The strange story of the Devon Man they couldn't hang, John 'Babbacombe' Lee

The man they could not hang!

John 'Babbacombe' Lee famously dubbed the man they could not hang' was accused of the murder of Miss Emma Anne Whitehead Keyse.

In the early hours of November 15 1884 in the hamlet of Babbacombe, Devon, Emma Keyse was discovered brutally murdered. Her throat was slit, she had three wounds to her head John " Babbacombe" had also attempted to burn the body.

He was sentenced to be hanged at Exeter Prison on 23 February 1885. When John was about to be executed however, He was sentenced to be

hanged at Exeter Prison on 23 February 1885. When John was about to be executed however, the noose was tied around his neck but when the executioner pulled the lever to remove the floor beneath him to hang him, it stayed up.

The executioner then tested the door and it worked so led john up again. Again however it did not work and the miraculous process was achieved for the third time also

It's nearly 140 years since a gruesome murder in Torquay - and yet still today the story of John Babbacombe Lee 'The Man They Couldn't Hang' remains partially shrouded in mystery. It's probably one of England's strangest true crime stories.

Three times Lee was lead to the gallows on February 23 1885. Three times the trapdoor failed to open - despite successful attempts with a dummy between each attempt.

But historians who have studied the case in detail say that many questions remain unanswered about what really happened to Miss Emma Keyse, who was found savagely murdered on November 15, 1884 at her beachside home, next to what is now the exclusive Cary Arms. The elderly spinster was found in the lounge with her head almost hacked off and her body on fire.

Her young 20-year-old servant, John Lee, who slept in the pantry next door raised the alarm and rescued the three other women in the house who were sleeping upstairs in the smoke-filled house.

Lee was found guilty after a shambolic four day trial, partly because he was the only man in the house at the time of the murder. The law at the time meant he was not allowed to defend himself at his trial, where the most damning evidence came from his step-sister and Miss Keyse' cook Elizabeth Harris. She told the court that she had once heard Lee say he would set fire to the house and burn it down around Miss Keyse.

But in a twist after the trial Miss Harris was found to be pregnant - and historians now believe that the father of her child was the lawyer who rapidly offered to defend Lee in court, Reginald 'Gwynne' Templer - whose family built Stover country park. Historians found that Templer was a regular visitor at the house, and was said to have been there on the night of the murder and slipped away. By the next morning he was back at the family home in Newton Abbot and stepped in to offer his services to defend Lee in court.

The case might have been long forgotten, except for the fact that Lee survived and his death sentence was changed by the Queen to life in prison. Did the hand of God intervene to save an innocent man? Or was the mechanism rigged by the guilty party who didn't want Lee's death on their conscience?

The historians say that anybody who reads the court and coroner's records at the time will see that there is no real case against Lee - but despite that, the coroner called him 'the murderer' during the inquest, long before his trial.

It was only after Elizabeth Harris was found to be pregnant that an alternative theory about the murder began circulating. Some claimed that a high-profile member of English society – possibly a Member of Parliament, or even Royalty – had begun a dangerous affair with the young cook which resulted in her pregnancy.

But historian Ian Waugh, who spent 20 years researching the case and has read every document available in the public domain, said: "It’s my long held personal opinion that Lee, most likely, wasn’t the man who killed Emma Keyse. I don’t think she was violently hacked to death merely because she was aware her cook was pregnant allegedly by a local solicitor."

Mr Waugh believes that money have been the issue. And possibly the death was linked to smuggling. Today the little cove at the bottom of the steep hill is overlooked by Peter de Savary's luxury Cary Arms hotel and spa.

"I think we need to look closer at other illegal activities going on around the home of this elderly, by then broke, bitter spinster. She had already taken legal action against Babbacombe fishermen. It was also likely that she was aware of the smuggling and other money-making dubious activities on her doorstep in this tiny bay.

"She was killed, in my view, because she knew too much. What she was aware of straddled the class system in Torbay and beyond at the end of the 19th century. Basically, she had to be silenced. Blaming ‘the only male in the household’ on the night of the killing was a gift to those desperately seeking ‘silence’. Enabling the illegal activities to continue.

"The real reason behind the murder has, so far, eluded any accurate coverage. We need to look closer to home to reveal the reason an elderly Victorian lady was killed in that lonely dark bay house. It’s still a very sensitive subject in some circles - the truth is out there, it won’t go away. "

What exactly happened on the gallows at Exeter Prison?

As John Lee was led out on the gallows the expression on his face was hidden by the black hood draped over his head. On the first failed attempt the prison warders tried to stamp on the trapdoor, as Lee struggled to maintain his balance at the end of a hangman's rope.As John Lee was led out on the gallows the expression on his face was hidden by the black hood draped over his head. On the first failed attempt the prison warders tried to stamp on the trapdoor, as Lee struggled to maintain his balance at the end of a hangman's rope.

For what seemed like an eternity, the man convicted of one the Westcountry's most horrific crimes stood on tiptoe, stretching as the noose around his neck tightened with every shake and bang.

All around him there was panic. Men struggled in vain to free the trapdoor that refused to open – their movements and actions shielded from the hooded man, who could only imagine what all the commotion was about as he waited for the executioner to complete the court's sentence of death.

After six painstaking minutes, the first drop was abandoned and Lee – his hands bound and face still covered – was moved out of the way as a dummy of the same size and weight was placed over the trapdoor and dropped – successfully.

Lee was then moved back into position for a second attempt, which again failed. Again, the dummy was brought back, tested, and successfully dropped.

For a third time Lee was repositioned over the drop as public executioner James Berry pulled the lever, only to produce the same results. Lee would escape a fourth attempt, though – but only because it was against English law at the time.

James Berry, who was known until then as the best hangman in the land, resigned soon afterwards. Berry kept the noose and it was later bought at auction and is now on display at Littledean Jail in the Forest of Dean in the Crime Through Time collection.

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