Pawnbrokers assistant Walter Davies, 21, was cleaning out his shop cellar in Atherton, Bolton, when William Chadwick, 23, entered the shop and began stealing everything in sight. Mr. Davies raced upstairs to the shop and a fight started. Chadwick stabbed Mr. Davies in the neck, causing him to fall back down the stairs to the cellar, where he died.
Calmly, Chadwick went down to the body, relieved it of its watch and chain, and then went back upstairs to continue his looting.
He was caught trying to sell some of the proceeds. He was convicted and hanged on Tuesday, April 15th, 1890, at Kirkdale Prison, Liverpool, denying the murder to the end.