Hey weirdos, before we dive into today's twisted tale, let me tell you about a place where the darkness never ends.
Wondery Plus. It's like stepping into a haunted mansion where the floorboards creak with ad free episodes and early access to new episodes lurks around every corner.
So come join us if you dare. Morbid is available one week early and ad-free only on Wondery+.
You can join Wondery Plus in the Wondery app or in Apple Podcasts or Spotify.
You're listening to a morbid network podcast.
Listening on Audible helps your imagination soar.
Whether you listen to stories, motivation, expert advice, any genre you love, you can be inspired to imagine new worlds, new possibilities and new ways of thinking.
Listening can lead to positive changes in your mood, your habits, and ultimately your overall well-being.
Audible has an incredible selection of over 1 million audiobooks, podcasts, and Audible Originals all in one easy app. find the genres you love and discover new ones explore bestsellers like my sister's title new releases, plus thousands of included audiobooks, podcasts, and originals that members can listen to all they want with more added all the time.
I have been listening to the Martha's Vineyard Beach and Book Club, which actually Elena recommended to me.
She did not listen to it, but she said, girl, this title sounds so you.
And let me tell you, it did. I've been listening to it while I walk and I am absolutely loving it.
I love all the different narrators. I love Audible.
There's more to imagine when you listen.
Sign up for a free 30-day Audible trial and your first audiobook is free.
Visit audible.com slash morbid. They say that time waits for no one, neither should payday.
To keep your money moving in the direction of your dreams, get earnin'.
What is Earnin', you ask? Honey, Earnin' is an app that lets you access your pay as you earn it up to $100. and $50 a day with a max of $750 between paydays.
Earnin is the app that is helping millions of Americans take charge of their pay and avoid falling into debt traps.
Ernan's mission is to make financial momentum accessible to everyone.
It's your money, so put it in your own hands with Ernan.
I just feel like earning is good for so many things.
Like, you know, every now and again you get in your car and you say, oh, wow, who knew that I was on empty?
I should have known that, but I didn't."
And then you look at your bank account and you're like, oh crap, I haven't been paid yet.
You'll never run into that problem if you have Ernand.
An unexpected trip to the vet will not ruin your day because you'll have the money to pay for it. download earnin today spelled e-a-r-n-i-n in the google play or apple app store When you download the Earn It app, type in morbid under podcast.
When you sign up, it will really help the show.
Morbid under podcast. EarnIt is a financial technology company, not a bank.
Access limits are based on your earnings and risk factors.
Standard cashouts take one to two business days with no mandatory fees.
Expedited transfer is available for a fee.
Tips are voluntary and don't affect the service.
Available in select states. Terms and restrictions apply.
Visit earnin.com for full details. Download Earnin now and take control of your pay.
Hey weirdos, I'm Ash. And I'm Alayna. And this is Morbid.
It is. Yeah. Hey, we're here. What's up?
What's going on? Hi there. Guess what? What?
Next week is the beginning of three episodes a week, everybody.
Monday, Wednesday, Fridays. You can expect...
Mob it. Monday, Wednesday, Fridays. Yeah, it's going to be awesome because Wondery's going to keep us on our shit.
So we're going to have to do Monday, Wednesday, Friday.
Yeah. Schedules are coming. We've been promising it for four years and now...
It's like boot to the ass time and we're getting it.
I'm just picturing like an experience. Excel spreadsheet on like a really fast steed, just being like, I'll be coming around the mountain when I come.
That's it. And you know what? I couldn't be happier because...
One, you guys deserve it. You deserve the schedule that you can be like, cool, I'm getting it Monday, Wednesday, Friday. we're excited to give it to you and it's going to make our lives honestly a lot easier because I thrive on a schedule, but I have not given myself that.
I thrive in pure chaos. So this is going to be interesting for me.
True. But it'll be good. It's always good to do things when you should.
Routine is good. You guys will be able to expect it.
I think it's going to be really cool to do the three episodes a week because it's just going to be really fun to really expand the content into whatever... realms we want to go to, you know, so in like, you know, the multi parters are going to be able to be like, really right after each other it's I think this is really going to be awesome and we're excited about it and that's going to be starting next week so So get ready.
And again, If you are on Wondery+, you can have all those episodes a week early.
And if you are a patron, you got a six-month trial of Wondery Plus for free.
For free. So if you still want to become a patron.
You can. It's a dollar. It's a dollar. Get that.
It's a dollar. And then you will also get six months free of Wondery Plus and get all of our episodes one week early.
But remember. No matter what, episodes are coming out.
So you're not like missing episodes or anything.
We're actually doing extra this week so that there's no lag week.
Yeah, we didn't want you guys to get a lag because that would suck.
And that's not how we do this here. Not who we are.
So yeah, so we just wanted to let you guys know about that because that's going to be starting this week, which is really cool.
Just means more content. That's all it is.
Nothing else is changing. Just more cool shit.
But... We're excited. Oh, and merch is going to be coming out soon.
That's another exciting thing. All of this cool shit is going to be happening.
So look out for that. We will update you guys.
You will obviously be the first to know.
But let me tell you. It's fucking rad. Remember?
Remember when you guys wanted sweatpants?
Just remember that. Remember when you guys said, more mugs.
More mugs, please. Remember when you said, I want this thing I could put in my hair.
Remember? I don't think many of you said that.
But there's a thing you can put in your hair.
And we've been working with Wondery really closely for weeks and weeks on this, and We're so excited, guys.
I really think you're going to be excited.
So just like keep an eye, keep an ear out.
We'll let you know as soon as that's happening.
Lots of cool stuff. But other than that, we're going to jump right into it today.
I have an old-timey murder. What? I know this one.
Old timey. I'm saying it's new. It's exciting for me.
It's not. This one is called the Bermondsey Horror.
That is what it is known by. Horror. Horror.
Horror. Did it sound like, yeah, that's not what I said.
Horror. Sorry. I don't know if it's like the way I talk or something that it probably came out that way.
No, it's hard. I feel like we've said that before on screen, like when we were like, we're going to have a whole...
Horror. Discussion. Horror. Horror. You know, ours are really hard for people from Massachusetts.
So like, just bear with us. Yeah. don't do well with R's.
What's an R? What's an R, kids? What's an R anyway?
But let's talk about it. Okay. This is from the 1800s.
We're going to talk about a woman named Marie Daru.
Isn't that a name? That's a pretty name.
Marie Daru. Daru. She was born in 1821 in Switzerland, actually.
We don't know a ton about her because it was 1821.
And, you know, there was not a lot going on, apparently, with her.
So she just kind of floated through. Yeah.
It's just vibing. Unfortunately, when she was a teenager, both her parents passed away.
Yeah. Don't know how, because again, not a lot of information.
She do it. She ended up though. Who knows?
Who knows? Really. Oh, I was joking. I was going to say, perhaps.
But she moved to London after this because she was like, you know what?
I want to get out of here. I got to start my life.
So she became what was known as a domestic servant.
So she became a maid of sorts to a woman named Lady Polk.
Okay. And this was in a house that was referred to as Halden House, and it was in Exeter.
Exeter Devon. It's hard to understand how the counties and places work in England because it's different from over here.
I'm lost. So hopefully you guys know what that is.
I'm assuming if you're over there, you're like, yes or no.
And I'm sorry if you're like, no, that's not how that works.
But I'm trying. So... She had a great time there.
