The Stanfield Hall Murders | Morbid | Podcast | Forensic Files

hey weirdos I'm Ash and I'm Elena and this is morbid [Music] but you know what's a not morbid what we
have a freaking coffee that is launching and like realistically what goes better
together than True Crime and coffee time truly truly you know how much we love coffee and we get to introduce the first
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Wake the Dead and I think we're kind of hoping that you Savor this dark raw rope
we're kind of hoping that you Savor this dark roast though so you can enjoy the notes of tiramisu as you energize your
inner creativity hell yeah I'm so excited about my packaging I can't wait for you to see it I'm even more excited
possibly because Ash's packaging is Ash to a tea it is literally spellbinding pink packaging pink and it's called
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go go go go go go go and we love it because it's a medium dark roast which has an essence of
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and not only this so that we we have this coffee coming out the two different ones you can also get one of the new
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different styles hell yeah one's Ashy and one's Elena yeah this is the most exciting thing ever and I actually I'm
not even joking you it's so gray outside right now that I need a cup of our coffee and we brewed a Elena's roast
this morning yes get the Gray Away oh seriously so gray it's morbid and it's rainy
rainy it's very gray up it is very gray out it's very great in too it's great and it's great out I feel gray it's gray
all around great all day Grail day all freaking day but you know what we're we're bringing it oh yeah we may be
feeling gray right now but we're bringing it bringing it right to yeah so we're bringing it we're bringing you
some gray old-timey Shenanigans you know it's funny whenever you tell an old-timey story in my head I
see it in black and white so it is gray I love that so it is it's like grayscale
yeah you know what this is brought to you by Gray we said that word so many times I think it just lost all meaning
uh but yeah today is gonna be an old-timey one it's an interesting one because it's
just got so many old-timey elements to it like it's got heirs and Estates and land owning and I just slam my head into
landoning landoning you know so old-timey wait I think the rider strike just ended oh [ __ ] that's what somebody
just texted us so someone's someone just texted somebody told us it's true they had come to
um a like tentative agreement ah so those are still tentative so well everybody's got to sign off on it but oh
okay but hey oh sounds good okay let's go Brothers yeah sorry I I knew you were looking forward to Brothers thank you uh
that is exciting let's hope that it all continues going in the right direction there you go you know because then it's
the actors next they gotta get on board oh gosh but that's later I know we love to hear it and this case is called the
Stanfield Hall murders and it's very uh it's in England um it's it's very like if you I want you
to look up Stanfield Hall okay and if you look up Stanfield Hall murders you will get a picture of the the place that
this happened as it looks today okay it is the most gorgeous estate I have ever seen so that's why people were fighting
over it and I'm pretty sure it sold like recently for like 5.25 million or it was
on sale for 5.25 million is it this yes it's oh gorgeous I love a building covered in Greenery and Moss and Ivy
give me an ivy color covered Stone building with a moat around it and sign me the [ __ ] up I love that you said
there has to be a motor there has to be a mode around it this place has a boat look at the [ __ ] I'm sorry it's
gorgeous oh my God so this happened so on November 28 1848 a guy named Isaac Jeremy and his son found themselves
under attack at their win ham estate Stanfield Hall in England I think it was Norwich where it was what led to their
murders was a long Feud that like I said involved Estates rightful heirs and angry land tenants oh the worst of them
a lot of messiness involved here so and the guy that that did it that was convicted of doing it and at the end
will obviously tell you who uh he had a lot of stuff go on in his life that you're like there's a lot of
coincidences around you that when you look back on it you're like huh oh coincidence air bunnies air bunnies
quote unquote yikes uh so let's get into it well first let's talk about the Jeremy family because these are the
victims these are the ones that only stayed at the time okay so born Isaac Preston on September 23rd 1789 Isaac
Jeremy had resided at the family's estate which is Stanford hall for pretty much all of his life wow um there were
some years in between where I spent some time training at Westminster school to become a lawyer but other than that it
was Stanfield holler bust he was living there I feel that but after he graduated
from Westminster and he got admitted to the bar bully for him that's pretty great he practiced law in Norwich and
after this he ended up taking a seat on the Norfolk Circuit Court and then became appointed as recorder of Norwich
in 1838 which was a pretty pretty good position and he held it until his death he's a big deal yeah now when his father
Reverend George Preston died in 1837 Isaac inherited the family state which included Stanfield hall because he's the
oldest boy I'm the oldest boy and it was then that he took the name and this is where it gets a little like you're like
what the [ __ ] happening right now because old-timey [ __ ] gets weird it does when he inherited this estate in
Stanfield Hall he took the name of his ancestor William Jeremy which was necessary for him to take ownership of
the Family Estate you gotta change your whole last name if you look at like land
transferred to you so instead of being a Preston he now had to be a Jeremy because the Jeremy's owned the estate
yeah so it's like that it was like necessary by law weird and so he also had to take on the Jeremy coat of arms
for it to become legally his I kind of like the tradition of it all it's kind of fun yeah I mean it was complicated
and fun I love it it would suck if you're like what like 30 and then all of a sudden your name's William and it used
to be Isaac like that might be I mean it's concerning but well I mean well he could keep Isaac but he had to be Isaac
