John Norman Holmes Thorne

John Norman Holmes Thorne was convicted of the murder of his 26-year-old fiancee Elsie Emily Cameron and sentenced to death. He killed her at his farm, Wesley Poultry Farm, Crowborough, on 5 December 1924, and then dismembered her body and buried her dismembered remains in a chicken run. The general chronology is: Background 1920: John Thorne and Elsie Cameron meet at a Wesleyan church in north London. 22 August 1922: John Thorne uses £100 given to him by his father to set up a poultry business, Wesley Poultry Farm, at Blackness, Crowborough. 25 December 1922: John Thorne and Elsie Cameron become engaged. By late 1924: John Thorne is running Wesley Poultry Farm whilst Elsie Cameron is living at 86 Clifford Gardens, London and visiting John Thorne from time to time. Disappearance and killing 5 December 1924: Elsie Cameron travels from London to Crowborough to visit John Thorne at his farm, the date of her murder. 7 December 1924: John Thorne sends a note asking why she had not come. Police investigation and arrest December 1924-January 1925: Police inquiries build, including witness sightings placing Elsie Cameron in Crowborough and the farm on 5 December 1924. 14 January 1925: John Thorne is taken to the police station where he makes a third statement, still denying that she came to the farm. 15 January 1925: Elsie Cameron's attache case was found buried at the farm first thing in the morning. John Thorne then gives a fourth statement admitting he dismembered Elsie Cameron’s body and indicates where it was buried. The body was found later that night. He claimed she committed suicide and that he panicked and concealed her death. Trial and conviction 11 March 1925: Trial opened at the Sussex Assizes (Lewes). 16 March 1925: John Thorne convicted of murder and sentenced to death. Appeal, inquest, execution 9 April 1925: The Court of Criminal Appeal rejects appeal. 16 April 1925: Inquest proceedings at Crowborough take place. The Home Secretary says John Thorne was refused permission to attend because he was already convicted and under sentence of death. 22 April 1925: John Thorne is hanged at Wandsworth Prison. John Thorne had been seeing Elsie Cameron since 1921 and in August 1922 he bought a small plot of land in Crowborough for a poultry farm and afterwards built poultry runs and sheds upon it, including a wooden hut in which he later lived. The dimensions of the hut were described as being of some importance in the case, it being 11ft 8in long and 7ft 5in broad. In the hut there was a 6ft bedstead, a table, a bureau, two wooden chairs and a basket armchair. xxx1xxx Elsie Cameron had been a little over 5ft 2in tall and just under 8 stone in weight, and had lived with her parents at 86 Clifford Gardens in Kensal Rise, London. She had been what was described as 'walking out' with John Thorne since 1921 and around Christmas 1922 they became engaged to be married. The evidence showed that she was very much devoted to John Thorne and that she used to go to Crowborough to see him and other people, sometimes for a day, a weekend, and sometimes for longer. However, it was noted that towards the end of 1924 that Elsie Cameron had become anxious about their wedding and wanted John Thorne to announce a day for it. However, at Whitsuntide 1924 John Thorne met another girl at a local dance, a dressmaker, with whom he fell in love and wrote letters. Meanwhile, Elsie Cameron, who had previously been a short-hand typist with a firm for 9 years but had left in January 1923 because of nerve trouble continued to write to John Thorne and visit him. When she first used to go to Crowborough she stayed with a woman at 1 Pasture Villas, White Hill, Crowborough, but during the last 18 months it was her habit to stay with another couple at Corona in Luxfords Lane, Crowborough, about 200 yards from John Thorne's farm. xxx2xxx The landlady at Pasture Villas noted that in May 1923 that Elsie Cameron had refused to go to bed and insisted on her husband taking her to John Thorne's hut where she apparently stayed for a day or two, after which John Thorne wrote to her father saying that she had to come home and he himself brought her to Victoria where they were met by her sister. It was noted that after that Elsie Cameron's father was informed that on the train to Victoria, that Elsie Cameron had said something about throwing herself out of the train, but her father said that it had not dawned on him that she might commit suicide. The landlady at Luxfords Lane said that Elsie Cameron had been quite normal whilst with her, although noted that in October 1924 she had become troubled and worried because she had spent all her money. xxx20xxx After John Thorne met the dressmaker, he introduced her to Elsie Cameron as his young lady. It was determined that the dressmaker had gone to his hut in September and November 1924, going several times a week from about 8.30pm to 10.30pm, and that they had occupied their time with love-making and talk. John Thorne also told the dressmaker that he had wanted to break off his engagement with Elsie Cameron due to her nerves and he also told the second landlady that the dressmaker had been to his hut one night and that they wanted to keep Elsie Cameron away for Christmas and that the dressmaker had told him that she wished something could happen. xxx4xxx On 18 November 1924, Elsie Cameron went to see a doctor upon the question of whether there were signs that she was pregnant and the doctor