She was really good at her job. She liked it because she got to be involved in all like the luxurious ways of living. we love it even if it was on the fringes of it she got to experience it she became obsessed with living that lifestyle.
Even though she was not making a ton of money herself, she was able to live in the house. she got the experiences.
And so she was like, I want to live this life.
I don't ever want to live in poverty. That's my goal.
Okay. I mean, that's a fair goal. It's a great goal, I guess.
So in 1846, she was around 23 years old.
This is she'd been working for a while. She had gotten really good at it.
Word had spread that she was really, you know, because they talk.
These ladies of the households, they talk.
High society and all that. Yeah. So word got around that she was really good at her job.
She was also looking to kind of move on.
So she moved on to work at another home for somebody else.
She now worked for Lady Blantyr. Now, Lady Blantyr was actually the lady of Stafford House.
And this was one of the most prestigious and extravagant homes in London at the time.
Okay. Like gorgeous. And these are just like houses.
Like estates. That's wild. Yeah. Yeah. Just nuts.
And these were, I mean, they were described as like, you know, covered in marble and gold and just like.
The most extravagant and luxurious thing ever.
I love it. Now, this particular move for her was a huge jump up in society.
This was like a giant move. It was not lateral.
This was a very much a promotion. She was still going to be, you know, a domestic servant in the home, but she was at the home that was now run by the daughter of a duchess which was a big deal i've been watching bridgerton i know what that means you know what that is So she had the fucking Queen of England coming over for tea at that house.
Damn. Like that's how big a deal this place was.
I mean, she's a duchess. She's a duchess.
She's the daughter of a duchess. So she loved it.
Marie did. She loved it. loved it. She loved even just being attached to this kind of rich and luxurious lifestyle.
She would meet all these royals and dignitaries, and she started believing, I'm part of this society.
She was obsessed with it and becoming more and more obsessed with it.
They gave her dresses to wear for certain events because she wanted to. wanted all of her staff presentable.
So she would get these fancy dresses. She got to go on fancy trips with her.
It was honestly like a really, it was a...
It was a great job to Marie. And I feel like it just wasn't enough for Marie.
It never is. I'm getting that feeling. You're getting that feeling it never is.
So in 1846, that's when she went over to work for Lady Blintere.
That same year, she actually accompanied Lady Blantyre on a boat trip to France.
This was going to be like a big trip. She was asked to be the maid on this trip because she was that good at her job and also because she spoke French.
Oh, so she was going to be a help. Yeah, so she's going to be a big help on this trip.
She was super excited that she was chosen.
So they're on the boat. on the way there.
Obviously, it's a long boat trip anywhere back then.
You were just like, you were in for the long haul.
So she's on the boat. And she strikes up a conversation with a man.
Oh, a handsome man. Another passenger. A man named Patrick O'Connor.
Irish. Irish. How could you tell? The O.
He tells Marie that he is hailing from County Tipperary in Ireland.
And girl. She was smitten. Oh, hell yeah.
He's an Irishman. Also, he was smitten. They were both smitten.
Okay. That accent? Come on. I mean, undeniable.
Now, they chatted the entire way over. And soon she found out that he was a customs duty collector at the London docks. but he was also making extra money as a smuggler or a moneylender of sorts.
Hmm. which is like a little shady business, but he was extraordinarily wealthy because of it.
He was 50 years old, which makes him quite a bit older than her because she was 23 at the time.
Which was like such a thing back then. But like, all fine, whatever you want to do.
And again, he was super wealthy. which was very attractive.
Super wealthy, super hot, has an accent.
What's wrong with the guy? What else can you ask for?
And they just couldn't tear themselves away from each other during this boat trip.
They just were talking, talking, talking.
By the end of the boat trip, they had made plans to meet up again with each other when they both arrived back in London.
I remember like this was going to be a while because like they're both going to France for different reasons.
They're both going to be coming back at different times.
Boat trips are long. There was no cell phones to just text each other and be like, hey, I'm back in London.
What's up? Imagine the excitement, though, like the whole time she was in France.
Like, oh, when I get back to London, I'm going to see Patrick somehow.
I'm going to go with Patrick. Patrick. Like, so cute.
Yeah. Patrick just reminds me of Schitt's Creek now.
Right? And Patrick is like... where it's at yeah so and he looks so irish that's all i'm picturing there you go Now they had dinner and when they got back to London, they were able to meet up.
And it was a long time. Like it was a long time before they could meet up.
So like, I'm sure it was like the excitement was just everywhere.
So they had their dinner and it, was right back.
It was right back, full-blown romance. But it was tricky though.
Because remember, like I just said, it had been a while between the France trip.
They had gotten back at different times.
And between that whole interim time, she had started seeing someone else.
She's playing the field. I respect it. No, because there was like months.
Yeah, so while she's waiting, you know, she's not technically... you know, dating anyone.
She just met the dude. She can see who she wants.
And she's not like engaged yet or anything.
She's just seeing a man named Frederick Manning.
Okay. You know what's even more stressful than a packed calendar?
Realizing you're out of coffee right before a meeting.
That actually happened to me the other day.
And it's exactly why I stocked up during the Thrive Markets back to school sale.
Even if you're not going back to school, I'm not, it's the perfect time to reset.
Thrive makes it easy to shop for high-quality pantry staples, snacks, vitamins, even skincare. without the errands or the ingredient label deep dives.
I just restocked with Aloha protein bars, Simple Mills crackers, and my favorite poppy drinks.
I love them so much. Everything is delivered super duper fast, and I saved up to 25% on all of that.
Their filters make shopping by diet or lifestyle a breeze, and their healthy swap tool actually helped me upgrade my usual buys with zero label stress.
I love the lesser evil popcorn. I got my chomp sticks from there.
I love Thrive and you will too. Now's the best time to try Thrive Market.
You'll get up to 25% off select items. New members get 30 percent off their first order plus a free gift.
Who doesn't love that? Go to thrivemarket.com slash morbid to start saving.
The sale ends 831. Don't miss it. So download your new favorite getaway, Best Fiends, for free today on the App Store or Google Play.
You'll even get $5 worth of in-game rewards when you reach level 5.
That's friends without the R, best fiends.
Now, Frederick Manning was a guard on the railway at the time, but he was also someone who had some like... shady business as well because she loved a shady fella she loved a shady fellow I feel back then that there was a lot of shady fellows.
So it's like you could throw a rock and hit like 10.
But he was a suspected robber. Oh, okay.
So he had like a legitimate job. And then also people were like, I'm pretty sure he robs places.
Yeah. He also has a side hustle, it's just not really respectable.
Just not a great side hustle. He was suspected of robbing a train that was actually on his railway.
Convenience. Convenience is key. France.
I love France. i meant to say i was gonna say like frank and then i said like friends and frederick maybe france Sure.
I get it. Thanks for that. I was going to help you out.
So while he's like you know possibly a robber on the railway that he also works on um he's telling marie you know what I have an inheritance that's about to hit.
No, you don't. You know, my father died. died in 1845, which was the year before.
And he said his mother was kind of given everything in his will. but his mother was going to be transferring ownership of a huge property to him.
And he was like, I promise this. We're just going through the whole motion.
No, you're not. You know, it's all going to happen.
It's all happening. Sheena Shea, let's go.
So she's like, wow, that's great. I mean, you're robbing places so you're getting money.
That's fine. always good because marie's just all she's concerned about is money she's that's what she's looking for I don't care where you got it.
You have it. And you know what? At this point, she's dating these two men.
They both have their pros. They both have their cons at this point.