Jeremy now oh okay so now either maybe I wasn't clear about that but he yeah Isaac Preston became Isaac germ so it's
like you're marrying the house I was just gonna say so it's like yeah you're taking someone else's you're taking the
houses yeah okay I like that you know Stanfield Hall should it deserves that you know I would marry that place why
not so he became Jeremy he has the Jeremy coat of arms and at the time of his death he lived in the house with his son
Isaac Jeremy Jr oh my God I know he also lived with Isaac Jeremy junior's wife who was pregnant at the time of the
murders and several domestic workers who lived on the estate so this guy lives with his son and his daughter-in-law
exactly okay uh and like a bunch of people who worked in the sure sure now following the death of Reverend George
Preston so the dad exactly in 1837 Thomas Jeremy and his cousin John larner part of the fam both members of but not
direct Heirs of the Jeremy family they were like wait a second no no no why is Isaac Preston now Jeremy getting this
entire [ __ ] why is he taking possession of the estate I want to claim it for me
I'm a Jeremy but you're not you're not but he's not a director yeah right they want to try to take it claim
it for themselves and I say nice try dude or sins but it's not gonna happen the bloodline just doesn't work that way
exactly I'm the oldest boy and Thomas said me too but of a different family uh and then Jeremy said
he said no it's fine no I have the coat of arms I said you may be an eldest boy but I'm the eldest boy that's a
succession uh you know reference by the way in case you're like why are you screaming that yeah uh so when they
tried to convince the courts that they were the rightful heirs meaning Thomas Jeremy and his cousin John larner uh
that was in September 1838 the courts were like no uh no you're not yeah so not one to
sit down and you know listen to logic Thomas Jeremy gathered a group of laborers and attempted to take the
estate by force oh my God like Gaston and beauty and they tried to storm the castle and be like it's mine it's so
true they brought a big old tree lump with them yeah I meant to say stump I told you I told you I was gray inside
I I tree lump and stump all right men we have our tree lump let's go get get your torches and your tree lumps
no that is funny uh yeah he gassed on it and everybody had torches and [ __ ] and
they were gonna take that [ __ ] by force but they were turned away by a name a man by a name by a name a name came
strolling out and was like no no actually had a name uh he did his boy does James Rush uh he served as Isaac
Jeremy's bailiff at the time and he came out and was like no no because Isaac Jeremy said bailiff bailiff just like
judge Judith shine love that's exactly he calls the bailiff I'm sure it was just like that that's similar uh but
Thomas was so so they got turned away uh James Rush was like I don't think so he's like you all get on out of here and
Thomas Jeremy was actually brought to trial but was ultimately acquitted for this whole thing damn but still was not
satisfied even though he got acquitted he got away with almost taking that estate by force yeah is that like
conspiracies like yeah or not even burglary just like conspiracy to commit home invasion yeah
like grand larceny of house but like conspiracy because he didn't ever get there because you just didn't
get there you just planned it you just had to take your teeth tree lump and go home and then the bailiff said nah but
he wasn't satisfied with that so he returned to after getting acquitted getting away with it like take your take
your lumps and leave he returned to Stanfield Hall in September 24th and this time you brought a much larger
group of him and a bigger tree and they've in a bigger tree love like and they broke into the mansion with
crowbars oh [ __ ] and once inside they forced all the workers to flee the house
and barricaded themselves inside damn so they took over this house and we're like
this is mine now now rather than try to convince them to come out like coax them
out Isaac Jeremy called for military assistance and uh they were forcibly taken out of the house by military
assistance this is insane and they were put on trial what the [ __ ] eventually they all pleaded guilty to
minor offenses of rioting which is a minor offense in comparison to what they could have gotten because Thomas Jeremy
and John larner each only served three months for the offense that against Isaac Jeremy and the laborers that they
assembled for the purpose of breaking into this house they got even lighter sentences wow um in Isaac Jeremy was in
like like I said he was the recorder for Norwich so he was in a pretty big position in the county uh he was the
County recorder and he could have easily pursued very tough sentences against these especially Thomas and John right
the ringleaders because they'd seized his home like that you could have [ __ ] them up after trying multiple times he
had all the right to and he had all the power to but he chose not to it's family
and even with that even with Isaac being like I'm Gonna Let You just serve a little
bit of a sentence and hopefully that kind of knocks some sense into you still the animosity over the incident got
really bad uh-oh and there was still the continued belief that Isaac Jeremy wasn't the rightful Heir so it created a
huge Rift between the families that continued until Isaac's death in 19 1848. wow
um so during the first attempted takeover of the Stanfield estate um James Rush who I talked about before
the bailiff his name is James Bloomfield Rush he actually played like a huge role
in stopping the men from trying to take over the house like that was him who stopped that but even though he was
still in in employment with uh Isaac Jeremy at the time that this all ended like when like you know Thomas and John
were sentenced to three months and all that the relationship between them had kind of soured it had become a little
complicated by this time so even though he was a huge own stopping that whole thing in the first place things were not
going as smoothly as they could uh oh he was born in 1809 to Mary Bloomfield and
he was the product of a rather illicit Affair between Mary and a Gentleman farmer in windmenham
and that Affair ended pretty quickly when he was like two years old and when it came to an end she actually Mary sued
