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用戶:Clockworklemon09/Murder of Julia Martha Thomas

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Head-and-shoulders view of a heavy-faced woman with dark hair, wearing a bonnet and a fur-lined coat, with a prominent necklace in front
Kate Webster, the killer of Julia Martha Thomas

The murder of Julia Martha Thomas, dubbed the "Barnes Mystery" or the "Richmond Murder" by the press, was one of the most notorious crimes in late 19th-century Britain. Thomas, a widow in her 50s who lived in Richmond, was murdered on 2 March 1879 by her maid Kate Webster, a 30-year-old Irishwoman with a history of theft. Webster disposed of the body by dismembering it, boiling the flesh off the bones, and throwing most of the remains into the River Thames.

It was alleged, although never proven, that she had offered the fat to neighbours and street children as dripping and lard. Part of Thomas' remains were subsequently recovered from the river. Her severed head remained missing until October 2010, when the skull was found during building works being carried out for Sir David Attenborough.

After the murder, Webster posed as Thomas for two weeks, but was exposed and fled back to Ireland and her uncle's home at Killanne near Enniscorthy, County Wexford. She was arrested there on 29 March and was returned to London, where she stood trial at the Old Bailey in July 1879.

At the end of a six-day trial, she was convicted and sentenced to death after a jury of matrons rejected her last-minute attempt to avoid the death penalty by pleading pregnancy. She finally confessed to the murder the night before she was hanged, on 29 July at Wandsworth Prison. The case attracted huge public interest and was widely covered by the press in Great Britain and Ireland. Webster's behaviour after the crime and during the trial further increased the notoriety of the murder.

Background

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Mayfield Cottages, Julia Martha Thomas' house in Richmond. She lived in the left-hand portion (number 2) of the semi-detached villa
 
Kate Webster (left) and Julia Martha Thomas (right)

Julia Martha Thomas was a former schoolteacher who had been twice widowed. Since the death of her second husband in 1873, she had lived on her own at 2 Mayfield Cottages (also known as 2 Vine Cottages) in Park Road in Richmond. The house was a two-storey semi-detached villa built in grey stone with a garden at the front and back. The area was not heavily populated at the time, although her house was close to a public house called The Hole in the Wall.[1]

Thomas was described by her doctor George Henry Rudd as "a small, well-dressed lady" who was about fifty-four years old.[2] Elliot O'Donnell, summing up contemporary accounts in his introduction to a transcript of Webster's trial, said that Thomas had an "excitable temperament" and was regarded by her neighbours as eccentric. She frequently travelled, leaving her friends and relatives unaware of her whereabouts for weeks or months at a time.[3] She was a member of the lower middle class and as such was not wealthy, but she habitually dressed up and wore jewellery to give the impression of prosperity.[4] Her desire to employ a live-in domestic servant probably had as much to do with status as with practicality. However, she had a reputation for being a harsh employer and her irregular habits meant that she had difficulty finding and retaining servants. Before 1879, she had only been able to keep one maid for any length of time.[4]

On 29 January 1879, Thomas took on Kate Webster as her servant. Webster had been born as Kate Lawler in Killanne in County Wexford in about 1849. She was later described by The Daily Telegraph as "a tall, strongly-made woman of about 5英尺5英寸（165厘米） in height with sallow and much freckled complexion and large and prominent teeth."[3] The details of her early life are unclear, as many of her later autobiographical statements proved unreliable, but she claimed to have been married to a sea captain called Webster by whom she had four children.

According to her account, all of the children died, as did her husband, within a short time of each other. She was imprisoned for larceny in Wexford in December 1864, when she was only about 15 years old,[5] and came to England in 1867.[6] In February 1868, she was sentenced to four years of penal servitude for committing larceny in Liverpool.[7]

She was released from jail in January 1872 and, by 1873, she had moved to Rose Gardens in Hammersmith, West London, where she became friends with a neighbouring family named Porter.[8] On 18 April 1874, she gave birth to a son whom she named John W. Webster in Kingston upon Thames.[9] The identity of the father is unclear, as she named three different men at various times. One, a man named Strong, was her accomplice in further robberies and thefts. She later claimed to have been forced into crime, as she had been "forsaken by him, and committed crimes for the purpose of supporting myself and child".[10]