And both have money and both have jobs to boot.
So it's like, well, you know what? She's living.
Both were also kind of shady, but you know, well, it's only a few, like, I think it was only like a couple of weeks And then Frederick proposes.
Because I mean, it's 18. Oh, that's true.
Everybody's just like, hey, you. You're cute.
You want to get married? Like, it's literally just like, hey, cool.
We've gone out once. I was like actually thinking that watching Bridgerton the other day because they like dance a couple times and then they're like, would you wed my life?
Would you wed my life? I wish that's how they asked.
I really wish that too. But then it's just like, and then you spend eternity together because you're not even allowed to get divorced.
That's why most of them hated each other because they didn't know each other to begin with.
And then they would suddenly be living with each other and be like, wow, you're insufferable.
Like, imagine you go on one date with someone and you're like, well, we're betrothed.
Imagine one dance scene. And then it's like, well, that's that.
That sucks. No, thank you. What a life. So Frederick proposes.
So Marie is like, cool. um hold on a sec and then she's like hey patrick This guy just proposed over here.
And Patrick's like, wait a fucking second.
I was going to propose like that asshole proposed before me.
Excuse me. So Patrick is like, Wed me. So he proposes.
Patrick is a pick-me guy. So... She's got to choose.
Yeah. And she's like, we got pros, we got cons here.
We got this guy who is like older and wealthy, but he's obviously wealthy due to shady dealings.
He's got a job though. But they're both shady dealings.
We got this younger guy. I think this guy, I think Frederick was only like a year older. within a year of her, age-wise.
Sure. So he's like, got this guy that's more my age.
He's going to last longer. He's got a job.
He's still doing some shady things, but he's got that fucking inheritance coming.
That's what she was looking for. She was like, inheritance.
I see it. She loves it. So she chose Frederick.
She said yes to Frederick, which I immediately was like, wrong choice.
Yeah. I hadn't even read this full thing yet, this whole case.
And as soon as I read that she chose Frederick, I was like, ooh.
Yeah, I got like a wave of disappointment, even though I don't know what's going to happen.
I just, you always pick Patrick. When faced with a Patrick, you always pick Patrick.
You pick Patrick O'Connor. You pick him.
Why wouldn't you? But she didn't. And here's the thing.
It's like, yeah, sure. He's got this inheritance coming. it's coming, like you don't know if it's, is it gonna arrive, is it gonna get lost in the mail, does it exist?
He's steady income. He's got it locked and loaded.
Exactly. And you guys fell in love in like a really cute way.
And it was like Kismet, you know? Yeah, it was a meet cute.
So I don't know. Better story. Unfortunately, she and Frederick were married May 27, 1847.
They got married at St. James Church in Piccadilly, London.
Do you remember the Piccadilly Pub? I hated that place.
Oh, what the fuck is wrong with you? I loved the Piccadilly Pub.
The Piccadilly Pub, I used to request to go there.
Yeah, I never liked any of the food there or the vibes.
I mean, I'm trash, so like... I hated the food and the vibes there.
Oh, I loved the vibe. You got a cute little cup to drink your meal out of.
To drink your meal. meal out of I meant your drink see why I didn't like it yeah no no they didn't give you your meal in a cup I see why I did not like it.
Their menus had fun games. Yeah, I was never into the Piccadilly Pub.
I don't know what it was. You have a taste for the finer things in life, Marie.
Apparently. Just call me. No, don't call me Marie.
No, I'm like, it's not an insult. Trust me.
It's an insult. No, they get married. Yay.
Good for them. Yeah. Frederick then immediately quits his job.
He quit his job as a guard on the railway.
And he quit his job and it was like not a good like, hey, I'm putting in my two weeks.
He just dipped. It was like a bad, I think there was like the rumors got around that he was like robbing the place.
He was the robber. It was a bad split between him and his job.
Does he think that Maria is going to support him on her income?
Well, then he did get a new job. You got a new job as a manager of the White Hart Pub in Ton.
Not taught in Massachusetts, but Marie, you know, she was like, okay, cool.
Now, at this time as well, Marie found out that the inheritance thing...
Was bullshit. Shocking. Yeah, I know. I am so surprised.
I know. I know we're all like, what? What a plot twist.
Oh my gosh. Goodness. No one saw that coming.
Yeah, it was bullshit. It was never going to come.
It was never coming. He just trapped her.
He totally bullshitted her. No, he also was drinking heavily.
Oh, he's a... And she did not realize. Loser.
She did not realize that she was marrying a full blown alcoholic who was now running a pub. and was running it into the ground because he was just drinking all of the profits away.
Oh, my. And it was also apparently he was also like flirting with all the ladies at the pub.
It was just like a bad situation. She chose badly.
Like, that was a bad choice. This is a predicament with a capital P. It really is.
So they're trying to make it work. She's trying to be like, okay, I made this. decision.
I gotta go with it. That sucks. So they end up moving away from Taunton area and they move to Bermondsey. in London, and they found a home at 3 Miniver Place, and they were renting this home.
Now, but the marriage is not getting better.
No. They're moving away from the pub. They're trying to do everything, but it's not getting better.
Frederick is still a full-blown alcoholic and, like, not a nice drinker.
Like, he's just a, he's a dick. Not a happy drink.
No. He's still drinking super heavily. They weren't managing the money.
The inheritance isn't coming, so they're struggling now.
It's just bad. And she must have been like, you lied to me.
You lied to me. Like this whole thing began on a lie.
This is all a sham. This whole thing began with two very dishonest and very not...
Like the way they went into this marriage was not like love and companionship.
It was like money. Yeah, on both ends. So it was just bad.
So then Patrick comes back into the picture.
Okay. And Patrick wrote her because they started communicating again.
And Patrick wrote her a letter and said...
He always loved her. He always would. And he wished it was him.
Who she had chosen. I bet she wished that too.
So a torrid love affair began. Because of course...
That's going to draw her in. She's very unhappy in her marriage.
It's happening. And you know, I feel like in the 1800s, it was just like torrid love affairs everywhere.
Yeah. Yeah, because you couldn't get unmarried.
No, so you just kept having toward love affairs.
So it was just like the way of the world.
Now, Frederick knew these two were friends still, like they had not broken off contact even when Frederick and her had gotten married.
He knew about this. In fact, Patrick would come and have dinner with them often.
The three of them would have dinner. Awkward.
We still don't know if there was like... if he knew that there was a sexual aspect to this affair going on, or if he was ignoring it, or if he was completely clueless and just thought that they were still friends.
No matter what, it was a very strange and complex situation for sure.
Very much so. And there's like rumors that later come down the line that I'll talk about that are like wild.
I mean like wildly spicy. Yeah, very spicy.
Now, in July 1849, Marie orders out of nowhere. and receives delivery of, there's like record of this, at her home, a massive amount of lime.
Oh. That's not good. This is like a random delivery.
No, it's not. This is a preparation. Yeah, this is no good.
And remember, this is, what, 1849? This is only a couple years after marriage.
Now August 8th, 1949, so the following month, Marie orders and receives at her home a giant shovel.
Bye, Frederick. See you later. Now, they... So then Marie...
And apparently Frederick used this shovel to dig a giant hole in their kitchen floor.
Wait, Marie and Frederick? Yep. What are they doing?
They better not be coming. They better not be coming for Patrick.
Now, they dug this hole, and people who came to the home saw this at one point and were like, what's that about?
And they're like, oh, we're just like... rearranging the flagstone on the kitchen floor.
