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On release from prison in 1897 he went to
Leicester, where for £115 he opened a baker's shop at 28 Russell Square. It was
while he was in Leicester that he met an eighteen year old maid servant called
Caroline Beatrice Thornhill and, after a quick romance, married her - much to
her father's disapproval - on 17 January 1898. Instead of his proper name,
however, Smith called himself George Oliver Love.
After about six months, Smith's bakery business failed. He started to vent his
feelings on Caroline by giving her the occasional beating, but when she left him
to go to Nottingham he followed her, probably because he saw her as a way of
making him money. Smith found work for her as a maid in London, Brighton, Hove
and Hastings and made her steal money from the families she worked for.
Caroline Thornhill was eventually arrested in Hastings in the autumn of 1899
while trying to sell some silver spoons she had stolen. The court sentenced her
to twelve months imprisonment.
No doubt seething at her husband's freedom she sought her revenge by
incriminating him in her crime when she was released. Smith was arrested and
sentenced to two years' imprisonment at Hastings on 9 January 1901 for receiving
stolen goods.
Released in 1903, he immediately went to Leicester in pursuit of Caroline.
Wisely she had emigrated to Canada while he was in prison. Despite being
separated, Mrs 'Love' was to remain his only legal wife.
Back in 1899, while Caroline Thornhill's thoughts were no doubt of being
anywhere but in prison, Smith had begun the first of his bigamous marriages. He
'married' a middle aged boarding house keeper. He quickly sponged all her money
from her and promptly left.
Smith's next victim was a widow, Mrs Florence Wilson. After a three week
whirlwind courtship he 'married' her in June 1908 in London. Not long afterwards
he arranged for her to withdraw £30 from her post office savings account. With
her money in his pocket he took her to an exhibition at White City, London, on 3
July. He sat her down on a bench and told her to wait for him while he went to
get a paper. While she was waiting he returned to her lodgings in Camden, packed
and departed with her belongings. |
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Up to this point Smith's women had lost most of
their goods but had kept their lives. His next wife was not so lucky. Thirty one
year old Miss Beatrice (Bessie) Constance Anne Mundy's father, a bank manager,
had died in 1904 and left his daughter £2,500 in gilt-edged securities. Her
uncle managed her affairs and paid Bessie about £8 a month. Bessie had met Smith
- now calling himself Henry Williams and describing himself as a picture
restorer - while out for a walk in Clifton. Within days she realised that this
was the man for her. They moved to lodgings at 14 Rodwell Avenue, Weymouth and
'married' at the registry office there on 26 August 1910.
Smith wrote to Bessie's uncle saying how he hoped he would send her some of her
inheritance straight away. The uncle was reluctant, but on 13 December he sent
£135, this being the interest that had accrued on her securities.
Smith was now no doubt aware that he was unlikely to get his hands on the rest
or the inheritance so, having pocketed the interest money, he decided to move
on. But he did not simply get up and go. Before leaving he wrote her a cruel
note:
" I have caught from you a disease which is called the bad disorder (VD). For
you to be in such a state proves you could not have kept yourself morally
clean."
Smith wrote that he was going to London to have himself cured. Actually he moved
back in with Edith Pegler in Bristol.
In March 1912 Smith met Bessie again quite by chance, while on a visit to
Weston-Super-Mare. Bessie seems to have quickly forgiven him because she was
soon back with him again. After moving from town to town they eventually rented
a small house at 80 High Street, Herne Bay. Being a dutiful wife she was only
too willing to comply with his request for them both to visit a solicitor to
draw up their wills. She also arranged for the solicitor to her uncle with words
to the effect that "Mr and Mrs Williams had made up their differences and were
again to live together."
The ever-scheming husband wrote to Bessie's uncle saying: "I vow to take
advantage of every hour and day for the future that Bessie and I are spared to
outlive the past and to prove myself in the eyes of my wife and her relations a
true and worthy husband."
On Wednesday 10 July Smith took Bessie to a local doctor, the recently qualified
Dr French, telling his his wife had suffered a fit. Bessie did have a headache
and clammy hands but this was probably due to the extremely hot summer. On their
return home, Smith told Bessie to write to her uncle saying her health was non
too good and adding that her 'husband' was showing her every kindness.
