Child Killer Drowns Himself

There was a double tragedy in 1901 when a man killed his landlord's daughter before drowning himself in a dock, with no motive for his crime ever being established.

6 year old Eveline Christopherson lived with her parents at 36 Parr Street and for some extra income they took in a lodger, labourer John Bennett who was originally from Hull. On Tuesday 15th January Mrs Christopherson had to go out for shopping and left Eveline in the house with Bennett, but when she returned both were missing and the child's room was in a disorderly state.

After nobody in the neighbourhood could shed any light on the situation Eveline was reported as missing to the police and shortly before midnight her body was found in an ashpit behind the house. Her throat had been cut and she appeared to have been strangled, a cloth having been tied tightly around her neck. Eveline's brother had  been in the street and seen Bennett run off at about ten past six, having just carried a bundle into the yard which he saw through the keyhole when he knocked on the door.

Police soon circulated Bennett's description and all train stations were watched. Although all the evidence pointed to Bennett as the killer, there was still no known motive as he has shown no untoward tendencies towards his hosts, although he had been morose on many occasions.

On Monday 21st January Eveline was buried at Anfield Cemetery, with a large crowd lining the route as her coffin was taken there from Parr Street. On the same day, a spiritualist contacted the police to say that Bennett was hiding in a brick shelter on the banks of the Leeds and Liverpool canal near Preston. Enquiries with the North Lancashire Constabulary confirmed that they knew the shelter in question and it could be somewhere were a fugitive would hide out. However a search of the premises and area found no trace of him.

The whereabouts of Bennett were finally solved on 23rd January, when a body was found on the sill of Salisbury Dock. It matched Bennett's description and was identified by a police constable who once worked with him on a railway, as well as Mrs Christopherson. Bennett's father, an iron moulder, also travelled from Hull.

Inquests were held three days later into the deaths of both Eveline and Bennett, who had been heard to say he would murder someone and swing for it if he couldn't find work. After hearing of Eveline's injuries and the fact that Bennett's trouser pockets had been filled with stones, the jury returned a verdict of wilful murder by Bennett on Eveline, and suicide for him.

Pub Singer Killed

A man who enjoyed a sing song in a Scotland Road pub with friends ended up dead when a fight broke out after another customer objected to the noise. 

On the afternoon of Saturday 13th March 1886 Patrick Heston, a 23 year old labourer went to watch a foot race in Walton with four friends. They then headed back towards Liverpool, stopping off for some beer in in Walton Lane and then Korn's public house at 203 Scotland Road.

Whilst drinking in the parlour they started to sing and did so for about twenty minutes. When a 40 year old named Thomas Doulan arrived, he told Heston at the end of a song that he couldn't sing any more and to sit down. Although Heston did so, his friend Patrick Rogan acted angrily and Doulan then took out a knife and said he could settle him, before waving it about indiscriminately.

Heston dived between the two men and gasped 'I am stabbed in the heart' before falling down. The pub landlord John Shied managed to get Doulan in a headlock, but he was still able to wave the knife about and slash two other men. Heston was carried into the snug but he died before an ambulance arrived from the Northern Hospital.

When police arrived Doulan was given into their custody, but he claimed that Rogan had struck him first and he had also been hit by another of Heston's friends. A post mortem revealed that the knife had penetrated into Heston's left breast and another artery had been severed on his leg. Doulan was charged with murder and first appeared at the police court on 16th March. It was clear from his appearance that there had been a severe scuffle, as his face was covered in scratches and his lip was cut.

Doulan appeared at the assizes before Mr Justice Grantham on 25th May. Evidence was presented to suggest that he had been placed under a great deal of provocation and he hadn't deliberately plunged the knife into Heston, rather waved a knife about at random. After being found guilty of manslaughter he was sentenced to just six months imprisonment.

Jury's Extraordinary Leniency to Mother

Only a sympathetic jury led to a Victorian domestic servant avoiding the death penalty for killing a newborn baby as on sentencing the judge made it quite clear what he thought of the case and her involvement in it.

On 1st December 1885 the body of a baby boy was found in the cellar of Mr Murphy's emigrant lodging house in St Paul's Square. It had been covered in coal and boxes as if to create a makeshift tomb and was wrapped in clothing that was identified as belonging to Murphy's 23 year old domestic servant Kate McDonnell.

The body had a scarf tied tightly around its neck and a medical examination ascertained that the baby had been born alive and been breathing after the umbilical cord was cut. The cause of death appeared to be strangulation as the tongue was hanging out and when Mr Murphy told police he had challenged McDonnell over a suspected pregancy in September, she was arrested and charged with murder.

She stood trial on 17th February 1886 before the notorious Justice Day, her defence being that she knew nothing about the child being born or how her clothes came to be wrapped around it. Mr Murphy repeated his suspicions about McDonnell having been pregnant but admitted under cross examination that she was hard working, honest and he had total confidence in her.

