Marissa and Matt discuss this Victorian murderess's crime and what made it so fascinating to Londoners at the time. Maria dated two guys but ended up choosing the wrong one to marry. So, she decided to take the money from the man she didn't marry... no matter what that took.
"The Role Of The "Fallen Woman" In Three Victorian Novels". 2021. Victorianweb.Org. https://victorianweb.org/gender/fallen2.html?fbclid=IwAR0IXj4h1VLrSInb1t365090ESUDQoPtTaS3IWSkbgAUIhmYK6Z7oyA513Q.
Blanco, Juan. 2021. "Maria Manning | Murderpedia, The Encyclopedia Of Murderers". Murderpedia.Org. https://murderpedia.org/female.M/m/manning-maria.htm?fbclid=IwAR2TCxEkjC9w087f8QyojgBE7XXXvpyVDNzsVeWQijgxofAYd2o0BjXY5Hk.
2021. https://headstuff.org/culture/history/terrible-people-from-history/fred-maria-manning-victorian-murderers/?fbclid=IwAR0aNPcCnWE9rYwQ7MmXY2Iz4xTbuC2Tu0kvsJ7YRvpxRKOXjKLcCM-pmRY.
https://www.buzzsprout.com/?referrer_id=1800435
Marissa and Matt discuss this Victorian murderess's crime and what made it so fascinating to Londoners at the time. Maria dated two guys but ended up choosing the wrong one to marry. So, she decided to take the money from the man she didn't marry... no matter what that took.
"The Role Of The "Fallen Woman" In Three Victorian Novels". 2021. Victorianweb.Org. https://victorianweb.org/gender/fallen2.html?fbclid=IwAR0IXj4h1VLrSInb1t365090ESUDQoPtTaS3IWSkbgAUIhmYK6Z7oyA513Q.
Blanco, Juan. 2021. "Maria Manning | Murderpedia, The Encyclopedia Of Murderers". Murderpedia.Org. https://murderpedia.org/female.M/m/manning-maria.htm?fbclid=IwAR2TCxEkjC9w087f8QyojgBE7XXXvpyVDNzsVeWQijgxofAYd2o0BjXY5Hk.
2021. https://headstuff.org/culture/history/terrible-people-from-history/fred-maria-manning-victorian-murderers/?fbclid=IwAR0aNPcCnWE9rYwQ7MmXY2Iz4xTbuC2Tu0kvsJ7YRvpxRKOXjKLcCM-pmRY.
https://www.buzzsprout.com/?referrer_id=1800435
macabrepedia deals with dark subject matter that may not be suitable for all audiences listener discretion is advised.
Marissa:August 9 1849, London England, a 50 year old moneylender by the name of Patrick O'Connor went to dinner at the home of his friends Maria and Frederick. A couple of years prior, he'd courted Maria, but she'd married Frederick Manning instead. That was okay with Patrick though, as he still became her lover and even friends with both of the Mannings. So this evening, he went over to have dinner and catch up at their house, which was located at three men of her place for Monsey. When he arrived, Maria suggested that Patrick Go and wash up before dinner, so he did. As he sort of the sink, washing his hands, Maria pointed a pistol at his head behind his ear and fired. But the bullet did not kill him immediately, and he struggled to speak. project took a crowbar and beat him over and over finishing the kill. When asked about it later, he said, I never liked him, so I battered his head with a ripping chisel. The couple then dragged his body over to a prepared grade that they had already dug under the kitchen flagstones. They smothered the body and quick line and left it under their kitchen, believing that this would speed up the decay of the corpse. Marie and Fredericton sat down in that same room and ate their dinner. We invite you to stay in listen as we add another entry into this our macabrepedia.