Early on Friday morning Dr French was asked to attend Bessie at her home as,
according to her husband, she had suffered another fit. To the doctor she looked
fine but he did prescribe a sedative. |
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 [
"I'm afraid my wife is dead" ]
During the second period of living with Bessie Mundy, Smith realised that the
only way he could gain control over her money was if she died. He developed a
technique that he was to use three times on his hapless victims.
[ Killing technique ]
Smith discovered that pulling up the victims legs forced their heads suddenly
underwater, causing almost instant unconsciousness. |
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On Saturday 13 July at about 7.30am Bessie decided
to have a bath. At about 8am Dr French received an urgent note from Smith: "Can
you come at once? I am afraid my wife is dead." When he arrived on the scene he
saw Bessie in the bath, her head submerged, Dr French informed the police, who
took statements.
On the day of the 'drowning' Smith wired her family to tell them that "Bessie
had died in a fit this morning". He followed this up with a letter saying:
"Words cannot describe the great shock I suffered in the loss of my wife. The
doctor said she had a fit in the bath."
The subsequent inquest held on 15 July recorded a verdict of misadventure, and
Bessie Williams was buried in a common grave at 2.30pm the next day. Bessie's
relations did try to contest the will, but eventually over £2,500 was passed on
to Smith, who promptly opened several bank accounts, purchased several homes in
Bristol and arranged an annuity for himself. |
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[
Alice Burnham ]
Alice Burnham was a sturdy woman of 25 who had been a private
nurse. She succumbed to the charm of George Smith when they met at
Southsea.
Smith took Alice on honeymoon to a guesthouse in Blackpool. Soon after
their arrival their landlady heard a call for help. Rushing into the
bathroom, she found Smith cradling his wife. She had drowned. |
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Again Smith joined up with Edith Pegler in
Bristol. Then in October 1912 Smith disappeared again. He met his next bride at
Southsea. She was a short, plump twenty five year old private nurse named Alice
Burnham. Alice's father was a fruit grower in Buckinghamshire.
Smith quickly married her at Portsmouth registry office on 4 November and they
honeymooned at Regent Road, Blackpool. For this 'marriage' he called himself by
his real name and described himself as being a 'bachelor, independent means'.
Before the marriage Smith had arranged for his wife's life to be insured for
£500. Shortly after this he had managed to get £27/9/5 (£27.47) of her savings
as well as £104 which Charles Burnham had reluctantly forwarded. The next
essential job was to make his wife's will.
On Wednesday 10 December the 'married' couple moved into 16 Regent Road,
Blackpool. The same day Alice had a headache and Smith took her to a Dr Billing
for treatment. |
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 [
Alice Burnham ]
Alice Burnham met George Smith - who was for once using his real name - at
Southsea in late October 1913. Burnham was a plump pretty girl who spent several
years as a nurse and companion to an invalid. Under normal circumstances she
would have behaved in a very level headed fashion but, as with his other
victims, Alice was mesmerized by Smith's uncanny charm and they were married
within the week. Alice did not have much money, but Smith managed to obtain £130
from her and her family. By this time, however, Smith had inserted a new wrinkle
into his murderous technique. Before their bigamous marriage, he had insured
Alice for £500. While the couple were on honeymoon in Blackpool, Smith persuaded
Alice to make a will, leaving all her goods in his favour. Then he took her to a
doctor saying that she had been ill and soon afterwards, Alice was found dead in
the bath. Although this was almost a carbon copy of Bessie Mundy, Smith had no
fear of being found out. It was a year and a half later, hundreds of miles north
of his first murder and he was also using a different name. |
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Mrs Smith was feeling tired the next day, so in
the evening they both went for a walk. Smith asked his landlady, Mrs Crossley,
to prepare a bath for his wife on their return. At 8.15pm, while the Crossleys
were having tea, she noticed water seeping through the ceiling and starting to
run down the walls. Obviously the bath was overflowing. At te same time Smith
appeared in the kitchen carrying two eggs which he said he had brought for their
breakfast. Being told of the water, he went upstairs. Shortly afterwards he
shouted out: "Fetch the doctor! My wife cannot speak to me!"
