Afterwards, as they ate their breakfast, Thomas noticed his father acting in an unusual way. He had lugged a large bath and firewood into the smithy that adjoined the cottage. These items were followed by two more; a pitchfork and a shovel. Both boys knew better than to question their father so they made their way to school in silence."

Rhoda's family become suspicious of her sudden disappearance:


"Mrs Titcombe, Rhoda’s mother, lived with her son David a few yards away. At 9 a.m. on 21 July, she knocked on Carter’s door but got no reply. Through the window though, she could see Rhoda’s new green coat hanging on the kitchen door. Also, only three breakfasts had been laid on the table. Turning, she saw Carter leaving the smithy. She enquired of Rhoda. ‘Gone to her sisters at Eastleech’ came the surly reply. She was then ignored. ‘How long will she be gone?’ ‘Didn’t say, day or two.’ Carter entered and closed the smithy door. Anne Butler, Rhoda’s friend, was hanging out clothes when she noticed thick black smoke accompanied by a sickly stench coming from the smithy. Anne crossed the road and hammered on the smithy door. ‘Where is Rhoda?’ enquired Anne. ‘Go away, you are a loose woman. Rhoda’s up at Eastleech’, was the reply."

Suspicions in the village grew as thick smoke was seen billowing from the smithy attached to John Carter's cottage:

"When smoke was seen gushing from the smithy again on 22 July, David Titcombe knocked on the door. Not being satisfied with Carter’s explanation that he was boiling up offal, David decided to make the thirty mile round trip to Eastleech by bike and also to send Anne Butler for the police. PC Sparkes made a couple of cursory calls at Carter’s farm, without finding John Carter. He was pretty sure that Rhoda was alright and that her brother would have found her at Eastleech. When news came to the contrary, he became alarmed and made a successful effort at contacting Carter. He searched the farm in Carter’s presence and became very suspicious. ‘She’s left me,’ stated Carter. Sparkes thought to himself that it was strange that a woman would depart leaving all her good clothes behind."

However John Carter couldn't keep his terrible secret forever:

"On 25 July, Carter had a drink with his brother in Wantage and confessed to him that he had killed his wife. At 9 a.m. on 26 July, after wrestling with his conscience all night, Carter’s brother walked into Wantage police station and reported Carter’s confession. John Carter was arrested at 11 a.m. Shortly after, Sergeant Benning and PC Sparkes searched Carter’s barn. Three inches under the floor, Rhoda’s body was discovered, the nose smashed and with horrific bruising around the throat. The body had been burned and boiled."

Unsurprisingly speculation was now rife about the death of John Carter's first wife and the disappearance of his second.  A search of Broadleaze Farm where John and Elizabeth worked at the time was made.  Whilst the search was underway John Carter was tried and found guilty of the murder of his third wife Rhoda and he was hanged on Tuesday 5th December 1893.  On the Wednesday after the police made a shocking discovery:

"Colonel Blandy, chief constable of Berkshire, and Superintendent Butcher, of Farringdon, resumed the search on Wednesday, for the missing body of the second wife of Carter.  Digging was carried out on several places and after about two hours' hard work a perfect skeleton was discovered buried about a foot below the surface of the ground, in the rick yard of Broadleaze Farm, Shrivenham, where Carter was employed, and about 100 yards from the cottage where he lived.  The police were induced to resume their search for the missing woman, in consequence of the confession made by Carter.

Coroner's Inquest

On Friday at the Barrington Arms, Shrivenham, Mr. Jotcham, coroner for West Berkshire, opened and inquest on the skeleton found at Broadleaze Farm, about two miles distant in the same parish.

A complete skeleton was found discovered about 10 feet below the surface.  What seemed to be the remains of a flannel petticoat was round the body, stockings on the legs, and the busks of a pair of stays were also found.  The skull was intact, and the jaw contained a fine set of white teeth.

Dr Coniston Spackman, of Farringdon, said he examined the remains found.  They belong to a female of medium height, and when put together formed a compete skeleton.  The nose seemed as thought it had been smashed.  There were no signs of strangulation."

Murderous Monday - Men Who Kill - William Hussell - The Angry Butcher

On the 19th November 1877 William Hussell met his maker at the end of William Marwood's rope for the wilful murder of his wife, Mary Hussell.

William Hussell was born in 1839 in Eastdown, Devon to John Hussell, a coachman, and his wife Mary Ackland.