Matthew:Welcome to macabrepedia a marriage of true crime and the truly bizarre. I'm one of your hosts Matthew and Marissa. Today we will be exploring
Marissa:the Romani horror, or the murder of Patrick O'Connor Marylou was born in Switzerland, but she soon moved to England and became a lady's maid to the Duchess of Sutherland, changing her name to Maria with the move. She'd even met Queen Victoria in the course of her duties. And this job made her accustomed to some of the finer things in life. She didn't ever want to experience poverty ever again. When she was in her early 20s, she had two suitors to choose from. One was Patrick O'Connor, who she'd actually met on a boat when she was on a trip with her employer. And the other was Frederick George Manning, who worked as guard. She had a choice to make here. Patrick was a moneylender, and he invested wisely. This meant that he was smart with his money and very wealthy. But Patrick was nearly 30 years older than she was, and he drank a little bit too deep into the bottle sometimes. And Maria didn't really want anything to do with that. I mean, it was kind of an old man to her, I guess.
Matthew:Yeah. 3030 years split. I mean, that's
Marissa:he was more than twice or he was not. He was about twice her age. Frederick had been let go from his job because he was actually suspected of being involved in several robberies. And his background was a little sketchy
Matthew:while while being a guard inside job kind of stuff. Yeah, he
Marissa:was. Yeah, he was. He was pretty much there was evidence of him being involved, but they couldn't like pin it on him. So they kind of just let him go for misconduct, but I couldn't charge him with it. But despite this, Frederick swore that he was going to be inheriting a good bit of money from his mother, and he was around her age. Because of this and the fact that Patrick was not as forthcoming with a proposal. She chose Frederick, and they were married at St. James's church and Piccadilly on May 27 1847. And they tried to make it work. They tried to run a pub called the white heart in Taunton, which is a small town in Somerset, and the town where Frederick had been born. Shout out to Taunton, and Richard Hewish college, I was there briefly in my freshman year of college Taunton is a really cool little town, I'm sure has changed quite a lot in the last almost 200 years, but
Matthew:I thought you're gonna say since your lessons you were there. Well, I probably has been to more so since 1840
Marissa:For sure. It's not the same thing. I think I'd looked it up and it was one of the best places to live in Britain now. So but I guess maybe back in the day, they just didn't want to be there. sleepy town, you know.
Matthew:Best Place to Live is is usually their kind of subjective. Yeah.
Marissa:Yeah. Usually not a whole lot going on. Typical safe, quote, like place to live. So like this would
Matthew:be the nicest place to live is a place where people don't get murdered.
Marissa:Exactly. But do they? But do they stay tuned? So they were in Taunton for a while, but it didn't really work out for them, mostly because Frederick was a bad businessman and he was bad with money. And this was a pub. And he really was pretty involved in drinking also. So they moved back to London. And at this point, Maria realized that Frederick was not going to inherit a fortune like he claimed he would. Yeah, so that
Matthew:was a liar and a thief, and a drunkard, and a drunkard.
Marissa:Yeah. So once they were back in London, because of all this and everything she's realized about Frederick, she met up with Patrick O'Connor again. And he swore to her that he had been about to propose to her when she'd married Frederick, he was like, Man, if only you had waited a little while I was going to propose a swear all day, you know,
Matthew:that's what those planners do. He wanted it to be just right. It was supposed to be amazing. Everything that she had ever dreamed up was all set. And then oh, God, sorry.
Marissa:Exactly. I mean, it's easy to say you're gonna do something, and then you don't do it. But who's to say, Who's to prove that you weren't going to do it? Right? So the two ended up having an affair at this point. And sexual favors were exchanged. And it seems like Frederick actually knew about it, and he was fine with it. People are into that. Yeah, I mean, I'm not gonna judge. But it comes in later. And it's like, was he was he jealous? Or? I don't know. We don't know. I mean, I read. I read a lot about this, this whole case, and some people said that he was okay with it. Some people said that he was, he was like, actually more than okay with that. He was totally happy with it. And some people of course, he was jealous. So I mean, I don't know what the truth was. But it was a weird situation. And Maria realize, of course, spending more time with Patrick, just how wealthy he was, with him owning railway stocks and earning a great deal of interest from the money that he lent. Remember, he's a money lender. And though they were having an affair with the knowledge and consent of her husband, she was only interested in the cache. And she decided that she needed to have it.