So we had to dig to kind of make it more structurally sound. because one of them was wobbly.
Six feet down, you know. So they put the flagstone back on top of this hole.
And like everybody was like, all right, cool.
I guess that's what that is. Now, that same day, August 8th, 1949, Patrick O'Connor received an invitation from Marie to have dinner at the Manning home.
No. It was both her and Frederick. He went.
Just like he always would. Just like he always would.
He would never have any reason to think anything different.
But... he unexpectedly brought a friend with him.
He brought a friend named Pierce Walsh, who he called Walshy.
Cute. While she had helped Patrick get payment from a loan recently, like a big payout, And the two of them were in a celebratory mood.
So they were like, let's hang together. All right, cool.
So he brought them along. They had a normal meal.
Everything was fine. When they left, Marie and Frederick were pissed because they wanted Patrick to come by themselves.
I wonder why. Why did they want Patrick to come alone?
Well, they have lime in a... I always say lime.
They have lye and they have a six-foot hole in their kitchen floor.
And I feel like it's because they want Patrick for his money.
I don't know. So Marie decides to use her wilds.
She got Patrick alone for a moment during this dinner.
She like brings him aside and she tells him, you know, I was really looking forward to an evening with just you. coming.
And she says, you know, but you brought your friend that really put me off.
I'm like very upset about it. And he was very apologetic.
And he offered to come the next night alone.
So he was like, then we can have an evening together.
And he's like, I'm sorry. I was just celebrating.
I was excited. Patrick, don't be sorry. Yeah.
So the next evening, he's coming to dinner again, but this time he's coming by himself.
Don't. So he comes, everything's normal like they normally do.
But when it comes time to eat dinner, Marie tells Patrick, You have to go wash your hands.
You've been at the dock all day. Go wash your hands for dinner.
And he's like, all right. So Patrick is, of course, down to be clean for Marie.
So he goes to the sink. He's washing up.
He's finishing, you know, that second time singing Happy Birthday when you're supposed to really get those germs off, I'm sure.
Because back then, we'll talk about it, things were so sanitary.
So I'm sure he was definitely washing his hands for that long.
Yeah, he's definitely getting the finger tips too.
Yeah, for sure. That's a heavy dose of sarcasm in case you couldn't tell.
But as he's doing this, Marie creeps up. behind his ass and literally shoots him in the back of the head with a revolver.
And this is a man that she once loved. Yes.
I don't think she knows what love is. No, she does not. execution at point blank range to the back of the head.
That's insane. He fell to the floor and just started convulsing.
He did not die. Okay. So Frederick comes in with a crowbar and beats the hell out of him until he was dead. on their floor he hit him at least 17 times in the head with a crowbar oh my god yeah They then threw his body into that hole they dug into the middle of their fucking kitchen floor. and covered it with lime they purchased.
Then they buried Patrick. And they put the flagstone just right back over it and sealed it off.
And they're just gonna like walk throughout their kitchen day to day?
Oh yeah, and after that they sat and had whiskey together in the kitchen.
What the fuck? Yep. That's the thing. When I was reading this, I did not see it coming that Patrick was the one that was going to go down.
I thought Patrick and her we're gonna kill frederick that's what i thought you were gonna say whoa So yeah, so the next day, Marie went to where Patrick O'Connor had been living.
And she convinced his landlady to give her the keys to his place.
What? She had been there before because of fair.
Of course. And this landlady was said to despise her.
Oh. But she allowed it anyways because she was like, I guess, like Patrick says, it's fine.
And she went through everything in Patrick's home.
She found money, jewelry, railway shares that Patrick owned, and she stole it all.
Ooh. Oh my God. She was so cold. Oh, and she was so money hungry that she actually went back the next day to make sure she didn't miss anything to steal.
This is like not a human being. This is a full-blown monster. the plan was going to be for Frederick to go sell those shares under Patrick's name and collect the wealth before anything questioned anybody.
And you don't think nobody's going to question you when all of a sudden you go from living like...
Like, you do, like, such a big class jump.
Like, nobody's going to notice that. And...
People love Patrick. He has friends and like clients and he has like people who know him.
He's not just some random guy that nobody's going to give a shit.
Hell, he showed up the day before with his friend.
You don't think Walsh is going to wonder where he is?
And they had just settled a big deal, so that's telling.
Exactly. Well, it was pretty immediately after they killed him that people started searching for Patrick.
Nobody was waiting very long to be like, what the fuck?
Because why would you? And like I said, Pierce Walsh came to the Manning household asking about him. and said, did he come to dinner at your home the Thursday after we came to dinner? like that next day.
And Marie was like, no, he never came to dinner that night.
Liar. And while she was like, hmm, that's weird, because he said, I've been talking to people because I'm worried about Patrick.
And he said, I went to the dock and he said, everyone at the docks where he was working on Thursday. said that he told them he was on his way to your house for dinner that night. yeah so like and then they don't lie to me oh yeah and then he was like and also i talked to people on london bridge who were working there, and they said, on the way to your house on London Bridge, he told people, I'm on my way to the Mannings for dinner.
So he was like, people know that he was coming here.
So he was like, do you want to like, I don't know, change that up a little bit?
And she was like, oh, well, no, he never came.
And she was like, but I did invite him. He was supposed to come, but he never showed up.
And he was like, well, that's not what you said initially, but okay.
So you're being shady, Marie. Yeah. So immediately everyone is like, this is suspicious, but okay.
What's the deal? Now, friends of Patrick's also spoke to his landlady.
Because they're trying to find him. They gave a shit about him.
And landlady reveals, well, Marie Manning. came to the home and asked for the keys twice back to back after he went missing and she came in here and was in here for a while That's pretty damning.
So they were like, okay. So after speaking with Marie and seeing that she lied about him coming to dinner... and the night when they had witnesses who told them that, who he told he was on his way to their home for dinner and talking to the lady.
I'm like the lady. The landlady saying Marie was there twice after he went missing.
They were like, okay, we have enough to call the police and say. something shady about these people.
Like, please look into them. This wasn't just like a bunch of random collection of like, this is like, everything is pointing to like the landlady Marie was here.
She was here twice. The people at London Bridge, yeah, he was on the way to the Mannings.
People at the docks, he was on the way to the Mannings.
What else can you say? So he calls the Metropolitan Police, tells them everything.
The Metropolitan Police were actually like very new at this time.
I think they were only like 20 years old. old at this point too.
It was just interesting. Now, soon, Frederick and Marie start turning on each other.
I knew that was going to happen. Because remember.
They didn't like each other to begin with.
No. I don't know why they thought killing her lover... was going to like bring them together in any way, shape or form.
They fucking hated each other. They're both shitty people.
Yeah. What what did you think was going to happen here?
So they're turning on each other. And now, again, they have his railway shares because that's basically what they have killed him for. but shit is not going to go smoothly they think this is just going to be like hey I'm Patrick O'Connor you're going to say with your English accent on the phone and like try to sell his shares and nobody's going to question it.
So Marie tells Frederick, you know what?
We got to get out of here. We got to get out of town.
So she's like, you need to go and you need to sell the furniture in our house so we can get more money.
So we can take these shares and run the fuck out of here.
It's like you don't think anybody is going to be like, hey, they're selling all their furniture.
Police maybe head down there. No, she's like, let's sell everything we got, get the money, and let's get the fuck out of here.
So he goes. And while he's gone, she steals all the railway shares, all the valuable shit, and she dips. before Frederick gets back.