this uh this man for breach of promise and was awarded a lot of like a good amount of money by the courts because he
was supposed to marry her right but she used that money to care for her son and James never really ended up knowing who
his father was like he didn't want anything to do with them what a sad like sad start yeah so she ended up luckily
Mary ended up meeting another man James Bloom uh James rush and he was like you know what I like this little kid I want
to marry you so she convinced him like you know this can be your father okay this is your father figure now and Mr
Rochelle call him Mr rush just to make it easier because James Roche yeah yeah so the father Mr Rush
um he basically treated him as his own child and even amended his name to include his surname wow because remember
he was James Bloomfield before this but now he's James Bloomfield Rush gotcha gotcha um so his parents got married his
stepfather and his mom got married and James and his mother moved in with Mr Rush who was a tenant of Reverend George
Preston who is Isaac Jeremy's father okay yeah I know no you're doing a good job because
I would be so confused right now I'm glad I'm glad that it's making sense and Reverend George Preston uh so had given
them this home which they could rent uh it was like a modest house adjacent to the Stanfield Hall estate okay like a
guest house kind of yeah it was kind of like that whole thing so um again Mr Rush The Stepfather he
didn't have any children of his own at the time that he married Mary right so he really did treat James as his own son
he sent him to the best school in the area um and appla upon completing schooling
James Jr there returned to Norwich in 1828 and he got married nice after this he began working as a tenant Farmer for
w-e-l bulwer at dollingwood farms um but Rush thought that farming was going to be a little easier than it
actually was I don't know what gave him that idea because farming to me looks really hard sounds like a lot of hard
work and within a year he was losing money on his farm and in an attempt to get back some of these losses he
actually ended up setting fire to a bunch of stacks of Wheat and submitted an insurance claim uh-oh um saying that
they had caught fire by accident that's fake as [ __ ] and there were definitely
rumors everywhere in Gossip that he had definitely set that fire and even rumors that he was going to be
arrested for arson but there was no proof of him being the arsonist so the company did pay out the claim oh
probably like so begrudgingly yeah and it definitely gave him a false sense of confidence like well I got away with it
so a few years later in 1830 while still living under that tenancy agreement with
bulwer with a farm where he was living James again found that he was losing money he was struggling financially but
this time uh he started blaming outside sources not like his inability to farm now he was blaming the competition other
Farmers for his inability to make a profit it was all their fault that's not that he couldn't do it and so he decided
you know what instead of working harder or trying something else that I might be
better at I'm just gonna turn to more felonious Behavior so he assembled the mob of laborers which seems like
something that a lot of people enjoy doing back then I guess yeah you get mad and you just assemble laborers up some
laborers and he led them to a farm in nearby Folsom where once they got there they destroyed
a ton of pieces of huge farm equipment and then they all ran in opposite directions so they [ __ ] up all the
farm equipment and then left basically trying to make it so this farm would get wouldn't be able to function yeah so he
was trying to [ __ ] up the competition instead of just doing better himself that's not a good way to win he did end
up Rush was arrested a short time later and he was tried for especially for leading the mob but no verdict was ever
returned and he was released into his own recognizance to keep the peace what so it's just like yeah you just
leave they're like don't do that I just don't want to [ __ ] around so it's like
cool this guy just keeps getting away with this [ __ ] damn now his tenancy agreement with bulwer came to an end in
1835 probably to everyone's like few um and that's when he entered into a new tenancy agreement with Reverend George
Preston Isaac Jeremy's father okay um he had known him as a child because remember he had grown up on that
property with his stepfather and Islam so he knew this man he knew the Preston family knew all of them and so they were
like yep we'll give you a tenancy agreement to live on our property so with this new agreement he was allotted
a parcel of farmland and a home and that was in exchange for a fee of 110 pounds
per year and in a percentage of the profits from farming for a period of 18 years so he would have to pay rent and
he would also have a give a give a percentage of whatever he got from his crops for 18 years damn uh that's a
shitty agreement I guess it was kind of this is another little like side note because it's weird that I'm doing this
one right now because this makes weird sense to me now I'm reading slew foot by Brahm it's a really good book you guys
should read it check it out out I think I posted it on my stories but I'll post it again and uh in that it's from like
the 16th or 17th hundreds yeah they they have a similar agreement of like all tenant out this Farmland to you you have
to pay me rent and also give me a percentage of the profits for like 10 years okay and that's part of the story
in slew foot so and it so hearing this now I'm like this is weird that this is coming back yeah that's I that's always
weird when that happens when you find out like random information and then it applies like somewhere else in your life
yeah I didn't mean for that to line up like that but life is a simulation so you know he's gotta he's got a deal he's
living on there he's got to he's got his own Farm he's just gotta share some of it
um so what he did was he also entered into a second tenancy agreement for his father-in-law under the same conditions
but this time he was going to be paying 130 pounds per year so he's under a tendency agreement with Reverend George
Preston and he's under attendance agreement with for like another farm for his father-in-law okay so he's paying
