Barbaric Murders - Child victims, lady-killers and bodies in boxes (Infamous Murderers) by Rodney Castleden Page A
Authors: Rodney Castleden
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Cottages. She arrived back late, which annoyed Mrs Thomas, who expected Kate to be back before she went to the evening service. Mrs Thomas rashly took this opportunity to deliver one last reprimand, which with hindsight seems foolish, in that Kate Webster was supposed to be leaving for good the next day.
At church, Mrs Thomas appeared agitated. It is possible that Kate’s behaviour had been threatening. It is possible that Mrs Thomas suspected Kate might be stealing her possessions. Yet, when the evening service was over, Mrs Thomas unwisely did not persuade any her friends to escort her home. She went home alone – and to her death.
What happened when Julia Thomas got home is unclear. Kate Webster’s later version of events was straightforward enough. ‘We had an argument which ripened into a quarrel, and in the height of my anger and rage I threw her from the top of the stairs to the ground floor. She had a heavy fall. She was seriously injured and I became agitated at what had happened, lost all control of myself and to prevent her screaming or getting me into trouble, I caught her by the throat and in the struggle I choked her.’
Mrs Thomas’s next-door neighbour, Mrs Ives, heard the fall, but that was followed by silence. Probably there was no struggle. Probably Kate Webster’s confession was full of lies.
Kate Webster then decided to try to cover up what had happened by disposing of the body. She began to dismember it, with the idea of dropping it in bits into the river. She cut off Mrs Thomas’s head with a razor and meat saw. Then she cut off the arms and legs. She boiled the torso and limbs in a copper on the stove and burnt the internal organs. Even Kate Webster found all of this revolting, but she kept at it until she had burnt or boiled all the body parts. She packed them all into a wooden box, all except the head and one foot, which she could not fit in. It was said later that she even tried to sell the boiled-off fat as dripping, but this seems unlikely.
Mrs Thomas’s next-door neighbour, Mrs Ives, noticed a strange smell, which was probably the burning.
Kate threw the spare foot onto a manure heap, but was unsure what to do with the head. She put it into a black bag for the moment and set about cleaning up the cottage. She borrowed one of Mrs Thomas’s silk dresses to visit the Porters on the Tuesday afternoon, taking Mrs Thomas’s head with her, in the black bag. She told the Porters she had inherited a house in Richmond from an aunt; she was going to sell it and return to Ireland. She asked Henry Porter if he knew of an estate agent who would help her. Kate had given Henry Porter and his son Robert the black bag to carry from the station, via two pubs, and the Porters both noticed how heavy the bag was. It is not at all clear why she took Julia Thomas’s head on this macabre outing, or how she disposed of it. As far as I know it was never found.
Kate enlisted the help of young Robert Porter to help her move the wooden box. She and Robert together carried the box to Richmond Bridge, where she said someone was meeting her to collect it. The young man was told to walk on; she would catch him up. Robert did as he was told, but he had not walked on very far when he heard a splash, as of something heavy hitting the water. A few moments later Kate caught up with him again.
The box was picked out of the water by a coalman, who must have had a very nasty surprise when he opened it. He reported it to Barnes police station. The police got a doctor to look at the remains, and he confirmed that they were parts of a female and that they had been boiled. Without the head, identification was impossible.
Meanwhile Kate Webster took to calling herself Mrs Thomas and wearing all of the dead woman’s finery. She sold the contents of the cottage to a Mr John Church, who was a general dealer. The two of them seem to get on well, and were later seen drinking together. The real Mrs Thomas had not been reported
At church, Mrs Thomas appeared agitated. It is possible that Kate’s behaviour had been threatening. It is possible that Mrs Thomas suspected Kate might be stealing her possessions. Yet, when the evening service was over, Mrs Thomas unwisely did not persuade any her friends to escort her home. She went home alone – and to her death.
What happened when Julia Thomas got home is unclear. Kate Webster’s later version of events was straightforward enough. ‘We had an argument which ripened into a quarrel, and in the height of my anger and rage I threw her from the top of the stairs to the ground floor. She had a heavy fall. She was seriously injured and I became agitated at what had happened, lost all control of myself and to prevent her screaming or getting me into trouble, I caught her by the throat and in the struggle I choked her.’
Mrs Thomas’s next-door neighbour, Mrs Ives, heard the fall, but that was followed by silence. Probably there was no struggle. Probably Kate Webster’s confession was full of lies.
Kate Webster then decided to try to cover up what had happened by disposing of the body. She began to dismember it, with the idea of dropping it in bits into the river. She cut off Mrs Thomas’s head with a razor and meat saw. Then she cut off the arms and legs. She boiled the torso and limbs in a copper on the stove and burnt the internal organs. Even Kate Webster found all of this revolting, but she kept at it until she had burnt or boiled all the body parts. She packed them all into a wooden box, all except the head and one foot, which she could not fit in. It was said later that she even tried to sell the boiled-off fat as dripping, but this seems unlikely.
Mrs Thomas’s next-door neighbour, Mrs Ives, noticed a strange smell, which was probably the burning.
Kate threw the spare foot onto a manure heap, but was unsure what to do with the head. She put it into a black bag for the moment and set about cleaning up the cottage. She borrowed one of Mrs Thomas’s silk dresses to visit the Porters on the Tuesday afternoon, taking Mrs Thomas’s head with her, in the black bag. She told the Porters she had inherited a house in Richmond from an aunt; she was going to sell it and return to Ireland. She asked Henry Porter if he knew of an estate agent who would help her. Kate had given Henry Porter and his son Robert the black bag to carry from the station, via two pubs, and the Porters both noticed how heavy the bag was. It is not at all clear why she took Julia Thomas’s head on this macabre outing, or how she disposed of it. As far as I know it was never found.
Kate enlisted the help of young Robert Porter to help her move the wooden box. She and Robert together carried the box to Richmond Bridge, where she said someone was meeting her to collect it. The young man was told to walk on; she would catch him up. Robert did as he was told, but he had not walked on very far when he heard a splash, as of something heavy hitting the water. A few moments later Kate caught up with him again.
The box was picked out of the water by a coalman, who must have had a very nasty surprise when he opened it. He reported it to Barnes police station. The police got a doctor to look at the remains, and he confirmed that they were parts of a female and that they had been boiled. Without the head, identification was impossible.
Meanwhile Kate Webster took to calling herself Mrs Thomas and wearing all of the dead woman’s finery. She sold the contents of the cottage to a Mr John Church, who was a general dealer. The two of them seem to get on well, and were later seen drinking together. The real Mrs Thomas had not been reported
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