Two doctors gave evidence and stated that the baby had lived for 24 hours before dying of of strangulation and that the knot had been tied very tight. The evidence was overwhelming that the baby had been born alive and deliberately killed, so it was up to then jury to determine if McDonnell had given birth to a baby had killed it, or she had been set up by somebody else. Unbelievably after two hours deliberation the jury decided that she was not guilty of murder, but instead found her guilty of concealment of birth. This was despite no suggestion being put forward by the defence that McDonnell could have given birth only for somebody else to kill the baby.

Justice Day minced no words in his sentencing. The man notorious for showing no mercy told McDonnell that this was one of the worst cases of infanticide he had ever dealt with and that 'Nobody could doubt that you either murdered the child or were party to its murder.' He then imposed the maximum sentence that the law allowed form concealment of birth, which was two years imprisonment with hard labour.

Brazilian Jailed For Life For Stabbing

An argument between some sailors over a servant girl led to a fight in which one was killed with a knife and the another jailed for life for manslaughter.

On the evening of 17th March 1861 a Brazilian seaman named Joachim Francisco went to Florentine's boarding house in Carpenters' Row to visit some friends. In the kitchen, he tried to get a kiss off the servant Mary McNulty, only for another man to tell him he had no business doing that, which Joachim took exception to.

Joachim challenged the other man, named Francisco, to a fight and followed him out of the door. Francisco stood outside waiting, only for Joachim to walk up to him and stab him in the neck, without any other words or blows exchanged. Joachim then ran down towards the docks but Francisco didn't go down immediately even though blood was coming from his neck.

When Francisco collapsed he was taken to hospital by a policeman but found to be dead on arrival. A bread knife was then found between his legs. Joachim returned to his lodgings in Frederick Street around 9pm, by which time news of he stabbing had spread to his landlady Mrs Joseph. A servant Mrs Crue called for a policeman and the sailor was arrested following a scuffle. His room was then searched and a blood stained shirt recovered, as well as a razor blade which had been discarded into the fire.

At Joachim's trial two other sailors and Mary McNulty testified to having seen the stabbing taken place, saying that it had come without provocation although Francisco readily agreed to the fight. McNulty also told the court that the although she didn't see Francisco pick up the breadknife, it had been on the kitchen table during the quarrel. A chemical analyst confirmed that blood was found in the razor blade.

Joachim's defence counsel argued that many of the words between Francisco and Joachim had been in Spanish and McNulty couldnt possibly have known what was said. He also argued that Joachim had a sheath knife on him, which would have been a far more appropriate murder weapon and that if he knew Francisco had the breadknife, it was natural to get a pre-emptive strike in first.

In summing up, the judge said that even if two people had a prearranged fight, if one died then it was murder. However, if the fight was a sudden impulse one, then it was manslaughter unless one party had a hugely unfair advantage in terms of weapons. The jury deliberated for half an hour and returned a manslaughter verdict, given that Francisco had a carving knife on his person. Justice Hill though felt the killing was a most aggravated one and sentenced Joachim to transportation for life.

Man Kills Daughter With Poker

Shortly before the outbreak of the First World War a 7 year old girl was killed when she was struck by a poker that was thrown by her father in a row over a pawned vest.

The tragedy occurred in Ernest Street, Toxteth (now no longer there, but off Miles Street to the south east of the Tesco Extra) on the evening of Saturday 25th July 1914. William Archibald Kay, a dock labourer who was a father of eight, returned home and handed his wages to his wife, telling her to get his vest back from the pawn shop.

When Kay's wife asked if the vest could wait for another week he became annoyed and an argument broke out, concluding with him ordering her to 'get out'. When she told him to 'guide his temper' he replied 'I'll guide you' and pushed her into the lobby, then threw a poker after her. The poker missed his wife but struck 7 year old Mary Jane on the head.

Mrs Kay was so shocked at what happened that she fainted in the street, and Kay immediately picked the girl up in his arms and shouted for passers by to call a doctor. When Dr Chavasse arrived, Mary Jane was dead and a devastated Kay surrendered himself to the police, telling him that he had done it to 'my little favourite.' A post mortem revealed that death was caused by haemorrhage caused by the blow.

On 28th July the inquest took place. Mary Jane's brother Robert told the Coroner that the family lived comfortably and although his father was addicted to drink at times and could be quarrelsome, he had never hit his wife. Mary Jane was his favourite child and had been in hospital a few weeks earlier with an infection, but made a full recovery. Kay was still wearing his dock labourers uniform and sat dejected throughout the proceedings, sobbing when his affection for Mary Jane was mentioned. The jury returned a verdict of wilful murder and Kay was committed for trial at the Liverpool Assizes.

When the Assizes opened on 27th October, Mr Justice Darling indicated that he did not believe this case amounted to murder and Kay was allowed to plead guilty to manslaughter. The following day, Kay received a sentence of just six months imprisonment in light of his previous good character. 

