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Thomas Sadler isn't listed on the forum as a suspect, probably for good reason, although he must have been considered, if only briefly, at the time. During the course of other research, I came across a register of felons executed in this country since 1606.
Included in the list is a Thomas Sadler, who was convicted at Essex Summer Assizes for the murder of William Wass at Colchester. It seems that this Sadler persuaded the wife of a William Wass to leave her husband and move in with him. There followed, perhaps unsurprisingly, a violent quarrel between the two men, at the culmination of which Sadler killed Wass by stabbing him behind the ear with a pen-knife, resulting in the latter's instant death. This Sadler was hanged at Springfield Gaol in Chelmsford on 18th August 1891. This man is described as being a labourer, rather than a merchant seaman, but it would be a remarkable coincidence, surely, if there were two Thomas Sadlers who (allegedly) used the same MO to kill people in the south-east of England, in the same year? Does anyone know what happened to the Thomas Sadler who was accused of killing Frances Coles? (I realise that he was acquitted, but he may have been responsible nonetheless).
Included in the list is a Thomas Sadler, who was convicted at Essex Summer Assizes for the murder of William Wass at Colchester. It seems that this Sadler persuaded the wife of a William Wass to leave her husband and move in with him. There followed, perhaps unsurprisingly, a violent quarrel between the two men, at the culmination of which Sadler killed Wass by stabbing him behind the ear with a pen-knife, resulting in the latter's instant death. This Sadler was hanged at Springfield Gaol in Chelmsford on 18th August 1891. This man is described as being a labourer, rather than a merchant seaman, but it would be a remarkable coincidence, surely, if there were two Thomas Sadlers who (allegedly) used the same MO to kill people in the south-east of England, in the same year? Does anyone know what happened to the Thomas Sadler who was accused of killing Frances Coles? (I realise that he was acquitted, but he may have been responsible nonetheless).
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