told her that there were signs, but that he could not be certain and asked her to come back the following month. In the same month, November 1924, John Thorne wrote a letter to Elsie Cameron in which he said: xxxqxxx There are one or two things I have not told you for more reasons than one; it concerns someone else whom you do not know. I am afraid I am between two fires. xxxqxxx It was noted that John Thorne had also instructed that the letter be sent back, which it was. However, Elsie Cameron, who had been a short-hand typist took a copy of it, partly in shorthand and partly in longhand, and it was put in evidence at the trial. xxx5xxx A copy of another letter that Elsie Cameron had sent to John Thorne in November 1924 was also afterwards found at her home, which included: xxxqxxx I shall expect you to arrange our marriage as soon as possible. You must realise that this worry is very bad for the baby, putting me out of the question altogether. What do you mean by 'you are afraid you are between two fires?'. I want to be married before Christmas. xxxqxxx However, Elsie Cameron's sister said that Elsie Cameron had appeared all right on 3 December 1924 when she saw her and never thought that she would commit suicide, and neither did her father. In another letter that Elsie Cameron wrote to John Thorne, she said: xxxqxxx Your duty is to marry me. xxxqxxx And in reply, a letter from John Thorne saying that another girl had been to his hut late at night, that read: xxxqxxx She thinks I am going to marry her of course, and I have a strong feeling for her or I shouldn't have done what I have. xxxqxxx On 20 November 1924 Elsie Cameron went to Crowborough for the day, and her father said that on her return she had been in the very best of spirits. Then on 5 December 1924, she had breakfast with her father shortly after 8am, at which time she appeared to be in very good health, describing her as having been in splendid spirits. However, he didn't know that she was going to Crowborough that day. xxx6xxx Later on the same morning she talked to a friend of hers who lived in the same house, who said that Elsie Cameron had had her hair done in a new style, which she spoke about, and showed her a new jumper and pair of shoes, noting that she appeared to be in very good spirits. It was noted that at about 5.15pm that same day, Elsie Cameron was seen by no fewer than three witnesses to turn into Wesley Poultry Farm, at which time she had been carrying an attache case. However, she was never seen alive again. It was noted that the couple at Luxfords Lane had gone to a whist drive that night between 7pm and 11pm and that they had earlier told John Thorne that they were doing so. It was also noted that the dressmaker had gone to Brighton that day with her mother and that John Thorne had arranged to meet her upon her return and that he did meet both of them at the railway station at 10.15pm that night, which was about 20 minutes away from his hut. He then walked home with them, about a 45 minute walk, and stayed with them a short time and left at about 11.30pm. The dressmaker saw John Thorne the following day, 6 December 1924 and they arranged to go to the pictures that evening, which they did. xxx7xxx Then, the following day, 7 December 1924, John Thorne wrote a letter to Elsie Cameron, even though he knew well that she was dead. In that letter, he said: xxxqxxx I went to Groombridge yesterday but you did not turn up. xxxqxxx Then on 8 December 1924 he wrote another letter to her in which he said: xxxqxxx I was expecting a letter today, especially after not seeing you on Saturday and not hearing from you. xxxqxxx Then, on 10 December 1924, Elsie Cameron's father telegraphed John Thorne, saying: xxxqxxx Elsie left Friday. Have heard no news. Has she arrived? xxxqxxx To which he received the reply from John Thorne: xxxqxxx Not here. Open letters. Cannot understand. xxxqxxx Then, the following day, Elsie Cameron's mother received a letter from John Thorne in which he said: xxxqxxx I have re-read the telegram over and over again and it has given me quite a shock. She wrote to me asking me to meet her at Groombridge on Saturday morning. I went but she did not turn up. If you will send particulars of how she was dressed and how much money she had, etc, I will try and get information. I am very worried and upset. xxxqxxx It was also determined that John Thorne showed the telegram to the second landlady and her husband and that he had told them that he couldn't understand it, as she had not been there. He also showed the telegram to the dressmaker and told her that he had expected Elsie Cameron on 6 December 1924 and that he thought she had committed suicide. xxx8xxx On 12 December 1924 a description of Elsie Cameron was sent to the police by her father and John Thorne gave the police a photograph of her. On 13 December 1924, John Thorne went to the police station and asked an inspector there if he had seen a paragraph in the newspapers about Elsie Cameron, telling him that he had last seen her on 28 November, and that he had not expected her on 5 December, but had expected her to come on 6 December and that he had gone to meet her on that day. It was noted that on 16 December 1924 that one of the three people that had seen Elsie Cameron at 5.15pm near to the farm told John Thorne so and that he had told them that he had not seen her and then went on to suggest that she might have been dazed after a nervous breakdown and walked away and fallen