out but he's making money it's one of those things that used to happen very often back then and the next year he
actually entered into a third agreement for tenancy with Preston again for another Farm on the Stanfield Hall of
state with similar conditions but this one was at 500 pounds per year oh wow um and at that same time he entered he
accepted a position as Reverend Preston Steward an advisor in all matters of business wow so now he's under three
tenant agreements he's got a place on the Preston estate he's paying out this money to three different well Preston
he's given two different rents too and then he's paying off his father in law but he's also got this new position now
advising Reverend Preston so he's like he's getting there he's doing good seems like it's going to be like all
right let's go right and you know what for Rush this whole thing was good in life and working with George Preston was
good but when he died in 1837 in possession of the Family Estate passed to Isaac Preston now Jeremy and it ended
up being discovered that the three tenancy agreements that he had actually entered into had actually been illegally
executed oh so is that like a get out of jail free card that's not it's it's not
good for any it's like his land is technically like oh yeah so although Isaac did keep Rush on as his Steward
once his father had died he rescinded the illegal tenancy agreements and issued new leases for the three
properties okay but he issued these leases at slightly higher rates from the other oh it's a different time am I
doing inflation so it sounds like Reverend George press Austin was like kind of doing him a little bit of a
solid yeah and Isaac was like I'm gonna run things a little different here yeah which at least he was he was like I'll
give you new ones like for the right price now despite the increased fees being more or less comparable to the rates of
the day the increase was the first issue in their relationship the first issue in
a series of events that would eventually lead to Isaac Jeremy being murdered oh so several years later in late 1843
Isaac got his eye on a potash Farm I think it's how you say a potash okay um that abutted the land on on the place
where Stanfield Hall was sitting okay and he directed Rush his Steward to go assess the land's value and to make an
offer of purchase to the seller so I was like go get that land for me and what Jeremy didn't know was that
Rush also had an interest in the land and hoped to get it for himself so Rush valued the property at 3 500
pounds and at Isaac Jeremy's behest he made a bid on the man's behalf for thirty five hundred dollars but
immediately after that Rush went back and submitted his own bid on the property for
3750 out bidding Isaac Jeremy and taking the property was he just gonna wave from his
like to his employer from that's something he just bought stole out from under him yeah like what the [ __ ] what's
your plan there dude and Isaac Jeremy was pissed he was not pleased by this because he was like you're duplicitous
what the [ __ ] yeah but even then he agreed to lend the man the money to purchase the land he was like well you
outbid me but I have to give you the money yeah that doesn't even make any sense exactly
because he's like under his tenancy and so he was like all right sure and he wrote up a new agreement for the amount
of 5 000 pounds and under the terms of the new agreement the sale was charged to the Jeremy estate and mortgage to
rush at four percent interest per year which was roughly I think around like 200 pounds and this was with the
understanding that the mortgage would be paid off as of November 30th 1848. so I think by now you can see it's getting
messy yeah this is messy business we're intertwining a lot of things there's a lot of uh Faith being placed on people's
you know honesty and in which they have them honor of which it doesn't look like
there's a ton going around um and also and here's where the side note comes in about uh James Rush
he owned he ended up owning this land along with his stepfather Mr Rush okay and on October 24th 1844 they the two of
them Mr rush and his son James Bloomfield rush they went out hunting together alone
and when they returned alone Rush senior was in the kitchen of this property admiring Rush Jr's new shotgun
when it accidentally went off they were alone oh Rush senior was killed by this when
they were alone when they were alone and he was just admiring the shotgun yep and
it just boomed they had a wonderful hunting trip before that together yep huh yeah
and one would look at this and maybe say suss were you looking to get money yeah
from his estate well unfortunately for him rush senior had left his estate to his wife Mary well yeah James's mom
uh-oh so he didn't get any Financial payout for that death not that I'm saying that he wanted it no because we
don't know it's strange that they were alone and this happened and the only person to be able to tell this story is
James Rush who was in need of financial compensation a little Troublesome but you know whatever he didn't get paid no
matter what so it didn't mean anything so now in 18 there'll be more of that by the way so now in 1844 this meant that
rush now owned three Farms with tenancy agreements held by Isaac Jeremy and in the years that followed Rush
borrowed more money to renovate and expand his farming operation so he was under a lot of debt and by October 1847
he'd Fallen very behind on his payments to Jeremy and was eventually served eviction papers from the property on the
Stanfield Hall State and at this point he went to live so that um that property on the Stanfield
Hall estate he got evicted from okay and he ended up moving to live on the potash
Farm okay or potash I don't know if it's potash or potash somebody's gonna yell at me I like potash I like potash it
just feels right or potash potash seems like you're spinning you're like potash yeah you know like but two
but either way that's Farm um a few months later when Rush still didn't pay Jeremy after he moved to that
other Farm uh Isaac filed suit for breach of covenants and the case went to trial in March 1848 so now he's suing
him for not paying him good the same year James Rush's mother died Mary I knew that was coming and it was said
that John or that um James was incredibly attentive to her in her final days uh-huh and servants in the home
