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Herbert
John BENNETT
The
Yarmouth Beach Murder
Classification: Murderer
Characteristics:
Parricide
Number of victims: 1
Date of murder:
September 21,
1900
Date
of arrest:November 6,
1900
Date of birth: 1880
Victim profile: His
wife,
Mary Jane
Bennett
Method of murder: Strangulation
with a bootlace
Location: Yarmouth, Norfolk, England, United Kingdom
Status: Executed by hanging
at Norwich
Gaol on March 21,
1901
Mrs Bennett's body was found on the beach at Yarmouth. She had been
murdered by her husband Herbert John Bennett on 22 September 1900. He
had tired of her and fallen in love with another woman so wanted her out
of the way. She had been strangled with a bootlace.
Herbert John Bennett was hanged on the 21 March 1901 at Norwich
Gaol for the murder of his wife.
Bennett was a 17 year old petty thief
who would turn his hand to anything as long as it made a little money.
He married her on the 22 July 1897 at the West Ham register office and
she soon slipped into his world of lies and deceit. It was not too last
and in 1900 Bennett fell in love with a young parlourmaid and although
he was married already he told her he would marry her. He arranged for
his wife to visit Yarmouth where he joined her.
On 23 September his
wife's body was found on the beach, she had been strangled with a
bootlace. Bennett fell under suspicion and was arrested and charged. The
main evidence being a necklace she was wearing before the murder which
was later found in Bennetts lodgings in London.
Real-Crime.co.uk
Herbert John Bennett
Bennett was a 21-year-old who
would try his hand at any get-rich-quick scheme he could think of. He
was ably assisted by his young wife, Mary Jane, who he had married in
West Ham on 22nd July 1897. In 1900 he fell in love with a parlourmaid
named Alice Meadows. On 28th August 1900 he proposed marriage to the
girl, notwithstanding his wife and young child. By this time he was
living apart from his family who had taken lodgings in Glencoe Villas,
Bexleyheath.
On 14th September, as a peace
offering to his wife, Bennett offered to take his wife and child on a
holiday to Great Yarmouth. His wife agreed and the next day Mary Jane
and her baby took the train to Yarmouth with Herbert promising to
follow later.
On the night of 22nd September
1900 a man and a woman were seen on Yarmouth beach by a courting
couple, Alfred Mason and Blanche Smith. There were sounds of a woman
moaning and discretion stopped Alfred and Blanche investigating.
The next morning, the body of a
young woman, strangled with a bootlace, was found on the beach. The
police took a long time identifying the corpse as that of Mrs Bennett
as she had booked into a local boarding house, run by a Mrs Rudrum, as
a widow from York named Hood.
Bennett was back in London by this time. Once the police had identified
the body as Mrs Bennett it took no time to find her husband and he was
arrested in London on 6th November. Bennett had made a fatal error. He
had taken from the body a gold chain. A photograph of the woman, taken
the day before the murder, showed her wearing the chain and her Yarmouth
landlady identified it as having been worn by Mrs Bennett when she left
the house on the fateful night. A search of Bennett's London lodgings
quickly revealed the chain.
Once Bennett had been charged the
press had a field day, judging him guilty before any eveidence had
been heard and even paying some of the witnesses for their stories
before the trial began.
Bennett's trial opened on 24th
February 1901 at the Old Bailey and he was defended by Sir Edward
Marshall Hall. Hall, who tried to convince the jury that the chain
found in Bennett's lodgings was of a different design to the one in
the photograph. With the background of feeling running high against
the defendant, there was nothing Marshall Hall could do nothing to
save Bennett from the gallows. He made no confession and was hanged at
Norwich Gaol on 21st March 1901 by James Billington with his brother,
Thomas, assisting.
The body of Dora May Gray was
found on Yarmouth beach on 14th July 1912. She had been strangled by a
bootlace. Her killer was never found.
Murder-UK.com
Herbert John Bennett
20-year-old Bennett
would try his hand at any get-rich-quick scheme that he could think of.
He was ably assisted by his young wife, who he had married in West Ham
on 22nd July 1897. In 1900 he fell in love with a parlourmaid named
Alice Meadows. On 28th August 1900 he proposed marriage to the girl,
notwithstanding his wife and young child.
On 15th September 1900
he sent his wife and child to Great Yarmouth, where he later joined them.
On the night of 22nd September 1900 a man and a woman were seen on
Yarmouth beach by a courting couple, Alfred Mason and Blanche Smith.
There were sounds of a woman moaning.
The next morning, the body of a
young woman, strangled with a bootlace, was found on the beach. The
police took a long time identifying the corpse as that of Mrs Bennett,
as she had booked into a local boarding-house as a widow from York named
Hood.
Bennett was back in
London by this time. Once the police had identified the body it took no
time to find her husband and he was arrested in London on 6th November.
Bennett had made a fatal error. He had taken from the body a gold chain.
A photograph of the woman, taken the day before the murder, showed her
wearing it and her Yarmouth landlady identified it as having been worn
by Mrs Bennett when she left the house on the fateful night. A search of
Bennett's London lodgings quickly revealed the chain.
Bennett was tried at
the Old Bailey and even Sir Edward Marshall Hall, defending him, who
tried to convince the jury that the chain found in Bennett's lodgings
was of a different design to the one in the photograph, could do nothing
to save him from the gallows.
He made no confession and was hanged at
Norwich Gaol on 21st March 1901.
The body of Dora May
Gray was found on Yarmouth beach on 14th July 1912. She had been
strangled by a bootlace and her killer was never found.
John Herbert BENNETT
Bennett was a 17 year old petty thief who would turn
his hand to anything as long as it made a little money. When he met Mary
Jane Clark she was a music teacher 3 years older than him.. He married
her on the 22 July 1897 at the West Ham register office and she soon
slipped into his world of lies and deceit.
In 1900 Bennett fell in love with a young parlourmaid
and although he was married already he told her he would marry her. He
arranged for his wife to visit Yarmouth where he joined her. On 23
September a woman's body was found on the beach, she had been strangled
with a bootlace.
Once the body had been identified Bennett fell under
suspicion and was arrested and charged. The main evidence being a
necklace she was wearing before the murder which was later found in
Bennetts lodgings in London.
He was tried in front of Judge Lord Alverstone who
sentenced him to death. He was hung on 21 March 1901 in Norwich prison
by James Billington.
It had been a very simple case and this really
should have been the end of it but eleven years later on 14 July 1912
another body was found on the beach. The victim was 18 year old Dora
Gray. Her clothes were in disaray suggesting rape and she too had been
strangled with a bootlace. Was this just a copy cat murder or was an
innocent man hung, this case was never solved.
