Mystery
The man they couldn't hang
Some said God would not let him hang.
Stand where it happened
- What's there
- Clifftop suburb above a beach
- Legend from
- 1885 records
- Tone
- Grim
Three times the trapdoor failed. They never hanged him.
In November 1884 Emma Keyse was murdered at her house, The Glen, at Babbacombe. Her footman John Lee was convicted. On 23 February 1885 at Exeter he was led to the gallows three times, and three times the trapdoor would not open. His sentence was commuted; he was released in December 1907 and toured as the man they couldn't hang.