In 1851, 12 year old William is a scholar living with his parents at Watermouth Cottage in Ilfracombe, Devon.  In 1861, 21 year old william is lodging with the Mouse family in the High Street, Ilfracombe, Devon.  Unfortunately William's occupation listed on the census return is too worn to read.  At some point between 1861 and 1870, William becomes a butcher, setting up shop at Butcher's Row in Barnstaple

In 1870 in Bideford, Devon William marries Mary Bellew.  In 1871 the newly married couple are living in Newport Road, Barnstaple where William is now described as a master butcher.  The couple's first child, a daughter Mary Ann is born in 1872, followed by William Charles Bewell in 1875, Thomas Bellew in 1876 and baby Edith in 1877.

By 1877 the family had moved to their present house at Diamond Street, where they employed a maid by the name of Emily Dockery.

By all accounts William liked his drink and as a consequence, Mary bore the brunt of his drunken rages.  On the evening of 5th October 1877 William was much the worse for drink, even so he and his wife Mary worked together at their shop on Butcher's Row until 8:30pm.  At the end of the evening William returned home to Sander Cottages in Diamond Road, however, having argued with William previously that day, Mary was afraid to return with him. 

14 year old Emily Dockerty was the sole witness to the events that unfolded in Sander's Cottage that night.  She testified in court that,

"He returned home between 8 and 9 that evening, he was not sober, my mistress was not at home.

When Prisoner came home two of the Children were in bed and the baby was in the Cradle. I then put the eldest Child to bed, and by Prisoners order went to the Market to fetch my Mistress leaving him in the kitchen. I did not find her at the Shop but on my return home I found her in the Court outside the front Door. Prisoner was inside where I had left him on a chair. The baby was crying and the deceased asked me to go and fetch it to her. I took it out into the Court to her.

Prisoner came into the Court and asked her to come in, she replied "I am afraid to go in William as I fear you will hurt me." He said " I will not hurt you". He then pushed her into the kitchen, as he was pushing her in he said "You dirty [unclear] you shall never go outside this door again alive." She went through the kitchen into the back kitchen and sat on the stairs that lead to the bedroom and gave the baby the breast. Prisoner then asked me to make him some Tea, whilst I was doing so and he was sitting on the Chair at the table I heard him say "I will wait until the Clock strikes" he then took a knife (now produced) out of the pocket of his Coat. He held it up in his right hand and said to deceased who was still in the back kitchen "I have got it ready for you", at the time he said this he could see her from where he was sitting in the Chair. She said "You can't do it, my mother's prayers will be answered for me." I don't take any notice of what you say and when I look at the baby I feel happy." He then returned the knife to his pocket. A few minutes afterwards he took it out again and holding it up said to deceased "It is what I kill the Pigs with." He again put it into his pocket, almost immediately he took it out a third time and walked into the back kitchen towards deceased with the knife in his right hand. I heard her say "I will scream murder if you touch me." I then ran out being very much frightened and went to Mrs. Sanders's house which is four or five doors off.

As I was running down the Court towards Mrs. Sanders's house I heard my Mistress scream "Murder." I returned to the house having been absent about a minute and a half, I met the prisoner walking down the Court he said "I have finished her." I went into the Prisoner's house, deceased was lying in the back kitchen on the floor on her face. I saw blood on the floor. The knife was lying on the floor beside her I heard the baby crying but could not see it. It was under her. I said to her "Mrs. Hussell can I do anything for you." She made no reply and did not move. I then went to tell Mrs. Sanders. While I was at Mrs. Sanders's Mrs. Giddy called to me. I went up the Court, and found her standing just outside Prisoner's Door. She asked me to fetch the Baby, I told her I could not do so. Mrs. Giddy then went in and brought it out to me. There was a quantity of blood on its Night dress and its Arms.

During the time I lived with Prisoner and deceased, Prisoner drank a great deal and very often came home tipsy. I have very often heard him threaten to kill his Wife. On Monday night before her death (1st October) he came home to have his supper, he was very tipsy, he then began to abuse the deceased and said he would finish her.

The Deceased used to find fault with the Prisoner for his intemperate habits and for not attending to his business. She was a hardworking industrious Woman and very temperate. The Prisoner was not in the habit of killing Cattle at home and knives or butcher's tools were not kept there and none of the Butcher's work was done in Sander's Court. I never saw the knife now produced in the house in Sander's Court until the Prisoner took it out of his Pocket on Friday night."

It must have been an extremely frightening experience for poor Emily.

