MFDJ 05/18/24: Pins Below the Nails

Today’s Curious Yet Truly Morbid Fact!

The great plague of Marseilles raged from 1720 until 1722 and claimed about fifty thousand victims, half the city’s population. The streets were cluttered with corpses, and mass graves were dug all around the town. One of them, at the Observance monastery, was excavated in 1994 when a housing development was being built. The excavation process brought a curious discovery: in two of the corpses discovered, an inch-long bronze pin was found in contact with the big toe, in a position as if it had been deliberately driven underneath the nail of the big toe. Pin implantation under the toenail as a means of verifying death had been suggested in books but this is the first historical evidence of the actual use of this method.

Plague pit of Marseilles

Culled from: Buried Alive

Sexual Deviant Du Jour!

The following case study is culled from classic book Psychopathia Sexualis (1931):

Case 16.  Alton, a clerk in England, went for a walk out of town. He lured a child into a thicket. Afterwards at his office he made this entry in his note-book: “Killed to-day a young girl; it was fine and hot.” The child was missed, searched for, and found cut into pieces. Many parts, and among them the genitals, could not be found. A. did not show the slightest trace of emotion, and gave no explanation of the motive or circumstances of his horrible deed. He was a psychopathic individual, and occasionally subject to fits of depression with tædium vitæ. His father had had an attack of acute mania. A near relative suffered from mania with homicidal impulses. A. was executed.

So I had to find this case in the newspaper archives – and here is the full story. And what a story it is!

BARBAROUS MURDER IN HAMPSHIRE.

A murder, unparalleled for its brutality, was committed in the quiet market town of Alton, in Hants, on Saturday evening. About half-past one o’clock on the afternoon mentioned, a little girl named Fanny Adams, eight years of age, left her home, near the church, in company with a younger sister and a playmate, named Minnie Warner, for the purpose of playing in the meadow adjoining Amery Farm, which is situated a few yards distant from the home of the deceased. The meadow is crowned by a hop-garden of considerable extent, approached by a grassy and sequestered lane, from the entrance of which a charming view of the quiet old town is obtained.  It was in the hop-ground referred to that the crime was committed. It appears that at two o’clock the children, having partaken of dinner, were engaged in play near the entrance to the secluded lane, when a man, described as wearing a black coat, with light vest and trousers, and who was sitting on the gate, beckoned Fanny Adams, the unfortunate deceased, towards him. All the children approached, and singling out the deceased, he offered her a half-penny to accompany him for a walk in the adjacent hop-garden. Seeing that the other children were disposed to follow, he distributed amongst them three half-pennies, telling them to run away and buy some sweets. They accordingly did so, and, as they were leaving, saw that the man had taken hold of the girl’s hand and was leading her up the lane. They also saw that the poor child began to cry, and heard the man say these words: —”Don’t cry, my dear; keep quiet, and if you will come up into the hop-garden I will give you some more money.” From this time until seven o’clock in the evening nothing more was heard of the deceased. The child not coming home to tea, her mother became alarmed at her absence, and made inquiries, but nothing was elicited beyond the statement of her companions, that she had been seen going up the lane with a strange man. Between seven and eight o’clock the same evening a labourer named Thomas Gates, returning from work, had occasion to cross the hop-ground, when he was horrified at beholding the dissevered head of a child resting upon two hop-poles placed at the foot of the hedge, and lying horizontally on the ground. The man took up the head and ran with it to the row of cottages at the foot of the meadow, in one of which the parents of the unfortunate child reside. [Was this common practice at the time?  Seems a bit, errr, WRONG! – DeSpair]  The neighbours, who were standing in groups talking about the missing child, on seeing the head immediately declared it to be that of Fanny Adams. With a coolness which would seem almost incredible, the man Gates took the head to the father’s cottage. All doubts were then set at rest, the poor mother identifying the head as that of her daughter, and immediately falling into hysterics, from which she has scarcely since recovered. The police were at once communicated with, and search was made for the remaining portions of the body. The larger portion of the population of the town having speedily become acquainted with the barbarous fate of the child, scoured the hop ground and adjoining fields to discover, if possible, the body of the deceased. Within about twenty yards east of the hedge, and between the growing hops, were found a leg and thigh, with a stocking and boot on, and near the same spot the right arm and hand severed from the elbow, were discovered. A little further to the right, the left hand, severed from the wrist was found, and some distance below were the mutilated remains of the trunk. The other foot, which was the left, was picked up by a young man named Henry Allen in a field adjoining the hop plantation, where it had evidently been thrown with sufficient force to carry it over two high hedges and an intervening lane. The left arm was also picked up in this field. Horrible to relate, the eyes had been gouged out with almost scientific skill. At this time the intestines and heart were missing, but on the following (Sunday) morning further search was made when both these portions were discovered, the former not far from the spot where the trunk had been found, and the heart in an adjoining field where it had been thrown. The body displayed several fearful stabs and gashes, the ribs being severely puncture, the calves of the legs and thighs had been completely ripped up, and the intestines entirely removed, leaving the mere frame of the body only. The right ear was picked up in a corner of the hop-ground by itself, and the eyes were found in the adjacent river Wey, but the right breast is missing. In consequence of the disjointed and mutilated condition of the whole of the body, it is impossible for the medical gentlemen who have examined the remains to determine whether the poor child had been violated. In the meantime, Superintendent Cheyney obtained a description of the man in whose company the ill-fated girl was last seen, and, aided by local knowledge, he concluded that the person described exactly answered to a young man named Frederick Baker, whom he knew as in the employ of Messrs. Clements, solicitors, of the town. He thereupon proceeded to the office of Messrs. Clements about nine o’clock in the evening, and saw the accused sitting apparently engaged in his ordinary avocation. Superintendent Cheyney then inquired if he had heard of the murder, to which the accused replied “Yes; and they say its [sic] me, don’t they?” Leaving Baker in charge of a police constable, for the purpose of making further inquiries, the superintendent shortly afterwards ascertained that the prisoner was the man who had given some coppers to the children, as previously alluded to, and on returning to the office, accompanied by one of the children, he asked him if the statements were true. He admitted the fact, but said he was innocent of the crime of murder. He was identified by the child, and the superintendent removed him to the police-station, on suspicion of being the murderer.

