The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
The jury is in: 15 members of the public revealed to review notorious murder trial.
NOTORIOUS MURDERER IN THE DOCK: 15 members of the public from across Tayside and Fife will hold the fate of William Bury in their hands in Dundee University experiment
The exciting prospect of playing a part in the restaging of one of Dundee’s most notorious murder trials has grabbed the attention of hundreds of Courier readers.
Dundee University’s celebrated forensic anthropologist, Dame Sue Black, is re-enacting the fateful decisions that saw William Henry Bury hanged for the brutal 1889 slaying of his wife, Ellen.
Bury, who claimed to be Jack the Ripper after turning himself in to police officers, was the last man to be executed in such a fashion in the city.
His trial was problematic, with the original jurors given three very different explanations of how Ellen died.
Now Professor Black has gathered a team of top legal professionals to replay the trial and allow an all-new jury to consider the medical evidence available 130 years ago.
The Courier’s acting deputy editor, Dave Lord, drew the names of 15 individuals at random from hundreds of applications to the newspaper.
They will now form a jury at Dundee Sheriff Court on the afternoon of Saturday February 3. The successful jurors are: Michael Scorgie of Braoch Road, Montrose; Carol Cunningham of David Street, Broughty Ferry; Derrick Millar of Crescent Lane, Dundee; Dominic Connelly, Larch Street, Dundee; Anne Dewar, Boysack Gardens, Broughty Ferry; Gregor Robertson, of Skene Street, Strathmiglo; Hazel Grieve, Church Street, Monifieth; Andrew Lowe, Nelson Street, Tayport; Evelyn Duncan of Marchfield Terrace, Dundee; Kelly Macey, Millhall Crescent, Dundee; Julia Swann of Marchfield Road, Dundee; William Melville of Strathbeg Place, Dundee; Julie McCamman, Auchencairn Place, Monifieth; James Watson of Spencer Crescent in Carnoustie and Gerard Dignan, Denhead Crescent, Dundee.
The focus for jurors will be the medical evidence that caused so much confusion at the original trial.
An initial post-mortem examination revealed Ellen Bury had been dead for several days and the opinion of a doctor called to the scene was that she had been murdered, strangled and her body cut, possibly while she was still alive.
Bury, despite an initial confession, pled not guilty to his wife’s murder and his solicitor asked for a second post-mortem examination.
It was carried out by Dr David Lennox, an experienced Dundee surgeon, who was assisted by Dr William Kinnear.
He presented a comprehensive 14-page report in which he concluded Ellen Bury had committed suicide and that cuts to her abdomen were made after death.
This was a huge blow to the police, who called in Dr Henry Littlejohn to perform a third post-mortem probe.
His findings were that Ellen had in fact been murdered, though he was unable to ascertain if the mutilations had taken place after death.
Bury’s trial lasted around 13 hours and saw a jury return a verdict of guilty, but also to issue a plea to the court and for the ears of the presiding judge, Lord Young, saying: “We strongly recommend him to mercy”.
Lord Young is said to have been surprised by the recommendation and asked why they had made it.
It was explained to the court that the jury viewed the medical evidence as conflicting, however Lord Young refused to accept their verdict and instructed jurors to retire once more to reconsider if they had doubts.
With his stern guidance ringing in their ears, they returned five minutes later, with a unanimous verdict of guilty and no recommendation for mercy.
Bury was hanged on April 24 1889 at 8am.
His “retrial” has been orchestrated by Prof Black to celebrate the 130th anniversary of the Cox Chair of Anatomy, established in 1888 as part of a major public campaign to create a medical school in the city.
The Courier will cover the trial. It will also be filmed for television by historian Dan Snow. All jurors will be contacted in due course.