February 23rd 1885 The Man They Could Not Hang

 


On February 23rd 1885 in Exeter, the execution of John "Babbacombe" Lee was scheduled. He had been found guilty of murder earlier in the month. He worked as a servant for a wealthy lady called Emma Keyse and she had been found beaten, her throat slashed and her body set on fire in the home she shared with John Lee. The evidence against Lee was circumstantial. He had been in trouble before for petty theft and he had also threatened to destroy the house claiming he would "level the place to the ashes". 

John Lee claimed that he had not been in the house at the time the fire was started but unfortunately, he had no credible alibi. The trial moved forward and all the evidence was put to a jury. 

Lee had cuts on his arm and his clothes were covered in blood.
There was a bloody knife found in a drawer in the locker beside his bed. 
He had a criminal record. 
He was the only person in or around the house at the time of the murder. 
He had threatened to "level the place to the ashes". 

During the trial the judge questioned Lee on his manner, questioning why he was so calm during everything that was happening, Lee simply told the judge that he trusted in the Lord, he would be found innocent. 

The jury deliberated for less than an hour before returning a guilty verdict and John Lee was destined to death by hanging. 



That same month, the execution date was set and John "Babbacome" Lee walked out to the gallows of Exeter Prison, a cloth sack covering his face the execution was to be carried out by James Berry. As before each hanging, Berry examined the noose and rope to make sure the were in good condition. He checked the condition of the trap door, and he deemed that everything was in condition suitable to proceed. To Berry's surprise when he pulled the lever, the trap door that was supposed to release in order to leave Lee suspended in midair, never opened. 

As you can imagine, a scene was caused. 

Not to be lazy but the best way to describe this next part, has already been done, so I've taken an extract from a book The Man They Could Not Hang: - "distressing scenes followed as desperate efforts were made to force open the "trap" door. Warders jumped on the doors, risking falling into the pit with the prisoner had they been successful, but after several minutes the bewildered prisoner was led to one side while the apparatus was repeatedly tested and found to be working perfectly. Visibly shaken, Berry made a second attempt. Heaving with all his might, he succeeded only in bending the lever. When Lee was led away, the trap door opened on its own, it fell open." 

That day February 23rd 1885, at 20 years old John "Babbacombe" Lee, evaded execution three times. His death sentence was overturned to life imprisonment. He was released from prison later in 1908 and in 1911 he fled to America with his mistress.... 

A mistress he met while in a pub while boasting about his escape from the hangman's noose. 

Was it an intervention from God that saved John Lee that day? Some speculate that other prisoners may have tampered with the trap door causing it not to open while others believe that some parts might have fallen out of alignment when they were wheeling the gallows out into the yard from a storage area in the prison. 

Whatever the reason, John "Babbacombe" Lee cheated death on that cold, damp Februaury in 1885.   




The link below is a link to a book by James Berry, the executioner in the story above which some, like myself, might find an interesting read. 

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