Mary had been attacked by her husband whilst she sat on the stairs breastfeeding Edith, the medical evidence supported this has Dr. Andrew Fernie testified,

"I am a Surgeon and live at Barnstaple. On Friday night 5th October instant I was called by Police Constable Thomas Downing at Eleven o'clock P.M. and proceeded with him to the Prisoner's house. Superintendent Longhurst was there when I arrived. I found the body of the deceased on the floor partly in the front and partly in the back kitchen. Her face was covered blood. She was quite dead, but warm. There was a great deal of blood in her mouth and throat, there was a large quantity of blood in the back kitchen.

On Saturday the sixth instant by direction of the Coroner I made a post mortem examination of the body in which I was assisted by Mr. Jackson. I found the following incised wounds on the body. One on the upper part of the right breast which had penetrated very deeply into the flesh into a large blood vessel below the collar bone. A wound on the lower part of the same breast which had passed between the ribs and into the Chest, close to, but not wounding the lung and liver. A wound on the back of the left blade bone not very deep. A wound on the back of the left upper arm, and a wound on the left side of the face which passed very deeply down to the lower jaw, from hence across the mouth and through the palate on the right side, which had opened a large blood vessel there, and caused a great deal of hemorrhage (sic). I opened the body and found the organs all healthy. There were 2 bruises on the right breast and 2 on the right side of the face.

The body looked blanched as if a great deal of blood had flown from it. I am of the opinion that the deceased's death was caused from loss of blood occasioned by the wounds which I have described. The wounds are of such a character as might be caused by such a knife which the Superintendent of Police has produced. The wound which was on the left cheek and which took a downward course was a fatal one. Having regard to the course of this wound I think the deceased was struck by some person standing at a higher level than she was."

William was convicted of murder and sentenced to hang.  On 19th November 1877  William walked to the scaffold with a firm step, but broke down and cried bitterly before he was dropped into oblivion.

But what became of William and Mary's children.  Thomas Bewell Hussell was first taken in by his mother's sister, Ann Clarke and husband George Clarke, then later by his mother's brother, Thomas Bewell and wife Alice Maria.  Where he is still living in 1911.

Mary, William and Edith were sent to The New Orphans Houses in Bristol, where they all appear on the 1881 Census, strangely though Mary Ann is listed as Sarah Ann.  Edith is still living at the home for orphans in 1891.  In 1899 Mary Ann Hussell marries Arthur Ernest Britton in Bideford, Devon.

 In 1901 Edith is visiting her sister Mary Ann and husband Arthur at their home in Glamorgan.

Murderous Monday - Men Who Kill - William Frederick Horry - Wife Killer

On 1st April 1872, William Frederick (Fred) Horry met his maker at the end of William Marwood's rope.  He was also the first of William Marwood executions and the first at Lincoln Castle using the more human 'long drop' method.

William Frederick Horry was born in the December if 1843 to William Horry, a brewer and his wife Elizabeth Bland.  On the 1851 Census, 7 years old William, then known as Fred is living with his parents and two younger siblings in Lincolnshire.  In 1861 the now 17 year old William is an assistant brewer with his father.

In 1867 in Staffordshire William married his future wife Jane, the couple then took over the running of The George Hotel in Burslem Staffordshire.  But not everything was well in the Horry household.  William began to drink and became abusive towards Jane, believing her to be having an affair.  So much so that by the September if 1871 the couple had become estranged.  Jane had taken their three children and gone to live with William's parents in Boston Lincolnshire.  William continued to visit his family but his behaviour became so violent that William's one father banned him from the home.

William was unable to maintain The George Hotel and sold the business before moving to Nottingham.  In the January of 1872 William pleaded once more with his wife for her and their children to return to him, being unsuccessful he travelled back to Nottingham and purchased a revolver.

William then returned to Boston, and gained entry into his father's house where he lay in wait for Jane, shooting her dead as she entered the dining room.  William then then calmly handed the revolver to his stunned brother Thomas, saying -

“You have no notion, Tom, how I loved that woman, but I could not stand the jealousy.”

William then stayed at the home awaiting his arrest.  At his trial on 31st March William pleaded insanity, but the prosecution was successful in it's argument that the crime had been premeditated.  William was found guilty of the murder of his wife and sentenced to death.  He showed no interest in appealing his conviction and was executed the next day at Lincoln Castle by William Marwood.

William is buried in Lucy Tower in Lincoln Castle were a simple stone baring his initials and death of death mark his final resting place.

Supporters of William erected a granite obelisk in his and Jane's honour at St John the Baptist Churchyard in Burslem, Staffordshire.

Murderous Monday - Women Who Kill - Florence Maybrick - The Flypaper Poisoner, Miscarriage of Justice?

Florence Maybrick was born Florance Chandler on 3rd September 1862 in Mobile County Alabama to John Chandler, a banking partner and Caroline Holbrook.