exhausted, or been taken by gypsies or possibly by Mormons. On 18 December 1924 a police superintendent saw John Thorne and told him that some men had reported seeing Elsie Cameron near his gates, and John Thorne said that he had heard about, but very much doubted it, and gave the superintendent permission to look over his farm, but at the time no trace of Elsie Cameron was found. At the same time the police superintendent told John Thorne that he would like to make a few notes and John Thorne made his first statement. In his statement he said that he last saw Elsie Cameron a week before 5 December and had arranged to meet her on 6 December and had written to her on 7 and 8 December. John Thorne made a second statement on 26 December 1924 in which to spoke of correspondence between them regarding marriage, and that he didn't believe Elsie Cameron had been pregnant. When he was shown a certain letter, he replied that he had had to write letters like that to keep her quiet. In the course of that letter, he had told her that he was sorry to have given her so much worry, and that the best thing he could do was to sell up and go abroad and forget the past. xxx9xxx He then made another statement on 14 January 1925 in which he continued to state that Elsie Cameron didn't come to his farm. A police inspector had gone to his hut on 14 January with a letter that he had written to the dressmaker in which he had said he: xxxqxxx Did not know all this anxiety was coming or that we should fall in love. Don't worry. I have a clear conscience however things may look. xxxqxxx He then told the police inspector that he had last seen Elsie Cameron on 30 November and that he would make a statement and he was taken to the police station. When he made his third statement he described his relationship with Elsie Cameron and described how she had come to his hut unexpectedly on 30 November and suggested that she was pregnant, and that on 4 or 5 December he received a letter from her asking him to meet her on 6 December and that he had been in his hut on 5 December 1924 from 5pm until 9.45pm, and that no one called and that he after went to the station to meet the dressmaker and had written the two following letters on 7 and 8 December. His statement was read over to him and he signed it. xxx10xxx However, from that point on the farm had been in possession of the police and shortly after 8am, 15 January 1925, the police found Elsie Cameron's attache case buried about 5 yards inside the gates of the farm in a potato patch. It was found to contain her new jumper and shoes as well as a pair of broken spectacles. When John Thorne was told that he would be detained and probably charged with murder, he made no reply. Then, at about 8pm, he made a fourth statement in which he said that Elsie Cameron did come to his hut on 5 December and had told him that she intended to stay until they were married. He said that he then told her that he had to go out to meet the dressmaker and her mother, and that he left at about 9.45pm and that when he returned about 11.30pm and entered the hut, he found her hanging from the beam dead. It was noted that he had told the police that she was dead and not dying, which had later significance. xxx11xxx He said that he then cut the cord, took off her clothes and burnt them in the fireplace in the hut, sawed off her head and legs with a hack saw, took them into the workshop and buried them early in the morning in the chicken run. Part of his statement read: xxxqxxx Between 5.15pm and 5.30pm on that day Elsie Cameron entered my hut. She was carrying in her hand her suitcase, that was all. I was taken completely by surprise and I asked her why she had come down unexpectedly but she only replied that she wanted some tea. I was having my tea and she had some, after which I again asked her why she had come down without having written and where she intended to sleep. She replied that she intended sleeping in the hut, furthermore she also stated she intended stopping until she was married. I then asked her who was going to support her and she replied, 'You will have to'. I then told her that I had talked things over with my Father on the previous Wednesday and it was then suggested that we should wait till after Christmas my reasons being, although I did not tell her, that I doubted if she was really in trouble as she had told me she had been in trouble once before, and she wasn't. She insisted on being married at once and also on sleeping in the hut and stated that that was the reason for her coming down on the Friday night. I went up to Luxfords Lane leaving her in the hut at about half past seven, it may possibly have been a little later to see if I could arrange for sleeping for the one night but there was nobody at home. I returned to the hut and told her that she would have to sleep in my bed as there was hardly time to catch the last train to London. I proposed sleeping in the large chair myself as I had done on a previous occasion. There was an argument between us about her coming down without making arrangements and insisting on staying with me. She stated that it made no difference as we were to be married. About half past nine I told her I had arranged to meet the dressmaker and her mother at the station to carry up their suit case. She protested but I forget the actual words she used and she suggested that we should go to bed. I again refused to agree to her proposal and told her to go to bed and I would be as