Wow, she just doesn't give a shit about...
Anybody. She cares about Marie. Marie only.
So she fucked him over. And he left on his own after that as well.
As soon as he came back and saw that she had taken everything, he was like, well, shit.
He was like, well, now I have to go. So he got out of there.
So they're now... taking off in separate directions.
On the run. On the run in two totally separate worlds.
Right. Which is like bad, because now you're spreading your shit everywhere instead of staying together.
Bad. So shortly afterwards, on August 17th, this was only like days after. the police come knocking at the Mannings house.
They went into the home after the landlady allowed them in, and it was clear that the Mannings had left the place in a Very big hurry.
They took most of their stuff, but what was left was in complete disarray.
It's like they had just ransacked and left.
Because they very much did. Because they did.
So they're going through the house. They're trying to find anything.
They soon make their way into the kitchen. they were struck with the condition of the floor.
It was so clean. No flagstone floor was this clean and tidy.
Girl. It's not like it matched the rest of the home, which wasn't like a fucking pigsty, but it wasn't like house beautiful either. yeah like it was just a very normal house yeah this is like very much like this was cleaned in particular So this is pretty big for the police at this time because, again, they're a very young police force and they notice this.
They look closer. and it appears that one flagstone in particular, the edges were damp.
And they were like, this is weird. It looks like it wasn't properly sealed.
Like the rest of them are that it was. And the rest of them were sealed a long time ago.
Right. So they're like, hmm. So they stick something in there.
They use some kind of sharp instrument to kind of cut away that seal.
And they kind of just hoist it up. and they immediately see a human toe sticking out of the dirt oh my goodness when they uncovered this They see that it was Patrick O'Connor.
His body was face down in the dirt. He was naked.
So they had stripped him and his feet were hog tied to his thighs.
Yep. His hands were tied behind his back.
And they were able to identify him by his dentures, which they left in like stupid idiots.
Okay. Now, the best thing about this, I was telling John this, and he was like, this is amazing.
So I was watching this documentary about this, and there were all these older British historians that were talking about this case.
This particular point, they found fucking hilarious and I couldn't stop laughing.
Because they were all... It's all these older historian, like, British men being like, these fucking... fucking stupid potatoes didn't take out his fucking teeth.
They were just like, what idiots? Who does that?
Who just leaves fake teeth in this dead body for them to find?
And every time they would go to one eye.
Another guy who would be laughing hysterically about it.
And I was like... Wow. I was like, the British are the cheekiest motherfuckers.
And I appreciate it. I appreciate it so hard because they were like, these fucking dummies didn't take his teeth out.
Who wouldn't think to do that? And I'm like, I love that you're so appalled.
I would not think to take somebody's teeth out.
I mean, I wouldn't think to murder someone, so...
I guess I'd never get there. This was in the 1840s.
I don't think that like the first thing on these like idiot, first of all, they're dummies anyways, but they're like burying him in their actual floor.
Right. But like, I don't think... In their actual kitchen floor.
Not the figurative floor. No. Like nowhere else.
They're not taking him into the woods or something.
Just like in the floor. Right. They didn't want to do any work.
That'll do. And it's like, so you think these dummies are gonna be like, hmm.
We should probably take his fake teeth out because you never know when dental technology could advance in the next year or so and they could identify him through those.
They're not thinking that. Of course they're not.
They aren't thinking that. They're thinking that Lyme is going to take care of everything.
That's all they were thinking about. They're idiots.
But I could not stop laughing at how... fucking funny.
These older British historians found this particular I love They were just like ripping on them.
It was like a Comedy Central roast. It was amazing.
Anytime I could do like a British case, I feel like it's always interesting because the humor.
The humor is wonderful. It really is. So.
So now they're looking at the Mannings, obviously, who they're like, okay, we now know.
That they did this. That this happened. But they don't know that they're on the run separately.
Right. They think they're on the run together.
Of course they do. Because why wouldn't they be?
So Home Secretary Sir George Grey offered a £100 reward for any information leading to their capture.
Their descriptions were released, drawings were released of them, descriptions of the valuables that they had stolen were published.
The public was on the case along with the detectives.
This was like a huge thing. So now they bring Scotland Yard onto this case.
I knew it was coming. You got to bring Scotland Yard.
Of course you do. Who else are you going to call?
They find out. Scotland Yard is like on it.
And they find out from a cab driver who saw their descriptions in the paper because it was really smart of them to release their descriptions. the drawings of them, everything like that, and their names for that matter. they find out from a cab driver that he had driven a woman matching Marie's description to catch a train to Scotland.
Believable. Yep. And she had told him that she was headed for Edinburgh Now, they follow this and find out that a woman matching her description did indeed catch a 6.15 a.m. train to Edinburgh. that day and was doing so under the name Mrs. Smith.
Now, witnesses who saw her said she was acting very strange.
She was very nervous, acting very off. dropping shit, like just acting like something was wrong.
Then following In that lead, they find out that some luggage was seen in Edinburgh at a train station, And it was with a woman whose description matched Marie's perfectly.
And it also had the tag Mrs. Smith on it.
So these Scotland Yard baddies now use the brand new system of telegraph to telegraph up to Edinburgh, and the Edinburgh detectives were able to track down Marie under the fake name she was using there.
Wow, this is iconic. Also, the fake name she decided upon was Mrs. Smith.
Really girlfriend? Yeah. Mastermind. Not a lot of neurons firing up there.
None. None. They also caught her while she was in the process of trying to sell the fucking railway chairs in Edinburgh.
Stop it. She was living in a fancy-ass hotel because she had sold some of the stuff.
Right. And they arrested her and brought her right back to London.
When they searched her possessions, she was holding all of Patrick's railway shares.
And now this was a huge milestone for police work at this time.
The Metropolitan Police, like I said, had only been around for like 20 years.
Right. The electric telegraph was brand new as well, and it had been invented around 1837.
So this was all new. They also were breaking barriers by using leads from boat records and railway records for this case, which was like a step forward for police work.
Of course, yeah. And the way that all the leads lined up and they were able to use all that was like a huge groundbreaking case.
Yeah. Now, so she was brought right back to London.
Frederick was found pretty quickly as well.
Shocking. He had caught a boat to the island of Jersey and was just hiding out there.
He had been hanging in St. Hellier, Jersey and was drinking like a fish again.
He had run into someone he knew from London there.
And that old friend called police because they saw the murder news in the papers. and also someone used the new telegraph system to let detectives in Scotland Yard know that they saw Frederick on a steamer making his way to the islands.
Wow. These dinguses just like got away for like a minute and a half.
And he was even stupider because he acted like a dick to someone who just asked him for directions on the way there.
And that person remembered his description in the paper and they called police as well and were like, this asshole wouldn't even give me directions.
The ultimate revenge. Yeah. So he got scared by that old friend when he ran into that old friend.
He was like, they're going to remember me.
Yeah. And like, that's going to be a problem.
And so he had actually run to St. Lawrence Jersey at this time.
He's just like running around. around. I've just picked he's forced gumping.
He literally is. He spent his time getting even drunker and causing a lot more people to notice him because he was like causing trouble.
I love that their motto was, be so suspicious.
Be so suspicious. The most conspicuous people you will ever meet.
Meanwhile, the entire time that this is happening, that he's like running around these islands, like causing havoc, but thinking he's one step ahead of the police.
Yeah. The police were on the island the entire time just following his movements.