After her father's death and her mother's remarriage to Baron Adolph von Roques, Florence travelled with her family to Liverpool in England.  It was aboard ship that she met her future husband, James Maybrick, a cotton broker 24 years her senior.  They were soon married on 27 July 1881 at St James Church, Picidilly, London.

Unfortunately their marriage was an unhappy one.  James had several mistresses and was obsessed with his health, to the point of self administering arsenic and strychnine.  Florence had lovers of her own, one is believed to have been local businessman Alfred Brierley and even James's own brother, Edwin.  After a violent argument with James regarding her faithfulness, James threatened to divorce Florence.

Florence was in the habit of buying flypapers and soaking them in water to extract the arsenic as a beauty treatment.  Florence bought some flypaper from a local chemist in the April of 1889.  On 27th of that month James Maybrick was taken ill.  At first it was thought that James has accidentally self administered a double dose of strychnine, doctors treated him for a stomach complaint but James's condition deteriorated.  Florance wrote a compromising letter to Alfred, which was intercepted by the family nanny, Alice Yapp and passed onto James's brothers. 

On 11th May 1889 James Maybrick died at his home in Liverpool.  His brothers were immediately suspicious and arranged for his body to be examined.  The post mortem found small traces of arsenic throughout James's body, but not in quantities sufficient to kill a person.  It was also unclear as to whether James had been poisoned or had administered the arsenic himself.  Yet Florence was arrested for her husband's murder.  The Liverpool Echo reported -

"Florence Maybrick has been arrested on suspicion of murdering her husband James Maybrick, her children are being cared for by their godmother, Mrs Jannion at Gateacre."

Florence stool trial at St George's Hall, Liverpool, were she was convicted of her husband's murder and sentenced to death.  A public outcry followed, the was then concluded that while Florence had administered the arsenic to her husband with the intent to murder, there was reasonable doubt as to whether the amount of arsenic was the cause of death.  Florence's sentence was commuted to life imprisonment.

Florence was first held in the Female Convict Prison in Woking, Guildford, where she appears aged 27 on the 1891 Census.  Later Florence was transferred to the Female Convict Prison and House of Correction on Bierton Road in Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, Where she appears aged 37 on the 1901 Census.

Florence was finally released in 1904 after having spent 14 years in custody.  She returned to the United States where towards the end of her life she became a recluse.  Florence died at home in her three room cabin in Gaylordsville, Connecticut on 23rd October 1941.


It seems perhaps the courts where preoccupied with punishing Florence for her suspected adultery, rather than the actual death of her husband as the evidence against her was thin to say the least.  A doctor and chemist both testified to James having self administered and purchased arsenic for his personal use.  Many Victorian men believed arsenic to be a tonic and aphrodisiac.  Florence had very little to gain from James's death and would have been finanically better off if she had legally separated from James.  Maybe the thought of divorce and the resulting ruin in Victorian society drove her to desperate measures.  Found in Florence's possessions after her death was a tattered family bible, pressed between it's pages was a ageing piece of paper with instructions on how to soak flypaper to obtain arsenic for use as a beauty treatment.

Murderous Monday - Men Who Kill - William Henry Bury (Berry) - Ripper Suspect

On 28th April 1889, William Henry Bury (Berry) met his maker at the end of James Berry's rope for the murder of his wife Ellen Bury (Berry) in Dundee, Scotland.

William Henry Bury was born on 25th May 1859 in Stourbridge Worcestershire to Henry Bury, an employee of a local fishmonger, and his wife Mary Jane Henley.  Tragically William was orphaned at an early age.  His father Henry was killed in a horse and cart accident on 10th April 1860, when he fell under the wheels of his own cart as his horse bolted.

Mary Jane, already suffering with depression after the birth of her fourth child, William, and the death of her eldest child, seven year old Elizabeth Ann from a fit that same year, was committed to the Worcester Pauper and Lunatic Asylum on 7th May 1860.  There she remained until her death at the age 33 on 30th March 1864.

William Henry Bury

On the 1861 Census, one year old William can be found being cared for by Mary Jane's younger brother, Edward Henley and his wife Ann.  By 1871 William, then aged 12, is a boarding pupil at Stourbridge's Blue Coate Charitable School.  At the age of 16 William found work as a Factor's Clerk in Wolverhampton, where he remained until the early part of the 1880s when he left after being unable to repay a loan.  He found work with a lock manufacturer in Lord Street, Wolverhampton, until he was sacked for a theft in 1884.  After that William lead an unsettled life as a street hawker.