Matthew:Probably also why why Frederick was a little bit a little mixed emotions there. He's he's okay with it. But it's mostly because he's okay with the fact that like, I'm owning this dude's bringing in a bunch of money.
Marissa:So she's decided this. And Maria goes out, and she buys and pays for a bushel of lime that got delivered to the house on July 23. And then on August 8, a large shovel was also delivered to their house. And you might recall, August 9, was the day that he was murdered. Mm hmm. So this is the day prior August 8 with the shovel. And August 8 was also the day that Maria sent a note to Patrick inviting him over to dinner. Patrick didn't turn up for dinner on the eighth, but he brought his friend Walsh along. And this kind of made Maria pretty mad. And she told him that he should come back the next day so that they could get a little bit more alone time, they could have some intimate time. So just come back tomorrow, but make sure you're by yourself. So of course he did. With that promise, on August 9, Patrick made his way to the matings house again, and on the way he was seen by friends while he was crossing London Bridge. And neighbors of the Mannings reported later seeing him smoking a cigar outside of their house. Since he'd arrived alone, this time, Maria moved forward with her plan. And as he was washing his hands and a basin, she shot him in the head. And then Frederick bashed him with a crowbar in the head.
Matthew:Okay, so for Frederick Frederick was okay with this. He had to, but not the murder, but I mean, their relationship he had to have been like if she's going to try to get him to swing by the next day, so they can get a little more intimate. And don't bring your friend. But like Frederick still there, like, I mean, he knew, like telling you that some people just ended that thing. But they may
Marissa:have this was in 1846, or whatever. So we don't, we don't know really for sure.
Matthew:But they still don't allow them to smoke in the house. I was thinking I was thinking he went was smoked outside because the smell of his cigars would let Frederick know that he was there. But apparently Frederick knew that he was there.
Marissa:Oh, he No, no, he knew they were friends. They were all three friends. He knew Maria and and Patrick were having an affair. But Patrick and Frederick were friends. Quote, friends. Yeah,
Matthew:but my all my friends beat me in the head with a crowbar to something
Marissa:right. So it was it was definitely a situation where they were definitely having an affair, but Fredrik knew, and they were all three friends are friendly. So it wasn't something that was secret. So anyway, they hit him with inhibitor crowbars effectively as killed him. Then they covered him in lime, hoping that it would speed up the decomposition of his body. Now what happened actually, all it did was keep the smell from being overwhelming. So then they buried him onto the flagstones in their kitchen. So there's these just these big stones that go on the floor. Maria wasted little time. The next morning, she showed up at his house, and she convinced his landlady to let her into his lodgings. And while in there, she rifled through everything that he had and she took everything that she could find that was valuable, including several 100 pounds worth of cash, a lot of foreign bonds, gold watches, some gold chains, anything she could find, basically. But she did not think that it was quite enough. It wasn't quite what she thought she would find. And the next day, she decided to go back. So she went back the next day. This is two days in a row. And she went through stuff, but she wasn't able to find any more bonds, which is what she thought Patrick had. So she was disappointed but she was there two days in a row. And landlady sour. Well,
Matthew:yeah, clearly this landlady had seen her a few other times in the past too. So there, they they must have had quite the affair.
Marissa:Probably. Probably not just letting some random person coming in. Yeah,
Matthew:I mean, I don't know if she just had real terrible landlady. But I mean, if this dude got money, yeah. Hmm. This just seems seems a little weird. That that I mean, she must have recognized there. But if it if your landlady is she's like a nosy ass landlady, who sees this dude bringing this girl to his house all the time, and is willing to let her in. It's gonna be a little suspicious when she keeps seeing this woman show up, but she never sees her actual tenant show up. Yeah. We'll sketch a little. We'll get a little sloppy there. Maria. Yes, lobby.
Marissa:I mean the line that is not the person who turned it in who, you know, said that he was missing. She did not. But she came back forward later,
Matthew:which was a shame when the gossip I guess. Just keep it yourself. You didn't hear it from me.
