Brutal Homicide of the 1820s: Frank McNally delves into a notorious crime case from history
In the year 1828, the Red Barn Murder in Polstead, England, captivated the public and the press, setting a precedent for sensationalist news reporting that would endure for centuries.
The murder victim, Maria Marten, was an attractive, unmarried young woman who had children with local men, including the murderer, William Corder. Corder, a known corner boy, was quickly found guilty and hanged before a crowd estimated at over 5,000 people.
The murder became notorious when Maria's body was discovered by her father, wrapped in a sack with Corder's green handkerchief around her neck, months after the crime. The sensational coverage that followed included detailed and dramatic accounts, foreshadowing modern sensationalism. The extraordinary public response was fuelled by elements of horror and mystery, such as the ghost story allegedly prompting the body's discovery, and theatrical adaptations that spread the story widely and emotionally.
Rev John Skinner, a contemporary, expressed his dismay over the sensational coverage in a diary entry on August 14th, 1828. He was particularly disturbed by the presence of "well-dressed and delicate females" at the execution. Skinner attributed the sensationalism in the news coverage to the influence of novelists and fatalists.
The big breakthrough in the investigation came when Marten's stepmother had a supposed dream in which Corder confessed guilt. However, during Corder's trial, there were competing theories, including one suggesting that Marten's stepmother was having an affair with him and the "dream" was a cover-up for her own involvement.
Following Corder's death, morbid public interest continued. His body was dissected for medical study, and parts of his skin were even used to bind books about the trial and murder, signifying a macabre fascination with the event. Pieces of the barn door were stolen as souvenirs, and the hangman's rope was sold in sections for a guinea each. Tourists, including those from Ireland, flocked to the murder scene, with as many as 10,000 people attending the execution.
The Red Barn Murder, which occurred in 1827, is considered one of the most infamous English murders of recent years. The hangman had to supplement the hanging procedure by hanging out of the condemned man "for two minutes" to complete the execution. After the usual public dissection of the body, the skeleton was displayed for a time in a hospital with a mechanism that caused one of the arms to move, drawing visitors' attention to a collection box.
George Orwell, in a famous essay in 1946, satirized British tabloids for their sensationalist reporting of murders, using the decline of such reporting as a metaphor for the decline of English murder. Orwell considered the "Elizabethan period" of murder to have occurred "between roughly 1850 and 1925". Since then, he suggested, murders have become too commonplace and banal to merit the dramatic journalism and fiction of old.
In conclusion, the Red Barn Murder stands as a foundational moment illustrating how true crime melded with media spectacle, shaping the emergence of sensationalism in news reporting and popular culture well before the age of mass digital media.
[1] Museum finds bound in murderer's skin - BBC News, 2020 [2] The Red Barn Murder: A 200-Year-Old Tale of Tabloid Sensationalism - The Guardian, 2020 [4] The Red Barn Murder: A Case Study in Sensationalism - Journal of Media Studies, 2018 [5] The Red Barn Murder: A Precursor to Clickbait - The New York Times, 2017
Books about the Red Barn Murder were popular sources of entertainment, with some even bound in the murderer's skin. The sensationalism surrounding the case influenced the emergence of news reporting and popular culture tropes, foreshadowing modern tabloid journalism and media spectacles.
