Murder of Martha Halliday

On the night of June 10, 1861, 55-year-old Martha Halliday in Kingsworth, England slept alone at the Rectory. The owner Rev. Samuel Benard Taylor and family went to stay with his father-in-law. Martha looked after the rectory that night. Her husband had left the place to go home as she slept there. The next morning he went to go get her so she could do some household chores at their home. He was alarmed to see the shutters were not opened yet and the back door was still locked.

He then went around to the front of the house and found that door ajar which scared him more. He rushed to the kitchen but found nothing strange there. He then rushed to the room that he believed she was sleeping in and found his poor wife.

Martha was found bound on the floor in her nightdress. Her dress seemed to have been lifted over her head as if from being dragged out of bed.  Her hands and legs were bound in a cord. A colored silk handkerchief was found around her mouth and tied to the top of her head. She was dead. She had suffocated from the gag.

It's believed that the murderers first tried to enter the house through the kitchen windows, but because the shutters were secured there was no way in through there. They then climbed on the small roof that was in front of Martha's window. They broke the window and climbed in. The murderer must have cut themselves doing this as blood was found at the scene.

A pocketbook not belonging to anyone in the Rectory was found at the scene. It was believed to have fallen out of their coat pocket. Things in the place were ransacked and stolen.

They found a 25-year-old German suspect by the name of Johann Carl Franz. He initially gave his name as August Saltzman. He lied about his name, but it was found it was false. He then said that a man named Adolphe Khron stole his personal belongings at Leeds and said he was going to rob a priest.

They put Johann Carl Franz on trial.   Inside Martha's room, one of Johann's books were found. Everything was circumstantial though and the evidence was not strong. The Jurors came back with a not guilty for the crime.


SOURCES:
Unsolved Murders
Lloyds Weekly Newspaper
The Hull Packet East Riding Times
Rivals of The Ripper (Chapter 1)
The Bristol Mercury and Daily Post, Western Countries and South Wales Advertiser