She moved frequently around West London using various aliases, including Webb, Webster, Gibbs, Gibbons, and Lawler. While living in Teddington, she was arrested and convicted in May 1875 of 36 charges of larceny. She was sentenced to eighteen months in Wandsworth Prison. Not long after leaving prison, she was arrested again for larceny and was sentenced to another twelve months' imprisonment in February 1877.[11] Her young son was cared for in her absence by Sarah Crease, a friend who worked as a charwoman for a Miss Loder in Richmond.[7]

In January 1879, Sarah Crease fell ill and Webster stood in for her as a temporary replacement at Loder's house. Loder knew Julia Martha Thomas as a friend and was aware of her wish to find a domestic servant. She recommended Webster on the basis of the latter's temporary work for her.[12] When Thomas met Webster, she engaged her on the spot, though she did not appear to have made any inquiries about Webster's character or past.[13] After Webster was taken on by Thomas, the relationship between the two women appears to have deteriorated rapidly. Thomas disliked the quality of Webster's work and frequently criticised it. Webster later said:

At first I thought her a nice old lady ... but I found her very trying, and she used to do many things to annoy me during my work. When I had finished my work in my rooms, she used to go over it again after me, and point out places where she said I did not clean, showing evidence of a nasty spirit towards me.[14]

Webster in turn became increasingly resentful of Thomas, to the point that Thomas attempted to persuade friends to stay with her as she did not like to be alone with Webster. It was arranged that Webster would leave Thomas' service on 28 February.[12] Thomas recorded her decision in her last diary entry: "Gave Katherine warning to leave".[15]

Murder and the disposal of the body

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The Thames river bank below Barnes railway bridge, where a box containing Thomas' remains was found on 5 March 1879 after being thrown into the river the previous day by Webster
 
Webster boiled Thomas' dismembered body in a laundry copper such as this

Webster persuaded Thomas to keep her on for a further three days until Sunday 2 March. She had Sunday afternoons off as a half-day and was expected to return in time to help Thomas prepare for evening service at the local Presbyterian church. On this occasion, however, Webster visited the local alehouse and returned late, delaying Thomas' departure. The two women quarrelled and several members of the congregation later reported that Thomas had appeared "very agitated" on arriving at the church.[12] She told a fellow congregant that she had been delayed by "the neglect of her servant to return home at the proper time", and said that Webster had "flown into a terrible passion" upon being rebuked.[16] Thomas returned home from church early, about 9 pm, and confronted Webster. According to Webster's eventual confession:   The neighbours, a woman named Ives (who was Thomas' landlady) and her mother, heard a single thump like that of a chair falling over but paid no heed to it at the time.[17] Next door, Webster began disposing of the body by dismembering it and boiling it in the laundry copper and burning the bones in the hearth. She later described her actions:   The neighbours noticed an unusual, unpleasant smell.[18] Webster spoke later of how she was "greatly overcome, both from the horrible sight before me and the smell".[19] However, the activity at 2 Mayfield Cottages did not seem to be out of the ordinary, as it was customary in many households for the washing to begin early on Monday morning.[18] Over the next couple of days, Webster continued to clean the house and Thomas' clothes and put on a show of normality for people who called for orders. Behind the scenes, she was packing Thomas' dismembered remains into a black Gladstone bag and a corded wooden bonnet-box.[20] She was unable to fit the murdered woman's head and one of the feet into the containers and disposed of them separately, throwing the foot onto a rubbish heap in Twickenham.[18] The head was buried under the Hole in the Wall pub's stables a short distance from Thomas' house, where it was found 131 years later.[21]

On 4 March, Webster travelled to Hammersmith to see her old neighbours the Porters, whom she had not seen for six years, wearing Thomas' silk dress and carrying a Gladstone bag which she had filled with some of Thomas' remains. Webster introduced herself to the Porters as "Mrs. Thomas". She claimed that, since last meeting the Porters, she had married, had a child, been widowed, and had been left a house in Richmond by an aunt. She invited Porter and his son Robert to the Oxford and Cambridge Arms pub in Barnes.[22] Along the way, she disposed of the bag that she was carrying, probably by dropping it into the River Thames, while the Porters were inside the pub drinking.[20] It was never recovered.[23] Webster then asked young Robert Porter if he could help her carry a heavy box from 2 Mayfield Cottages to the station. As they crossed Richmond Bridge, Webster dropped the box into the Thames. She was able to explain it away and did not arouse Robert's suspicions.[18]

