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 |
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AKA: |
|
|
D.O.B. |
|
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Kill
Total: |
1 |
|
Kill date: |
1856 |
|
Kill
Place: |
Birdsmoorgate |
|
Status: |
Married x
2 |
|
Occupation: |
|
|
M.O. |
Beating |
|
Victim: |
John Brown |
6th July 1856, After a
marital row Martha beat husband John Brown to death,
after he had allegedly beaten her with a whip.
She then went to a neighbours
house, saying her husband was injured after being kicked
by his horse.
When Martha returned with
help, John was found dead, having suffered multiple head
wounds. After a very hasty investigation by
police, Martha was charged and convicted of the murder
of her husband. She continued to maintain her innocence.
9th August 1856, Brown
was the last woman to be publicly hanged in Dorset. She
was executed outside Dorchester prison in front of a
crowd of 3,000, one of whom was the author Thomas Hardy,
who many years later went on to write about her in the
classic novel Tess of the D'Urbervilles, a tale in which
Tess is executed for the murder of her husband.
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