quick as I could. I then went down to the station leaving the hut about a quarter to ten. She remained in the hut with the dog. I met the dressmaker and her mother at the station as in my other statement. When I returned to the hut about half past eleven the dog came down to meet me. When I opened the hut door I saw Miss Cameron hanging from a beam that supports the roof by a piece of cord as used for the washing line. I cut the cord and laid her on the bed. She was dead. I then put out the lights. She had her frock off and her hair was down. I laid across the table for about an hour. I was about to go for the police and I realised the position I was in, and decided not to do so. I then went down to the workshop and chained up the dog on the way down. I got my hacksaw and some sacks and took them back to the hut. I tore off Miss Cameron's clothes and burnt them in the fireplace in the hut. I then laid the sacks on the floor, put Miss Cameron (who was then naked) on the floor and sawed off her legs, and the head by the glow of the fire. I put them in sacks intending to carry them away but my nerve failed me and I took them down to the workshop and left them there. I went back to the hut and sat in the chair all night. Next morning just as it got light I buried the sacks and a tin containing the remains in a chicken run. It is the Leghorns chicken run, the first pen from the gate. I buried it in the bottom left hand corner. I then went to the hut and had some coffee and tried to build up evidence to clear myself. I buried her suitcase in the potato plot near the gate same morning with the various articles she had brought down. xxxqxxx Later that night, after he made his statement, the police dug in the chicken run and at a depth of 1½ft or so, they found a tin box and two large parcels wrapped in sacking. The tin box was found to contain Elsie Cameron's head, which was covered with sacking, and had been pressed tightly in. It was noted that there was no water in the tin. One of the parcels contained the trunk and arms of Elsie Cameron, there being found two rings being on the third finger of the left hand, and the second parcel contained the legs from the thighs downwards, tied together with string. In a tool-shed on the farm the police also found a tin that contained Elsie Cameron's gold wristwatch, which was damaged, but not broken, a thimble, locket, and some other things. xxx12xxx A hack saw was found in the hut and a pair of Indian clubs were found just outside it. Upon the finding of the items, John Thorne was charged with murder. On 17 January 1925, Elsie Cameron's remains were examined by a pathologist. He found that she had taken food not more than two hours before her death. He also found that the cuts through the thighs and the neck were clean cuts and that the tissues were flush with the bone and with one another, and that that showed that rigor mortis had set in, and was complete before the cutting took place. He said that that showed that Elsie Cameron had been dead not less than five, and probably six or seven hours, and possibly considerably longer than that, before she was cut up. He said there were no bruises definitely apparent upon outside examination and that in no case was the skin or bone broken. However, he said that as he cut into the tissues, he found deep red areas indicating no fewer than eight separate and distinct bruises, of which one was a bruise mid-way between the prominence at the back of the head and the right ear that was 2in by 1½in. He said that that bruise could have been caused by Elsie Cameron being knocked backwards and hitting her head on the bedstead as she fell on the floor. xxx19xxx However, he said that the next large bruise that he found was 4in by 2in on the right temple extending over the right cheek to the upper part of the eye, which was bruised. He said that the tissue there was pulped and that a cavity had been produced underneath the skin, and that the injury could have been caused by a crushing blow, possibly by the Indian clubs. He added that there was a third bruise on her left eye, and that that also he thought could have been caused by the Indian clubs, although noted that it could also have been caused by a fall. He noted that there were several other smaller bruises, one being on the right side of her left elbow, and four on her legs, all of which the pathologist said had been caused before death or shortly after. However, he added that the bruises on her face were newer than the other bruises and were caused immediately before death. He added that he thought that the bruises on her legs could have been caused by the table, which weighed 18lbs, crashing upon her after she fell. xxx13xxx The pathologist added that he carefully examined her neck for signs of hanging, but found none, adding that he found no marks such as he would be certain to find if she had been hanged and no signs of attempted hanging. He said that he found only two natural creases or marks across the front of her neck, and that they were marks of the sacking. He further added that he found no indication of brain congestion, nor any signs internally or externally of death by asphyxiation or hanging. He then gave her cause of death as being due to shock due to the blows that had produced the bruises on her face, head and elsewhere. Regarding the question of pregnancy, he said that her menstrual periods might have ceased for a time, but that in fact, internally, they had just recommenced, adding