The following day, however, the box was found washed up in shallow water next to the river bank about a mile downstream. It was spotted by Henry Wheatley, a coal porter who was driving his cart past Barnes Railway Bridge shortly before seven in the morning. He initially thought that the box might contain the proceeds of a burglary.[24] He recovered the box and opened it, finding that it contained what looked like body parts wrapped in brown paper.[25] The discovery was immediately reported to the police and the remains were examined by a doctor, who found that they consisted of the trunk (minus entrails) and legs (minus one foot) of a woman. The head was missing and was later assumed to have been thrown into the river separately by Webster.[26]

Around the same time, a human foot and ankle were found in Twickenham. It was clear that all of the remains belonged to the same corpse, but there was nothing to connect them with Thomas and no means to identify the remains.[18] The doctor who examined the body parts erroneously attributed them to "a young person with very dark hair".[25] An inquest on 10–11 March resulted in an open verdict on the cause of death,[27] and the unidentified remains were laid to rest in Barnes Cemetery on 19 March.[28] The newspapers dubbed the unexplained murder the "Barnes Mystery",[29] amid speculation that the body had been used for dissection and anatomical study.[25]

 
John Church, who bought Thomas' furniture from Webster and was falsely implicated by Webster for the murder

It was later alleged that Webster had offered two pots of lard to a neighbour, supposed to have been rendered from Thomas' boiled fat. However, no evidence about this was offered at the subsequent trial and it seems likely that the story is merely a legend, particularly as several versions of the story appear to exist.[26] The proprietress of a nearby pub claimed that Webster had visited her pub and tried to sell what she called "best dripping" there. Leonard Reginald Gribble, a writer on criminology, commented that "there is no acceptable evidence that such a repulsive sale was ever made, and it is more than possible that the episode belongs rightfully with the rest of the vast collection of apocryphal stories that has accumulated, not unnaturally, about the persons and deeds of famous criminals."[30]

Webster continued to live at 2 Mayfield Cottages while posing as Thomas, wearing her late employer's clothes and dealing with tradesmen under her newly assumed identity. On 9 March, she reached an agreement with John Church, a local publican, to sell Thomas' furniture and other goods to furnish his pub, the Rising Sun. He agreed to pay her £68 with an interim payment of £18 in advance.[31]

By the time that the removal vans arrived on 18 March, the neighbours were becoming increasingly suspicious, as they had not seen Thomas for nearly two weeks. Her next-door neighbour Miss Ives asked the deliverymen who had ordered the goods removed. They replied "Mrs. Thomas" and indicated Webster. Realising that she had been exposed, Webster fled immediately, catching a train to Liverpool and travelling from there to her family home at Enniscorthy.

Meanwhile, Church realised that he had been deceived. When he went through Thomas' clothes in the delivery van, he found a letter addressed to the real Thomas. The police were called in and searched 2 Mayfield Cottages. There they discovered blood stains, burned finger-bones in the hearth, and fatty deposits behind the copper, as well as a letter left by Webster giving her home address in Ireland. They immediately put out a "wanted" notice giving a description of Webster and her son.[32]

Scotland Yard detectives soon discovered that Webster had fled back to Ireland aboard a coal steamer in the company of her young son. The head constable of the Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC) in Wexford realised that the woman being sought by Scotland Yard was the same person whom his force had arrested 14 years previously for larceny. The RIC were able to trace her to her uncle's farm at Killanne near Enniscorthy[5] and arrested her there on 29 March.[28] She was taken to Kingstown (modern Dún Laoghaire) and from there back to Richmond via Holyhead, in the custody of the Scotland Yard men.[15]

On hearing of the crime with which she was charged, her uncle refused to give shelter to her son, and the authorities sent the boy to the local workhouse until such time as a place could be found for him in an industrial school.[15]

審判和處決韋伯斯特

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《警方新聞圖冊》中繪製的對凱特 · 韋伯斯特的審判和處決
 
1879年7月發表在《紐約時報》上的一篇匿名單面報，記述對韋伯斯特的審判與處刑

這起謀殺案在愛爾蘭海兩岸都引起了轟動。消息一經傳出，許多人都前往里士滿參觀梅菲爾德別墅。[15] 這起犯罪事件在愛爾蘭同樣聲名狼藉。韋伯斯特被捕後從恩尼斯科西被押送到都柏林的一路上，幾乎每兩地間的車站都會有成群的人圍觀，對她側目而視、指指戳戳。[33]

