Screams from the Marriott household on Saturday, JUNE 5th, 1915, brought neighbours running to the scene. They found Mrs. Nellie Marriott, 23, lying in a pool of blood and husband Walter, 24, leaning over her, begging her to speak to him.

But Nellie couldn’t speak. There was a knife in her neck and seven and a half inches of the blade was plunged into her chest and lungs.

The neighbours called the police and while they were waiting for them to arrive Walter sat with his head in his hands, muttering, “What have I done to my lass?”

He claimed at his trial on July 19th that it was an accident. She had picked up the knife during an argument, he said, and as he tried to disarm her she was stabbed.

Medical evidence, however, suggested that such a scenario was most unlikely. As a result, Walter was sentenced to die, and was hanged at Wakefield on August 10th.