October 27, 1899London, EnglandLouise Josephine Masset (36) kills her 3-year-old son Masset’s son Manfred was left in the care of a guardian named Miss Gentle from the time he was 3 weeks old, and his £12 a year (approximately £1,550 in today’s economy) maintenance was paid by Manfred’s father. While Manfred was in Gentle’s care,…
Man executed for the murder of his pregnant girlfriend
October 11, 1933London, EnglandRobert James Kirby (26) is hanged for the murder of his girlfriend Grace Newing (17) Kirby was reportedly unemployed when he met and began courting Newing, who was working at a sweetshop. Because of Kirby’s lack of employment, he was able to dedicate a large amount of his time to being in…
Man receives exorcism, kills wife directly afterward
October 5, 1974Gawber, Barnsley, EnglandMichael Taylor (30) begins an exorcism and kills his wife hours after its completion Michael, according to his friends, had had very little interest in religion until he met 22-year-old Marie Robinson in July 1974. Robinson and a handful of others were part of a “splinter movement” of a larger Christian…
Suspected serial poisoner executed
March 24, 1873 Durham, England Mary Ann Cotton (34, pictured) is executed for the murder of her stepson Cotton, who eventually was given the nickname “The Dark Angel,” had a streak of suspicious deaths following her, including three husbands, her mother, a lodger, and twelve children (either her own or her stepchildren). The deaths in…
The “Yorkshire Witch” is executed for fatally poisoning client
March 20, 1809 York, North Yorkshire, England Mary Bateman, the “Yorkshire Witch,” is hanged for murder Bateman, looking to bolster her husband’s modest income, began to tell fortunes in 1799 but soon offered her services as a “screwer-down,” claiming to use phantoms to immobilize her clients’ enemies, and sold various other supposed spells and charms.…