《曼徹斯特衛報》寫道，預審法官的聽證會有「許多享有特權和好奇心的人......包括不少女士」出席。[34] 據《泰晤士報》報道，韋伯斯特在里士滿地方法院的首次出庭廣受關注：「昨日，法院門口人頭攢動......群情激憤溢於言表。」[35]

1879年7月2日，韋伯斯特在有「老貝利」之稱的中央刑事法庭受審。這起案子喚起了公眾極大興趣，控方由英格蘭與威爾斯律政司哈丁·吉法德爵士領銜，韋伯斯特的辯護律師是倫敦著名律師沃納 · 斯利，案子則由丹曼法官先生主持。[36] 與之前在里士滿的聽證會一樣，這次審判出席率相當高，且吸引了社會各個階級。在審判第四日，瑞典王儲、也就是未來的國王古斯塔夫五世出席了聽證會。[37]

在六天時間裏，法庭聽取了若干證人對托馬斯遇害的複雜故事的拼湊。 在受審前，韋伯斯特曾試圖指控酒館老闆約翰·丘奇和她從前的鄰居波特與此案有牽連，但兩人都有可靠的不在場證明，與謀殺案洗清了干係。[38] 她拒不認罪，而她的辯護律師試圖強調證據的旁證性質，並強調她對自己兒子的獻身精神正是她不可能犯下謀殺罪的原因。[39] 然而，韋伯斯特給大眾留下的惡劣印象、冷血的舉止和無力的辯護，使天平朝着相反的方向強烈傾斜。[38]

一位名叫瑪麗亞·德登的鞋匠拋出了一條格外致命的證據，她向法庭證明，謀殺案發生一周前韋伯斯特曾拜訪她，說自己要去伯明翰變賣一些家產、首飾和一處姑母遺留的房產。陪審團將此視為韋伯斯特預謀殺人的證據，[40]經過一個小時一刻鐘的商討後宣告她有罪。[41]

陪審團做出裁決後不久，就在法官即將宣判前，韋伯斯特被問到是否有任何理由不對她宣判死刑。 她聲稱自己正懷孕，而這顯而易見是為了逃避死刑。 [42]《法律時報》報道稱，「這隨即帶來的是一片未知，假如稱不上是混亂。進而，這絕對與這樣的場合應有的肅穆所不相襯。」法官給出的意見是，「從業三十二年來，他從未進行過這類調查。"

最後，阿西茲書記官建議本案採用女性陪審團的古老機制，從出席法庭的女性中挑選人員，對韋伯斯特是否「有胎動」的問題進行裁決。十二名女性和一名叫做邦德的外科醫生一同宣誓後，陪同韋伯斯特來到一個私密房間進行檢查。檢查僅僅進行了幾分鐘時間，結論是韋伯斯特並沒有「有胎動」，儘管如此，這並不意味着她肯定沒有懷孕——這一分歧的存在，出於倫敦產科協會主席反對使用「沒出生的孩子在所謂胎動之前就不算是個生命這套跟不上時代的醫學假設」。

在處決韋伯斯特的幾天前，一則上訴以她的名義向內政大臣R.A.克羅斯遞交，但隨即遭到拒絕。官方聲明稱，考慮到之前的爭論，內政大臣「找不到足夠依據建議女王陛下干涉法律的正當過程。」

在受到處決前，韋伯斯特做了兩則聲明，承認了自己的罪行。在她的第一則聲明中，據說是孩子父親的斯特朗被牽涉到了謀殺案中，她說是他把自己送上了犯罪生涯，他應該對此負責。但在7月28日，也就是她應該被處決的前夜，她又宣稱撤回這一指控，進一步聲明自己應該為謀殺負全責，丘奇、波特、斯特朗都與此毫無干係。次日清晨9點，她在旺茲沃思監獄接受了絞刑。劊子手威廉·馬爾伍德採用了最新發明的長距離技術，使她剎那間一命嗚呼。在她的死亡得到確認後，韋伯斯特被葬於監獄一塊活動場地的無名墳墓中。當已執行死刑的黑旗自監獄牆頭升起，等待在外的民眾掌聲雷動。

處決韋伯斯特的第二天，托馬斯的財產在梅菲爾德農舍舉行拍賣。酒館老闆丘奇最終還是設法弄到了托馬斯的家具和她的一些私人用品，其中包括她的懷錶，甚至還有韋伯斯特用來肢解她的那把小刀。韋伯斯特烹煮過托馬斯的屍體碎塊的銅器，則以五先令的價格售出。拍賣會上的其他人從農舍摘走了不少小鵝卵石和樹枝當作紀念品，好讓自己不虛此行。農舍在1897年之前始終處於閒置狀態，畢竟在兇殺案後沒人想住進這一凶宅。據房主說，傭人們甚至也拒絕在這個聲名狼藉的地方工作。


