Tonight we will be investigating the case of the Mannings, a dark case indeed just in time for Christmas!
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#TrueCrime #MarieManning #TheManningsKillers
Please remember to subscribe and hit the bell icon as well as leave a like and a comment for more videos every week!
Music by CO.AG Music - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VwZB4l43iTw&t=105s
Music by Myuu -https://www.youtube.com/user/myuuji
Music by Kevin Macleod - https://incompetech.com
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/
#TrueCrime #MarieManning #TheManningsKillers
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NewsTranscript
00:08hello everyone today we are in England to look at a case that took place in the 1850s so sit
00:18back as we go to 19th century London Frederick Manning was born in 1819 in Taunton which is in
00:32the southwest of England about 165 miles from a nation's capital London when Fred finished school
00:40he found work as a railway worker and after a few years he was promoted to the job of a
00:48guard
00:48and he was stationed in London his father died in 1845 leaving his property to Fred's mother Maria
00:58was born in Lucerne in Switzerland in 1821 her parents died when she was a teenager Maria lived
01:06a poor life so decided to move to England to work as a domestic servant her first employer was Lady
01:13Anne Palk the wife of the MP Sir Lawrence Palk Lady Anne was extremely wealthy and had a very large
01:21and beautiful house with fine furniture and all the things that went with being part of the mid 19th
01:28century aristocracy Maria developed a taste for the trappings of luxury and came to dread the thought of
01:36returning to her impoverished way of life she had in Switzerland in 1846 she moved to London and worked in
01:45service at the house of Lady Blantyre who was the daughter of the Duchess of Sutherland the house was
01:52called Stafford House and was in the west end of the city this was one of the great stately homes
02:00of the
02:01capital and Queen Victoria was a frequent visitor Maria was a witness to some of the richest people
02:09in the British Empire living their luxurious lives because she was a French speaker Lady Blantyre asked her
02:19to accompany her on a trip to France and while on the boat between Dover and Boulogne she met Patrick
02:27O'Connor
02:27an Irishman an Irishman from County Tipperary he was 20 years her senior but they seemed to get on well
02:35Patrick worked as a custom house officer in the London docks and also did his own smuggling which
02:43although was a serious crime produced a very lucrative income the two of them started going out
02:52on Maria's days off shortly afterwards Maria met Fred while she was traveling on the Great Western
03:00Railway Fred was only two years older than Maria and Maria thought herself very fortunate that both
03:07Fred and Patrick were interested in her after all she was just a poor young lady from Switzerland
03:15she was convinced that both men would propose to her so wanted to work out which one was the richer
03:21and would provide her with the best lifestyle Patrick seemed to live a good life as he spent freely
03:28but he drank a lot and she had no desire to marry a man who was always in the pub
03:35Fred was a guard on a
03:36train so he had a steady but low income but he told Maria that he expected to inherit a fortune
03:43from his
03:44mother the problem with Maria's dilemma was that Patrick had not proposed to her so when Fred did in early
03:521847 she thought of the large inheritance and this was enough for her to accept the proposal
03:59and the couple were married in the May of the same year shortly after the wedding Patrick wrote to
04:06Maria telling her that he loved her and that he was about to propose just before she married Fred
04:14shortly after the wedding Fred left his job on the railway and took a tenancy at a pub called the
04:20White Heart back in his hometown of Taunton Fred was not a good businessman and due to a combination of
04:27drinking his profits mixing with petty criminals and constantly trying to impress the town's young
04:34ladies it meant but they soon had to leave the pub and make their way back to London the pub's
04:40failure
04:41also led to issues with the couple's relationship they took a house in the Bermondsey area of the city
04:48where Maria found work as a dressmaker to increase their income they took in lodgers Fred continued with
04:57his drinking and Maria started to see Patrick again Patrick's investments and smuggling had done well and he was
05:05now considered to be a wealthy man
05:07Maria was very upset that she had married the wrong man and decided but she needed and deserved some of
05:16Patrick's money
05:20on July the 23rd 1849 a delivery of lime arrived at Maria's house and on the 8th of August a
05:29large shovel
