Murder Most Foul – Issue 111 – January 2019

certainly not now with another baby

due at any moment.

As his passion for Jane grew more

urgent, 30-year-old Angelo considered

ways of getting rid of Rosa. Leaving

Patsio in charge of the parlour, he took

Jane out into the country to have sex

in the fields and woods. Sometimes, he

waited till Rosa was in

bed, then crept along to

Jane’s room where he

threw her down on the

prickly straw mattress,

dragging off her

nightshirt in a frenzy.

Following the arrival

of her third child on

November 30th, Rosa

developed symptoms of

post-natal depression

and the doctor

advised her to rest. All three children

• two babies and a toddler – had been
  sleeping in the couple’s bedroom, so
  Angelo moved into Patsio’s room “to
  get some rest.” Jane was instructed to
  sleep alongside Rosa so she could help
  with the babies in the night.
  One morning when they were
  together in the kitchen, Angelo pulled
  Jane close and whispered: “My wife’s
  head is gone. I think she’s crazy. Will
  you kill her for me? Then I’ll give you
  everything. I’ll help you if you start
  it. I’ll tell you what to do. If you get a
  noggin of whiskey, it will give you great
  courage and you’ll be like the devil.
  You’ll be strong, and I’ll marry you
  once it’s done.”

Jane knew Angelo had neither love

nor liking for Rosa, and was ambitious

enough to consider his proposal.

Proceeding cautiously, she replied: “I

can’t do it without someone to help me.

I haven’t the nerve to do it alone, no

matter how strong I am.”

A week later, the doctor pronounced

that Rosa was well on the road to

recovery, but on Angelo’s orders the two

women continued to share a bedroom.

He knew he had to act fast, so on

Monday evening he cornered Jane in

the yard.

“It’s got to be tonight,” he whispered,

pressing a hammer into her hand. “You

know what we agreed. I love you.”

I

t was a long night. Jane sat by the gas

fire rocking the cradle until about

2 o’clock when Rosa got up to fetch

clothes for the baby from another room.

An hour or so later she went downstairs

for some bottles of lemonade, and

offered one to Jane. When she refused,

Rosa flung the contents in her face and

started babbling in Italian. She seemed

E, I HAVE

”

Sligo Prison where young Jane

Reynolds was due to hang on

December 2nd, 1915. It closed in

June 1956 after serving as a prison

since 1818, the inmates being

transferred to Mountjoy Prison

A modern-day photo

of Sligo and the city’s

famous cathedral

(right) where Rosa

frequently prayed

Holding her baby in her arms,

Jane cut a pathetic figure in the

dock. And when the judge ignored

the jury’s recommendation she

became hysterical...

Case recalled

by Matthew

Spicer and

Francesca

Morrison