Pub Fight Leads to Life Imprisonment

A 24 year old man who was involved in a large scale brawl at a pub and refused to heed his father's advice to go him ended up being sent to jail for life after being convicted of stabbing a bystander to death.

Shortly before midnight on Saturday 26th January 1861 there was a row in Mellor and Llewellyn Spirit Vaults at the corner of Dale Street and Johnson Street. A customer named Patrick Hefferan, who had been there for about two hours with his brother and friends, refused to make way for Thomas Donegan who was entering via the Dale Street doors. After a short scuffle involving a number of customers Donegan was removed into the street by the barman James Barlow, but he returned and struck another man down before leaving again.

Police arrived and told all customers, numbering no more than twenty in total, to leave. One of those was James Cassidy, who stopped and leaned against a wall in Johnson Street, a decision that was to prove fateful for him. Donegan said to Cassidy 'Are you one of them?' and without giving him a chance to answer punched him on the cheek despite his own father's pleas for him to stay away. Cassidy, who hadn't even been in the part of the pub where the row took place fell almost instantly.

Police who were at the scene weren't alarmed at first, as they assumed Cassidy had been drinking and fallen easily after the punch. What they didn't realise though was that Donegan, who had quickly run off, had a knife within his clenched fist and when Cassidy was seen to be bleeding heavily a doctor was called. He was taken to the North Dispensary in a cab  but it was too late and he was dead on arrival, the jugular vein having been severed.

Donegan remained at large for a week, eventually being found in Cornwall Street in Everton hiding under a bed. Unbeknown to him, his uncle was battling serious injuries after being accidentally slashed by Donegan during the fracas in the vaults. When he arrived at the Bridewell, warders made him ham, bread and coffee but he had no appetite and instead asked for spiritual help.

On 1st April Donegan appeared before Mr Justice Hill at the Liverpool Assizes, where witnesses testified to having seen him strike Cassidy. Donegan's father was placed in the awful position of being called to the witness box but the prosecution didn't ask him any questions and he instead just had to confirm to the defence that after the stabbing, he didn't see him again until he has been arrested.

Mr Littler, the defence counsel, told the jury that Donegan had had no previous ill feeling towards Cassidy and he was wound up due to the earlier altercation. Given this lack of premeditation, he argued that a manslaughter verdict was most appropriate. When Justice Hill summed up, he left Donegan's fate very much in the balance. He stated that if he had struck the deceased with a weapon without provocation then it was murder, but if it had been in the heat of the moment, having been involved in a quarrel if could be reduced to manslaughter. A big problem here was that despite the earlier fracas, Cassidy was clearly not part of he group that had been fighting in the spirit vaults.

The jury returned a verdict of 'manslaughter of a very aggravated character'. In sentencing, Justice Hill said that a murder verdict would have been reasonable and that Cassidy had been a 'peaceable man, who gave no offence'. Telling Donegan that he was sentencing him to something as 'near as capital punishment could be' and from a duty he could not shrink, Justice Hill imposed a sentence of penal servitude for life.

High Seas Killer Swims For It

A seaman who killed his officer tried to swim his way to freedom but was captured and brought to Liverpool to face trial, where he was shown some leniency by the judge.

43 year old William Brown joined the Regina as a boatswain in the autumn of 1867 for a voyage to Sierra Leone. It was there on 4th January that Joseph Dunlop, an Antwerpian who had adopted a British surname, joined the vessel as an able seaman.

The Regina with its nine man crew set sail from the Sherbo River on 7th February and the sailing was without incident until the early morning of 3rd March when Brown, Dunlop and a Dane named Nordholm were together on deck. Dunlop was refusing to carry out Brown's instruction to pump the ship, instead challenging him to a fight, leading to the Captain going on deck to calm both men down.

As Dunlop was heading to his bunk, Brown got hold of an iron bar and struck him five times with it in full view of Chief Officer John Thomas. Half an hour later, Dunlop was found dead by Thomas in the forecastle and an examination of the body revealed a gash above the eye and fractures to the skull. He was buried at sea and Brown was then locked in a cabin, but not put in irons.

When the vessel came within 10 miles of the North Wales coast, Brown made a dash for it by making a rope out of his bed linen and clambering out of his window and down the side of the ship. The man at the wheel saw this and raised the alarm, leading to a boat being launched and Brown being captured as he made his desperate bid for freedom.

On 17th April 1868 the Regina arrived in Liverpool, where Brown was taken into custody by the river police. Violently shaking, he asked if transportation was still ongoing and said that he did it in self defence but was sure to be hanged or transported. He appeared before Mr Raffles the stipendiary magistrate and was committed for trial at the Summer Assizes.

At this trial, Brown claimed self defence although the only provocation was that Dunlop had refused to carry out a duty. In summing up though Baron Kelly directed the jury to find him guilty of manslaughter and due to Brown's previous good character, he received a fairly lenient term of twelve years penal servitude.