05:30was delivered Maria then asked Patrick to come to her house for dinner that evening he arrived but he
05:38bought with him a male friend named Walshy Maria told him that she was a bit frustrated but he didn't
05:45come
05:45alone so asked him to return the next day Patrick still very much in love with Maria agreed the
05:54following evening Patrick was seen by friends crossing London Bridge and the Manning's neighbours noticed an
06:01Irishman smoking a cigar by the back door of their house before dinner Maria told him to wash his hands
06:09and he went into the kitchen
06:11and shot him Patrick then turned towards the basin and Maria placed a pistol behind his ear and shot him
06:20The bullet however did not kill him it cracked his skull and travelled under his skin and came to rest
06:29just above his eyebrows
06:32Fred then hurried into the kitchen and finished the job by hitting Patrick several times in the head
06:42The couple then lifted the paving stones in the kitchen and using the shovel and the lime
06:48concealed the body beneath them so Patrick was buried in the kitchen of their house
06:56The next morning Maria turned up at Patrick's lodgings in Greenwood Street his landlady
07:03knowing who she was let her into his room and she found several hundred pounds in cash gold watches chains
07:11and foreign bonds the next day on another pretext she returned to his room and had another search for some
07:20more bonds that she thought would be there but she didn't find anything on Friday the 10th of August
07:27Patrick's work colleagues were very concerned that he had not turned up for work at the London docks
07:33This was unusual as he was never absent from work
07:38The following day when he wasn't there again
07:42one of his work colleagues went to Patrick's lodgings to investigate
07:48Patrick was not there
07:49so he spoke to the two other tenants in the house who told him that on Thursday they had met
07:56Patrick
07:57and he had told them that he was going to dinner with Maria
08:01When he then asked the landlady she told him that Maria Manning had visited the lodgings on Thursday and Friday
08:09nights
08:10but she hadn't seen Patrick on either occasion
08:13the colleague now very concerned went to the police
08:18The police went to the Manning's house and spoke to Maria
08:22She told them that Patrick hadn't come to dinner on the Thursday
08:26and that she had called to his lodgings that evening and on Friday to see if he was okay
08:33but she was unable to locate him
08:35The police searched Patrick's apartment and found that securities and cash were missing
08:41The visit from the police panicked Maria and she decided to leave London
08:46Maria told her husband to go and try and sell their furniture
08:50As soon as he left Maria collected together everything of value that she could carry and left
08:56Neighbours saw her leaving in a cab
08:58When Fred returned he found his wife gone and realised that he was on his own
09:05He took what he could and went to Waterloo station
09:09where he caught the boat train to the Channel Islands
09:13The police were starting to think that Patrick's disappearance was very suspicious
09:19and this was confirmed when they were informed that Maria Manning was seen
09:24leaving the house with luggage and had not returned
09:28They went back to the Manning's house and conducted a detailed search of the premises
09:33One of the officers noticed the fresh cement around some of the flagstones in the kitchen
09:39and on lifting them they discovered a man's body
09:43His wrists bound behind him and his legs doubled up
09:47A quick climb had been poured over the body in an attempt to prevent any identification
09:53But later dental checks on the set of false teeth found in the remains
09:59confirmed that the victim was indeed Patrick O'Connor
10:04The police now launched a murder investigation
10:07and started to look for Fred and Maria
10:11In answer to an appeal from Scotland Yard
10:15a man came forward and told the police
10:18that he had taken Maria to the South Eastern Railway
10:22There, using the name Mrs Smith
10:25She had left two suitcases
10:27He had then driven her to King's Cross train station
10:31At King's Cross station, the police superintendent Haynes
10:35spoke to railway officials
10:37who remembered a woman who spoke English and French
10:41and seemed to be very nervous
10:43She had travelled on the 6.15am train to Edinburgh
10:47The police telegraphed their colleagues in Edinburgh
10:50requesting that they traced and arrest Maria
10:54Maria, however, was already in custody
10:57She had tried to sell some of Patrick's railway stock
11:01and had told the company that her father was a Mr Robinson
11:05a native Scot
11:07The company was suspicious
11:09as some railway stock had already been reported as stolen
11:12and they had contacted the police
11:15Maria was returned to London
11:17where she was charged with murder
