When Connecticut store owner George Goodale sold some property for around $1,000 he decided to keep the cash with him at home for the time being. That excited the curiosity – and the greed – of his handyman Henry Bailey. As Goodale reclined in an easy chair on July 6th, 1906, Bailey came up behind him with an axe and split his skull.

The handyman collected the $1,000, together with his victim’s horse and wagon, and made off. A week later he was spotted in Canada. The police returned him to Connecticut, where he was tried for the murder and hanged on Tuesday, April 16th, 1907.