"she wouldn't eat the mushrooms"
Posted on 07/07/2011 2:56:40 PM PDT by dynachrome
LONDON - A murder mystery dating back to 1879 was finally resolved Tuesday when a skull unearthed in BBC legend David Attenborough's garden was formally recognized as that of a woman murdered by her maid 132 years ago.
Julia Martha Thomas, a wealthy widow aged 55, was killed by her 29-year-old housekeeper Kate Webster very close to Park Road in well-to-do Richmond, but her head was never found.
The case became known as the 'Barnes Mystery', which gripped London at the time.
Webster, a convicted thief and fraudster, chopped up Thomas with an axe, boiled the remains and gave the dripping to local children to eat.
A box containing human flesh was found in the nearby River Thames
(Excerpt) Read more at montrealgazette.com ...
From the headline I thought Attenborough was in trouble.
"she wouldn't eat the mushrooms"
Katy Webster took an axe gave her mistress forty whacks, when she saw what she had done she served the pieces in a bun.
Fried Green Tomatoes - UK Style
Head Attached.
Head detached.
Me too! Headline writer got some attention with that one!
“chopped up Thomas with an axe, boiled the remains and gave the dripping to local children”
What a nice lady, feeding the starving children....yikes.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0LZxelSc62Y
Good one!
Does anyone know what “dripping” means? I use drippings to make gravy (the fat and juice). Not to sound gross but is this the same thing? Seems like an odd word.
“same thing”
I believe so. ugh.
Thanks.
A box containing human flesh was found in the nearby River Thames days after the killing and one of the victim's feet was found on an allotment.
Wow! Psychochotic killers back then didn't mess around! Our modern-day psycho-killers are pikers by comparison....
I believe “drippings” means the lard that would have resulted from boiling the body down. Yuk.
Neither did justice. Perhaps that is why we have so many freaks these days as compared to the occasional freak back then.
http://www.stmgrts.org.uk/archives/2008/10/the_mistress_the_murderess_and_the_bowl_of_lard.html
Don’t know if this fits any of your ping lists, but it certainly is strange history.
I was hoping that “drippings” wasn’t the same thing. Good thing that the kids are all dead now of old age. Can you imagine learning that as an adult? I was fed WHAT?!
“Sweeney Todd, the Demon Barber of Fleet Street”
is a fun story, also.
Good thing it did not happen in Florida or they would have have convicted Kate the maid...too circumstantial..LOL
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