After cutting off his wifes head with a carving knife, Henry Pickering told police: I just want to be hanged. His wish came true at Leeds Armley Prison on Tuesday, June 14th, 1892.
Marriage evidently didnt agree with Pickering, a 29-year-old mechanic, for he had married only six months before he killed his wife. Their problems arose when he told her he was unable to find a job, but she and her family had a different view of that they thought he drank too much and didnt want to work. As a result the couple had to live with his parents at Holbeck, Leeds.
On April 23rd, they had a row, and Mrs. Pickering went upstairs to her room in tears. Pickering followed her with the carving knife and attacked her viciously. He made no attempt to escape, and was convicted the following month at the city assizes.