後來，傳說可以看到一個「幽靈修女」反覆徘徊在埋葬托馬斯的地方。令埃利奧特·奧唐納既感驚訝又感失望的是，沒有任何跡象指明她的房子鬧鬼，蓋伊·洛根注意到在「整潔而漂亮」的外觀下，沒有人能看出裏面曾經發生過何等罪行：「這很難想像。這裏看上去不像是一般出過人命的地方。」

謀殺案的社會效應

編輯
 
《警方新聞圖冊》中繪製的處決韋伯斯特的場景

在維多利亞時代的英國和愛爾蘭，這起謀殺案都產生了相當大的社會影響。此事發生後，立即引起了轟動，並在報刊上廣泛報道。在都柏林，《自由人雜誌》和《每日商業廣告》指出，這是「對人類惡行的記載中最聳人聽聞的一頁」，以致關於此案的報道「充斥着令人毛骨悚然的描述與細節」。



在韋伯斯特被捕僅僅幾周內，也就是在她受審之前，杜莎夫人就製造了她的蠟像，展覽給想要一睹「里士滿女殺人犯」模樣的人們，可見其惡名之遠揚。直到二十世紀，她的蠟像依然完好無損地對外展出，和她擺放在一起的則是其他臭名昭著的殺人犯，諸如伯克和海爾、克里平醫生。


在對韋伯斯特執行死刑的那幾天，斯特蘭德街上一家出版社別出心裁，印刷了名為《凱特·韋伯斯特的生平、審判與處決》的小紀念冊，以一便士的價格出售。紀念冊共二十頁，印刷精良，包含了韋伯斯特的完整個人史，包括對此的總結、裁決和有趣的細節，連同她的遺言，還有一整頁關於死刑執行的雕刻、肖像的插圖。《警方新聞圖冊》發佈了紀念封面，由藝術家刻畫了關於死刑執行當天的印象。畫中描繪了「友人探視」「捆綁過程」，終極儀式為「黑旗升起」，而最後則是「石灰蓋棺」。


在案件還在審判時，街頭民謠也以此為題材進行創造。這類民謠借用流行歌曲的曲調，以音樂作為敘事形式。就在凱特·韋伯斯特被捕後不久，薩瑟克區的印刷和出版商 H.蘇奇 就發行了一首民謠，名為《那個家住巴恩斯附近的老太太死無全屍》，他採用的曲調是美國南北戰爭時期的著名歌曲《戰鬥前夕，母親》。對韋伯斯特的審判結束時，蘇奇發表了另一首民謠，以《被趕出家門》為曲調，他寫道：


里士滿的兇案，又在舞台上演

韋伯斯特的故事，寫到最後一篇

她死有餘辜，只因鐵證已如山

她插翅難飛，掙不脫法律的鐵腕！


她謊話連篇，在這兇案中

百般狡辯，卻無一得逞

詭計多端，還想嫁禍於人

但事到如今，她的結局已定！

韋伯斯特其人被塑造為一個惡毒、不擇手段、肆意作惡的魔鬼。在評述者看來，她的罪行可怖且可恥。為人傭僕者應謹守規矩，她對僱主的極度暴行令人深感不安。在當時，百分四十的女性勞動力都是家庭女傭，受僱於社會各階層，從最富裕的家庭到體面的工人階級家庭。主人和傭人起居、工作的地方非常相近，傭人的忠誠和規矩是一個經久不衰的話題。在那時，傭人的薪資很低，時時誘惑她們產生盜竊的衝動。如果韋伯斯特成功向約翰·丘奇出售了托馬斯的家具，她就可以得到相當於兩三年薪水的收入。


韋伯斯特受到強烈譴責的另一個原因則是她試圖冒充托馬斯。她曾在兩周內成功扮成了托馬斯的模樣，意味着中產階級身份不過是得體的舉止、合適的服飾與適量的財產，無論這些是不是自己掙來的。韋伯斯特曾想要嫁禍的老闆約翰·丘奇，曾經就是一名傭人，但他成為了初等的中產階級，獲取了一定財富，也將小酒館經營得井井有條。他致力於努力工作提高生活水平，這符合當時的道德觀。與之相比，韋伯斯特只是簡單粗暴地竊取了她暫時擁有的中產階級身份。


