Horace Manton

Case overview

Horace William Manton was convicted of the murder of his wife. He was arrested after a naked, strangled body was found inside a sack in the River Lea near the Vauxhall factory at Luton, and after police traced clothing evidence to Mrs Caroline Manton. At the trial, Manton stated he had struck his wife with a heavy wooden stool during an argument, and he later also described catching hold of his wife by the throat. He was found guilty and sentenced to death, but the sentence was commuted to life imprisonment. He died in prison in 1947.

Background

A workman saw a sack floating in the River Lea near the Vauxhall factory at Luton and became interested in what it contained. The sack was fished out of the water.

Mrs Caroline Manton was identified through traced clothing evidence, including a dry-cleaning mark and her coat having been handed in for dyeing.

Manton was described as the husband of Mrs Caroline Manton and as a Fire Brigade driver known as “Bertie.”

The offence

When the sack was recovered on 19 November 1943, it contained the body of a middle aged woman. The woman was naked, had been strangled, and appeared to have been beaten severely, apparently to hide her identity.

At trial, Horace William Manton gave an account involving an argument. He stated that he struck his wife with a heavy wooden stool during an argument. Because of extensive injuries to the face, the prosecution could not disprove his initial explanation. He then further claimed that he caught hold of his wife by the throat.

Manton also confessed to killing his wife. He said they quarrelled and that he hit her with a stool. He wheeled her body to the river on his bicycle and dumped it into the water.

Investigation

After the sack was recovered on 19 November 1943, photographs of the woman were shown at local cinemas.

Three months later, in February 1944, Police were scouring household waste on a local tip when they found a piece of a woman’s coat with a dry-cleaning mark. The mark was traced to Mrs Caroline Manton. When police checked, they found she had handed the coat in for dyeing in the previous November.

When police spoke to Mrs Manton’s husband, Horace William Manton (known as “Bertie”), he denied the photographs were of his wife. He told police that his wife had left him to live with her brother. To support this, he showed letters that he said had been written by his wife since the previous December.

Officers noticed that in all the letters there was a simple spelling mistake. It was in the word “Hampstead,” which had been written as “Hamstead” in all cases. Police asked Manton for a sample of his handwriting and noticed that he too mispelt this word.

When police searched the house, they found it had been so thoroughly cleaned that an examination only managed to locate a single fingerprint belonging to its former occupant. This was found on a pickle jar in a cupboard. Because the woman had lived in the house for many years, police said they would have expected the house to be covered in her prints. They interpreted this as showing that he had tried to remove signs.

Arrest

Realising that they had identified the right man, police arrested and charged Horace William Manton with the murder of his wife.

Trial

Horace William Manton appeared for trial at Bedford Assizes.

At trial, he was found guilty and sentenced to death.

Sentencing

Manton was sentenced to death.

The sentence was later commuted to life imprisonment.

Outcome

Horace William Manton died in prison in 1947.

Other details

The name “Horace William Manton” also appeared as “Horace William Luton Sack Murder” in the material provided.