were quoted as saying that they witnessed him uh serving her soaked breads by hand right before she passed
away soaked in what so I don't know I don't know what happened there uh she died though parents die
it's one of those sad things you know at that point but you know what's strange about this one is like you know his
stepfather has died under a strange and tragic circumstance not long and he said
that money's mine right and they said nope it's your mom's and he said oh then his mom died under tragic circumstances
with him being by her side and her last moments and then he says that money's mine right and they say no she left it
to her grandchildren oh [ __ ] I wonder why she didn't leave it to him that's a little suss that's the other piece of
this puzzle is like what was your problem how come no one left you money look how come yeah and so you know being
not a man to sit down and let things just play out the way that they're supposed to he forged her signature and
did an amendment on the documents to make him in control of her money and if that doesn't tell you a little
bit about what possibly happened I don't know what does oh no no no no no no seems a little suspicious just a little
a little suspicious you know I don't know I wasn't there maybe this is all maybe he's just being followed by very
ghastly coincidences but I don't know take what you will from it he ended up getting control of the money
um and yeah meanwhile as that's happening the eviction and the lawsuit with Isaac Jeremy is only worsening
their relationship it had already been crumbling and it's getting worse at this point right um in a few weeks after the
trial James Rush actually published and distributed a pamphlet that claimed to present a fair and accurate
representation of the trial okay yeah it's very Hamilton how could that be fair and accurate when one of the
parties involved is writing it thank you and in it Rush claimed that he only took
on the tenant farming leases with the Jeremy family just to improve his financial situation for his family okay
and he said quote and this is no reason why I should be ruined in character by this villain as well as my property
being swallowed up by him and apparently showing evidence of Jeremy's villainry he put forth the
false claim that Isaac Jeremy had no right to the property in the first place oh so he decided to jump on that
bandwagon John larner and Thomas uh Jeremy bandwagon and say he's not the rightful Heir even though I stopped them
from doing whatever they were planning I may I may have put you know completely backed him when it benefited me but now
that it doesn't he's not the rightful Heir that's fake he said this fellow Jeremy has no right to the Stanfield
property he knows it and he knows I know it as well his whole conduct in keeping
possession and taking the name of Jeremy and his behavior to those poor people who ever write to it those poor people
who he chased out of the house when they were trying to take it over has been most villainous and disgraceful to any
men who any man who have any pretension to respectability and which I should be most happy to prove when called on to do
so if there's any truth in the Bible such villainy is sure to be overtaken and that when it may be at least
expected so he's saying if there's any truth to the to the Bible then that place is going to be taken
back by the rightful owners and it's like I don't know that sounds aggressive why are you bringing the Bible
I don't know about that you sure are you sure about so he had a full plan and that he is
setting into motion that he's like okay you want to [ __ ] with me because I didn't pay you what you are rightfully
owed like that's that's what I love he's like oh oh what you want to be paid right
what you are rightfully owed sir how dare you no no you're gonna bring me to court to get money that I owe you huh no
I'm gonna [ __ ] with you and he's like I'm gonna destroy your reputation and it became even clearer when they
found a letter he had sent to his own son in April just after the pamphlet had been published and in that letter he
said I have at last got Jeremy in a fix and the Rouge in the Rouge and villain knows it well how he will act now will
soon be seen at all events he now knows if he ruins me I can him or you would not or you would not have seen him as
you have but I do not want anyone know this except for your wife and her aunt so he's basically being like I've put it
out there he knows now you [ __ ] with me I [ __ ] with you harder yeah and he's
saying like basically he knows I can ruin him no matter what even if he's correct in what he's asserting okay and
he's like I don't want anyone to know that I'm pulling this [ __ ] okay which is
like you're just outing yourself all over them that's the thing I'm like you don't want anyone to know this but it
sounds like we all know a big old case of the dumb but over the summer and into the fall of 1848 Rush got to scheming
and scheming and scheming and all he wanted to do was get out of those leases with Jeremy because he was like get me
out of here and he's Enlisted the help of none other than Thomas Jeremy and John larner I knew we weren't done with
them yet and in a letter from October 3rd 1848 Rush laid out his plan to them vaguely hinting at the idea of retaking
Stanfield Hall and he figured what we can do is that Thomas Jeremy and John larner will take
possession of it their family so he said after the new possessors take possession of Stanfield Hall this whole
plan would mean that they now agree to new terms for his tenancy leases at a much lower rate so he said help me take
over this place and give me a lower rate on myself exactly okay help me take over
the place you get Stanfield tall and then by taking over Stanfield Hall you take on my tenancy agreements you give
me a lower rate we all win okay which is to them sounds good must sound like a good plan I would think but they weren't
exactly confident in Russia's ability to prove that Thomas Jeremy was the rightful heir to the Family Estate
because they are not plain and simple and they're like we've we've been down this road and the court just said no
so the the two of them said no thank you which is shocking uh but they've had enough so they were like no thank you
we're good but then James Rush produced what he claimed to be George Preston's Reverend George
Preston's the father his original will which he said named Thomas Jeremy as the heir but that doesn't even make any
