The sad story of Fanny Adams
Fanny Adams (30 April 1859 – 24 August 1867) was an English girl who was murdered by solicitor's clerk Frederick Baker in Alton, Hampshire, on 24 August 1867.
The murder itself was extraordinarily brutal and received national outcry in the United Kingdom. Fanny was murdered after being abducted by Baker and was brought into a hop garden near her home. She was brutally severed and her body cut into several pieces, with some parts never to have been found.
At the trial the defence argued insanity: Baker's father had been violent, a cousin had been in asylums, his sister had died of a brain fever and he himself had attempted suicide after a love affair. The defence also argued that the diary entry was typical of the "epileptic or formal way of entry" that the defendant used and that the absence of a comma after the word killed did not render the entry a confession.
Justice Mellor invited the jury to consider a verdict of not responsible by reason of insanity, but they returned a guilty verdict after just fifteen minutes. On 24 December, Christmas Eve, Baker was hanged outside Winchester Gaol. The crime had become notorious and a crowd of 5,000 attended the execution. This was the last public execution held at that gaol.
Before his death, Baker wrote to the Adamses expressing his sorrow for what he had done "in an unguarded hour" and seeking their forgiveness.
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