Marissa:So three days after the murder on August 12, two of Patrick's work colleagues showed up at the Mannings house looking for him. And Maria, she admitted that he'd come by with a friend on the eighth. But she said that's the last time that she saw him. But this was strange, because like, as I mentioned earlier, a couple of Patrick's friends had seen him crossing London Bridge on the ninth. And he had mentioned that he was on the way to the Mannings home to have dinner with Maria. And suddenly suspicious here.
Matthew:What? This dude's people from work know that he goes in things as Maria girl like, Fred.
Marissa:Well, yeah, I mean, his cousin, actually, which his cousin was also his colleague, but he's the one who alerted these other two colleagues, because he was like, hey, my cousin hasn't come into work. So he told his other two colleagues who then went to Maria's house, and investigated so
Matthew:it wasn't like he knows that he's going to bring in Maria.
Marissa:Yeah, but I think it's more that Patrick is not the type of person to miss work at all. So you missed a couple of No, you're
Matthew:missing the point, though. Fred. But dude, the whole town knows. Bang. This was not a see. I know. I know what not a secret from your from your spouse is. But from London, like, golly, people.
Marissa:Come on. Open secret, Fred.
Matthew:I know. Got no respect, Fred.
Marissa:No. And that's a lot of the salaciousness of this whole
Matthew:that's probably why that's probably why Patrick brought over a friend. He's like, Hey, you want to come watch me? Bang this dude's wife? I'm just saying. I don't I don't think that Fred can be jealous of this. Because clearly, it's it's what the it's what the whole town knows. I mean, it doesn't strike me as a person who's like, jealous of this guy.
Marissa:Well, you know, we might have been he might have just been one of those weak willed people who just let his wife run all over him. Happens.
Matthew:No, I'm aware. It happens. Like everybody in London knows that this dude is is sleeping with with with Fred's wife. That's crazy. Like, I mean, like, I mean, unless Fred's just super down. And just is all about it. Like I mean, whatever. The saying that's, it just seems real weird that the colleagues are gonna come from work and be like, hey, so is is is Patrick here? Because I know, we know that he hangs out here all the time.
Marissa:Well, he did mention to his friends on London Bridge that he was going to Maria's
Matthew:I know, those are other people that he told that to to also
Marissa:really not very, like secret. No, I
Matthew:know. He's, he was quite proud of it.
Marissa:Yeah. Also, there was a in one of these, one of these sources that I read that they made a point of saying that Maria's intimate relationship with Patrick was far more active than with her husband. Do Yeah, so they, it's all over London. It's all over London. or wherever. Seems like she didn't really pay a lot of attention to Frederick so
Matthew:yeah, I mean, and now Frederick is an accessory to murder.
Marissa:Spoiler. Not really, because that was the
Matthew:is the opening and we've already talked that he just hit him in the head with a crowbar not even an accessory like he's an accomplice. He's technically the murderer.
Marissa:Yeah, I mean, he hit him hit him in the head with a crowbar I mean, you're
Matthew:just saying yeah, the the the the the killing blow was was was struck by this dude.
Marissa:Yeah, it's definitely a tag team effort.
Matthew:Oh, come on. Now. Are we talking about their sexual relationship
Marissa:or so anyway, Maria insisted. that that Patrick's friends were mistaken, and that they had not actually seen meaning Marie and Frederick had not actually seen Patrick at all that day. And then of course, she attempted to divert suspicion by asking them to please let her know if they found out where he was and if he was okay. And once they left, Frederick flew into a panic, insisting that these were not his colleagues and they had to be policemen.
Matthew:Yeah, because Frederick Pryor was not like, he probably didn't realize that, like everybody in London knew that they were having an affair. And he's like, they're, they have to be detectives, like, how else would they know? And she's like, Wow. I guess the most suspicious thing was saying that he wasn't here one day,
Marissa:it made Frederick flap into a panic. And this caused Maria to fly off into a panic. Also, the couple decided that they should flee now from the police. Maria sent Frederick to a relative with instructions to sell whatever furniture that he could for money. And as soon as he left out of the house, she took everything of value that was in their house, and she took it for herself and set off in the cab in a cab. Frederick got home to realize that she'd fled in the cab without him. And he was on his way to Jersey, because he was like, I guess I'm on my own. Now.
