On 7 June 1897, Annie Mable Spencer of Greenhaugh Hall, Bellingham was brutally murdered by her husband John Cuthbert Spencer. The body of the 26 year old was found in the wood near the hall covered over with grass and branches from a fir tree. She died from wounds inflicted upon her with an adze [tool with an arched blade used for cutting or shaping large pieces of wood].
On the day of the murder, Mr Spencer had been working in a plantation about 400 yards from the hall. He had been cutting down trees for the purpose of making a new drive. Mr Spencer had asked Mr Foreman, his gamekeeper, to meet him in the woods at 6pm to discuss the renovations and help with felling the trees. Mrs Spencer was with her husband and after a short while they left the gamekeeper and went to look at a new pond before returning and informing him that they were going home for dinner.
When Mrs Spencer failed to appear for dinner at 7.30pm this alarmed the servants and by 9pm Sergeant Dobson from Bellingham police station received a telegram asking him to go to Greenhaugh Hall immediately. He was accompanied by P.C. Potts and P.C. Musgrove. When they arrived, Mrs Spencer was missing and Mr Spencer was plunging an adze up and down in a bucket of water.
Mr Foreman – Gamekeeper
Mr Foreman told police that when he spoke to Mr Spencer he was in an excited state and was talking wildly. He believed that his father was St. Michael and that he was St. John and said that his father had sent him a message instructing him to kill his wife.
John Peter Elliot – Doctor
Doctor Elliot visited the Spencer house on Monday 7 June about 7pm. He had attended Mr Spencer a few days earlier for insomnia. As neither Mr or Mrs Spencer were at home, the doctor waited about a quarter of an hour and was about to leave when he saw Mr Spencer coming towards the house from the direction of the wood. Dr Elliot waited for him in the smoking room and when he entered he could see that his hands, face and shirt front were wet. After a general conversation regarding his health, the doctor advised him to go away for a change of scene. Mr Spencer claimed that he was going to Newcastle with his wife the next morning and then on to Edinburgh where they intended to stay for two or three weeks. Dr Elliot noticed a large spot of blood on Spencer’s shirt cuff but when mentioned, he was told that it was from a scratch from his finger. The doctor was aware that Mr Spencer’s mental health had been a concern in the past and judging from his current behaviour, there was a fear that this could be a return of the insanity.
Arthur Patrick Brown – Doctor
Doctor Brown stated that he received a message on the night of 7 June to go to the Spencer house at Greenhaugh. A few minutes after his arrival at 10pm, Mrs Spencer’s dead body was brought to the house. The body was fully clothed and covered in blood. The doctor made an examination of the body and identified five wounds. The first wound was on the head above the left ear, wounding the cerebellum. The skull was fractured and all the blood vessels on that side of the neck had been severed. The next wound penetrated the brain and another damaged the frontal bone. There was also a fracture of the frontal bone. Two wounds were also discovered on the back both running longitudinally on the left of the spine, each about 4.5 inches long. Both these wounds penetrated the ribs.
The coroner claimed that this case was one of the most painful and extraordinary ones that he had seen for many years. John Cuthbert Spencer was later committed to trial. He was found to be insane and sent to Broadmoor.