SinisterCrimes
Random case
Portrait of George Joseph Smith
Unknown author, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Perpetrator

George Joseph Smith

Born
11 January 1872
Died
13 August 1915, aged about 43
Record
Wikidata Q279143 · Wikipedia

Perpetrator in The Brides in the Bath

Bigamist and swindler who married under many names, including Henry Williams and John Lloyd; hanged at Maidstone.

1912–1915 · Herne Bay, Blackpool and Highgate, England · Executed

Three newly married women drowned in small baths in three towns. A grieving father's newspaper cutting exposed the bigamist behind all of them. Read the case.

Dated events

  1. Smith marries Caroline Thornhill in Leicester, his only legal marriage.

  2. Smith marries Alice Burnham, who has just been insured for £500.

  3. Inspector Arthur Neil detains Smith outside a solicitor's office.

  4. Smith is formally charged with the three murders.

  5. The jury convicts Smith after about twenty minutes and he is sentenced to death.

  6. Smith is hanged at Maidstone Prison by John Ellis.