sense that's not his child exactly like that would never seems Rush had forged this document only a couple of days
before this correct so the forge documents apparently were witnessed being forged by Russia's mistress Emily
Sanford the plot thickens baby and even though they were clearly forged and that
Emily had watched the whole thing go down Thomas and John were like sounds good to me that seems like
something you could prove so they were like let's go we'll help you with this so in the weeks before the actual
because they weren't just planning to just take over Stanfield Hall their plan was to kill Isaac Jeremy they needed to
get him out of the way forever so in the weeks before this all happened and they
I think what their plan was was to like take over the hall but Russia's plan I believe all along was to get them get
them gone right so in the weeks before this all happened rush started showing some unusual behavior
um he would go out late at night with his gun and he would claim he was looking for poachers on the property but
his mistress there Emily was like he would just go trudging off with his gun and it was like not something he did she
was like I think he was losing it yeah and on the morning of November 28th he instructed a local farm hand to please
lay a path of straw from Russia's Homestead on his least land all the way towards the fields behind Stanford Hall
that's damn field Hall excuse me and he said he so and he was like you do that while me and my family go into town
for the afternoon and later it was revealed that he had actually instructed this young farmhand to scatter the hay
so that it would make sure not to leave Footprints when he walked from his place
to the sandfield hall I had a feeling that's where you were going with that now when they came back from an
afternoon out Emily Sanford his mistress began making dinner and Rush told her there's just time for me to go into the
garden and fire off my gun and she was like what at what can you just eat my dinner [ __ ] yeah
like what he didn't say what he was shooting at or why he was going out to shoot yeah like there's there's time and
she was like nah dinner's ready [ __ ] he's like oh [ __ ] Emily I can shoot my gun
for like a little bit couple minutes there's like time he's like a child she's like where though and he's like in
the garden and she's like at one he's like nothing in particular just shooting just shoot just shooting sake that's all
weird so she was just like hi Captain like out you go and when he came back a short time later for dinner
Emily noticed he seemed very irritated much more irritated than when he had left and like get out of there babe and
yeah and so he also brought up this weird story he said I've been thinking a good deal about the story we read the
other day about the Scottish chief and what he was referring to was a well-known parable about the Battle of
Bennett Burn by author Robert Bruce okay and he said I've tried several times and
the next time perhaps I shall be successful um and he was she was like what the [ __ ]
are you talking about and she later said that he appeared extremely agitated and
she supposed him to be in tears though she couldn't understand why he was rambling crying crying it's almost
in tears like very agitated he was like what the [ __ ] going on or Emily sometime between 7 and 8 PM just after
they finished dinner James stood up from the table didn't say a [ __ ] word but just went
into his bedroom dressed himself in a dark cloak donde mask to cover his face no
then armed himself with a pistol and just left the house without saying anything put a mask and Emily just
watched this entire thing which I'm like Emily get out of here come on girl yeah
you gotta do something here so he just leaves and puts on like a disguise like a dark cloak a mask that's
scary which I guess the mask was like a face mask with like whiskers on it or some [ __ ] what yeah
now that happens on the property where are we and at sandfield Hall the Jeremy family
had just finished up dinner some sources say they were having a small dinner party but either way they just finished
up dinner a little before 8 pm and Isaac had just hung out at the dinner table and Isaac Jr and his wife went to the
Parlor for tea okay and the like workers began clearing dishes and all that fun stuff and Isaac senior got up left the
room and he went out onto the porch to get some air which is something he literally always did after dinner it was
a very routine thing for him this was almost like a ritual after dinner for him now having been employed by the
family for many many years James Bloomfield Rush would have definitely known that at this same time every night
he'd be after dinner he would be out there on the porch a little before 8 P.M I'm scared so as soon as Isaac senior
went in out the door and done to the porch Rush stepped out from the Shadows raised a pistol and fired a single shot
into his chest without saying a word the bullet passed through his heart and knocked him onto his back and he died
instantly oh that's so awful uh then James Rush entered the house from the side door and passed the main staircase
and as he did he dropped two pieces of paper from his cloak so he was messy already okay and he
moved through the house and was spotted by the butler who was frightened by the sight of a gun and ran back into the
darkened hallway and hid himself out of you because he was scared imagine yeah now as James Rush passed through one
door into the main hall Isaac Jr came out of the Parlor and they just looked at each other in silence and then Rush
raised the gun and shot him in the chest oh he dropped to the floor and he also died instantly oh my God now obviously
people are hearing the sounds of gunshots happening so Isaac Jr's wife ran into the hall from The Parlor by the
way she's pregnant I yeah I thought you had said that and just missed Rush as he
entered into the dining room from there she found her husband's body and she screamed so her scream Drew one of the
maids Eliza chasney or Chesney it's both it's seen both ways in different uh sources she ran into the hall and the
two of them are standing in the hallway freaking out and rush comes out of the dining room sees the two women raises
the pistol and shoots twice he hit Mrs Jeremy in the arm she's the pregnant wife oh my God and hit Eliza Chesney in