 
韋伯斯特的外形 (出自《便士插圖報和時代畫報》)是媒體討論的話題

在維多利亞時代的許多民眾心中，加深了韋伯斯特的罪行的是她顛覆了那個時代所期望的女性標準。在維多利亞時代的理念中，女人品行完備、循規蹈矩、身體柔弱或深受約束。韋伯斯特簡直就是這一切的對立面，對於她的報道都竭盡描述她缺乏女性氣質的一面。埃利奧特·奧唐奈在庭審記錄的序言中對她進行了這樣的描述：「豈止野蠻，野蠻到令人髮指......更把人性的殘酷無情發揮到淋漓盡致，邪惡兇殘到無與倫比，簡直非人哉！」報紙形容她「形容枯槁，令人憎惡，帶着喪家之相」，然而就《便士插圖報和時代畫報》的記者所言，她「並不像描述中那樣不堪入目」。


韋伯斯特的外形和言行被看作是她本性罪惡的關鍵標誌。在人們的認知中，社會底層的「渣滓」會犯罪，且自甘墮落為「慣犯」，他們寧願選擇過一種酗酒和偷竊的生活，也不願通過節儉和努力工作來提高自己。韋伯斯特強壯的體格儘管有部分原因是由於她靠辛苦的體力勞動謀生，卻與廣大中產階級心中女性註定柔弱的觀念背道而馳。一些人把她的面目特徵就評價為面帶兇相。奧唐奈對她的評價是「有雙斜眼」，而他聲稱「在兇殺案中這種面相不少......在我看來她的這個特徵本身就是一種天然的危險信號，警告人們要躲她遠點。」


韋伯斯特在法庭上的表現和她的性經歷也對她非常不利。記者普遍形容她面對庭審的態度為「冷靜」和「不動聲色」，只在提到兒子時哭了一次。在人們的期望中，女人在這樣的情境下應該情緒化而悔不當初，可她的行為不符合這種「合理的女性氣質」。她的一串男性朋友（其中之一還與她在未婚狀態下有了孩子），似乎可以證明她堪稱糜亂的性慾與性生活——這再次與人們預期中的女性行為準則牴觸。在受審期間，她指責潛在的兒子父親斯特朗將自己引入歧途，試圖藉此為自己換取同情，但她失敗了。她的指控是：「我和一個本應保護我的人關係親密，卻遇人不淑，結果自己也和他們狼狽為奸。」這種說法利用的正是一種普遍社會預期，即女性的道德意識與貞操密不可分——在性方面的「墮落」會帶來另一種形式的「自毀」——和女人發生過性關係的男人也因此有了某種社會義務。韋伯斯特試圖把三個無辜的男人卷進此案同樣犯了眾怒，奧唐奈評論道：「公眾輿論作為一個整體，對凱特·韋伯斯特試圖拉三個無辜者上刑場這一行為的譴責程度，和對謀殺案本身的憤慨一般無異。」


據女性犯罪研究網絡的沙尼·德克魯茲所言，韋伯斯特是愛爾蘭人這一事實也是她在大不列顛受到普遍厭惡德重要因素。自1849年大饑荒後，很多愛爾蘭移民到了英格蘭，但卻遭遇了廣泛的偏見，在頑固的地域刻板印象中，他們都有酗酒和偷盜的毛病，更有甚者將愛爾蘭人刻畫為野獸、野蠻人。愛爾蘭和英格蘭工人之間暴力衝突不斷，在英格蘭的芬尼亞人（愛爾蘭民族主義者）也頻頻發起攻擊。奧唐奈對韋伯斯特「非人哉」的描述，實際上與公眾與司法界認為愛爾蘭人先天就是罪犯的看法一致。


發現托馬斯的頭骨

編輯
 
里士滿公園路上與茱莉婭·瑪莎·托馬斯謀殺案有關的建築。（左：發生謀殺案的前梅菲爾德村舍; 中：樹木遮掩下，博物學家大衛·艾登堡 · 馬丁爵士的房子; 右：牆洞酒館舊址，2010年10月22日托馬斯的頭骨在這裏發現）

1952年，博物學家大衛·艾登堡和他的妻子簡買下了一所位於之前梅菲爾德村舍所在地(現在仍然存在)和牆洞酒館之間的房子。[43] 酒吧於2007年關閉，陷入廢棄，但2009年被愛登堡收購併重新開發。[44]

