On November 9th, 1788, a particularly gruesome murder took place in one of the uper rooms of the White Lion Inn.  It was a particularly cold night, and Annie, a prostitute, had almost given the evening up as a dead loss (pardon the pun) when her eyes met those of a dark haired man with a scar above his upper lip.  They quickly agreed terms and came upstairs. 

 

The last thing that she saw as she lay on the bed was him coming towards her holding a very long and extremely sharp knife.   He thrust the knife down and slashed, almost completely severing her head – before plunging it into her chest and ripping apart the ribcage.  He removed several of her internal organs before brutally raping her.

 

He would have got completely away with it had it not been for a witness – a little girl, Alice, who was standing on the landing and who had witnessed everything. You see, she wasn’t allowed into rooms while her mother was working….. She turned, fled down the stairs and was pursued with some vigour by the murderer.  But he couldn’t find her – she had escaped.

 

He fled the building.

 

After lying low for some three weeks, he ventured out and returned to the inn – where he was greeted warmly by the landlord.  The girl had not talked.  He made polite conversation and then after supping some ale made his excuses and left – going in search of the little girl, the witness, the only loose end. 

 

He searched the entire building and could not find her until he came through that doorway over there and saw her crying at the top of the stairs.  He made a move towards her.  She looked up.  A look of terror crossed her face.  She stood.  She turned.  She tripped…. And fell down the stairs.   John raced after her, and stood over her broken, lifeless body at the foot of the stairs.  He bent over to see whether or not she was still breathing…

 

“YOU THERE!”  A cry rang out

 

“MURDERER!”  “But I didn’t do it!”

 

“YOU’LL SWING FOR THIS!”  “But I didn’t do it!”

 

He was taken away, tried, convicted and sentenced to hang by the neck until he was dead.  Before sentence was carried out, he confessed to the murder of Annie, and five other women.  He maintained his innocence of Alice’s death to the very end…. He still does.

 

If the murderer is around – and believe us he is – he might make his presence felt, perhaps by breathing in your face or by making you feel ill – giving you pains in your stomach.  If he has taken a shine to you – he might even follow you home……