Murder of James Humphrey

In Aberdeen, Scotland 51-year-old Catherine Davidson/Humphery and her husband James Humphrey were said to be drunks and to not get along. On several occasions, she threatened to kill him. She would openly hope that someone would poison him. One time she held a razor to James' neck and threatened to kill him as he dared her. He knew that one day his wife would end up killing him.

Janet Petrie was a servant of the Humphery's and 6 weeks before 16 April 1830, she had gotten a vial of vitriol (sulfuric acid) to burn off a wart on Catharine's wrist. Before April 16th very little was used in the vial.

On the night of 16 April 1830, James was not happy when he came home to see Mrs. Walton in his home. He tried to kick her out and this caused James and Catherine to fight. The fight was both verbal and physical as they struck each other. Catherine and Mrs. Walton would then hide out in a room and lock the door. This did not keep James from breaking the door and forcing Mrs. Walton to leave.

Around this time a John Roy would come over to the house. The two men would drink whiskey and ale together that night. Roy would leave and James would ask Janet to cook some beef steaks. She did as he went to his bed in the kitchen. Janet would give him the beef steaks and would go to bed, it was unusual for her to do this before Catherine or James. While she was getting ready James called for her to take the steaks away as he couldn't eat them.

Catherine had decided that night she was going to hurt her husband. She would pour the vial into James' open mouth and give him a drink with it in it. The acid was also on a glass as a child who'd tried to drink it got burned.

She would wake up Janet only dressed in stockings. She was smiling as if in joy when she told her that "James is ill" Janet would go down to check on James and found him withering in pain. "I'm burned...I'm roast...I'm gone." were some of the things he was screaming. She would try to tell him that he must have had a bad drink while out, but he knew better. “Oh, woman, woman whatever I have gotten, it was in my own house.”

Neighbors began to gather at the home, as James agonizing shouting attracted the neighbors. They would essentially hear him accuse his wife “Oh, woman, woman, you have tried to do this often, and you have done it now.” James would die of his injures.

Catherine would be calm during the murder trial. She plead not guilty. The jury though would return with a guilty verdict and be set to be executed. She was so stunned and accepting of her verdict that she didn't hear when she was going to be executed. She would later ask one of her visitors how long she had.

She was treated well while she waited for her execution, but a day from her youth ran through her head. She was a witness to the hanging of a habitual thief, Jean Craig, on 25 July 1784. She was in the crowd and it had become customary to throw the cut rope out into the crowd. The rope had touched her chest and terrified her.

At 2:30 p.m. on 8 October 1830, Catherine hanged. She would then be buried in at the old Aberdeen jail.

SOURCES:
British Executions
Lena the Hyena 
The Black Kalender by  James Bruce
Blood and Granite: True Crime from Aberdeen by Norman Adams
Aberdeen Journal, and General Advertiser for the North of Scotland September 15, 1830
The Morning Post September 20, 1830
The Caledonian Mercury October 11, 1830
The Lancaster Gazette October 16, 1830
The Bristol Mercury and Daily Post, Western Countries and South Wales Advertiser October 19, 1830