Found floating in the River Lee at Cork in December 1904, William Regan, a former American soldier, had not been seen alive since DECEMBER 3rd.
A bloodstained iron discovered on the riverbank was believed to be the weapon used to beat him to death.
Regan’s fellow-lodgers were questioned and one of them, 53-year-old John Foster, was arrested after he tried to pawn the victim’s gold watch and chain. Blood was found on his clothes, and he was charged with murder.
A former member of the Royal Irish Constabulary, he was convicted, sentenced to death, and went to the gallows at Cork on April 25th, 1905.