NI’s strangest murder cases... what this writer has uncovered
The policeman who led the investigation into a killing he committed; the bridegroom shot dead walking up the aisle; the blind man who poisoned his wife and how a photograph in this very newspaper trapped a killer
Ispent a great deal of time in the company of murderers — in dusty libraries reading accounts of their crimes in old newspapers and books — while researching remarkable murder cases from Irish history for my new book, Foster’s Book of Irish Murder. In my quest to find unusual murders from times past I looked at many records to find cases that would make the cut for my collection. It was plain to see that Ireland has had more than its fair share of strange murders in the past three centuries. It is no exaggeration to say some of the most unusual tragedies occurred in Northern Ireland and rank very high on this list.
Edward Lindsay was a well-known Armagh eccentric who lived alone in the town. The alarm was raised on December 6, 1908 when Lindsay had not been seen for two days. Police broke their way into the house and found Edward Lindsay murdered and the place ransacked.
Police learned a vagrant called Oliver Curran tried to sell a watch in a hotel in the town on December 5 and identified it as Lindsay’s by an engraved inscription and issued an arrest warrant for him. When apprehended in Newry the following day Curran was found in possession of the watch and was wearing several items of clothing belonging to the dead man. Curran was found guilty but insane and sent to a lunatic asylum, where he later killed another inmate in a fit of madness.
The wedding day of Thomas Thompson and Fanny Jane Moffat at Knocknamuckley Church in Co Armagh on March 2, 1888 was memorable for all the wrong reasons. Instead of being a joyful occasion it was a scene of terrible tragedy and heartbreak. One of the first people to arrive at the church was William Thompson, the brother of Thompson’s first wife.
As the bridegroom passed his pew, William Thompson stood up and calmly shot and killed Thomas. William confessed he had become enraged when he heard of the upcoming marriage, explaining Thomas had ill-treated his sister and abandoned her and she had suffered greatly before she died some time later.
He was found guilty and sentenced to death, but this was commuted to life imprisonment. Thompson pleaded insanity and was removed to a lunatic asylum. He escaped a few weeks later and disappeared without trace until he calmly walked into the police barracks at Markethill, Co Armagh, on September 10, 1906, and gave himself up.
John Logue lived in the townland of Ballymacbrennan, which lay between Lisburn and Saintfield in Co Down. In June 1861, Logue was found guilty of the theft of a neighbour’s sheep and sent to jail for four years. George Graham and James Wilson testified against him and Logue swore vengeance.
He was released in June 1865 and lost no time returning home. On August 11, Logue lured Graham outside in the middle of the night by shouting his animals were on the road. He fired at Graham, but missed and shot and killed Graham’s young son instead. Logue as recognised by the Grahams and he was hunted down. Logue holds the dubious distinction of becoming the last person publicly executed in Ireland when he was hanged on April 19, 1866 outside Downpatrick Prison.
There have been many cases where murderers have escaped detection for several years only to be caught by mere chance. The strange story of Bernard McCann from Newtownhamilton, Co Armagh is one of these instances. In 1813 McCann, then a teenager, worked in Lisburn. One day he went to the Maze races. There he met Owen McAdam, from Keady, Co Armagh. McAdam was a horse dealer and had a lot of money on his person. A few days later McAdam’s body was found in the Lagan canal at Newport bridge near Lisburn. There was no sign of his money or Bernard McCann.
Ten years later McCann, now going by the name of James Hughes, was discovered by chance by an old acquaintance who was visiting Galway, who quickly informed the authorities. McCann was brought north to Downpatrick and stood trial for McAdam’s murder. He was found guilty and hanged.
Ireland is one of the few countries to ever have hanged a blind man. Hannah Loughridge from Polintamny, Co Antrim died in agony on August 5, 1823 after eating some bread poisoned with arsenic given to her by her husband. The bread had been freshly made by her mother-in-law that day. At her funeral mourners whispered their belief she had been poisoned and suspected her husband. It was widely known it was not a happy marriage.
Her husband Hugh was blind and the couple constantly argued. Hannah was on bad terms with Hugh’s mother Esther. They were both charged with her murder and found guilty and sentenced to hang.
A few days before the execution Hugh confessed his guilt and swore his mother was innocent, but it was not enough to save her life and both were executed side by side.
The brutal murder of James Keys by his son John took place on April 23, 1822 in the townland of Shane, near Church Hill, Co Fermanagh. On that day father and son left their home together to dig a ditch some distance away from the house and took their spades. At that
Logue holds the distinction of being the last person to be publicly executed in Ireland
time they appeared to be on their usual good terms. In the evening only John returned home carrying both spades. Asked where his father was John offered several explanations.
When he did not return that night or the next day the family were alarmed. A search was made and they found James Keys’ body buried in a newly dug ditch. There were clear marks of violence on the body.
John tried to flee but was caught and charged with his father’s murder. A post mortem examination found that James Keys had been knocked unconscious by blows to the head, then buried alive.
The jury had no reservations finding Keys guilty of patricide and he was hanged two days later.
Imagine a situation where a person commits murder and is then put in charge of the investigation to find the killer. It sounds like fiction, but it actually happened in Newtownstewart in Co Tyrone in 1871 when bank cashier William Glass was murdered by District Inspector Thomas Montgomery.
On June 29, 1871 the body of Glass was found in a bank in Newtownstewart. He had been savagely beaten and killed. A large sum of money was also missing. Inspector Montgomery arrived at the scene and took charge. To the surprise of all present he suggested it was a case of suicide. It quickly emerged that Inspector Montgomery was the last person seen leaving the bank shortly before the body was found and he was arrested. It took three trials to find him guilty.
Eddie Cullens and Achmet Musa were part of a group of four men travelling around England with a circus in 1931, but only two were being paid and the money had to be shared out. Cullens decided to kill Musa and planned the perfect murder. He borrowed a car and took a ferry to Belfast under an assumed name for a few days holiday with Musa.
A few days later he shot Musa in the head and dumped his naked body in a field near Carrickfergus, then fled back to England. But he had been sloppy. A photograph in the Belfast Telegraph of the mystery body was identified by a Belfast woman who had befriended the two men. She provided police with enough information and a description of Cullens to allow them to track him down. Cullens was later found guilty and executed.
John MacCrossan was murdered by John McLaughlin in Omagh, Co Tyrone on August 27, when MacCrossan, who acted for a neighbour McLaughlin had lost a court case to, showed up at his premises to seize goods to satisfy the judgment.
In a rage McLaughlin speared at MacCrossan with a long iron bar with a hook at one end and drove it through his neck. MacCrossan died from his injuries and McLaughlin was later found guilty and sentenced to death, but this was commuted to life imprisonment.
At the end of my deadly research, I selected — if one can use that word in such cases — the strangest, most sinister and notorious crimes. These northern cases are only nine out of 39 murders from across the island featured in Foster’s Book of Irish Murder chronicling the dark and macabre tales from Ireland’s history.
Foster’s Book of Irish Murder by Allen Foster is published by New Island Books, price £12.99