the leg both of them fell to the floor and they both tried to pretend they were dead oh
now he figured he had killed the whole family right so he left the house through the same side door that he went
into fled into the fields and made his way back to his Homestead remember via that hay covered path that had been laid
out um but as he did this he's he was spotted by several workers who lived on the estate and had been drawn out of
their homes on the on the property by the sound noise of gunshots and screams does he still have his cloak and his
mask on he does they all saw black cloaked man escaping into the fields okay now but the thing would be Emily
saw him put on that cloak right and so fearing the house was being you know attacked by the same kind of like we're
gonna take over [ __ ] a stable hand made his way to the edge of the property swam
across the moat to get to the house because it does have a moot hell yeah and went to the nearby Home of a man
named Coleman who sent the message to the Norwich police and they you know let them know what had happened
so after sending help for help from Norwich Mr Coleman the neighbor gathered other neighbors and they all made their
way to Stanfield Hall to just try to help however they could um and when they got there they found
Isaac senior dead on the front porch Isaac Jr dead on the floor in the main hallway just outside the house and
nearby they found Eliza chastney who was wounded in the leg and by that time the
other workers had carried Isaac Jr's wife upstairs to a bedroom and were doing their best to treat her wound in
her arm because she was bleeding heavily in the uh the up of the upper part of her arm was really badly damaged
um and They Carried both men into the Parlor both the bodies of the two Isaac Jeremy men
um and they noticed singed clothing around the bullet wounds which indicated that they had been shot at pretty close
range um although they had been through a wild ordeal Isaac Jr's wife and Mrs chastney
both both said they thought they recognized the shooter and they said it's James Bloomfield Rush how do you
think they knew so he was wearing a fake beard a mask and a cloak but they said that they knew his body type and they
knew how he held certain things and how he walked and yeah and they were like we
know that that was him he had like a specific way about him so when the telegraph was sent to the Norwich police
it included a note from the local magistrate Mr Cann instructing them to apprehend James Bloomfield Rush damn no
police made their way to Stanfield tall while Rush ran to his house a little after 9 pm knocked on the door to be let
in by Emily there was no light in the front room because you have to remember this is 1800s it's not like they flicked
on the light um and so Emily knew only knew that it was James entering the house didn't see
how he was dressed or what he was carrying she said he went right upstairs directly upstairs and when he came back
downstairs he wasn't wearing any boots any outdoor attire and he instructed her to light a fire and go to bed
okay but before she retired for the evening Rush said quote if any inquiries made about me say I was not out more
than 10 minutes so a few hours later Emily was awoken by a loud banging at the door and opened it
find Rush who is now coming back he had left okay and he was trembling and seemed very
upset and he said now you be firm and remember that I was only out 10 minutes oh he told her again this time she said
in a much more aggressive tone so he has now returned at 9 00 PM after murdering
this whole family for trying to he has taken off everything that he wore he's come downstairs told her to light a
fire and to go directly to bed don't pass go go to bed so she was like cool I'll just go up but and as he does this
he tells her I was out 10 minutes if anyone asks and she's like got it she goes to bed then hours later is awoken
by banging at the door it's him arriving back from somewhere I thought you had misspoke I was like wait what he had
gone out again and then he had said by the way remember I was only gone 10 minutes but more aggressive and she's
like what the [ __ ] is going on so by the morning police had completely surrounded
the rush Homestead and as soon as they saw the first Lantern lit inside they summoned a stable boy named Savory and
told her to call Rush to the door so as you know Rush of course said what like I go how could I ever be at fault
for the Mayhem that happened at Stanfield Hall and he said good God I hope they do not think it was me
and he said this to Emily in front of everybody and he said it is rather a serious charge yeah and Emily's like
what the [ __ ] am I supposed to say here and upstairs in the main bedroom investigators started searching and they
found two guns in a closet along with Russia's black cloak and boots and both of them were wet like he had been
walking through a dewy feel like I'm glad you're dumb but I thought when he left again it was to discard those
things and in front of the police they heard Rush say to Emily I'm accused of murdering Jeremy and his son and he said
but you and savory can clear me for he washed my boots at half past five and you know I didn't go out
so now he's trying to get her to lie for him and in all the confusion and just Mayhem that was happening here and
probably the stress Emily had forgotten exactly what she was supposed to say oh no so she told the investigators that
yes James had gone out the previous evening because at first he had told her to say that yeah yeah
but he was and then she said but he was only out for about a quarter of an hour so she's added a little time on it
and Rush is listening to this and he stops her and says I was not out more than 10 minutes and you know I had my
slip shoes on so he's like I was not wearing those boots and I was only out for 10 minutes
and for some reason and thank goodness Emily got a little Brave and she said I don't know if you had or not I did not
see you put your boots on she said [ __ ] you so she said in this game I'm not gonna lie for you she said I didn't see
you put them on good for her so during questioning James Rush repeated his story several times over
saying that's Emily was his Alibi but he's he definitely acknowledged that he and the Jeremy family had not been on
good terms in recent years he was like I'm not gonna lie about that yeah he said I have no doubt I shall be
