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And, most telling, the prime suspect in both cases was a man named Thornton. The two murders occurred years apart. Adding to this eerie coincidence, both Thorntons were acquitted, and so both murders remain still unsolved. She had been raped and strangled. Suspicion fell on one of her coworkers, Michael Ian Thornton, who lived nearby. Blood was found on his pants and his alibi for the night Barbara disappeared turned out to be false.
But this was a decade before DNA was used as evidence. The case against Thornton was entirely circumstantial, and he was acquitted. There were footsteps belonging to a man in the mud. Like Barbara, Mary had spent her last night dancing. Thornton claimed the right to trial by battle, a medieval usage that had never been repealed by Parliament. Ashford argued that the evidence against Thornton was overwhelming and that he was thus ineligible to wage battle.
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The court decided that the evidence against Thornton was not overwhelming, and that trial by battle was a permissible option under law. Ashford declined the offer of battle, however, and Thornton was freed from custody. Appeals such as Ashford's were abolished by statute in , and with them the right to trial by battle.
Thornton emigrated to the United States.
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Trial by battle was a procedure which had been brought to Britain by the Normans ; it was not present in Saxon law. If the deceased's next of kin requested such a retrial, the defendant could respond with the "wager of battle", requiring the plaintiff to settle the matter by combat with the outcome to be ordained by God. Such an offer of battle could also take place following an acquittal for treason or another felony. Appeals of murder were uncommon, had to be brought within a year and a day of the death, and were generally tried by jury.
An appeal of murder was brought in Dublin in O'Reilly v Clancy in , three years before Ashford v Thornton , and the defendant demanded the wager of battle. Can it be possible that this "wager of battle" is being seriously insisted on? Am I to understand that this monstrous proposition as being propounded by the bar—that we, the judges of the Court of King's Bench—the recognized conservators of the public peace, are to become not merely the spectators, but the abettors of a mortal combat?
Is that what you require of us? No combat took place in Ireland; Clancy agreed to plead guilty and was transported for life. It is uncertain when the last trial by battle actually took place in Britain. Some references speak of such a trial being held in , but records indicate that King Charles I intervened to prevent the battle.
A case is less clear; the King again stepped in and judges acted to delay proceedings. No record survives of the outcome of the case, but no contemporaneous account speaks of the trial by battle actually taking place. The master drank much wine before the battle and was slain by the servant. The wager of battle was not always available to the defendant in an appeal of murder.
The defendant could not make the challenge if he was taken in the mainour in the act of committing his crime , if he attempted to escape from prison, or if there was such strong evidence of guilt that there could be no effective denial. Similarly, a female plaintiff could decline the challenge, and any plaintiff could decline if he was above 60 years of age or a minor, [6] or if he was lame or blind, and the case would be determined by a jury.
Peers of the realm, priests, and citizens of the City of London could also decline the battle if challenged. If the defendant was defeated but still alive, he was to be hanged on the spot; not even the King could pardon him from the divine judgment against him. He would go free, however, if he defeated his opponent or if he fended him off from sunrise to sunset.
If the plaintiff said the word craven "I am vanquished" and gave up the fight, he was to be declared infamous, deprived of the privileges of a freeman, and held liable for damages to his opponent. Proposals were made in the 17th and 18th centuries to abolish trial by battle, but they were unsuccessful. It was successfully opposed by MP John Dunning , who called the appeal of murder "that great pillar of the Constitution". Mary Ashford was about 20 years old, working as a general servant and housekeeper to her uncle who was a farmer at Langley Heath, Warwickshire , between Birmingham and Sutton Coldfield.
Her father was a gardener near Erdington. She worked as usual on 26 May and planned to attend a party that evening at The Three Tuns, a public house more commonly known as the Tyburn House. He was about 24 years old and heavyset; descriptions of him range from "well-looking young fellow" to "of repulsive appearance". Thornton later denied this statement, which was a major source of the public animus towards him following his arrest.
During the course of the evening, he was very attentive to her, and she appeared to enjoy his company. At about 11 p. When they did, it was with Thornton, who accompanied Ashford closely, while Cox walked behind them. Instead of returning to Erdington, Ashford announced that she would go to her grandfather's house, stating that it was closer to work. This was true, but it ignored the fact that she would have to return to Erdington to obtain her working clothes in the morning. Cox journeyed to Erdington, while Ashford and Thornton went off together.
Just before 4 a. Ashford changed and hurried off, stating that she needed to be home before her uncle left for market. A reveller returning from Tyburn House saw her walking quickly; he was the last person known to see her alive. At around 6 a. One of the items was a woman's shoe with blood on it. He raised the alarm, then he and others used a rake to find Mary Ashford's body in the pit. Two workers from a nearby factory found a series of footprints on the newly harrowed field near the pit, showing that a man and a woman had travelled together almost up to the pit, and that the man returned alone.
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