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It's been a mystery why Harold Hall, the man convicted for the murder of Kate Ronan, was sentenced to death in September of 1909 but was never listed as ever being executed. I was able to clear this little mystery up by contacting Richard Clark, the owner of http://www.capitalpunishmentuk.org . He has a list of every criminal sentenced to death during the 20th century in England. He also has a list of all prisoners who obtained a reprieve from the death penalty. Apparently Harold Hall was imprisoned in Pentonville and WAS in fact given a reprieve from execution. Richard stated that about 50% of those who were sentenced to death in England in the 20th century were given a reprieve.
Now as soon as the prison records are opened up we can see exactly what became of Harold Hall. I still have some doubts as to his guilt. He was basically convicted on his own confession for the crime. However many of the details he confessed to police did not match up with the evidence. And there of course have been many occurrences of false confessions. That's not to say I believe the man was innocent. I would just like to see more details surrounding the case against him. I've read the transcript of his trial and various newspaper articles about the crime, but I would like to dig up more information on what happened to man before and after the trial.
Now as soon as the prison records are opened up we can see exactly what became of Harold Hall. I still have some doubts as to his guilt. He was basically convicted on his own confession for the crime. However many of the details he confessed to police did not match up with the evidence. And there of course have been many occurrences of false confessions. That's not to say I believe the man was innocent. I would just like to see more details surrounding the case against him. I've read the transcript of his trial and various newspaper articles about the crime, but I would like to dig up more information on what happened to man before and after the trial.
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