It was like good police work. And they also were shocked that he didn't even attempt to leave knowing that they were looking for him.
That's the other thing I was waiting for you to say, like, and then he left.
No. He was just hopping around the islands.
Wow. Now, the telegraph from the newspaper describing his apprehension said this, because they immediately apprehended him.
I'm on the island. Of course. It said, quote, the Southwestern Company steamer courier has just arrived here, bringing intelligence of the arrest of Frederick George Manning last night at Jersey on the charge of murdering O'Connor.
Manning was apprehended whilst in bed at half past nine o'clock at night.
Amazing. I love that. that they waited.
At a public house in St. Heliers. But the chief of Police of the Island in conjunction with officers Langley and Lockyer, officers of the Metropolitan Detective Police.
So when he was found there by police, he admitted everything.
Of course he did. Everything. He said he beat Patrick O'Connor over the head with a crowbar, but he said Marie shot him in the back of the head.
He said, quote, I never liked him, so I battered his head with a ripping chisel. that's not anything that you can do, sir.
Oh, okay. He had apparently also asked if Marie was arrested like immediately and was pleased when they told him that she had been arrested.
He had said, quote, has the wretch been taken?
The wretch. Has the wretch been taken? And when they said, yeah, he said, quote, I'm glad of it.
It will save my life. What? This is the other thing.
Yeah, marriage, for real. I'm like, girl, you should have just married.
I mean, like. you don't deserve patrick so i'm glad you didn't but you should just married patrick and like avoided all of this idiot you're just it's your fault that You married the other stupid one.
Frederick and her are the biggest. Well, they are.
Now, he kept saying that she deserved it.
He was telling the police she deserves it because she was the real perpetrator here.
Even though he had bashed O'Connor's head in 17 times, that's fine.
Like, she was the baddest. one you deserve it too i'm like yeah she's bad too you're also a shitbag yeah equal He was also pissed that she had left him and took the money.
So he was like, I'm pissed, which is like, You're also not helping your case of pretending you had nothing to do with this because you're pissed at her for abandoning you and taking the money.
Right. Now in the telegraph, it explains his confession as well.
It says, quote, Manning confessed his guilt to the officers upon his apprehension. adding that he was instigated to the deed by his wife and affirming that Mrs. Manning fired the pistol and shot at the unfortunate Mr. O'Connor.
Manning moreover stated that it was his intention to have surrendered on Wednesday if he had not been apprehended.
Yeah, totally. If you guys didn't get me today, I was totally going to surrender tomorrow.
He was like, I was just going to hit the pub one more time.
Yeah. And then I was going to be out of here and I would have shown up and confessed the whole thing. have just given me a second.
But like, good on you guys for getting me.
Yeah, great job, guys. But I was going to do it anyways, so it's fine.
Okay, Frederick. Dingus. Now, both of them were locked up in Newgate Prison.
Frederick requested while sitting in jail on murder charges that a guard give him a pipe and some smoking tobacco.
No. And they were like... No. Thanks though.
Thank you for asking that though, you fucking idiot.
Now, from appearances, guards and those who saw him in jail... said it was obvious that he was very addicted to alcohol because now without it, he was very pale and very sick.
Ooh. Which I'm like, he could have died.
It's actually crazy that he didn't. Yeah.
Now, because it sounds like he was very addicted.
Of course. Now, immediately. this is when the Bermondsey horror title came out, like through all the newspapers, this is what this was called.
And it's still known of that today. Now, everyone went nuts over this story.
And of course... Marie was the one that they really honed in on because it's usually the woman that they hone in on in these cases. she's a terrible piece of shit, but also Frederick was a terrible piece of shit as well.
They're equal pieces of shit. Now, the trial was at Old Bailey on October 25, 1849.
Witnesses were brought up to identify them both.
Now, what I found interesting, I watched something called Murder Maps on this It's a really like crazy show that like goes through like old timey murders and it like maps it out for you.
It's cool. And they were talking about how at Old Bailey, these trials would only last like...
Like minutes. Like they were quick, but this one lasted longer.
But I just had no idea that these trials were so quick there.
It's interesting. I had never heard that.
So witnesses were brought up to identify them both, and the superintendent of the Edinburgh police was one of the witnesses.
He was Richard John Moxie. He stated on the stand that it was Marie who was in Scotland when he questioned her about the whereabouts of her husband. husband.
She had told him her name was Mrs. Smith.
She had run from her cruel, abusive husband, Frederick, because he drank and she worried that he would murder her.
That's why she was in Edinburgh, she said.
Oh, okay. He also said that she just ran her fucking mouth once everything came out and she was being arrested.
She started talking about how Patrick O'Connor was the kindest man she knew, and he acted as a father to her.
Remember, they were fucking on the regular, guys.
Like, what... Why are you saying he acted like a father to you?
That's weird. weird she definitely was saying it to be like she was trying to come off more innocent like this was a father right she If she says that she's having an affair with him, they're going to... It gets spicier.
Right. It's the salaciousness of it all, exactly.
Yes. Now, this is when she said he was invited to dinner that day, but he never came.
And she had gone to his home afterwards.
She was like, yes, of course, the landlady is right.
I went to his home. And she said, but I was just looking for him.
I went to his home to see where he was. And then did she say, it's just so crazy that he ended up in my floorboards?
Yeah, it's wild. I didn't check there. Yeah, I would have looked there had I known, but I went to his house.
Now, two clerks testified that Frederick Manning was the man who had called under the name Patrick O'Connor to cash out some of his railway stuff.
They were like stockbroker clerks. Now, side note to this.
At the time, cholera was rampant at this time in London.
Gross. One witness testified on the Friday that Frederick called pretending to be Patrick.
And then that witness had died by Saturday from coughing. cholera.
Oh my goodness. Isn't that wild? Yeah. The second clerk got it and died by Sunday.
So they testified on a Friday. Both were dead by Sunday of cholera.
Whoa. Now, cholera, in case you don't know, it causes like severe dehydration from vomiting and diarrhea.
It's usually from shitty drinking water.
Oh, okay. Just as a little side note, because this was interesting to me, because I was like, excuse me, two witnesses died within a weekend of... testifying, that's how bad this was.
There was a cholera outbreak that lasted two years starting the year before this in 1948.
And it was said to be the worst outbreak in the city's history.
Wow. So while this was going on, it was like the worst outbreak.
So they're trying to deal with that and they're trying to keep people alive.
Right. In England and Wales, over 14,000 people died.
Oh my God. During this outbreak. And a guy named Edwin Chadwick was a social reformer at the time.
And he was like, guys... There is clearly a link between sanitation and disease and cholera.
And in 1842, he had actually wrote about this in his publication, The Sanitary Conditions of the Laboring Population.
He was discussing life expectancy in relation to disease and living conditions in it.
And this led to the 1948 Public Health Act that appointed Edwin as the first director of the General Board of Health because of his findings and research.
Get it? Edwin. Now, he later, because, no, he later actually became the sanitary commissioner of London.
Oh, shit. But in fact, at the time, newspapers were saying cholera was actually the best sanitary reformer because it did inspire people to try to live in the cleanest conditions they could at the time.
Okay. Because it wasn't always within everybody's control at the time, considering what was going on.
But unfortunately, only very limited improvements were actually made to ventilation and drainage in the city after he became commissioner.
He tried, but he wasn't able to do a whole lot.
So actually... because of the changes, more runoff went into the River Thames. which was like the main supply and further contaminated the drinking water, which led to more of an outbreak.
