The blue bottle discovered by Stanley in a garden in Clyst Honiton. Photograph: Paul Phillips/SWNSThe blue bottle discovered by Stanley in a garden in Clyst Honiton. Photograph: Paul Phillips/SWNSDog digs up possible link to notorious 19th-century Devon murder caseOwner of labrador says bottle find may be connected to poisoning that led to one of England’s last public hangings
A man in Devon believes his beloved dog has dug up a key piece of evidence in his back garden connected to a notorious Victorian murder case.
Paul Phillips, 49, told reporters that his labrador, Stanley, recovered a blue glass bottle with the words “Not to be taken” written on the side from their home in Clyst Honiton.
The discovery brought to mind an article he had read about the murder by poisoning of William Ashford by his wife, Mary Ann Ashford, in 1865 and further research revealed the couple may have lived in a neighbouring property.
Mary Ann was reportedly hanged in Exeter in front of 20,000 people and her execution was so bungled – she took minutes to die – that it is said to have turned people off the idea of public executions and set in motion events that would ultimately lead to the end of public hangings in England in the 1860s.
Phillips told Devon Live: “I thought it was a really interesting and beautiful thing when I cleaned it up and just remembered something about the murder.
“I searched the internet and it came up with Clyst Honiton and Mary Ann’s hanging. I can’t say why it was buried here and a bottle like this would have been very useful for various different things but what possible reason would they have to bury it? It could have been the bottle she used.”
Phillips said Stanley repeatedly returned to the same spot in the garden and despite regularly repairing the damage, Stanley would come back time and again.
After his dog recovered the bottle, Phillips said a search of the internet revealed it to be a blue poison bottle that began appearing in the middle of the 19th century.
Phillips cited accounts of newspaper reports available online that say it was alleged Mary Ann Ashford had been having an affair with a man 22 years younger than her. She was accused of plotting to kill her husband to steal his inheritance and start a new life.
Mary Ann Ashford was convicted of “murder by arsenic poisoning” of her husband, according to reports.
Phillips told Devon Live: “We believe that we live next door to the property resided by William and Mary Ann Ashford in 1865. I believe the lad she was having an affair with worked at the local bakery and there used to be one down the lane opposite the property.”
Mary Ann Ashford’s trial is said to have taken place at Devon Lent Assizes on the 16 March 1866. The jury is said to have only taken a few minutes to reach a guilty verdict.
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