Red Barn Murder
The Red Barn Murder was an 1827 murder in Polstead, Suffolk, England. A young woman, Maria Marten, was shot dead by her lover William Corder at the Red Barn, a local landmark. The two had arranged to meet before eloping to Ipswich. Corder sent letters to Marten's family claiming that she was well, but after her stepmother spoke of having dreamed that Maria had been murdered, her body was discovered in the barn the next year.
Corder was located in London, where he had married. He was returned to Suffolk and found guilty of murder in a well-publicised trial. In 1828, he was hanged at Bury St Edmunds in an execution witnessed by a huge crowd. The story provoked numerous newspaper articles, songs and plays. The village where the crime had taken place became a tourist attraction and the barn was stripped by souvenir hunters. Plays, ballads and songs about the murder remained popular throughout the next century and continue to be performed today.
Murder
Maria Marten was the daughter of Thomas Marten, a molecatcher from Polstead in Suffolk. In March 1826, when she was aged 24, Marten formed a relationship with 22-year-old William Corder. Marten was an attractive woman and relationships with men from the neighbourhood had already resulted in two children. One child belonging to Corder's older brother Thomas died as an infant, but the other, Thomas Henry, was still alive at the time Corder met Marten. Thomas Henry's father, Peter Matthews, did not marry Marten but regularly sent money to provide for the child.Corder was the son of a local farmer and had a reputation as something of a fraudster and ladies' man. He was known as "Foxey" at school because of his sly manner. Corder once fraudulently sold his father's pigs, although his father had settled the matter without involving the law, but Corder had not changed his behaviour. He later obtained money by passing a forged cheque for £93 and had helped local thief Samuel "Beauty" Smith steal a pig from a neighbouring village. When Smith was questioned by the local constable over the theft, he made a prophetic statement concerning Corder: "I'll be damned if he will not be hung some of these days." Corder had been sent to London in disgrace after his fraudulent sale of the pigs, but he was recalled to Polstead when his brother Thomas drowned attempting to cross a frozen pond. Corder's father and three brothers all died within eighteen months of each other and only he remained to run the farm with his mother.
Corder wished to keep his relationship with Marten a secret, but she gave birth to their child in 1827 at age 25 and was apparently keen that she and Corder should marry. The child died, but Corder apparently still intended to marry Marten. That summer, in the presence of Marten's stepmother, Ann, Corder suggested that she meet him at the Red Barn, from where he proposed that they elope to Ipswich. He claimed that he had heard rumours that the parish officers were going to prosecute Marten for having bastard children.
Corder initially suggested that they elope on the evening of Wednesday, 16 May 1827, but later decided to delay until the following evening. On 17 May, he was again delayed; his brother falling ill is mentioned as the reason in some sources, although most claim that all his brothers were dead by this time. On Friday, 18 May, Corder appeared at the Martens' cottage during the day and, according to Ann, told her stepdaughter that they had to leave at once, as he had heard that the local constable had obtained a warrant to prosecute her. Marten was worried that she could not leave in broad daylight, but Corder told her that she should dress in men's clothing so as to avert suspicion, and he would carry her things to the Red Barn and change before they continued on to Ipswich.
Shortly after Corder left the Martens' cottage, Marten set out to meet him at the Red Barn, which was situated on Barnfield Hill, about half a mile from the cottage. This was the last time that she was seen alive. Corder also disappeared, but later turned up and claimed that Marten was in Ipswich, or some other place nearby, and that he could not yet bring her back as his wife for fear of provoking the anger of his friends and relatives. The pressure on Corder to produce his wife eventually forced him to leave the area. He wrote letters to Marten's family claiming that they were married and living on the Isle of Wight, and he gave various excuses for her lack of communication: she was unwell, she had hurt her hand or the letter must have been lost.