that if she had lived for another 12 hours, that that fact would have been apparent to her. It was noted that Elsie Cameron's body was sometime later exhumed for further examination by another pathologist, but that by that point the coffin had been a third-full of water and that the water had removed the coloured matter from the bruises that the previous pathologist had found and that the state of the body was by then in a condition that no examination could avail. However, a doctor from Great Ormond Street Hospital took slides from the neck, and claimed that they showed signs of definite extravasations of blood and that in his opinion that indicated a certain amount of injury either from pressure or from some other form of injury. Another doctor said that what the first pathologist had described as pulping, had rather been really only a post mortem change. However, the third doctor agreed with the pathologist that the slides prepared by the second doctor didn't show extravasation of blood. Further, the first pathologist noted that whilst he didn't agree that the slides showed extravasations of blood, that if he was mistaken and they did, that they could have been caused by any pressure on the neck, whether by rope or anything else. xxx14xxx On 18 January 1925, the police examined the supports of the hut roof. The supports for the roof consisted of two battens, a top batten and a lower batten, forming a trestle structure, from which John Thorne alluded that Elsie Cameron had hung herself from. However, upon examination it was found that the top batten had a quantity of long standing dust and old cobwebs, whilst the bottom battens were completely free from dust and had been used as a hat rest, with three hats found on them when the police first arrived. Upon further inspection no sign whatever of any indentation that might have been caused by a person hanging themselves from the battens was found. On 24 January 1925 the police carried out a test in which they put two half cwt weights, 112lb, on a chair beneath the battens which they connected with a thick string to the battens, after which they gently moved the chair away and allowed the weights to hang for a short time. This caused a decided dent in the batten where the string was tied, indicating that if Elsie Cameron had hung herself that there would have most probably been a mark. However, the police then carried out the same test, but this time allowing the weights to slip off the chair, as a person might do if contemplating suicide, and noted that the indentation caused by the string in this case was greater. Following the murder charge, John Thorne continued to assert that he had found her hanging from the roof battens and that he had then determined to get rid of all signs of suicide, and he continued with the same line of defence at his trial. He appeared at the Lewes Assizes for a five day trial between 11 and 16 March 1925 and was convicted of murder and sentenced to death. He appealed his conviction on 9 April 1925, but his appeal was refused. xxx15xxx He was hanged on 22 April 1925 at Wandsworth Prison on what would have been Elsie Cameron's 27th birthday. It was noted that following his conviction he wrote to his parents, acknowledging their disappointment at the result, stating: xxxqxxx I can well imagine your heartbroken feelings at the extraordinary result, but for my own part, I am fearless still, and in no way distracted. xxxqxxx He then went on to write about the evidence, saying: xxxqxxx True, there were bruises on Elsie's body which I cannot account for, but can the Crown offer any explanation of them? Not a particle of skin was broken or marked, not a bone was fractured. They were all consistent with a fall, and what happened when I was out of the hut I do not know. Why was there so little stress on the possibility of suicide, when there was such a very strong motive for that? I have at least proved to you and my friends that I am innocent, and I know I shall be believed. I wonder how the Camerons feel about things now. xxxqxxx He also wrote: xxxqxxx I swear to God that I never struck Elsie with any instrument or with my fist. In fact, I could not hit a girl and I do not think any girl has ever been afraid of me. xxxqxxx Regarding the jury, he wrote: xxxqxxx It could only have been prejudice on the part of the jury to return the verdict they did, for I notice that even the pathologist said, according to my notes, that the bruises could have been caused by a fall. One man says death was the result of shock from bruising, four other men hold death to be due to shock from attempted hanging. Now how can a jury decide which is right? Three pathological experts saw the marks on Elsie's neck, which I knew would be found at the exhumation, and this proves that a rope or a piece of cord was used. If God delivers me from this I shall have some wonderful things to preach about. xxxqxxx In his last letter to his parents he wrote: xxxqxxx My dear Dad and Mother, It was a hard wrench today, and I think you stood the test well. I did not say goodbye, for although I shall pass into the better land in the morning, I know we shall meet again. It is hard for you, that I should be dragged away under such circumstances, but seek comfort in God and you will find it. We know not what lies ahead, the question is too big to answer, but we do know there is nothing to fear. If there is a hell, there is more surely a heaven. This is not defeat but victory, and