When Catherine Cross, 25, a Liverpool nurse, went to the home of Mrs. Jane Smith to have her wedding dress fitted, she met Mrs. Smiths son Walter for the first time. They chatted, and Smith invited Catherine to come and visit the factory where he worked.
The factory was deserted when they arrived, whereupon for no apparent reason Smith shot the nurse three times. She survived for four days long enough for the police to take her statement accusing Smith, who was duly hanged on Tuesday, March 27th, 1894, at Nottingham Prison.