Christopher Slaughterford
Encyclopedia
Christopher Slaughterford of London
was executed in Guildford
July 9, 1709, for the murder of Jane Young, his fiancée. His case is very important, as he was the first person in modern England
executed for murder based exclusively on circumstantial evidence
. He is also famous for supposedly finding his fiancée's killer, one of his servants, in the form of a ghost
.
Slaughterford was the last person seen in Jane Young's company on October 5, 1703. He exhibited tell-tale signs of his innocence in that he cooperated fully with all police investigations and had previously been acquitted at trial in Kingston
. He had a strong alibi, yet some neighbors who did not have such strong alibis still testified to his guilt at his second trial.
The date of his execution, he wrote and signed the following statement:
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
was executed in Guildford
Guildford
Guildford is the county town of Surrey. England, as well as the seat for the borough of Guildford and the administrative headquarters of the South East England region...
July 9, 1709, for the murder of Jane Young, his fiancée. His case is very important, as he was the first person in modern England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
executed for murder based exclusively on circumstantial evidence
Circumstantial evidence
Circumstantial evidence is evidence in which an inference is required to connect it to a conclusion of fact, like a fingerprint at the scene of a crime...
. He is also famous for supposedly finding his fiancée's killer, one of his servants, in the form of a ghost
Ghost
In traditional belief and fiction, a ghost is the soul or spirit of a deceased person or animal that can appear, in visible form or other manifestation, to the living. Descriptions of the apparition of ghosts vary widely from an invisible presence to translucent or barely visible wispy shapes, to...
.
Slaughterford was the last person seen in Jane Young's company on October 5, 1703. He exhibited tell-tale signs of his innocence in that he cooperated fully with all police investigations and had previously been acquitted at trial in Kingston
Kingston upon Thames
Kingston upon Thames is the principal settlement of the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames in southwest London. It was the ancient market town where Saxon kings were crowned and is now a suburb situated south west of Charing Cross. It is one of the major metropolitan centres identified in the...
. He had a strong alibi, yet some neighbors who did not have such strong alibis still testified to his guilt at his second trial.
The date of his execution, he wrote and signed the following statement:
"Being brought here to die, according to the sentence passed upon me at the Queen's-Bench bar, for a crime of which I am wholly innocent, I thought myself obliged to let the world know, that they may not reflect on my friends and relations, whom I have left behind me much troubled for my fatal end, that I know nothing of the death of Jane Young, nor how she came by her death, directly or indirectly, though some have been pleased to cast reflections on my aunt. However, I freely forgive all my enemies, and pray to God to give them a due sense of their errors, and in his due time to bring the truth to light. In the mean time, I beg every one to forbear reflecting on my dear mother, or any of my relations, for my unjust and unhappy fall, since what I have here set down is truth, and nothing but the truth, as I expect salvation at the hands of Almighty God; but I am heartily sorry that I should be the cause of persuading her to leave her dame, which is all that troubles me. As witness my hand this 9th day of July."