Free The Law Killers by Alexander McGregor Page B

The conclusion was that Bury had forged the letter to help lure Ellen away from London.
    Despite the length of the trial, the facts of the case were relatively simple. Mrs Bury was dead and her husband had admitted stabbing the body. But who had carried out the fatal strangulation? The defence case was that Ellen had used a cord to commit suicide, either by hanging herself or by some kind of self-throttling, and that Bury, in a state of panic, had attempted to dispose of her body because he feared being blamed.
    Dr (later Sir) Henry Littlejohn and two other medical experts were in no doubt that the marks on Ellen’s neck indicated the cord had been tightened from the rear – ruling out self-strangulation. Two other doctors were brought forward by the defence and they favoured the suicide theory, though they conceded that such an action would be ‘most exceptional’ and ‘almost unprecedented’.
    Bury had listened carefully to every word uttered by Dr Littlejohn and when the jury went out at 7 p.m. for supper he too was taken from the courtroom for something to eat. He seemed more upset about what he was given than how the case was going. After remarking that the doctor had been hard on him, he gazed disgustedly at the plate of porridge and milk before him and, after stirring it about for a few moments, protested angrily, ‘That is the kind of thing we give to pigs in England.’ Then he threw down the spoon, lifted the plate and drank the milk in a single gulp.
    When the trial resumed, the public benches were still packed by the eager crowd which had sat there all day, most of them going without any food. Darkness had long since fallen when the all-male jury eventually retired but it did not take them long to return with their verdict. After only twenty-five minutes – just the time it took most of them to enjoy a long-awaited smoke – the foreman, farmer John Ramsay, told the hushed courtroom, ‘The jury unanimously find the prisoner guilty as libelled, but strongly recommend him to the mercy of the court.’
    The judge, Lord Young, looked startled. ‘On what grounds do you recommend him to mercy?’
    Ramsay: ‘Partly from the conflicting medical evidence.’
    Lord Young: ‘If you are in doubt about the medical evidence, I must ask you to reconsider your verdict. That is no ground whatever for recommendation to mercy. You must see that. I am afraid I must ask you to reconsider your verdict if you have any doubt as to the guilt of the prisoner. You had better retire again and be sure you are quite satisfied this time.’
    As the anxious-looking jurors filed out, Bury was led back down to the cells. For the first time since the proceedings had begun, the prisoner finally started to show some emotion, onlookers noting how his ‘hands moved nervously’ and ‘his features became agitated’.
    Downstairs, Bury became even more animated and told the constables, ‘It will go well for me. By six o’clock tomorrow morning I’ll be packed up and ready to get back to London,’ adding by way of further explanation that he would move to a different area from the one where he had become so well known.
    Back in the courtroom, many in the crowd shared his view that he would be released, believing the jury would opt for a compromise ‘not proven’ verdict.
    However, after just ten minutes the jurors were back and this time there was no ambiguity. Foreman Ramsay looked straight ahead and said simply, ‘We unanimously find the prisoner guilty.’ Bury, who had returned to his emotionless self, showed no distress or disappointment at the words and seemed almost indifferent when Lord Young solemnly placed the traditional square of black silk material over his bewigged head and pronounced the death sentence. Bury, he said, would be taken to the prison at Dundee and, between the hours of 8 and 10 a.m. on 24 April, would be hung by the neck until dead – ‘And may God have mercy on your soul.’
    Still, unmoved by it all, the