2010年10月22日，工人在老酒館後面進行挖掘工作時，挖出了一個「黑黝黝的圓形物體」，結果發現一個婦女的頭骨。 它被埋在至少有40年歷史的地基下面，就在酒館的馬廄原址上。 人們立即猜測，這塊頭骨是茱莉亞 · 瑪莎 · 托馬斯失蹤的頭顱，驗屍官要求里士滿警方對頭骨主人的身份和死亡情況進行調查。[45]

愛丁堡大學的碳年代測定結果表明，這塊頭骨的年代可以追溯到1650年至1880年之間，而事實上，這塊頭骨是沉積在一塊維多利亞時代的瓷磚上的，這表明它屬於那個時代末期。 頭骨上有骨折的痕跡，符合韋伯斯特把托馬斯扔下樓梯的說法。而且頭骨膠原含量很低，顯然是因為曾被煮過。 2011年7月，驗屍官得出結論，這個頭骨確實屬於托馬斯。儘管不存在 DNA 測試的可能，因為她死時沒有孩子，也找不到任何親屬；此外，也沒有任何關於她身體其餘部分埋葬地點的記錄。[21]

2011年8月24日，這塊頭骨被埋葬在里士滿公墓的一個無名墓穴中。

驗屍官留下了非法殺人的判決記錄，更替了1879年的公開判決。 托馬斯的死因被判定為窒息和頭部外傷。 警方稱這一結果是「一個很好的案例，說明了老式偵探工作、歷史記錄和技術進步如何結合解決『巴恩斯之謎』。」[46]

參考資料

編輯
  1. ^ O'Donnell 1925，第13頁.
  2. ^ Rudd 1916，第84頁.
  3. ^ 3.0 3.1 O'Donnell 1925，第10頁.
  4. ^ 4.0 4.1 O'Donnell 1925，第14頁.
  5. ^ 5.0 5.1 "The Barnes Mystery". Lloyd's Weekly Newspaper. London, England. 30 March 1879.
  6. ^ O'Donnell 1925，第58頁.
  7. ^ 7.0 7.1 Wilson 1971，第193頁.
  8. ^ O'Donnell 1925，第7頁.
  9. ^ "The Barnes Mystery". The Belfast News-Letter. Belfast, Ireland. 2 April 1879. p. 5.
  10. ^ O'Donnell 1925，第8頁.
  11. ^ O'Donnell 1925，第9頁.
  12. ^ 12.0 12.1 12.2 Wilson 1971，第194頁.
  13. ^ O'Donnell 1925，第15頁.
  14. ^ O'Donnell 1925，第19頁.
  15. ^ 15.0 15.1 15.2 15.3 "里士滿謀殺指控"。 泰晤士報》。 倫敦。 1879年3月31日。 3月11日。
  16. ^ O'Donnell 1925，第23頁.
  17. ^ D'Cruze, Walklate & Pegg 2006，第53頁.
  18. ^ 18.0 18.1 18.2 18.3 18.4 Rudd 1916，第87頁.
  19. ^ O'Donnell 1925，第68頁.
  20. ^ 20.0 20.1 Rudd 1916，第89頁.
  21. ^ 21.0 21.1 "Head found in David Attenborough's garden was murder victim". The Daily Telegraph. 5 July 2011. Retrieved 22 July 2011.
  22. ^ O'Donnell 1925，第33頁.
  23. ^ Rudd 1916，第95頁.
  24. ^ "Untitled article". The Manchester Guardian. Manchester, England. 10 March 1879. p. 5.
  25. ^ 25.0 25.1 25.2 "Supposed Murders". The Times. 11 March 1879. p. 5.
  26. ^ 26.0 26.1 Wilson 1971，第195頁.
  27. ^ "The Barnes Mystery". Lloyd's Weekly Newspaper. 23 March 1879. p. 8.
  28. ^ 28.0 28.1 "The Barnes Mystery". The Manchester Guardian. 30 March 1879. p. 6.
  29. ^ Rudd 1916，第83頁.
  30. ^ Gribble 1957，第69頁.
  31. ^ Wilson 1971，第196頁.
  32. ^ "The Barnes Mystery". The Manchester Guardian. 27 March 1879. p. 7.
  33. ^ "巴恩斯之謎"。 弗里曼雜誌和每日商業廣告。 愛爾蘭都柏林。 1879年3月31日。
  34. ^ "里士滿謀殺案"。 曼徹斯特衛報。 1879年4月10日。 十月六日。
  35. ^ 《里士滿謀殺案》。 泰晤士報》。 1879年4月1日。 十月五日。
  36. ^ Gaute & Odell 1983，第87頁.
  37. ^ "里士滿謀殺案"。 曼徹斯特衛報。 1879年7月6日。 十月六日。
  38. ^ 38.0 38.1 D'Cruze, Walklate & Pegg 2006，第55頁.
  39. ^ Conley 2006，第84–5頁.
  40. ^ Wilson 1971，第198頁.
  41. ^ Rudd 1916，第97頁.
  42. ^ Rudd 1916，第98頁.
  43. ^ Smith, Giles (31 December 2001). "What comes naturally". The Daily Telegraph. London. Retrieved 22 July 2011.
  44. ^ Powell, Laura (1 June 2009). "Sir David foils developers – by buying the pub next door". The Daily Mail. London. Retrieved 22 July 2011.
  45. ^ Fleming, Christine (26 October 2010). "Inquest opens into skull found in Sir David Attenborough's garden". Richmond and Twickenham Times. Richmond. Retrieved 22 July 2011.
  46. ^ "'Barnes mystery' of Attenborough garden skull solved". BBC News. 5 July 2011. Retrieved 22 July 2011.