Dr Billing was soon on the scene but Alice was dead in the bath. Mrs Crossley
had never like Smith and her suspicions about him were later to be related to
the court at his trial.
The inquest recorded 'accidental death', and Alice was buried on Monday 15
December. After the funeral Smith journeyed to Southsea. As he left, Mrs
Crossley called him 'Crippen'!
Smith received £500 insurance money and, after selling Alice's goods, rejoined
Edith Pegler in Bristol. Again they travelled to London, Cheltenham and Torquay
and ended up in Bournemouth. |
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[
Alice Reavil ]
In September 1914 Smith went back to his old ways, meeting and marrying
servant girl Alice Reavil in London. Alice was lucky - after relieving her of
£76, Smith simply left. He used his old trick: he took her to the park, said he
was going to use the lavatory, and simply disappeared. |
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In September 1914 while on a visit to London,
Smith stopped to listen to a band playing in a garden at Woolwich. There he
acquainted himself with a servant girl called Alice Reavil. By 17 September they
were married by special license. This time he was Charles Oliver James. They
honeymooned in Battersea Rise and, as with the other "brides", Smith soon
managed to get her to withdraw her savings of £76 from the post office. One
evening he disappeared from her life and returned Edith Pegler yet again. |
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 [
Margaret Lofty ]
Margaret Lofty was a middle aged spinster, daughter of a clergyman, but she
was not immune to George Smith's peculiar charms. At the age of thirty eight she
had probably given up all hope of marriage, so the interest shown by 'John
Lloyd' turned her head. |
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However, in June of that year he had met thirty
eight year old Margaret Lofty, the daughter of a deceased clergyman, while on a
visit to Bath. He decided to visit her again. Margaret knew him as John Lloyd, a
real estate agent. On 17 December 1914 they married and moved into two furnished
rooms on the second floor of 14 Birmarch Road, Highgate. As in previous cases,
his new bride was taken to a doctor, then a solicitor to make her will and then
on a visit to the post office to withdraw her savings. She was, incidentally,
already insured for £700. That evening she decided to have a bath.
Miss Louisa Blatch, the landlady, heard the sound of splashing coming from the
bathroom directly above the kitchen as well as what she described as the sound
of wet arms against the side of the bath followed by a sigh. The noise then
ceased and Smith started to play the hymn Nearer my God to thee on the
harmonium. This was followed by him going out to purchase some tomatoes for
their supper. He had to knock to get back in again. He said that he had
forgotten his key and asked if Mrs Lloyd was down from the bathroom yet.
He called out to his 'wife' and when he received no reply he went upstairs. He
immediately called out to Mrs Blatch: "My God. It's my wife. She doesn't answer.
I do hope nothing has happened to her!" He then entered the bathroom and
'discovered' her in the bath. He tried to resuscitate her but Margaret was dead.
She was buried on 21 December 1914, the inquest recording 'accidental death'. |
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 [
Newspaper Reports ]
The Brides in the Bath case was a sensation, creating newspaper interest
which was to last for decades. |
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Back Smith went to Edith Pegler. But luck was
starting to run out for George Smith, alias Love alias Rose alias Williams alias
James alias Lloyd. News of the appalling accidental deaths of these young brides
had obviously been related to the newspapers. Mr Charles Burnham, whose daughter
Alice was 'drowned' in the Blackpool incident, had read about the Highgate
drowning in the News of the World. Realising the strong similarity between that
case and his daughter's, he forwarded the article to Mr Redhead of the Aylesbury
police.
At the same time Mrs Crossley also saw the article and notified the police of
her suspicions. Immediately police began exhaustive enquiries and discovered
that Lloyd, Smith and Williams were one and the same person.
On 4 January 1915 Smith went to his solicitor and left instructions for his late
departed wife's will to be proved and the insurance policy to be concluded. As
arranged he returned them on 1 February, only to be stopped by Detective
Inspector Arthur Neill of Scotland Yard and two police sergeants as he left the
building.
"Are you John Lloyd?" said Inspector Neill.
"Yes," said Smith.
The Inspector then referred to his marrying Margaret Lofty in December and his
finding her dead in the bath in Highgate.
