Red Barn Murder
The Red Barn Murder took place in Polstead, Suffolk, England, in 1827. A young woman, Maria Marten, was shot dead by her lover William Corder. The two had arranged to meet at the Red Barn, a local landmark, before eloping to Ipswich. Marten was never seen alive again and Corder fled the scene. Her body was later discovered buried in the barn after her stepmother spoke of having dreamed about the murder. Corder was tracked down in London and found guilty of murder in a well-publicised trial. In 1828, he was hanged at Bury St Edmunds in an execution witnessed by a huge crowd.
About Red Barn Murder in brief
The Red Barn Murder took place in Polstead, Suffolk, England, in 1827. A young woman, Maria Marten, was shot dead by her lover William Corder. The two had arranged to meet at the Red Barn, a local landmark, before eloping to Ipswich. Marten was never seen alive again and Corder fled the scene. He sent letters to Marten’s family claiming that she was in good health. Her body was later discovered buried in the barn after her stepmother spoke of having dreamed about the murder. Corder was tracked down in London, where he had married and started a new life. He was brought back to Suffolk and found guilty of murder in a well-publicised trial. In 1828, he was hanged at Bury St Edmunds in an execution witnessed by a huge crowd. The story provoked numerous newspaper articles, songs and plays. The village where the crime had taken place became a tourist attraction and the barn was stripped by souvenir hunters. The plays and ballads remained popular throughout the next century and continue to be performed today. Corder had a reputation as something of a fraudster and a ladies’ man. He had been sent to London in disgrace after his fraudulent sale of the pigs, but he was recalled to Polstead when his brother Thomas drowned attempting to cross a frozen pond. His father and three brothers all died within eighteen months of each other and only he remained to run the farm with his mother. He later obtained money by passing a forged cheque for £93 and he had helped local thief Samuel \”Beauty\” Smith steal a pig from a neighbouring village.
He claimed that he had heard rumours that the parish officers were going to prosecute Marten for having bastard children. The child died as an infant, but Corder apparently still intended to marry Marten. He wrote letters claiming that they were married and living on the Isle of Wight, but later turned up, claiming that he could not yet bring her back as his wife for fear of provoking the anger of his friends and relatives. This was the last time she was seen alive and he left the area shortly after. He then disappeared, but turned up in London and lived on a farm in the Suffolk countryside. He died in 1828 and was buried in a unmarked grave in a field near the town of Ipswich, Suffolk. He is buried next to his brother, Thomas Henry, who was still alive at the time when Corder met Marten in March 1826. The couple had two children together, one of whom died when he was just two years old. The other was still living at the age of 25 and was apparently keen that Corder should marry her. He told her that she should dress in men’s clothing so as to avert suspicion and he would carry her out to carry out her plans. Shortly after, Marten set out to meet him at the Barn, which was situated about half a mile from the Martens’ cottage.
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This page is based on the article Red Barn Murder published in Wikipedia (as of Dec. 04, 2020) and was automatically summarized using artificial intelligence.