Matthew:This dude should have gone right to the police. And then like, my wife is a murder. She killed this dude. I'm sure you've heard of him. It's Patrick. The guy who she's banging you guys know that? Right? Like he everybody knows that. She killed him. And, and now she's gone. I'll show you where he is. Like, yeah, that's what he should have done. He should have he should have he should have rolled on her so fast.
Marissa:It could have changed it but probably not.
Matthew:I mean, it's not likely like that people are just gonna assume that the the wife was the was the the mastermind behind a murder. And all of a sudden your wife is gone and her lover is gone. He would have to show the body to the police in order to make that but still, they're gonna they're gonna think that he killed her too until they find her not but he this dude is stupid. Oh, absolutely. He's real dumb. They clearly this guy is dumb. And obviously, she was is probably not capable of flipping a bunch of flagstones to put a body under the floor note, he should have shown that body and men like this is that dude that everyone is aware of that my wife is sleeping with. And she, she killed him. Put them onto the floor here. And then she dipped out, go find her. And then they find her and they say you killed this dude. And then she'll be like, Okay.
Marissa:Well, he was not that smart. Clearly not. So the police at this point, were investigating all of this. They were investigating Patrick's disappearance and this point they were aware. They spoke to his landlady who told them that a woman matching Maria's description had been in his room twice since his disappearance had ransacked it. Like I said, that's kind of dumb. So they went to the Mannings home, and they discovered that it was empty of his occupants. They went inside and they noticed that some of the mortar between the kitchen flagstones was still damp, pretty suspicious, right? So it's just like, not all the mortar, just some of it no other evidence of construction or anything. So they went and they pulled it up. And they found the body of Patrick O'Connor under the flagstones.
Matthew:That seems like such an easy thing to cover.
Marissa:I mean, just gotta wait for the drives. They're dirty it up or I
Matthew:don't know get a carpet Iran. Yeah, like, come on. Like, I don't know. I don't know if that was just like the thing to do back in 1845 is a very, very people under your floorboards. But like I mean, TellTale Heart kind of style. I don't know. But like, it seems, seems like a pretty easy thing to hide with a little bit, a little bit of dirt. You just put a little little dirt in there, rub it into the grout, and you're like, yeah, it's been there for a long time. They're just very good that what they do with over there under the old Scotland Yard.
Marissa:Yeah, they noticed it pretty quickly. So they found his body, and they decided that they know how to track these guys down and the hot was on for the Mannings.
Matthew:This week's sponsor is that feeling that somebody is watching you from the shadows, whether crossing a parking lot alone or walking past a shadow filled alleyway. This week's sponsor provides you that unsettling worry that you are about to get grabbed and probably killed. Yeah, I'm not
Marissa:a fan of that feeling the
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Marissa:So once word got out the meetings were wanted. The cab man who had taken Maria from her home came forward and told the police that she had traveled to South Eastern Railway. She had then been driven to Crete Kings Cross Station, where two attendants remembered seeing a woman matching her description with a heavy French accent who was acting very nervous. She then taken a train to Edinburgh. And after hearing this police telegraphed the Edinburgh police who reported that she was already in custody.
Matthew:Why would she already be in custody?
Marissa:Well, I'm glad you asked. She had taken Patrick's bonds and tried to sell them using the story that her father was a native Scotsman. But a French accent did not lend itself to that story. And they had already been warned that some stock had been stolen in London. So they decided they take her into custody. And they did. And once they heard from the London police, they transferred her to London, where she was then charged with the murder of Patrick O'Connor.
