George Barber lived happily with his wife Doris for many years at Monkseaton, Whitley Bay, before, at the age of 66, and for no accountable reason, he decided to kill her. He was determined to make a thorough job of it too. He shot her twice in the head with a revolver and then cut her throat.
Then he made a feeble attempt to commit suicide by shooting himself in the head, but moved the gun slightly before firing so that he survived, although the subsequent self-inflicted bullet wound kept him in hospital for months.
At Newcastle Assizes on November 16th, 1905, Barber claimed he was insane, just as his brother, who died five years earlier, had been. The jury, finding him guilty, had recommended mercy, and he was taken from the death cell on NOVEMBER 22nd and transferred to Broadmoor, where he died in December, 1911.