tomorrow will be another birthday, a sad one for you, but happy for me. I know it will be a great satisfaction to you to feel that I am at peace with God, and it is the realisation of that that stamps out all the bitterness, and leaves only sadness at the parting. It is most wonderful the strength and comfort I am experiencing now as a result of prayer and trust, and the same must apply to you. Keep it up. You can rest now knowing that you have done all that was possible. I have already thanked you, but I could thank you over and over again for all the efforts you made on my behalf. You have more than done your duty as a father, and you will receive your reward. How I wish I could repay you for all your love and kindness. It will be a living monument in the hearts of many, and God will not forget. The black days are finished and cannot be altered, and in the days to come there is hope, great hope is without disappointment, that we shall all meet at the Throne of Glory. So cheer your hearts in the sad hours. The world seems bright and beautiful, but how much better must be the Kingdom of Heavan to a believer. A flash and all is finished. No, not finished, but just beginning. I shall wait for you, just as others are waiting for me. By Christ I am free from all sin and, all forgiven, I go to Him. All's well. With all my love, your loving son, Norman. xxxxxx xxxqxxx It was noted his conviction was controversial as many people didn't think that the trial had proved beyond a reasonable doubt that he had , or meant to kill Elsie Cameron, with names such as Sir Arthur Conan Doyle commenting in that fashion. xxx16xxx Sir Arthur Conan Doyle said: xxxqxxx I do not think the case was absolutely made out. The chances are 99 to 100 that the man is guilty, but I think that where a case depends upon circumstantial evidence capital punishment should not be inflicted unless that evidence is absolutely overwhelming. In this case I don't think it is overwhelming, it falls just short. There is just one chance in a hundred that the man's story is true, it is not probable, but possible. There is no way of putting things right if the man's life is taken, and it would be a terrible thing if he were not guilty of murder. I am prejudiced against capital punishment in extreme cases, and, of course, this would be an extreme case if it could be clearly proved , but I don't think it has been, in view of the medical evidence and the difficulty of saying how the girl met her death if she were not partly hanged. xxxqxxx It was also later noted that if instead of maintaining that he had found her hanged that he had admitted having knocked her down in the heat of a quarrel and found that she had died that he might have been better placed to reduce the charge to manslaughter, based on the limited outward signs of violence and the medical disagreement. Additionally, there were reports that John Thorne confessed to the murder before his execution, but his father denied that that was the case, stating that the reports where baseless. He said: xxxqxxx I consider that the accounts given in certain papers suggesting that a statement pertaining to a confession that was made by my son, Norman, are baseless. He has made no confession for he had nothing to confess, and I have this information on a high authority. I still consider that he is the victim of a grave miscarriage of justice. Perhaps no one is to blame, but a combination of circumstances has brought my son to an untimely end. He has won, however, the esteem of all by his bravery and fortitude right to the end under most distressing circumstances, and has now gone to a world where no mistakes are made and no wrong judgements given. xxxqxxx xxx17xxx It was noted that amongst the critics of the verdict was the Law Journal. When they commented on the result of the appeal, they claimed that in the handling of the appeal the court forgot the ideal set before them, and quoted the Lord Chief Justice: xxxqxxx It is important that justice should be done, it is hardly less important that it should manifestly appear to be done. xxxqxxx The Law Journal then went on to say: xxxqxxx After grave conflict of medical evidence the jury were face with the very unsatisfactory task of deciding between opposing medical theories and that in this state of affairs it was something of a shock to find that twelve men in half an hour had no reasonable doubt that the pathologist's unsupported view was right. xxxqxxx They then referred to what they described as the 'papal infallibility' that jurors had been rapidly investing in the pathologist who at that time had developed a degree of fame and had been knighted for his continued work in murder cases. On the matter of the jury’s verdict and claims that they had blindly accepted the pathologists findings, a member of the jury later said: xxxqxxx As a member of the jury at the Thorne trial, I wish to contradict the criticism of the 'Law Journal' which was reprinted in the Daily Herald of yesterday, and, incidentally, to repudiate the accusation of prejudice which has been levelled at us by many whose only knowledge of the case has been gleaned from the garbled and abbreviated accounts of the trial published in the Press. It is entirely wrong to say we gave our verdict on a question of pathology. We gave our verdict on a very careful consideration of the whole of the evidence, which we weighed and sifted in our minds during the five days of the trial. It is absurd to suggest that we invested