Matthew:And Fred lived happily ever after. Well for
Marissa:about another week. And that's when Frederick was taken into custody himself, because he had lost himself in prodigious amounts of brandy until he was seen by somebody who knew him. And then that individual turned him in. And then Frederick was taken into custody as well from them for the murder. And when they finally arrested him, Frederick asked if Maria had been arrested. And then when their police told him that she had been he acted happy and immediately blamed her for the entire thing. Yeah, of
Matthew:course, he just waited too damn long. And now it's not gonna be any there's not gonna be any use.
Marissa:Right? Not only that, but great relationship here, like this is just stellar. But the police were not buying it because the flagstones that they had buried Patrick under were super heavy, and Maria could not have lifted them by herself. So clearly he was involved,
Matthew:knew that was gonna come back and bite him.
Marissa:Yeah, exactly. So they they let him talk though, because they figured that they would have a better shot at convicting them both if they were pitted against each other. And then they decided that they would have a mutual trial. And this mutual trial started on October 25. And it only lasted for two days. Some of the evidence here included bloodstains on Maria's dress, and the fact that she had been the one who had bought that quicklime and the shovel right before Patrick died. They pretty much just figured Frederick was guilty no matter what. I actually did not see any evidence like specifically against him, except that he was probably involved because the flag stones were heavy. They just kind of figured how you did it.
Matthew:Between letting him just kind of talk himself into guilt and then having this like combined, combined to trial weather, because this dude seems like he just like, sings like a songbird just ready to just, you know, talk himself into guilt. So
Marissa:yeah, and he absolutely did. Yeah,
Matthew:that's what I'm saying. Like, I definitely seems like that seems like they don't. He seems like a dude who's super easy to be manipulated. Yeah. But you know, I don't know, Fred. Sorry. If you're if I'm wrong about you. I don't think I am. But whatever. Yeah, I
Marissa:mean, he blamed her for the entire thing, but she blamed him for the entire thing. So it seemed like they just expected the other one to take most of the blame for this. The jury was not having it. It took only 45 minutes to find them both guilty of murder. They were both sentence to hang, of course, because this is a capital events. Maria lost it on the jurors accusing them of treating her like a, quote, wild beast of the forest. And she also ranted the judge when he sentenced her to hang. She was very dramatic. She was also reported to have asked her escorts when they took her back to the jail if they liked her performance in court,
Matthew:asking that I mean, I guess it's about inflection. Or did you like what you saw? To do? Like watching me have to do that? You know what I mean? Or was it like, hey, how do I do? I'm ready for my close up, Mr. DeVille? Well, from what I
Marissa:read, it was more like she was in a manic state when she got back. So she was genuinely excited. It is quite unclear if Frederick went along with all this because he was either jealous of Patrick, or he was a co conspirator and trying to get Patrick money, or if he was just trying to go along with it. Because at this time, attempted murder, carried with it the sentence of hanging. So he may have just been trying to avoid the gallows, or at least keeping Maria away from the gallows. By helping to finish him off and hide the body to cover it up. If Patrick had gotten loose, you know, he had escaped them, and told somebody, then which
Matthew:he would have because he taught him walks around the city telling everybody where the hell he's going every 15 steps. Yeah,
Marissa:it seems like he had some pretty loose lips. But if he had done that, and they found out that they had attempted to murder him, that would also lead them to hang. That's one option that he was just also hoping to cover it
Matthew:up. That's probably what she said to get Fredrik to help was like, If he doesn't die, you're gonna hang anyways, you know. I mean, she, I bet she turned on him with some with some venom. And just the guy just broke under, under the fear. You know, like when the one that when the guy showed up at at the house looking for Patrick. Frederick was losing his mind thinking they're cops and everything, you know, he seems like a paranoid dude. And she probably played on that to get him to help murder, and then be like, you know, you're gonna go down for this. It's the husband that does it, and I'll try to protect it the best I can go. So all the furniture.