引用錯誤：在<references>標籤中name屬性為「Police News 2 Aug 1879 p4」的參考文獻沒有在文中使用
引用錯誤：在<references>標籤中name屬性為「Lloyd's 3 Aug 1879」的參考文獻沒有在文中使用
引用錯誤：在<references>標籤中name屬性為「Miller 1986 p66」的參考文獻沒有在文中使用
引用錯誤：在<references>標籤中name屬性為「Police News 9 Aug 1879」的參考文獻沒有在文中使用
引用錯誤：在<references>標籤中name屬性為「Police News 2 Aug 1879 p1」的參考文獻沒有在文中使用
引用錯誤：在<references>標籤中name屬性為「H. Such @Apr 1879」的參考文獻沒有在文中使用
引用錯誤：在<references>標籤中name屬性為「H. Such Jul 1879」的參考文獻沒有在文中使用

參考書目

編輯
  • Bailey, Brian J. Hangman: from Ketch to Pierrepoint, 300 years of execution. London: True Crime. 1993. ISBN 978-0-86369-623-7. 
  • Carver, Stephen James. The life and works of the Lancashire novelist William Harrison Ainsworth, 1850–1882. Lewiston, NY: Edwin Mellen Press. 2003. ISBN 978-0-7734-6633-3. 
  • Castleden, Rodney. Serial Killers: They Live to Kill. London: Time Warner. 2005. ISBN 978-0-316-73252-9. 
  • Conley, Carolyn. Certain other countries: homicide, gender, and national identity in late nineteenth-century England, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales. Columbus, OH: Ohio State University Press. 2006. ISBN 978-0-8142-1051-2. 
  • D'Cruze, Shani; Walklate, Sandra; Pegg, Samantha. Murder: Social and historical approaches to understanding murder and murderers. Cullompton, Devon: Willan Publishing. 2006. ISBN 978-1-84392-169-1. 
  • Gaute, J.H.H.; Odell, Robin. Lady Killers. Bath, England: Chivers Press. 1983: 83. ISBN 978-0-85119-885-9. 
  • Gribble, Leonard Reginald. Famous judges and their trials: a century of justice. London: J. Long. 1957. 
  • O'Donnell, Elliot. The Trial of Kate Webster. Edinburgh: William Hodge & Company. 1925. 
  • Oldman, James. Trial by jury: the Seventh Amendment and Anglo-American special juries. New York: NYU Press. 2006. ISBN 978-0-8147-6204-2. 
  • Rudd, George Henry. Kate Webster's Revenge. Wood, Walter (編). Survivors' Tales of Famous Crimes. London: Cassell & Company. 1916. 
  • Wilson, Patrick. Murderess: A study of the women executed in Britain since 1843. London: Michael Joseph. 1971. ISBN 978-0-7181-0859-5. 

外部連結

編輯


[[Category:人物逝世]] [[Category:女性谋杀案]] [[Category:1879年3月大事记]] [[Category:里士满，伦敦]] [[Category:伦敦谋杀案]] [[Category:1879年的伦敦]] [[Category:有未审阅翻译的页面]]

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