The Mammoth Book of Bizarre Crimes Read Online Free PDF

twenty-nine-year-old clerk was only saved from a violent end at the hands of Fanny’s father by the intervention of the police. Baker was arrested and two small knives, one of which was bloodstained, were found in his possession. There were also traces of blood on his clothes.
    A search of Baker’s desk at the office where he worked produced the most incriminating evidence. His diary entry for the day of the murder read, “Killed a young girl – it was fine and hot.”
    Baker, the subject of great public hostility, was tried for murder at Winchester. He was an articulate man and tried to talk his way to innocence by saying the knives found on him were too small for mutilation and that the children had lied about him. In his defence, it was stated that a failed love affair had left him depressed and suicidal and he was stressed by overwork. None of this impressed the jury who found him guilty and were not inclined to mercy. William Baker was executed before a crowd of five thousand at Winchester on Christmas Eve 1867. Poor Fanny’s memorial lay in the sailors’ reference to the contents of their canned food.
    Pre-Nuptials
    Briton James Greenacre had contracted several profitable marriages and was planning his fourth wedding, to Hannah Brown, on Christmas Day 1836. On Christmas Eve, they met at his house in Camberwell, London, to discuss their plans. His tactic was to call off the wedding because he believed Hannah had been using his name to obtain credit while, contrary to his expectations, she had no money of her own. Hannah was not seen alive again, although parts of her began appearing in different places.
    On 28 December, a package was found on the Edgware Road lying in a pool of frozen blood. When the sacking was pulled open, a female trunk emerged with the arms intact but legs and head missing. Just over a week later a head wasretrieved from the Regent’s Canal at Stepney. This second find matched the torso found earlier. Two months later, a large bundle was found in a ditch at Camberwell. This contained the legs belonging to the other body parts already recovered.
    It would be another three weeks before the dismembered body, now re-assembled, would be identified. A man whose sister had been missing for three months identified the remains as Hannah Brown. It was known that she had last been seen in the company of James Greenacre, the man she intended to marry.
    Greenacre was preparing for flight with a female companion, Sarah Gale, heading for America. Some of their trunks were already on board their passenger ship. These were taken for examination and the contents included cloth identical to the wrapping used on some of the body parts. Greenacre was arrested along with his lady friend, whom he attempted to absolve from any involvement in the crime.
    His explanation was that Hannah had tipped up her chair and fallen badly, damaging her head. He later changed his story, saying that he was so incensed by Hannah’s false statements regarding her property that he hit her with a wooden roller and killed her. Following his confession, he gave a detailed account of how he disposed of her dismembered corpse. He thought to disarm any suspicion by dumping his parcels in broad daylight, believing this would appear less furtive than operating at night.
    Having been tried and convicted of murder, Greenacre spent his time leading up to execution writing an autobiography. He portrayed himself as an industrious and respectable individual who had been elected to the office of overseer of his parish. His calculation was made evident when he attempted to engineer another marriage after murdering Hannah by advertising for a partner with money. Greenacre ended his life on the scaffold and the woman he planned to take with him to America was sentenced to transportation.
    Trophy Cabinet
    An Irish immigrant to Australia became Chief Constable at Brisbane and was drawn into crime by the lure of gold. After his execution for murder, the