Marissa:Yeah, she seems pretty manipulative. I mean, that's it. She was so long ago. And it's hard to judge somebody based upon this stuff. But like, that is the impression that I'm getting for sure. And that's also the way it was spun in the newspapers and stuff that she was just the mastermind and all this, and that's why so many people were interested in it. At any rate, they both were sentenced to hang. They spent two weeks in their cells before the scheduled day of their execution. And during this time, Maria was placed on suicide watch, which was standard practice at this time, because another prisoner had tried, will had actually succeeded and hang yourself two years prior, in the same place where she Maria was being kept. Laurie,
Matthew:how dumb is that? They're already gonna die. And you're like, Oh, well, don't do it before we get to watch.
Marissa:Yeah, I don't know. So they because of this, they had three female guards sleep in her room with her. But she still tried to kill herself. On the morning of her execution. She had really long nails and she attempted to strangle herself and puncture her own windpipe and took the efforts of all three of these women just to like stop her and get her arms off of her neck. during these two weeks. She also wrote a couple of letters. I mentioned earlier that when she was working as a lady's maid for the Duchess, she met Queen Victoria. So she wrote Queen Victoria asking for a reprieve. But the Queen was she was interested in it. She read it reportedly. But Maria's guilt was pretty obvious, so she didn't step in to stop the execution. Another letter was sent to Frederick asking him to take on all of the guilt and claim credit for it, but he
Matthew:refused. Good on you, Fred. Right. He
Marissa:did, however, confess that she had shot him and he had been the one to bash his head with a crowbar. So we think that's probably what happened. makes the most sense. Frederick admitted to it right.
Matthew:Actually, what did he call it? He called it a something chisel.
Marissa:Yeah, it's more or less the same thing.
Matthew:Yeah, but it's way cooler if he the way that he said it, was it
Marissa:he called it a ripping chisel.
Matthew:That's such a badass thing. That's that's a murder weapon. A crowbar is not a murder weapon. A ripping chisel
Marissa:isn't a crowbar like inclu though it's one of the murder weapons.
Matthew:It is a revolver, a dagger, a lead pipe, a rope, a candlestick and a wrench.
Marissa:So she wrote this letter to Fredrik asking him to take the blame. Why did she do this though if they were both already sentenced to hang. At the time Victorian law said that a wife could not be considered an accessory to the fact if her husband murdered someone. So if he had planned to and committed the murder on his own, then it was then her duty as his wife legally to cover it up. However, if they both shared in the planning and the committing of the murder, they could both hang. So if he had taken the credit fully and she had just and he had just been he had said that she had just helped him cover it up. She would not have hanged. I mean
Matthew:after the trial and everything has already happened and all this stuff she thinks that he's just gonna like after they bickered and argued and stuff and in court and made a big old scene there and she's all a wild forest pig or whatever she said she was. And then she described herself as, and then all of a sudden he's gonna be like, okay, okay, okay. She had nothing to do. No, no, she
Marissa:was desperate. She was gonna die.
Matthew:All right, okay. All right. Well give credit where credit's due. You know, you never know until you ask. Yeah. Hey, Fred. You will in the hang by yourself. Because it really anyway right? So it really it really, really be really cool of you if you would just you know, let me live.
Marissa:Yeah, but he didn't
Matthew:know cuz he's he's in there cuz it hurts her frickin mess. Now he's gonna die because of it panicky, spineless little shit.
Marissa:Yeah. So we get to the date of the execution isn't
November 13. A new 49 at 8:15am That morning, the sacrament was given to both Frederick and Maria Manning before their executions were scheduled to take place. So they tied Frederick's arms which he allowed without a fuss at all. When they tried to do with Maria. She nearly fainted. Yeah, so she was given some brandy to come around. And she did and then she allowed her arms. Fred
Matthew:was like, Oh, wait, hold on. Oh, yeah, Somebody catch me on some brandy.
Marissa:But they did end up tying her arms off. So they called this pinning. And she also requested at this time that she could a blindfold and a veil over her face. And they did grant this for her. And then they were led to the gallows where a crowd was waiting to witness them to die. So she was actually led blindfolded. Somebody just kind of like took her hand and led her to the gallows. People from all social classes were here. The crowd was absolutely massive. It was somewhere between 30 and 50,000 people easily the biggest crowd to witness a public execution in
Matthew:Britain. That's that's a sporting event size.