And again, the worst outbreak in the city's history in those two years, starting in 1948.
Yikes. So that was just like an interesting side note of what was going on at the time.
Shit was bad. So back to the trial. They launched separate defenses.
They were not even going to do the defenses together.
They were just going to go after each other.
Wow. I love that they're just like no longer married.
Fuck right off. And that's, I'm like, Like you are the Mannings.
Like you are still fully married right now.
But Frederick decided to just blame the entire thing on Marie because he figured the press was leaning that way anyways.
So he was just going to play into it. Saw that coming.
Now he reminded everyone that it was Marie who invited Patrick for dinner that evening.
Not him. He was like, it was totally her.
The defense made sure she appeared to only be the money hungry villain that she... Yeah, money hungry.
That she... Really was. Mongri. Mongri.
You knew where it was. Of course I did. We're just helping each other out with our made up words today.
I appreciate it. But they were really hammering in on that fact.
Yeah, because it's the truth. Now, they brought Francis Stevens to the stand, and he was Patrick's stockbroker.
So he had a very close relationship with Patrick.
He identified his own signature on those shares that were found in Marie's possession.
And he kept saying she then he was like, those are my shares that I gave Patrick.
Like, I can guarantee you. So why would she fucking have those on her person when she was arrested?
Have him. under her floorboards. I would be like, why are we here right now?
The body was found under her floorboards in her kitchen. because the two of them are going after each other saying i didn't do it he did it i didn't do it she did it right right so now they need to be like what the But she kept saying she only went to Patrick's place after he was missing because she was looking for him and she kept to that story.
Mm-hmm. But this whole thing shattered that completely because Francis Stevens being on the stand saying, yeah.
Those are the shares that I gave him. I signed those off.
She only has those in her possession because she went to his home and stole them.
Those weren't... That whole story she's telling about like, I went there just to check on him.
That's shattered now because while she was there, she stole those shares.
He didn't give them to her. And why would you do that?
So that was just gone. But Marie's defense was that she wasn't there when Patrick was murdered.
Now she's saying, I wasn't even there. And she said she was part of the cover-up, and, you know, sure, maybe I stole some things afterwards, but, like, I didn't kill him.
But then after the whole, you know, she went to Patrick's place to steal his shit after he was murdered thing came out, She pivoted and she said, okay, but this was just Frederick's deal.
And I just covered it up. So now she's like, okay, cool.
Yeah, sure. I went there afterwards, whatever.
Like I, because now she's like, okay, I'm going to take a step back.
I'm going to say, I didn't do the murder.
But I had to cover it up because he's my husband and he made me and he made me do it.
And you see in Britain at this time, women had to obey their husband's orders.
And therefore, a law was actually in place that said a wife could not be charged with being an accessory to murder. if her husband committed the murder and ordered her to aid him in covering it up.
Dude. So they were going to try to use that law.
That's a danger. That's a dangerous ass law.
Because it was basically like- That's a loophole.
Like I have to be loyal to my husband first as a wife.
So I had to do this. Like by law, I am compelled to help him cover this up, but you can't charge me with accessory because by law, I have to help him.
That's just giving people... Isn't that wild?
A loophole, a murder loophole. The loopiest loophole.
But they just said, okay. That still doesn't explain why you then stole all of Patrick's shit and also invited him to dinner yourself.
Right. Like what was the plan there? So she then testified to the fact that Patrick O'Connor meant more to her than her husband ever did.
Oh, she is. So she was just thrown for the gonads.
In those wounds. And she said because of this, he was murdered by Frederick, who just went nuts from jealousy.
And it was all about the fact that Patrick or Frederick could not handle the affair with Patrick.
That's scary because I honestly feel like if I were a juror, I would believe that.
It's a decent defense. It is. It really is.
I think I could definitely see that being a thing.
I mean, we know it is not because we're looking at this from now.
No, of course not. But imagine like sitting in a juror seat back then.
You could be like, yeah, maybe he did go crazy from jealousy.
That's a reasonable doubt right there. But I think the fact is that she has all the railway shares and she like actively ran to Edinburgh and changed her name and all that kind of goes against her.
Little Danny. Would have been a decent defense otherwise.
Had she not done that. Now, this is when the newspapers went buck.
So when it started getting into the affair shit, they said, let me get Buck in here.
Suddenly, rumors went wild that this was not just a torrid affair between Patrick and Marie.
No. Now people in the papers were suggesting that there was a three-way sexual relationship happening here.
And that something went wrong within that complex affair.
I knew from the beginning of the story that you were going to say that.
It was scandalous at the time on a level no one had ever seen.
And no matter what, it was going to be taken as partially true because it was Rumors are said, they become truth to a lot of people, which is dumb, but it's the way the world works.
That's actually the theme of my entire upcoming case.
Well, there you go. Now, of course, they all denied that.
Frederick denied that. Marie denied that there was no but of course, it's just something that maintains to this day that it was like a big rumor.
I don't think that's true. I don't think that was true at all.
I think it's like they did it just to make it even more scandalizing, sell the tabloids of the time.
So it only took the jury 45 minutes of deliberation.
Both of them were found guilty of murder.
Both of them were sentenced to hang. Wow.
Yeah, which is wild. Now, later the defense team for Marie said, which is just funny, I think Frederick's defense team was like, yeah, we gave it a shot.
Like, sure. defense team came out later and was like, oh, we never for one second believed she was innocent.
Like we there was really nothing we could have done.
Like they were like, we I'm surprised we got that far with it.
They were like, yeah, we were prepared to take a hella big L. figured this was going to be a loss and that's fine.
Oh, man. Now, during the time between trial and execution, Marie did attempt suicide in jail.
She tried to strangle herself and pierce her windpipe with her own fingernail.
What? But she was stopped. Yeah. She then wrote a letter to Queen Victoria asking...
Hey, girl, remember me? And literally did that.
Like, was like... Because they did have...
A previous some kind of relationship, even if it was staff and queen.
You know, they had known each other. So she had... written to her asking for her to use her power to give her reprieve from hanging.
And Queen Victoria wrote her back because she knew who she was.
And she was like, no, you're a filthy murderer and you're going to hang, you motherfucker.
It was literally like, I think justice is served here.
It's like I just got like a picture in my head of Ever After.
Spoiler alert ahead, so don't listen if you don't want that. when she becomes queen and then they're like, will anybody speak for you?
And then Drew Barrymore goes, i'll speak for you it gives me that that's the vibes yeah there you go anybody that hasn't seen ever after is like what Yeah, like I'll say Bridgerton, the queen on there.
No spoilers. It's not a spoiler, but she's awesome.
I love her. I love the queen on there. And I can picture her just being like, no, you filthy murderer.
Like, fuck off. She would go say it in person.
100%. So her next move was to write Frederick in...
And to try to seduce him again. She's like, sorry that during the trial, I said it was all your fault.
It was just a little jokey. She was like, you know what?
Everyone goes through a rough patch in their marriage, okay?
Resteer is the hardest. It's tough. Now, when he began responding, because they started corresponding, she then was like...
Hey, baby honey, sweetie pie, would you maybe want to take like all the responsibility for this?
One of us might as well get out of here.
Do you think that would be something you want to do?
And he immediately wrote her back and was like, fuck off, witch.
And was like, no, I'm not doing that. I just pictured him with the paper this way, just like, fuck off.
Fuck off, bitch. And that's the letter she got.
No, thank you. So that ended. right away.
