The Stanfield Hall Murders

At Stanfield Hall statements were taken from Mrs Jermy, the maid and the butler.  All statements pointed to Rush as the main suspect.  They said that, despite the intruder being heavily disguised they knew Rush extremely well and were certain that it had been him.  The paper which had been dropped the previous evening was a statement which intimated that the Hall was surrounded – apparently by seven people in all, three outside and four inside.  It stated that if anyone tried to leave the Hall they would instantly be shot dead, but provided they stayed in the servants’  hall they’d remain unharmed as the aim of the exercise was merely to take possession of the Hall.  It was then supposedly signed by ‘Thomas Jermy, the Owner’.

After seizing the items from Potash the police decided it was unlikely that either of the weapons found had been used for the shootings, and despite a thorough search of the grounds and surrounding area, the murder weapon wasn’t found, although it’d been widely known that Rush had at some time owned a revolving pistol.

30 November to 21 December

An inquest took place on 30 November and, having carried out an investigation of the crime scene and hearing the evidence of the witnesses, the jury found a verdict of wilful murder against Rush and, in the circumstances, the coroner issued a Warrant.

A second examination was held whereby other witnesses were called who confirmed they’d seen Rush in the area around the Hall on the afternoon of the murder.  Emily Sandford, on being questioned, initially said that Rush had been out of the house for 10-15 minutes only on the evening of 28 November, but when pressed, she confirmed that it may have been closer to 30-35 minutes as she’d been reading at the time, and hadn’t noticed the time.

There wasn’t time to examine all the witnesses on 30 November so Rush was remanded in custody and the case was adjourned to 2 December, whereupon Emily was questioned again and admitted that Rush had been out much longer than she’d stated and when he returned he appeared agitated.  He’d told her that if enquiries were made as to his whereabouts she should say that he’d left home at around 9.00 pm and returned about 10 minutes later. 

The hearing rumbled on and the depositions of 32 witnesses were heard and all the documents were read out, after which Rush was committed for the wilful murders of Isaac Jermy Snr and Isaac Jermy Jnr.

The Trial

The trial began on 29 March 1849 and covered six days during which time Rush maintained his innocence.  Rush represented himself.

During the trial all the documents mentioned previously were disclosed and some were proven to be forgeries which, if they’d been implemented, would’ve left Rush in a very good position in relation to the three farms as he would’ve been free from arrears of rent and mortgage repayment.  This was seen to be a prime motive for the murders.  The staff from the Hall who’d seen the murderer all said that, despite the disguise, it’d been obvious it was Rush as they knew him well and could easily recognise him from his height, weight, stance and gait.

Emily told the Court exactly what had happened in relation to the drawing up and signing of the documents, and also outlined the sequence of events on the day of the murders.

On the fifth day of the trial Rush presented his defence but could put forward little evidence to support his innocent plea.

On the last day, the Judge summed up and read the evidence which showed that the case for the prosecution appeared strong and the case for the defence appeared exceedingly weak but he told the jury that they must consider the merits of the evidence from both sides.  The jury retired to consider the evidence but it didn’t take long for them to return a verdict of guilty on both the murder charges.

So, the Judge pronounced the sentence of death by hanging and so endeth the life of James Blomfield Rush – he was hanged outside Norwich Castle on 21 April 1849 by the well known executioner, William Calcraft.