| 词条 | Walter Horsford |
| 释义 |
| name = Walter Horsford | image_name = | image_size = | image_caption = | birth_date = | birth_place = | death_date = 28 June 1898 | death_place = Cambridge prison | cause = Hanging | motive = | charge = | victims = | conviction = Murder | penalty = Death | status = | occupation = Farmer | spouse = | parents = | children = }}Walter Horsford was executed in June 1898 for poisoning his cousin Annie Holmes with strychnine.[1][2] He was the first person to be executed in Cambridge following the end of public execution, and a dedicated building was constructed for his hanging.[3] His conviction was notable for relying soley on circumstantial evidence.[4] Murder of Annie HolmesIn 1897 Horsford, aged 26, was a well-off farmer living in Spaldwick. He was in an intimate relationship with his cousin, Annie Holmes, a widow with three children. In October of that year, Horsford married another cousin of his, Bessie Mash. Shortly after this marriage, Holmes left Spaldwick and lodged in an inn in St Neots. In December she wrote to Horsford claiming she was pregnant.[4] On the 7th of January 1898 Holmes received a postal packet from Horsford, and went to bed. An hour later her daughter heard Holmes screaming and found her in agnoy. Holmes died within a few minutes of a doctor arriving. At an inqeust the following day Horsford stated he had not written to Holmes nor seen her since she left. When medical evidence pointed to strychnine poisoning, the police searched her bedroom and found two packets. One contained 30 grains of strychnine with the words "one dose, take as told" and the other was empty with "take in a little water, it is quite harmless" written on it. On the 10th January Horsford was arrested for perjury at the inquest, and later that day further arrested for murder.[4][5] The trial took place on the 2nd of June 1898. At the trial it was stated that the impression of handwriting on the packages could be traced on a blotter on a desk in Horsford's home. Horsford had also purchased strychnine from a local chemist on the 28th of December, claiming he was overrun with rats, and signed the register with his name.[8] The jury did not retire but returned a guilty verdict immediately after the judge's summing up. Horsford was sentenced to death and executed on the 28th of June in Cambridge prison.[4] Other murdersHorsford was suspected of three other murders. The first was his former fiancee Fanny James who died in 1890 after claiming she had become pregnant, and after receiving a letter from Horsford. According to her family her symptoms were consistent with strychnine poisoning. However the inquest at the time recorded a verdict of death through eating a hearty meal.[6][7] The second a "girl from Peterborough" with whom he had been intimate, and who died after receiving a letter from him.[7] The fourth case involved a man with the surname James who was a relative of Fanny James. Horsford supplied the usual beer to a group of men after working a day threshing wheat. He took James aside and gave him an extra quart, and he died in agony later that night. The inquest verdict recorded death from sunstroke, apparently without seeing the body.[8][7] References1. ^{{cite web|url=https://www.cambridge-news.co.uk/news/history/death-penalty-execution-list-cambridge-15661672|date=13 January 2018|title="The 25 people executed in Cambridge since 1802|author=Nicola Gwyer|publisher=Cambridge News}} 2. ^{{cite web|url=https://www.stneotsmuseum.org.uk/articles/walter-horsford-and-the-case-of-the-st-neots-poisoning|title=Walter Horsford and the case of the St Neots poisoning|publisher=St Neots Museum}} 3. ^{{cite book|title=The Little Book of Cambridgeshire|chapter=Sinners|url=https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=XyVnDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT38|publisher=The History Press|year=2018}} 4. ^1 2 3 {{cite news|work=The Butte Miner|date=30 October 1914|page=4|title=The Great Trials of History - The Trial of Walter Horsford}} 5. ^{{cite book|title=Bitter Nemesis: The Intimate History of Strychnine|author=John Buckingham|year=2007|url=https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=GoAUn74q-k4C&pg=PA254|publisher=CRC Press|ISBN=9781420053159|page=254}} 6. ^1 {{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/27277561/lloyds_horsford/|title=St Neots Tragedy|date=30 January 1898|page=13|work=Lloyd's Weekly Newspaper}} 7. ^1 2 {{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/27278224/|title=The St Neots Poisoner|date=1 July 1898|page=5|work=The Ipswich Journal}} 8. ^{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/27277855/horsford_other_victims/|title=The murders by Walter Horsford|date=30 June 1898|page=12|work=The Guardian}} External links
3 : People executed by the United Kingdom by hanging|Poisoners|Strychnine poisoning |
| 随便看 |
|
开放百科全书收录14589846条英语、德语、日语等多语种百科知识，基本涵盖了大多数领域的百科知识，是一部内容自由、开放的电子版国际百科全书。