Sometime in the October of 1887, William moved to London where he found work as a sawdust seller.  It was in London that he met and later married Ellen Elliot on 2nd April 1888.  William and Ellen left London and travelled to Dundee to escape William's debt, arriving in the Scottish city on 20th January 1889.  On the 4th of February, William bought a length of rope from a provisions store.

The evening of 10th February 1889 William walked into the Dundee Central Police Station in Bell Street and reported the supposed suicide of his wife Ellen.  William was reported to say that he had been drinking the night before and woke in the morning to discover his wife's body with a rope around her neck.  He also made several rambling references to being mistaken for and arrested as Jack the Ripper.  Officers were immediately dispatched to search William's home address, 113 Princess Street, where they made the gruesome discovery of a woman's mutilated body stuffed into a wooden packing crate.

Ellen had been strangled to death with the rope William has purchased earlier, her body stabbed several times with a penknife and her abdomen had been cut open from the pubis bone upwards, exposing 12 inches of intestines.  To fit the body into the small packing crate her head had been bent to rest on her on shoulder, her left leg was broken in two places and twisted so that the foot rested on her left shoulder and her right leg had been smashed.  It soon became apparent that William had lived with the box for several days, even using it as a table, before going to the police.

William was arrested and sent to trail for the murder of his wife, either by strangulation or stabbing. The hearing lasted only 13 hours before the jury convicted William of the wilful murder of Ellen and he was sentenced to hang for his crime.  William Henry Bury was executed on the morning of 28th April 1889.


Due to the similarities between Ellen's death and that of Jack the Ripper's victims, detectives investigating the Ripper murders were sent to Dundee to interview William  They however, were unconvinced that William was the Whitchapel murderer.  James Berry the executioner remained convinced that he had hung the infamous Jack the Ripper and supposedly recounted an exchange he had with one of the detectives from London -

 'I think it is him right enough.'

-James Berry 

'And we agree with you.  We know all about his movements in the past, and we are quite satisfied that you have hanged Jack the Ripper, there will be no more Whitechapel crimes.'

- London Detective.
 

 

Murderous Monday - Elizabeth Martha Browne - Last woman to publicly hang in Dorset

Artist's impression of Elizabeth Browne's hanging

On a drizzly morning in August, Elizabeth Martha Browne met her maker at the end of William Calcraft's rope.  She had murdered her second husband John Anthony Browne, twenty years her junior, with an axe becoming the last woman publicly executed in Dorset, England.

Not much is known about Elizabeth before her arrest and trial.  Her place of birth is unknown and the year estimated at around 1811, but her date of death - 9th August 1856  - is cemented in history.

John and Elizabeth's marriage was not a happy one.  Some accounts say that John only married Elizabeth for her money and that John had several affairs during the course of their marriage.  It was an argument about one of these alleged affairs with a Mary Davis that sealed John's fate.  Elizabeth had struck John with a wood chopping axe several times, shattering his skull.  Upon her arrest Elizabeth told police that John had received his injuries from a 'horse kick to the head'.  However she later confessed that she had accused him of being at Mary Davis's house when he had failed to return home for supper.

"He then kicked out the bottom of the chair on which I had been sitting, and we continued quarrelling until 3 o’clock, when he struck me a severe blow on the side of the head, which confused me so much I was obliged to sit down.

He then said (supper being on the table at the time) “Eat it yourself and be damned,” and reached down from the mantelpiece a heavy hand whip, with a plaited head and struck me across the shoulders with it 3 times, and every time I screamed out I said “if you strike me again, I will cry murder” He replied “if you do I will knock your brains through the window,” and said hoped he should find me dead in the morning, and then kicked me on the left side, which caused me much pain.

He immediately stooped down to unbuckle his boots, and being much enraged, and in an ungovernable passion at being so abused and struck, I seized a hatchet that was lying close to where I sat, and which I had been making use of to break coal for keeping up the fire to keep his supper warm, and struck him several violent blows on the head – I could not say how many – and he fell at the first blow on his side, with his face to the fireplace and he never spoke or moved afterwards."

A crowd of around 3-4,000 people turned out to watch the rare event of a woman being hanged.  One of those spectators was a 16 year old Thomas Hardy.  The hanging left a lasting impression on Thomas Hardy and many believe it was the inspiration behind his novel Tess of the D'Urbvilles.  Thomas Hardy wrote of the hanging seven decades later:

"I saw — they had put a cloth over the face — how, as the cloth got wet, her features came through it. That was extraordinary. 

I remember what a fine figure she showed against the sky as she hung in the misty rain and how the tight black silk gown set off her shape as she wheeled half round and back."

Thomas Hardy