The Attack and Arrest
On October 4, 1905, Annie Yarnold who was aged 42 was brutally stabbed in the back outside her home the Moors, Worcester by her estranged husband, William Yarnold (locally nicknamed "Tippy-toe Nance"). Neighbors rushed to her aid, including a nearby pub landlord who struggled to extract the butcher's knife, which had been driven four inches into her spine......
William was arrested later that evening wandering in a dazed state on Droitwich Road. From her hospital bed, Annie gave a dying deposition detailing their abusive marriage—including allegations that William had forced her into prostitution—and her subsequent relationship with another man, George Miles. She passed away shortly after from lung congestion caused by paralysis from the wound.
The Trial and Defense
William's trial began on November 18, 1905, before Mr. Justice Kennedy, where he pleaded not guilty to willful murder.
The Prosecution: Presented eyewitnesses who saw William flee the scene in his signature red muffler, and established that he had deliberately sought Annie out with a butcher's knife.
The Defense: Attempted to argue that the medical intervention and the difficult removal of the knife—rather than the stabbing itself—contributed to her death.
The judge dismissed any claims of provocation, and the jury took just ten minutes to find William guilty of murder. They recommended mercy due to the couple's domestic turmoil.
Execution
Despite a petition for clemency signed by nearly 6,000 people, the Home Secretary declined to intervene. On the morning of his execution at Worcester Prison, William approached the gallows calmly. He was hanged by executioner Henry Pierrepoint, marking the prison's first execution in a century. Before his death, William made a formal will, leaving his small life insurance policy to the Worcester Royal Infirmary to "do just a little good before he died."