The man they could not hang
The man they could not hang!
John ‘Babbacombe’ Lee famously dubbed ‘the man they could not hang’ was accused of the murder of Miss Emma Anne Whitehead Keyse. In the early hours of November 15 1884 in the hamlet of Babbacombe, Devon, Emma Keyse was discovered brutally murdered. Her throat was slit, she had three wounds to her head and the murderer had also attempted to burn the body.
He was sentenced to be hanged at Exeter Prison on 23 February 1885. When John was about to be executed however, the noose was tied around his neck but when the executioner pulled the lever to remove the floor beneath him to hang him, it stayed up
After three attempts at hanging, his sentence was commuted to life imprisonment. He became popularly known as "the man they couldn't hang".
John had been a servant at 'The Glen' (her home) since leaving school and was employed as a footman. John however was convicted of stealing from his employer and sentenced to 2 years in prison. John was released from prison in 1884 and returned to work at 'The Glen'.
John Lee was the initial suspect, being the only male in the house at the time of the murder and was found with an inexplicable cut on his arm. Although circumstantial, the evidence was enough to try and convict him of a murder to which he would always claim his innocence.
He was sentenced to be hanged at Exeter Prison on 23 February 1885. When John was about to be executed however, the noose was tied around his neck but when the executioner pulled the lever to remove the floor beneath him to hang him, it stayed up. The executioner then tested the door and it worked so led john up again. Again however it did not work and the miraculous process was achieved for the third time also.
Many said it was a divine act of intervention from God and to appease the crowd John was led back to his prison cell. The British Home Secretary, Sir William Harcourt intervened then to reduce his death sentence to life in prison and after 22 years with almost 0 evidence to convict him, John was released. He would go onto write a book before he went publicly missing. He is however thought to have emigrated to America but it is mere speculation.
The date of his death is unknown and where he is buried is likewise. Without forensic evidence we will never know if he was guilty or innocent of the murder
Here is the story in full
John "Babbacombe" Lee (15 August 1864 – 19 March 1945) was an Englishman famous for surviving three attempts to hang him for murder. Born in Abbotskerswell, Devon, Lee served in the Royal Navy, and was a known thief.
In 1885, he was convicted of the murder of his employer, Emma Keyse, at her home at Babbacombe Bay near Torquay on 15 November 1884, with a knife.
The evidence was weak and circumstantial, amounting to little more than Lee having been the only male in the house at the time of the murder, his previous criminal record, and being found with an unexplained cut on his arm. Despite this and his claim of innocence, he was sentenced to hang. After he survived three attempts at hanging, his sentence was commuted to life imprisonment. He became popularly known as "the man they couldn't hang".
On 23 February 1885, three attempts were made to carry out Lee's execution at Exeter Prison. All ended in failure, as the trapdoor of the scaffold failed to open despite being carefully tested by the executioner, James Berry, beforehand. The medical officer refused to take any further part in the proceedings, and they were stopped.
Berry provides a detailed account of the failed execution in his memoirs, My Experiences as an Executioner, noting that the trapdoor was adjusted with a saw and axe between the attempted executions, although in Berry's memoirs and letter to the Under-Sheriff he only mentions two attempted executions.
As a result, home secretary Sir William Harcourt commuted the sentence to life imprisonment. The Home Office ordered an investigation into the failure of the apparatus, and it was discovered that when the gallows was moved from the old infirmary into the coach house, the draw bar was slightly misaligned. As a result the hinges of the trapdoor bound and did not drop cleanly through.[6] Lee continued to petition successive Home Secretaries and was finally released in 1907.
The only other man in history known to have survived three hanging attempts was Joseph Samuel, in September 1803.
An alternative theory, raised by Ernest Bowen-Rowlands in his book In the Light of the Law, suggests that the trap was blocked by a wooden wedge that was inserted by a prisoner working on the scaffold, and removed when the apparatus was tested. Note that Bowen-Rowlands only cites an anonymous "well-known person", citing an equally anonymous prisoner's confession, and this would contrast with Berry's reputation (noted by prison governors and surgeons) as a meticulous professional
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