Murder of John Hurford

Background

John Hurford arrived in the colony of Western Australia in 1830. He was granted 400 hectares of land at Augusta and purchased a further 100 hectares at Wonnerup Inlet near Busselton. By the age of 65, he had amassed a fortune of £2,000. In 1851 he married Bridget Larkin, a widow whose first husband had drowned in Bunbury and who had six children from that earlier marriage.

The marriage was troubled. Larkin was reportedly abusive toward Hurford, and he alleged to a friend that she had knocked out some of his teeth during an argument. By February 1855, Hurford had left the matrimonial home and was staying with a neighbour, sharing a room with a workhand named George Jones, refusing to return for six weeks. He purchased another house intending to live apart from his wife, but a lack of space at his neighbour's premises forced him to return to the matrimonial home in late March 1855, with Jones continuing to share his room.

On 8 April 1855, Hurford was unwell, suffering from a cold, soreness, and fatigue. His wife gave him mulled wine, and arranged for Jones and her daughter to be away that night so Hurford could sleep alone due to his illness. Later that night, Hurford was found dead in bed, sheet drawn to his face, eyes wide open and slightly protruding. Jones noted red marks on both sides of Hurford's neck.

Investigation

A coroner's inquest followed, at which Dr Hannibal Bryan testified that Hurford had died of natural causes, and the coroner returned a finding of natural death. Later that month, a man named Enoch Dodd confessed the killing to his friend Philip Dixon, who had earlier forged Hurford's will in favour of Larkin. Dodd stated he had killed Hurford at Larkin's urging, after she plied him with alcohol and, when he hesitated, stood over him to ensure the act was carried out, while making noise in the kitchen to mask the struggle.

Trial

Dodd and Larkin were arrested and committed for trial on 28 August 1855 on murder charges. The trial took place before a crowded courtroom in the Court of General Quarter Sessions on 3 October 1855. Dr Bryan, called as a defence witness, testified he had seen no strangulation marks on Hurford's neck, but under cross-examination admitted he had not passed a medical examination and could not explain how to use a stethoscope. On the second day of the trial, Larkin confessed to the murder.

Both Dodd and Larkin were found guilty and sentenced to death by hanging, carried out the following Monday at Perth Prison — the first executions held in that new prison, and Larkin the first woman executed in Western Australia. Philip Dixon was separately charged with conspiracy to forge the will; he pleaded guilty and was transported to Van Diemen's Land for life.