the pathologist with papal infallibility, and blindly accepted his evidence on his reputation. The case for the defence contained too many inconsistencies, inaccuracies, and falsehoods for us to be unduly influenced by the medical experts’ disagreement over what were, after all, minor pathological details. We gave due consideration to all the medical evidence for both sides, and viewed it in its proper perspective, and gave our verdict with a full realisation of the heavy responsibility laid upon us. xxxqxxx Further, in the wake of the numerous claims that an injustice might have taken place, an article in the Daily Mail dated 21 April 1925 read: xxxqxxx MEDDLING WITH JUSTICE. Norman Thorne, convicted, after a long and careful trial, of a very brutal and detestable crime, is to pay the penalty to-morrow. Repugnant as the last act of justice must always be, we cannot too strongly deprecate the lavishing of maudlin sympathy on murderers and the growing practice of retrying grave issues out of court. The jury in the Crowborough case were not required to decide very fine points of medical evidence. They were required to rely upon facts and common sense. They were satisfied that Thorne, had he really found the body hanging, would have left it as proof of his innocence instead of cutting it down, hacking it to pieces, and burying it by night; and, on general grounds, they declined to believe that an innocent man could have brought himself to go through with the ghoulish business of dismemberment. We entirely agree with the jury. This also was the view of the experienced judges of the Court of Appeal, and in the public interest their judgment should have been regarded as final. xxxqxxx At the inquest on Norman Thorne at Wandsworth Prison, the Coroner asked the Governor of Wandsworth Prison whether Norman Thorne made any confession after the jury were asked if they had any questions. The conversation went, after the Coroner asked if the jury had any questions to put to the Governor: Juror: Yes, I should like to ask if deceased made any confession on the scaffold? Governor: I have no authority to make any statement whether he did or did not. Coroner: Does that mean you are not able to answer it?: Governor: No. I have no authority to give an answer to the question. Coroner: That means you are forbidden to answer it? There is no question of authority to answer questions put by a Coroner's jury. Governor: I have received instructions which authorise me to say that I am not in a position to give any reply to the question whether he did or did not make a confession. Coroner: So the public, represented by a Coroner's jury, are not to know whether he made a confession? Governor: I must repeat I have no authority to answer the question. xxx18xxx It was noted that it was Home Office official doctrine that nothing be said about any last minute confessions. However, it was noted that in the matter of Kate Webster that a Roman Catholic priest that had ministered to her before her execution divulged, in the public interest, that she had confessed to the murder to him before her execution. However, it was further noted that in the case of John Thorne, that the matter was quite different in that there had been disquiet in many minds as to the justness of his conviction, and that in such cases it was felt that there was a clear duty to the public that nothing should be withheld. However, beyond the claims, there is nothing to suggest that any confession was ever made. It was noted that following the discovery of the dismembered body of Elsie Cameron at the farm that the location had become a magnet for morbid sightseers, with crowds streaming to Norman Thorne’s poultry smallholding at Crowborough. Over just three days an estimated five to six thousand people were seen in the lane leading to the farm. Motor-coach parties arrived from Brighton and Eastbourne, cyclists came by the dozen, and many gawped from the roadway at the rough wooden hut linked to the case. Women were singled out as eager souvenir-hunters, some pocketing clods of earth while others snapped twigs from the hedgerow. Police remarked that, since the day of the discovery, more people had visited Thorn’s farm than had gone to view the Officers’ Bungalow after Mahon’s arrest at Pevensey. The smallholding at the junction of Luxford Lane and Luxford Road at Crowborough has now been swallowed by woodland. Norman Thorne and Elsie Emily Cameron met in 1920 at a Wesleyan church in north London. She was a 26-year-old typist, rather plain, wore glasses and was neurotic. Thorne, eighteen years old at the time, was an electrical engineer with Fiat motors in Wembley. Elsie decided that life was passing her by and that, even though Norman was not the brightest, he would do for her. The couple started courting. When Norman became unemployed in the summer of 1921 he decided to go into business for himself. His father gave him £100 and he bought a field at Blackness, Crowborough, Sussex, and, on 22nd August, set himself up as Wesley Poultry Farm. Elsie Cameron and Norman Thorne Elsie Cameron and Norman Thorne Norman worked hard. He built a series of sheds and chicken-runs and cycled back to London at weekends to see Elsie. Eventually he converted one of the shacks on the site into living accommodation and moved in. Now it was Elsie’s turn to travel and she used to catch the train down to Sussex. She would spend the days with Norman and lodge with a local family. Elsie and Norman became