Thomas Marsland - another jealousy murder.
Thomas Marsland - another jealousy murder.
It seems that from the beginning of their marriage on the 23rd of November 1901, Marsland had physically abused his wife, 23 year old Elizabeth. Their first landlady, Hannah Lowe, evicted them for this mis-treatment.
In February 1902 Elizabeth left him as she couldn’t take any more and found lodgings at 1 Horsedge Fold in Oldham, Lancashire.
She took a job to support herself, as an office cleaner for James William Kelly, who was her neighbour at Horsedge Fold.
Elizabeth was still on good terms with Hannah Lowe and spent the Easter holiday of 1902 with her. She left Hannah’s home and went straight to work on the morning of Friday the 4th of April.
She got back to her lodgings around 6.30 p.m. and spoke to a neighbour, Elizabeth Kelly, before going into the house. At around 7.30 p.m. Elizabeth Kelly heard screams coming from next door, but did nothing about them. She saw Thomas Marsland leave the home about 15 minutes later. Elizabeth had been battered with a rolling pin and her throat had been cut with the razor. It seems that the motive for the murder was jealousy. Marsland did not know that Elizabeth had spent Easter with Hannah and was unable to find her, so suspected that she was seeing another man.
Marsland gave himself up to PC Michael Conway some 35 minutes later, telling him that he had murdered his wife. Investigations revealed that Marsland had bought a new cut throat razor from Harry Forrester earlier that day, but Mr. Forrester was unable to pick him out in an identity parade. So amazingly, Marsland stepped forward and identified Mr. Forrester as the man he had bought the razor from.
Marsland was tried at St. George’s Hall in Liverpool on the 2nd of May 1902, before Mr. Justice Walton. Given the witness testimony and his confession it was rather an “open and shut” case. There was no Appeal Court in 1902 and the Home Secretary declined to intervene.
At 8.00 a.m. on Tuesday the 20th of May 1902, Prisoner 2329, 21 year old Thomas Marsland was hanged at Walton Gaol in Liverpool. The executioners were William and John Billington. Marsland weighed 134 lbs. and was given a drop of 7’ 9”.
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