Marissa:Massive, right? I mean, I guess it was the event of the day. What else you're going
Matthew:to do with your Saturday? Yeah, let's go. Let's go grab some some jelly babies from Jammie Dodgers. And then go and watch. Watch a hanging.
Marissa:I don't think that was around an eight for 1849 jammie dodger, as well. Not a jelly baby.
Matthew:That depends on when the doctor showed up. You may proceed but
Marissa:you were looking at Jammie Dodgers.
Matthew:1960s.
Marissa:People were fascinated with this whole thing involving Maria and her affair with Patrick and the fact that she seemed to be the dominant partner in the relationship who planned murdering Patrick. Everything just lent itself to this. She was also a foreigner having been born in Switzerland, and she had a quote cold and calculating demeanor. So all this just added to the intrigue right. And of course it was covered extensively in newspapers at the time. Even Charles Dickens, a very famous author was there to witness it. Maria and Frederick had to climb a tall and steep set of stairs to get to the platform, which is above the main gate where they were. And then white linen hoods were drawn over their heads before the noose was placed around their necks. This was done so that the crowd could not see the final agonizing moments on their faces. Common practice this time actually, Maria went to the gallows with a black lace veil and a black satin gown. As I said, this crowd was huge. So it was also very diverse. Some of the more fashionable ladies in the crowd, some of whom used upper glasses to get a better look. were angry. Yeah, it was sensible, very big crowd. But they were angry about what she chosen to wear. And because of this black satin dresses were rumored to go out of fashion for 30 years after the execution because of this, and some say that they kissed before they were hanged, to forgive each other, but we don't really know if that's true. Maybe you know, you're about to die. What have you got to lose? Maria's legs are then tied ups that her gown will not fly up when she dropped. Everyone except for the Mannings left the platform, and the executioner withdrew the bolt that caused the drop to fall down and the Mannings to fall. Frederick died quickly. But Maria struggled for a few seconds. It was the custom to leave them hanging for about an hour. And then they would take them down and bury them covered in lime dust as they done with Patrick and Charles Dickens, actually he witnessed this and he wrote about and he said, quote, The woman's fine shape, so elaborately corseted, and artfully dressed, that it was quite unchanged and his trim appearance as it slowly swung from side to side. And after this happened, the crowd began to leave pretty much immediately. They did not stick around at all. They were dead. They left they were like now that was that was not that great.
Matthew:Such a huge build up for nothing. Right. And not only that, she wore it better.
Marissa:It was very fashionable like she looks good. From everything I read. It was like no, she looked great. It's just they were mad that this murderess was wearing it. Now they couldn't Nowhere, I don't know, fashion. I said Charles Dickens was there. He wrote about the event and the morbid fascination of the crowd. Not really as much about the Mannings, he didn't have a lot of sympathy for them. But he thought that it was really twisted. How voyeuristic it was with all of these people there to watch the execution. People sold drinks and snacks for it. And 2.5 million broadsides were printed for it, which are like flyers. Yeah. So some people even paid extra for better seats. And as I said, some women used opera glasses to get a better look. And there was some disappointment that they died so quickly. And this was one event that led Charles Dickens himself to advocate to get rid of public executions, because him and other people just thought this was just twisted, and because of their advocation, they did get it abolished and public executions were abolished in Britain in 1868. And actually, Maria herself became an inspiration in one of Dickens his novels, which was a Bleak House. And the character that that was inspired by her was Mademoiselle Hortense.
Matthew:And that is it for this week's entry. As always, we welcome your feedback. We would love to hear your thoughts on this or any other episode. Of course, you can leave us a review and a comment on Apple podcast as well as reach us on Twitter and Facebook at macabrepedia or on Instagram,
Marissa:which is at macabrepediapod and you can of course reach us on Gmail. I'm at macabrepediapod@gmail.com and macabrepedia is Ma ca b r e p e dia.
Matthew:Thanks for listening please join us next week as we add another entry into this our macabrepedia.