Cambridgeshire Murders (25 page)

‘Yes.'

‘You did not intend to hurt her at all?'

‘No.'

These questions and Worthington's answers became the lynchpin of the court case. His defence argued that the note had been written for the police because he did not intend to be alive to tell them the details himself. In his closing statement Mr Flowers, for the defence, asked the jury to find that the victim had been shot accidentally while Worthington was attempting suicide and that they should therefore return a verdict of manslaughter. He reminded the jury that Revd Stearns had described Worthington as being devoted to his wife and how the court had heard that ‘Worthington hated pain and suffering. He could not bear to see chickens killed'. Flowers said that the onus was upon the prosecution to prove that Worthington intended to kill Sybil.

The prosecution argued that if the shooting had been an accident then Worthington would have mentioned it sooner. And the same applied to his claim that he had intended suicide. Oliver, the defence counsel, felt that the letter was intended to embroil Sybil's murder in scandal and thereby drag Lionel Wright into the case with the words ‘he is the cause of this tragedy'. He asked the jury to consider the statements made by Worthington's sons and ask themselves whether there had been any indication then that their father's intention had been suicide.

When Justice Hawke summed up he agreed with Flowers that the onus was on the prosecution to prove that Worthington killed her ‘by a determined deliberate act'. His final words to the jury were: ‘Fix in your minds this, have the prosecution proved him guilty or not?'

The jury retired for fifty-five minutes and on their return the foreman announced a guilty verdict.

The crowd outside the trial of Walter Worthington
. (Author's Collection)

The judge passed the death sentence. It was Monday 20 May 1935 and the first time that this judgment had been issued since the case of Walter Horsford, the St Neots Poisoner, in 1898.

Worthington was removed to Bedford gaol. On 24 June Lord Hewart and Justices Swift and Lawrence dismissed an appeal at the Court of Criminal Appeal in London. Worthington's execution was set for 10 June at Bedford gaol. Thomas Pierrepoint hanged him at 8 a.m. on the appointed day.

The case of Walter Worthington holds no great mysteries but it seems likely that the prosecutor, Mr Oliver, hit on the truth when he asked: ‘Did you intend to shoot her and yourself?' It is hard to imagine how the gun could have fired accidentally, especially when it hit Sybil with such deadly accuracy. It is equally easy to see that Worthington's state of mind was disturbed by obsessive jealousy to the extent where his plan could have included suicide.

T
here are three other cases that are too interesting to leave out, but, in the case of this chapter, they are too sparsely documented to cover with more than a short recital. The first of these is nothing more than the contents of a handbill, which appears to be the only surviving evidence of a horrendous seventeenth- century crime. The details are vivid enough therein to offer a tantalising glimpse of the shocking events but sufficiently vague to leave the full story and final outcome as mysteries. It is worth noting that the £60 reward offered seems paltry compared to the £2,000 stolen.

The wording of the untitled handbill:

Of most notorious and barbarous, bloody and inhuman murder; committed on Sunday morning last, on the bodies of Sr Thomas Flimer Kt And Bar; his lady, one child, and five servants, near Wickham in Cambridgeshire. By 3 men and 2 woman: Particularly how they Brook into the house and kill'd the servants, and cut Sr Thomas Flimer's throat, whilest the 2 woman drove a spike through the lady's temples, and fasened her to the ground, also how they robb'd the house of the value of £2000 in moneys, besides, jewels, plate, watches, rings, and other things of great value.

Note. There is a reward of sixty pounds for any person or persons, that shall apprehend or take any of these notorious murders.

On Saturday last, Sr Thomas Flymer Kt And Bar; had invited several of their relations and friends to dine with him and his lady being it was the feasting day. And after dinner they were all very merry till about 11 or 12 o'clock at night, their relations and friends having their coaches waiting for them they broke up, and went to their dwelling houses; so about two or 3 hours after, these three notorious villains broke into the house, by having a 2 storey ladder and breaking a pane of glass in the window, one put his hand in and unhasped the casement, which the door of the room being closed and the key in it they impudently unlockt it and went directly down stairs, having a dirk lantern to light them, and let the two women in. Which they impudently enter'd, and without asking any questions went upstairs, one of ‘em said, the servants was dead asleep, and I'll shew you where Sr Thomas and his lady lies, for she had been a servant in the house; so they broke open the door, which Sr Thomas hearing a noise, and seeing a light he asked who was there; with that one made answer and said we will tell you presently, and no sooner was the word out of their mouth, but he was knock down, which his lady seeing fell a screaking and crying out murder, with that one of the women stopped the lady's mouth, whilest the men cut Sr Thomas's throat. And the women they drove a spick through the lady's temples which fasted her head to the floor. Which with knocking they wakened the nurse that lay in the next room, and she hearing a noise cried out who is that, that makes such a noise to disturb my lady.

