John Carter

Forty three year old John Carter was an agricultural labourer who was convicted at Berkshire Assizes for the murder of his third wife. On 20th June, their son heard banging coming from his parents' bedroom at Bronledge Farm, Watchfield, near Faringdon. The next morning, Carter forbade his son to enter the bedroom, and the boy later noticed that something had been burnt in the grate. Carter told his son and neighbours that his wife had gone to stay with relatives but eventually suspicions were aroused and the house was visited by detectives. A thorough search unearthed the body of Mrs Carter beneath the washroom floor. She had been beaten to death, burned and then buried. He left a note confessing to the murder of his second wife whose body was also buried at the house. He also wrote that he wanted her remains to be given a decent burial and described where she could be found. A female skeleton was later unearthed. He was hanged by James Billington in Reading on the 5th December 1893.