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N0KFQ > TODAY 23.02.17 13:57l 37 Lines 1571 Bytes #999 (0) @ WW
BID : 24098_N0KFQ
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Subj: Today in History - Feb 23
Path: IW8PGT<IZ3LSV<IK6ZDE<F1OYP<KQ0I<N3IP<NS2B<N0KFQ
Sent: 170223/1254Z 24098@N0KFQ.#SWMO.MO.USA.NA BPQ6.0.13
1885
A remarkable reprieve for a man sent to the gallows
On this day in 1885, a 19-year-old man named John Lee is sent to
the gallows in Exeter, England, for the murder of Ellen Keyse, a
rich older woman for whom he had worked. Although he insisted he
was innocent, Lee had been convicted and sentenced to death by
hanging.However, after the noose wasput around his neck and the
lever that would release the floor beneath his feet was pulled,
something malfunctioned and Lee was not dropped.Strangely,
theequipmenthad beentested and found to be in working order. In
facts, weights used in a test run plunged to the ground as
expected.The hanging was attempted two more times, but when Lee
stood on the trap door, and the lever was pulled, nothing
happened. He was then sent back to prison. On November 15, 1884,
Keyse, who had been a maid to Queen Victoria, was found dead in a
pantry next to Lee's room. Her head was severely battered and her
throat cut. There was no direct evidence of Lee's guilt; the case
was made solely on circumstantial evidence. The alleged motive
was Lee's resentment at Keyse's mean treatment.
The authorities, mystified at the gallows' inexplicable
malfunction, decided to ascribe it to an act of God. Lee was
removed from death row, his sentence commuted, and he spent the
next 22 years in prison. After he was released, he emigrated to
America. The cause of Lee's remarkable reprieve was never
discovered.
73, K.O. n0kfq
N0KFQ @ N0KFQ.#SWMO.MO.USA.NA
E-mail: kohiggs@gmail.com
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