11:19and sent to horsemonger lane jail
11:23Frederick had another week of freedom
11:26before he was caught
11:28Staying in St Helia
11:29he drew attention to himself
11:31by drinking heavily every day
11:33But when he met a man
11:36who had known him in London
11:38Frederick fled to St Lawrence
11:41The man he had seen in the Channel Islands
11:43read about the case on his return to London
11:47and lost no time on informing the police
11:50He was arrested
11:53having evaded arrest for nine days longer than his wife
11:57Maria remained silent when she was arrested
12:01but Fred immediately blamed his wife
12:05He asked if she had been arrested
12:07and was delighted to hear that she had been
12:11He told police that he was entirely innocent
12:13This was foolish
12:15given that it would have been impossible for her
12:18to lift the flagstones in the kitchen by herself
12:21but Fred didn't realise that
12:23The investigators were happy enough
12:26to let him try and blame his wife
12:28and knew that by putting the two of them
12:30against each other in court
12:32they would almost certainly ensure
12:33the convictions of both of them
12:36The papers dedicated pages to the story
12:40Naturally, Maria was the main headline
12:43She was attractive, foreign
12:45and had served in noble households
12:47It was almost if she had been tailor-made
12:50for the press sensationalists
12:52and female murderers in the 19th century
12:55always sold more papers
12:57In British law, at the time
13:00a wife could not be charged
13:03as an accessory to murder
13:05committed by her husband
13:06as it was presumed
13:08that her first loyalty was to him
13:11The trial would need to show
13:13that she had pre-knowledge
13:15of the planned crime
13:16or that she directly took part in it
13:18or that she had acted on her own initiative
13:21in making an attempt to profit from the murder
13:25Proving that became the focus
13:30The trial opened at London's Old Bailey
13:34On the 25th of October
13:36Maria's barrister argued
13:38that as a foreigner
13:39she was entitled to be tried
13:41by a jury made up of half British citizens
13:44and half foreign nationals
13:46Fred would have to be tried
13:48by an all British jury
13:50and so the barrister asked
13:52for separate trials
13:54This was denied
13:56on the grounds
13:57that Maria's marriage
13:58made her a British citizen
14:00At the trial
14:02bloodstains on a dress
14:04belonging to Maria
14:05and the proof
14:06that she had paid for the shovel
14:07and the lime
14:09were crucial evidence
14:10Fred's lawyer
14:11put up a very strong defence
14:13but the evidence
14:14of the body
14:15under his kitchen floor
14:17was overwhelming
14:18Maria's lawyer
14:20told the court
14:21that Maria could not
14:23have been present
14:24at the murder
14:24but she had robbed his room
14:26and fled
14:27so despite his best efforts
14:29the prosecution's case
14:31was very solid
14:33When the jury was sent out
14:34to consider the verdict
14:35it only took them
14:3745 minutes
14:38to find both Fred
14:40and Maria
14:41guilty
14:44Before passing sentence
14:45it was traditional
14:46to ask for prisoners
14:48if they had anything to say
14:49Fred did not say anything
14:52but Maria
14:53said
14:54that there was no justice
14:55and no right
14:56for foreign nationals
14:58in Britain
14:58She shouted
14:59that she was innocent
15:00The judge
15:02passed the sentence
15:03of death
15:04by hanging
15:05to both Fred
15:06and Maria
15:08Maria refused
15:09to give up
15:10her fight
15:10for freedom
15:11She had once
15:12been a servant
15:13in the household
15:14of Lady Blantyre
15:16whose mother
15:16the Duchess of Sutherland
15:18had been a very close friend
15:20of Queen Victoria
15:21so she sent a letter
15:22to Her Majesty
15:23appealing for mercy
15:25She did not receive
15:27a reply
15:28On Tuesday morning
15:30the 13th of November
15:311849
15:33Fred and Maria
15:35met in the prison chapel
15:37As they stood
15:39before the altar
15:40Fred turned to his wife
15:42and expressed his wish
15:43that they should not part
15:45in animosity
15:46Maria replied
15:47that she had none
15:49and then
15:50she kissed him
15:51Maria asked
15:52for her black
15:53silk handkerchief
15:55to be tied
15:56around her eyes
15:57beneath the black veil
15:58so that she would not
16:00have to see the gallows
16:01she would soon
16:01be approaching
16:02or the very large crowd
16:04that had gathered
16:05to see the execution
16:07The noise of the crowd
16:09was really loud
16:09and while they jostled
16:11for position
16:12one woman died
16:13in the crush
16:14and two men
16:15were severely injured
16:17It was before
16:18this baying crowd
16:20that Fred and Maria
16:21were led out
16:22and hanged together
16:23They were buried
16:24on prison grounds
16:25the same day
16:26So let's see you next
16:27next time
16:27next time
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