Henry Daniel Seymour

Case identification

Henry Daniel Seymour

Status

Henry Daniel Seymour was executed by hanging at Oxford prison on December 10, 1931.

Background

In August 1931, Mrs Anne Louisa Kempson, a 54-year-old widow, lived in Oxford in a small semi-detached house in St Clements Street called the Boundary. Her home was ransacked after her death.

The offence

Mrs Anne Louisa Kempson was murdered. She was battered to death, and a sharp instrument had been pushed through her throat. She was struck across the head with a heavy object. The weapons were thought to have been a hammer and a chisel. In the opinion of the pathologist Bernard Spilsbury, she had been struck several times over the head, but the wound to the neck had actually killed her.

Investigation

Police started house-to-house inquiries after Mrs Kempson’s body was found in her ransacked Oxford home in August 1931. A Mrs Andrews told police about a vacuum-cleaner salesman named Seymour who had called the day before the murder.

Mrs Andrews reported that Seymour told her his money had been stolen while he had been swimming. Mrs Andrews said she had lent him some money and that he had left but returned later, stating that he had missed the bus. Mrs Andrews and her husband put him up for the night.

The next morning, Mrs Andrews told police that she had examined a brown parcel Seymour left in the hallway of the house. She said the parcel contained a new hammer and chisel and that Seymour took the parcel when he left. Police determined that it was only a ten-minute walk to Mrs Kempson’s house.

Police checked local ironmongers shops. One proprietor remembered selling a hammer and a chisel and gave police a description of the purchaser. It also transpired that the man had previously sold a vacuum cleaner to Mrs Kempson.

Meanwhile, in Aylesbury, the manager of an hotel retained a suitcase in lieu of payment. When he opened it he found, among the clothes, a well-scrubbed hammer with the brand labels removed. Police identified the owner of the case as Seymour and traced him to Brighton, where he was arrested.

Arrest and charges

Seymour was arrested and, on 15th August, was charged with murder.

Trial

Seymour’s trial opened at Oxford in October 1931. Several lies were exposed in his defence. On the 24th, Seymour was duly found guilty.

Sentencing

After being found guilty, Seymour was sentenced to death.

Outcome

Seymour was executed at Oxford Prison on 10th December 1931.

Other details

Murder-UK.com Kempson, Anne Louisa

It was to be a sad August Bank Holiday for Mrs Annie Louisa Kempson. A 54 year old widow who had been the wife of a tradesman, she was murdered by Henry Daniel Seymour on 3 August 1931. Her body was found in her Oxford home, a small semi-detached house in St Clements Street called the Boundary, which had been ransacked. He had struck her across the head with a heavy object and had then stabbed her with a sharp instrument which he had pushed through her throat. In the opinion of the pathologist on the case, Bernard Spilsbury, she had been struck several times over the head but it had been the wound to the neck that had actually killed her. Seymour was hanged Dec. 10th 1931 at Oxford prison.