In searching the prisoner’s desk at the office on Monday, a well-kept diary, in the prisoner’s handwriting, was discovered. Under the date “Saturday, August 24:” the following entry was written in a bold and unfaltering hand, “Killed a young girl; fine and hot.” The prisoner is a native of Guildford, and for some years was in the office of Messrs. Smallpiece, the eminent solicitors of that town. He was afterwards employed by Mr. P. W. Lovett, solicitor, of the same place, and during his period of service was found to be guilty of embezzlement. He then absconded from the town, but on the intervention of his father, a respectable master tailor, who paid the amount of his defalcations, he escaped prosecution. The prisoner subsequently obtained an engagement with Messrs. Clements, of Alton, with whom he has been for about twelve months. Although every search has been made for the weapon with which the crime was committed, it has not been found.

At the inquest on Tuesday the chief facts above recorded were proved by various witnesses. It was shown that the prisoner had been lounging about the place where he met the children, and that he returned to his office about two hours after. There were no scratches on his person when he was examined by a surgeon, but his trousers, socks, and boots were very wet. There was also blood on both his wristbands. On the afternoon of the murder he mentioned to an acquaintance that he was going to leave Alton on the following Monday, and he said something as to his ability to “turn butcher.” At the conclusion of the evidence, in answer to the usual question by the coroner, Baker said, “he had nothing to say, only that he was innocent.” The jury at once returned a verdict of wilful murder, and the prisoner was formally committed for trial. After the inquest a determined attempt was made by an infuriated mob to “lynch” the wretched man. Large bodies both of men and women posted themselves around the inn where the inquest was held and the lock-up, and two hours elapsed before it was deemed safe to attempt the removal of the prisoner. At length he was smuggled out at the back of the house, and, surrounded by policemen, had to run at the top of his speed in order to reach the prison before the crowd, which, having detected the manoeuvre, followed also at a racing pace, uttering the fiercest threats and the most hideous yells. The culprit himself escaped, but several of the police suffered from the missiles hurled at him.

— The Bristol Mercury and Daily Post, Western Countries and South Wales Advertiser, Saturday, August 31, 1867

EXECUTION OF BAKER

On Tuesday morning Frederick Baker was executed at Winchester for the murder of the little girl Fanny Adams under the atrocious circumstances detailed fully in the report of the trial of the criminal. Unsuccessful efforts had been made to obtain a commutation of the capital sentence on the ground of insanity. The execution took place at eight o’clock, in front of the gaol in the presence of 5,000 people. He displayed great firmness. He was pinioned without betraying the least emotion, and walked to the drop unaided. After Calcraft had put the cap on him and adjusted the rope, the prayers were prolonged for two minutes, during which Baker’s knees began to tremble, and his hands were clutched. When the drop fell he struggled slightly for a minute. He confessed to the chaplain that he murdered the child, but said that he did not violate her. He stated that he mutilated the body with his small knife, and then carefully washed and oiled it. The crowd at the execution was very orderly. The father of the child received a letter from Baker, confessing to the murder. The murderer in his communication begged the forgiveness of the parents of his victim, saying if he obtained that he would die happy.

– North Mail, Newcastle Daily Chronicle, Thursday, December 26, 1867

Here’s poor Fanny Adams:

And the despicable Baker:

There’s so much to unpack here – but three thoughts:

1. The guy who found the head seriously picked it up and carried it to the parents’ house????  That poor mother must have never recovered!
2. The friends just left her crying with a strange man because they wanted candy?  Some friends!
3. They found the eyes in the river?  How is that even possible?