Married with five children, Mrs. Frances Denton still had time for a boyfriend. She met labourer Daniel Burke in an Isleworth pub, and went on having an affair with him even
after her husband found out.
Burke, 45, would sneak into the Denton house in Isleworth while Mr. Denton was on night shift. On OCTOBER 30th, 1905, after spending the night in bed with Frances, he left early in the morning. When Mr. Denton returned home he found Frances bleeding heavily from knife wounds. Four days later she died in hospital.
Burke didnt deny attacking her, but said he lost his temper when Frances intimated that she was thinking of joining a local brothel.
He told the jury at the Old Bailey that he had been hearing voices in his head and was suffering from paranoia. That was sufficient to earn him a recommendation for mercy, although he was found guilty of murdering Frances. He was sentenced to hang but reprieved, and served 12 years before being released in 1920.