"Yes, quite right," said Smith.
Inspector Neill continued: "You are also said to be identical with George Smith,
whose wife was found dead in her bath under similar circumstances on December 13
1913 in Blackpool. You had married her a few weeks earlier."
Smith said: "Smith? I am not Smith. Don't know what you are talking about." He
was then arrested.
Smith was later to admit he was the George Smith who had married Alice Burnham.
He was then charged with 'causing a fake entry relating to a marriage between
himself as John Lloyd and Margaret Lofty, at the registry office, Bath, on
December 17, last'. Police, however, still had no evidence of murder. They
called in Dr Spilsbury, a Home Office pathologist, to examine Margaret Lofty'
exhumed body. He then went to Blackpool and Herne Bay to supervise the
exhumation of Alice Burnham and Bessie Mundy. |
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 [
Newspaper Reports ]
It was the height of World War I and in France thousands of young men were
dying as they clashed at Ypres. But all war news was pushed aside with the
sensational arrest of the "dead brides" killer. |
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It is possible for someone to drown
instantaneously. A sudden flood of water into the nose and throat can stimulate
the vagus nerve, which connects the brain with the heart. The stimulation causes
the nerve to send a signal to the heart to stop, resulting in death.
Spilsbury measured the bodies of the victims and also examined the baths in
which they had died. What he had to establish was the possibility of a person
fainting or having a fit submerging in such a way as to cause instant death.
Given the shapes and dimensions of the baths, Spilsbury could not see it
happening. In fact, the only possibility as far as he was concerned was that the
victims' legs would have to be pulled sharply out of the bath. This would
automatically pull the head down sharply under the water, causing the rapid
inhalation of fluid needed to cause instantaneous drowning.
The evidence obtained by Spilsbury combined with that already gathered by the
police was enough to lead to Smith being charged on 23 March 1915 with the
wilful murder of three women. At his trial on Tuesday 22 June 1915 at the Old
Bailey he pleaded 'not guilty'. |
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Dr Bernard Spilsbury ]
At the time of the 'Brides in the Bath' case Dr Bernard Spilsbury had more
than 10 years experience as a pathologist. He had already established his
reputation as a forensic expert, so anything he said in court was taken very
seriously. When he was called in to investigate the deaths of George Smith's
wives, Spilsbury established that it was almost impossible for a full sized
adult to drown naturally in the tapering baths of the time. To the hordes of
people who crowded into court this meant only one thing: the women must have
been killed by Smith. |
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A total of 264 exhibits were shown to the court
and 112 witnesses examined. The judge's summing up lasted almost a whole day,
during which time Smith often interrupted and at one time shouted: "Get on, hang
me at once and done with it. It's a disgrace to a Christian country, this is.
I'm no murderer, though I might be a bit peculiar." |
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 [
Murder in the bath ]
Spilsbury and his colleagues decided that death had probably been caused by
the assailant placing his right hand on the head of the woman, while his left
arm was placed beneath both knees. The left arm of the assailant was then raised
suddenly while the right hand pushed down on the head of the woman. The trunk of
her body then slid down towards the foot of the bath, the head being submerged
in the water. Inspector Neill had his theory demonstrated in an ante-room at the
court. A nurse in a bathing costume sat in a bath of water, and the officer
demonstrated on her the technique suggested. She immediately showed signs of
drowning and had to be revived with artificial respiration. |
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The trial finished on 1 July 1915. The jury took
just 23 minutes to find him guilty. Mr Justice Scrutton pronounced on him the
only sentence possible - death by hanging. He added: "I think that any
exhortation to repentance would be wasted on you." |
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[
George Smith ]
For most of the five months since his arrest Smith maintained a cool
composure. It was only when he had been found guilty that he showed any emotion.
Pale-faced and sweating, he gripped the dock tightly as the death sentenced was
passed. |
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George Joseph Smith appealed against his sentence,
but this was dismissed. He was hanged at Maidstone prison on Friday 13 August
1915. His last words were: "I am innocent."
His naked body was buried in a pit of quicklime within the prison walls. |
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BACK TO TOP |
[
Edith Mabel Pegler ]
[
Bessie Mundy ]