engaged at Christmas 1922. Shortly afterwards Elsie lost her job. Over the next few months she had a series of jobs, all of which she soon left, for one reason or another. About June 1923 Norman and Elsie’s relationship became more intimate though, according to Norman later, “…in my opinion I did not put it into her.” Norman’s sex-life might have been looking up but his business was not. By now Elsie was starting to get a little anxious, but because of the parlous state of his business, Norman was reluctant to fix a wedding date. At Whitsuntide 1924 Norman went to a local dance. Here he met Bessie Coldicott, a dressmaker. His feelings began to shift from the nervous, unstable Elsie to the fun-loving Bessie. In October Elsie, still out of work and becoming more depressed, travelled to Crowborough and stayed a week. As usual, she lodged with Norman’s neighbours, Mr and Mrs Cosham, and spent her days at the farm. After Elsie returned home she wrote to Norman informing him that she was pregnant. Norman was not wholly convinced of Elsie’s ‘condition’ and he wrote to her on 25th November, “There are one or two things I haven’t told you...it concerns someone else.” Elsie replied the following day, telling him that she expected him to marry her before Christmas. On the 27th Norman made it plainer for her, telling her that Bessie had been visiting “...late at night...” and that he expected to marry Bessie. Elsie wrote back on the 28th berating him for his deception, but said that she still expected matrimony from him. Sunday, 30th November saw Elsie arrive unannounced at the farm, about 11am. She was in a highly agitated state and, to calm her, Norman convinced her that they would marry, but that it must wait until he had sorted things out with his father. Elsie left just before 8pm and went back to London. Norman’s father visited Crowborough on Wednesday, 3rd December, when they discussed Norman’s financial and personal plight. Mr Thorne Snr. advised Norman to wait if he had any doubts as to Elsie’s claims of being pregnant and Norman wrote to Elsie informing her of this. Elsie could see the object of her dreams and desires receding and decided it was time to act. She set out on Friday, 5th December determined to settle the matter. Elsie caught the train to Crowborough station and walked to the farm. On the 10th December, Elsie’s father sent a telegram to Norman asking after his daughter. Norman replied, “Not here open letters cannot understand.” The next day Elsie’s father informed the police of his daughter’s disappearance. The police established that Elsie had been seen, by two flower-growers, carrying an attaché case while walking towards the farm at about 5.15pm on the 5th December. Norman, when interviewed, was certain Elsie had not arrived at the farm. On the day of Elsie’s disappearance, he told the officers, he had cycled to Tonbridge Wells, returning about 1.30pm. He had eaten his tea and then gone to Crowborough station about 9.45pm to meet Bessie and her mother, who had been to Brighton for the day. At the beginning of January there was still no sign of the missing woman. Police paid a visit to one of Norman’s neighbours, Mrs Annie Price. She was certain she had seen Elsie entering the farm on the day she had vanished. Sussex police requested assistance from Scotland Yard and Chief Inspector Gillan arrived to take over the case. After reviewing the evidence he decided that Norman should be arrested. The arrest took place at the farm at 3.30pm on 14th January 1925 and Norman was taken to Crowborough police station. The farm was searched and, in an Oxo-cube tin, they found Elsie’s watch, bracelet and some jewellery. The police started digging at the farm. The next morning was cold and wet but things seemed to brighten considerably for the diggers when PC Philpott unearthed Elsie’s case. At 9.30am Norman was warned that he might be charged with murder. At 8pm that evening he told detectives that he had not killed the woman but knew where she was buried. Inside Thorne's hut Inside Thorne's hut Thorne went on to tell them that he was having tea when Elsie arrived unannounced. She was most upset and stated that she was staying in the hut until they were married. They had argued about his association with Bessie and she had been upset when he had left around 9.30pm to meet Bessie and her mother at the station. He told the officers that he had returned about 11.30pm. When he opened the door to the shack he found that, using his washing line, Elsie had hanged herself from a beam. Thorne had cut her down and, after wondering what to do for an hour, “I got my hacksaw...and sawed off her legs, and the head.” He had then buried Elsie under the chicken run. Sir Bernard Spilsbury, carrying out the post-mortem, could find no sign of rope marks and Norman was charged with murder. Thorne appeared before Lewes Assizes on 4th March 1925. Evidence was given for the prosecution as to the lack of rope marks but it was rebutted by Dr Robert Brontë for the defence who said that he had found creases on the neck that may have been made by a rope. The police evidence told of their examination of the beams in the shack and that there was no sign of a rope having been suspended from any of them. On the 16th March the jury retired and returned a guilty verdict. Norman Thorne was sentenced to death. Thomas Pierrepoint and Thomas Phillips hanged him at Wandsworth on 22nd April 1925, the day that would have been Elsie’s twenty-seventh birthday.