And they hearing somebody speak they were so surprised that they stood still all but she that was the maid; for she know'd her tongue so she went and broke open the door and went in, which the rest seeing followed her, then they bound and gag'd the nurse and she having a child lying by her it cried; with that she that was the maid said I'll send you out of this world presently, so took it by the heels and beat its brains out against the floor. So she knowing where the rest of the servants lay they went and murdered them; then they went and rifled the house of gold and silver to the value of £2000 besides jewels, plate, rings and other things of great value. The plate all having Sr Thomas's Coat of Arms and his name engraved at large, there was in gold a cup marked with the same and several rings, the posse (sic) of the lady's wedding ring (was Christ alone made us two in one). And in plate, 4 dishes, a dozen of plates, six poringers, 4 candlesticks, a dozen of spoons, a dozen of forks and a dozen of silver-hasted knives; all marked with aforesaid mark. And after they had done what mischief they could they packed up all and went clear with their booty between five and six, leaving the nurse bound and gag'd, not murdered, by which means it's hoped they will be found out, in order to be brought to trial and receive that justice which becomes due for such a horrid and barbarous a fact as that was. And in the morning about nine o'clock, a poor man goes to dress the horses for the coach-man, as he always did every Sunday morning, for he got a dinner for his family every Sunday; so he goes as formerly he did and rings at the gate, but nobody came to let him in, with that he goes home and tells his wife, that nobody would let him in, perhaps their being late up last night, Cries she they are not stirring, know no cries he they near lay a bed till this time a day; and he goes again and rings nobody came, and just as he was a going away he espied the marks of a bloody hand upon the post, so he goes back to the town and takes a constable and other assistance and broke open the gate, where they found Sr Thomas, his lady and their child murdered, the nurse bound and gag'd and the rest of the servants murdered as aforesaid. The house robbed, so they unbound and ungagged the nurse and she declared as aforesaid. But by this we see the temptations of Satan as great, which shall force a man for the lucre of a little worldly pels (sic), suffer disgrace here, and hazard the loss of his soul without repentance, and that to all eternity.

A reward of sixty pounds is offered by Sr Thomas's brother Sr Edward Flimer, living at Stratford a mile beyond Bow, to any person or persons that shall take, or cause to be taken, any of these notorious murderers. Likewise all goldsmiths, pawnbrokers, or others are desired if any of the aforesaid jewels, plate, or rings, should be offered to sale or pawn, that they would be so kind as to stop the goods and the party that offers them to sale, and their cost and charges shall be paid, besides the sixty pounds be Edward Flimer, that they may be brought to justice.

Licensed according to Order.

Without a great deal of original documentation to work from, it seems most appropriate to present a succinct account of the Gervais Matcham story. Matcham's Gibbet was located on the road out of Alconbury opposite the entrance of what is now the company, Huntingdon Life Sciences. It can be found on some old maps at the Woolley turning of the Great North Road just north of Brampton Hut and was named after Gervais Matcham whose body was left to hang there to rot after his execution in 1786.

Six years before his execution Matcham had murdered a 15-year-old named Benjamin Jones at the same spot. His gibbet remained in place until well into the nineteenth century.

Matcham was born in Yorkshire around 1760 and ran away from home when he was 12 to fulfil his ambition of becoming a jockey. He had a talent for handling horses and he found work as a stable hand assisting the Duke of Northumberland's stable manager in the transportation of horses abroad. He also worked as, among other things, a horse dealer. Eventually he enlisted in the infantry but did not take to his new role. By 1780 he had deserted and was again loitering around the world of horses, this time at Huntingdon races.

He was struggling to find adequate food or shelter and in the end decided that the best place to hide would be back in the army. He therefore re-enlisted, this time becoming a private in the 49th Huntingdonshire Foot Regiment.

Matcham got on well with people and was liked and trusted by both his comrades and superiors, including Quartermaster Sergeant Jones. On 18 August 1780 Matcham was ordered to be chaperone to the Quartermaster's son, Benjamin, who was the regiment's 15-year-old drummer boy. Benjamin was going to walk approximately five miles to Diddington Hall to collect seven pounds from Major Reynolds. The money, all in gold coins, was to be used to buy supplies.

The journey to Diddington Hall passed without incident, but as they walked back to their regiment Matcham decided that he was going to steal the money. They reached a fork in the road and Matcham convinced his companion that they should take a wrong turning, which led them past isolated woodland. It was then that Matcham attacked, pulling a knife from under his tunic and slitting young Jones's throat.

Matcham dragged the dying drummer boy into undergrowth and covered the body with leaves and branches before fleeing the area with the money. It took some time for the body to be discovered, but by then Matcham was almost impossible to find as he had travelled north to York and been press-ganged into the Navy.

After several years Matcham was discharged from the service. One night shortly thereafter he was walking across Salisbury Plain with a comrade when a storm broke out. The story goes that they kept walking until they were suddenly confronted by the vision of an old woman. Both saw this and Matcham's companion ran away. As Matcham walked on alone he saw other apparitions until eventually he was faced with the vision of Jesus on one side of the road and Benjamin Jones on the other.

Matcham's visions were most likely to be the product of a disturbed mind, but undoubtedly he believed them to be genuine. The idea that they were real no doubt helped to make the story famous in its day. Matcham ran to the nearest town and confessed. He was transported to Huntingdon and convicted at the next assizes. As a deserter he stood trial in the uniform of the 49th Huntingdonshire Foot Regiment.

Because of his own confession he was found guilty and sentenced to death. The judge ordered that after his execution his body was to hang at the spot where he had killed his victim. Matcham's body, still dressed in his red uniform, was left to rot on its gibbet, the bones and tattered cloth remaining long after his flesh had rotted.

The tale of Benjamin Jones and Gervais Matcham was told in an extremely long poem entitled
The Dead Drummer: A Legend of Salisbury Plain.
It is part of a collection of humorous and macabre stories published in the
Ingoldsby Legends
by Thomas Ingoldsby – the pen name of Revd Richard H. Barham. These were published in three series between 1840 and 1847 with illustrations from George Cruikshank.
¹

The final of these short case histories is an example of one for which there has been plenty of rumour and speculation but, so far at least, no conclusive solution.

Richard Peak was from Caxton, where he lived with his widowed mother and his two younger siblings. Richard was christened in 1831 and was therefore about 20 when the Cambridgeshire police force was formed in 1851. In 1852 he joined up and became a constable in December of that year. He was stationed at Burwell and given the responsibility for the village of Wicken about two miles away.