Suspicion continued to grow, and Marten's stepmother began talking of dreams that Maria had been murdered and buried in the Red Barn. On 19 April 1828, she persuaded her husband to go to the Red Barn and dig in one of the grain storage bins. He quickly uncovered the remains of his daughter buried in a sack. She was badly decomposed but still identifiable. An inquest was carried out at the Cock Inn at Polstead, where Marten was formally identified by her sister from some physical characteristics. Her hair and some clothing were recognisable, and she was known to be missing a tooth which was also absent from the jawbone of the corpse. Evidence was uncovered to implicate Corder in the crime: his green handkerchief was discovered around the body's neck.
Capture
Corder was easily discovered, as Ayres, the constable in Polstead, was able to obtain his old address from a friend. Ayres was assisted by James Lea, an officer of the London police who later led the investigation into "Spring-heeled Jack". They tracked Corder to Everley Grove House, a boarding house for ladies in Brentford. He was running the boarding house with his new wife Mary Moore, whom he had met through a lonely hearts advertisement that he had placed in The Times. Judith Flanders states in her 2011 book that Corder had also placed advertisements in the Morning Herald and The Sunday Times. He received more than forty replies from the Morning Herald and 53 from The Sunday Times that he never picked up. These letters were subsequently published by George Foster in 1828.Lea managed to gain entry under the pretext that he wished to board his daughter there, and he surprised Corder in the parlour. Thomas Hardy noted the Dorset County Chronicles report of his capture:
Lea took Corder to one side and informed him of the charges, but he denied all knowledge of both Marten and the crime. A search of the house uncovered a pair of pistols supposedly bought on the day of the murder; some letters from a Mr. Gardener, which may have contained warnings about the discovery of the crime; and a passport from the French ambassador, evidence which suggested that Corder may have been preparing to flee.
Trial
Corder was taken back to Suffolk, where he was tried at Shire Hall, Bury St Edmunds. The trial started on 7 August 1828, having been put back several days because of the interest which the case had generated. The hotels in Bury St Edmunds began to fill up from as early as 21 July, and admittance to the court was by ticket only because of the large numbers who wanted to view the trial. Despite this, the judge and court officials still had to push their way bodily through the crowds that had gathered around the door. The judge was the Chief Baron of the Exchequer, William Alexander, who was unhappy with the coverage given to the case by the press "to the manifest detriment of the prisoner at the bar." The Times, nevertheless, congratulated the public for showing good sense in aligning themselves against Corder, who entered a plea of not guilty.Marten's exact cause of death could not be established. It was thought that a sharp instrument had been plunged into her eye socket, possibly Corder's short sword, but this wound could have been caused by her father's spade when he was exhuming the body. Strangulation could not be ruled out, as Corder's handkerchief had been discovered around her neck; to add to the confusion, the wounds to her body suggested that she had been shot. The indictment charged Corder with "murdering Maria Marten, by feloniously and wilfully shooting her with a pistol through the body, and likewise stabbing her with a dagger." To avoid any chance of a mistrial, Corder was indicted on nine charges, including one of forgery.
Marten's stepmother was called to give evidence of the events of the day of Maria's disappearance and her later dreams. Thomas Marten then told the court how he had dug up his daughter, and Maria's 10-year-old brother George revealed that he had seen Corder with a loaded pistol before the alleged murder and had later seen him walking from the barn with a pickaxe. Lea gave evidence concerning Corder's arrest and the objects found during the search of his house. The prosecution suggested that Corder had never wanted to marry Maria Marten, but that her knowledge of some of his criminal dealings had given her a hold over him, and that his theft of the money sent by her child's father had been a source of tension between them.
Corder then gave his own version of the events. He admitted to being in the barn with Marten, but said that he had left after they argued. He claimed that he heard a pistol shot while he was walking away, and that he ran back to the barn to find her dead with one of his pistols beside her. Corder pleaded with the jury to give him the benefit of the doubt, but after they retired, it took them only thirty-five minutes to return with a guilty verdict. Baron Alexander sentenced Corder to hang and afterwards be dissected:
Corder spent the next three days in prison agonising over whether to confess to the crime and make a clean breast of his sins before God. He finally confessed after entreaties from his wife, several meetings with the prison chaplain and pleas from both his warder and John Orridge, the governor of the prison. Corder strongly denied stabbing Marten, claiming that he had shot her in the eye after they argued.