Yeah, I bet. So November 13th, 1849, they were taken to the gallows. together before they went to the gallows marie asked to have her black silk kerchief tied around her eyes because she didn't want to see the actual gallows or the crowd. which was said to have been a crowd of between 30,000 and 50,000 people waiting to Jesus Christ, that's why everybody was sick.
What are you doing in a group of 30,000 people? ever.
I'm like, that's just a Petri dish. That's too many people.
Also stop watching public execution. That's a whole nother topic.
They did this for her so they did do this for her they tied the kerchief around her eyes But the crowd was a fucking crazy ass nightmare in and of itself.
They actually crushed a woman to death in the crowd. and a few other people got really injured.
Reports said that Marie leaned over at the last second and kissed Fred Rick weird and they took this as like a a thing between them, like all is forgiven kind of thing, which is strange.
But both were hanged on the roof of Horsemonger Lane Jail.
Frederick died immediately when he was hanged.
Marie strangled for a while. before dying.
Oh, I feel like that's like weirdly like just like the universe.
Like some kind of symbolic thing. Weirdly, Herman Melville was in the crowd during this.
You know, Moby Dick. Oh! Yeah. You know that little tale?
I think I've heard of it. Yeah. Like once or twice.
He watched this... He paid money for a spot on a rooftop because people would pay money for spots to watch this shit.
Wow. Yeah, and he later wrote in his journal about it.
He wrote, quote, the man and wife were hung side by side, still unreconciled to each other.
What a change from the time they stood after being married together.
What a thing to write in your journal. You're like, wait, that's fucking crazy.
Imagine that. Like here's the Dear Diary.
I've got some hot tea. Some hot tea. And Charles Dickens actually watched this.
What is up with literary people in the crowd?
Charles Dickens was this was actually he was never really into the public execution thing, but this really turned him against it.
He was watching it and he actually wrote a letter to the Times speaking of how barbaric public executions were.
And the way the crowd reveled in it repulsed him.
Yeah, because it is gross. have to read the letter he wrote because it's like, yeah.
He wrote, I was witness of the execution of Horsemonger Lane this morning.
I went there with the intention of observing the crowd gathered to behold it.
And I had excellent opportunities of doing so. at intervals all through the night and continuously from daybreak until the spectacle was over.
I believe that a sight so inconceivably awful as the wickedness and levity of the immense crowd collected at that execution this morning could be imagined by no man and could be presented in no heathen land under the sun. the horrors of the gibbet and of the crime which brought the wretched murderers to it. faded in my mind before the atrocious bearing looks and language of the assembled spectators.
When I came upon the scene at midnight, the shrillness of the cries and howls that were raised from time to time denoting that they came from a concourse of boys and girls already assembled in the best places, made my blood run cold.
As the night went on, screeching and laughing and yelling in strong chorus of parodies. parodies of melodies with substitutions of Mrs. Manning for other things was like... or excuse me, and the like were added to these.
When the day dawned, thieves low, thieves low, sex workers, he said prostitutes, ruffians and vagabonds of every kind flocked onto the ground with every variety of offensive and foul behavior.
Fightings, faintings, whistlings, imitations of punch. brutal jokes, tumultuous demonstrations of indecent delight when swooning women were dragged out of the crowd by police. with their dresses disordered, gave a new zest to the general entertainment.
When the sun rose brightly as it did, it gilded thousands upon thousands of upturned faces. so inexpressibly odious in their brutal mirth or callousness, that a man had cause to feel ashamed of the shape he wore and to shrink from himself as fashioned in the image of a devil. when the two miserable creatures who attracted all this ghastly sight about them were turned quivering into the air.
There was no more emotion, no more pity, no more thought that two immortal souls had gone to judgment.
No more restraint in any of the previous obscenities than if the name of Christ had never been heard in this world. and there were no belief among men that they had perished like beasts.
I am solemnly convinced that nothing that ingenuity could devise to be done in this city in the same compass of time. could work such ruin as one public execution does.
And I stand astounded and appalled by the wickedness it exhibits.
I do not believe that any community can prosper where such a scene of horror and demoralization as this enacted this morning outside Horsemonger Lane Jail, is presented at the very doors of good citizens and is passed by unknown and forgotten.
Beautiful. I mean Charles Dickens. Yeah.
But he literally was like... This is a fucking scourge on society, and it needs to stop.
He was not wrong. And he was not wrong. And because of this, he became a very outspoken advocate for ending public activity. executions completely.
He was also inspired by watching the hangings of the Mannings to write the novel Bleak House, which is like a very big novel of his.
One of the characters in the book, Hortense, is actually inspired by Marie Manning.
That's crazy. Like directly. Marie actually, this is just the last little thing.
Marie wore a black satin dress when she was hanged.
And the fabric went like totally out of style for a while because of it.
Nobody would buy it. Oh, wow. Sales like plunged.
And she was called the woman who murdered Black Satin. for a while.
How dare she? Isn't that wild? That's insane.
So they were hanged together side by side, a married couple.
And I think they were only like the second married couple to be hanged.
That's nuts. And just the fact that they gave each other a smooch before, that's like so creepy.
At least a lot of reports say that. Of course, but a lot of reports do say that that happened.
So creepy. Yeah. So that is the Bermondsey Horror.
All right. For Patrick O'Connor. I know, huh?
I just feel bad for him. I do too. That's just sad.
It is. And just so senseless. It is. Like we say, all murder is senseless.
But some of them, you're just like, really?
Especially when it's for money. Yeah. Go make your own money.
You were enjoying hanging out with the family that you worked for, so just continue working for them.
Yeah, exactly. You'll get a fancy dress out of it and you can hang out with the queen.
Yeah, like he loved that job. Now she just thinks you're a scoundrel.
A scoundrel? Yeah. A cad. A scoundrel or a cad.
So yeah, that was a wild old timey one for you.
It was. Well. Guys, we hope that you keep listening.
And we hope you keep it weird. But not so weird that you get two husbands and then you decide to kill one of them with the other one and then you leave the other one because you're like, no, I don't want to be with you anymore, but let me steal all this guy's stuff and then bury him underneath my floorboards and like you just can't be doing that out there like stop can't bye bye and before you go Episodes of Morbid are available free wherever you get your podcasts.
If you want to hear new episodes though one week early, you can download Amazon Music.
Or if you want to hear new episodes early and ad-free, You can subscribe to Wondery Plus and Apple Podcasts or the Wondery app, another way you can is by filling out a survey at wondery.com slash survey.
Thank you. If you like Morbid, you can listen early and ad free right now by joining Wondery Plus in the Wondery app or on Apple Podcasts.
Prime members can listen ad-free on Amazon Music.
Before you go, tell us about yourself by filling out a short survey at wondery.com slash survey.
The town of Agde in France is famous for sun, sand, sea and sex.
But lately, life on the coast has taken a strange turn.
The town's mayor, a respected pillar of the community, has been arrested for corruption.
His wife claims he's been bewitched by a beautiful clairvoyant.
Then there's the mysterious phone calls that local people have been getting.
I am the Archangel Michael. The whole town has been thrown into chaos.
As the mayor is unable to carry out his duties, I would like to address you all.
Legal proceedings have been initiated. Join me, Anna Richardson, and journalist Leo Schick for The Mystic and the Mayor as we investigate a story of power, corruption, Binge all episodes of The Mystic and the Mare exclusively and ad-free right now on Wondery+.
Start your free trial in Apple Podcasts Spotify or the Wondery app
