This week on Classic Crime Jack covered the infamous Frederick Deeming, the man behind what the media dubbed The Hearthstone Murders.
A strange smell drew police's attention to a fireplace hearthstone when called to a Windsor cottage in 1892. Upon prising up the stone the smell grew stronger causing one young police officer to rush to window and vomit. What was revealed was the partially decomposed body of a woman.
Police tracked the previous tenant of the cottage - Frederick Deeming, or as he was known to the deceased woman, Albert Williams. The body was that of Deeming's wife, Emily Williams, whose throat had been cut before she was buried beneath the hearthstone.
But the carnage did not stop there. Police, suspecting Deeming may have committed other acts of murder, investigated his past, leading them to another residence in Lancashire, England. Beneath the hearthstone in this house police discovered the decaying remains of a woman and four children. Their throats had been cut, except for one girl who had been strangled. These bodies were identified as Deeming's first wife and children.
Deeming was found guilty and sentenced to death, despite his defence's argument of his being insane. On 23 May 1892 Frederick Deeming aka Albert Williams was hung on the gallows at Melbourne Gaol.
For more information about this case visit the Public Record Office of Victoria website - CLICK HERE