suspected because we have been on such bad terms but he said but lately the old one and I have been more friendly but
the young one was my greatest enemy either way both of them are dead my guy and when they had no more questions
James Bloomfield Rush was taken into custody he was transported to the local jail winmen him I think it's windmen him
Bridewell and he was questioned further by the magistrates now Rush was pretty much identified as the
shooter by like many people um a traditional investigation proved kind of unnecessary at that point but
once the bodies had been removed from Stanfield Hall in the initial chaos had kind of subsided police officers did
begin an investigation into the house and that's when they discovered the papers that had dropped out of Russia's
cloaked I forgot about those yeah he's a mess and the two papers appeared to be the covers of a book and on the back of
one was written a note this note said there are seven of us here three of us outside and four inside
the hall all armed as you see us too if any of you servants offered to leave the
premises or to follow you will be shot dead therefore all of you keep in the servants Hall and you nor anyone else
will take any arm any harm for we are only come to take possession of the Stanfield Hall property okay so they
were going to try to make it look like another Seas kind of thing yeah and it was signed Thomas Jeremy the owner
oh oh okay yeah that guy yeah I know it's hard no no no I don't believe you for being like for a second I was like
no because remember they had that whole plan Thomas and John were going to take it out yeah so he went against the plan
entirely once sounds like he took it a little into his own hands sounds like he went a little whoa so news of the
murders were reported in the press a day or two or later and The Sensational language being indicative of Isaac
Jeremy's important role in the community so the times London's paper of record um described the killings as the most
atrocious murders ever perpetrated in Norfolk or perhaps in any other English County I don't know so obviously his
position is what's making this the most atrocious of course uh similarly the Liverpool Mercury referred to the scene
at the hall as the Dreadful and mysterious tragedy oh my God now the coroner began his examination of the
bodies and the police in Norwich shifted their focus from Stanfield Hall to now James Rush's Homestead the initial
search of the home turned up a clearly wet cloak and a set of clearly wet booths
also a pair of recently fired guns which suggested that Rush could have been involved but the discoveries made on the
second search left little doubt that he was responsible in the closet in Russia's bedroom investigators found a
woman's black wig and long face Veil hidden in a box at the back of the closet that's weird in the same closet
they also found forged documents that Rush had used to convince Thomas Jeremy and John larner to participate in the
crimes with him that's a big yikes yeah another search of the home the investigators found additional disguises
including a black wig of a particular make with mustachios and whiskers coming round and under the chin pistachios you
say mustachios so we had all these [ __ ] disguises hidden in his closet like a weirdo yeah that's creepy maybe
he's just a Halloween I don't think so now on November 30th a jury was brought together for the coroner's inquest and
they viewed the bodies and heard the results of the coroner's examination and they also heard a number of from a
number of the staff who was at Stanfield Hall on the night of the murders uh the
butler who hid when he first saw them James Watson told the jury at the time I saw the man passing the corner it
occurred to me that it was Mr rush I knew Mr Rush perfectly well the man I saw was like Mr Russian size height and
in his walk and Watson also told the jury that Rush was in the habit of entering the house
through the servant store at the side of the building where the killer had also entered right and he knew that he said
the reason that this is so pertinent is he said that the door was never locked before 9 pm oh and he knew that he said
the cook who was also at the estate that evening also said a similar thing he said the moment I saw the man it struck
me it was Mr Rush who had very frequently within the last five months been at the hall the man was short and
stout he held his head a little on one side sorry I just have to answer this hello
The Moment I Saw the man it struck me it was Mr Rush who had very frequently within the last five months been at the
hall the man was short and stout he held his head a little on one side just in the way Mr Rush carries it so he has a
very particular way of walking and standing in my own mind I think it was a it is impossible I can be mistaken in my
opinion I had such an opportunity of seeing his person that I cannot be mistaken although I cannot from not
having seen his face positively swear it was him okay so a third witness was a sheriff's
officer named Mr bacon who hell yeah so gave evidence and this is a quote gave evidence as to the certain
expressions of Mr Rush indicating revengeful feeling towards Mr Jeremy now the most important testimony came
from Emily oh um so she quickly abandoned any kind of Alibi that he tried to force on her
under questioning from police she refused to provide that alibi and initially she told investigators she had
been quote reading a book which interested her very much and so she did not keep a very good accurate account of
the time okay so she said she couldn't be sure how long he had been out of the house but
they pressed her and she caved and told investigators Rush quote was absent from
the house all the evening of the murder and when he came home he appeared to be in a state of great agitation and rushed
into the house saying he was very ill now according to Emily after he had gone into his bedroom she peered Through the
Keyhole oh and witnessed him removing the various pieces of Disguise because remember when she he came home she said
she couldn't see him very well because there was no light he just rushed upstairs right but she looked through
that Keyhole and saw him taking off all the pieces of the disguise and she explained that he had pretended to go
out looking for poachers that evening though she very much doubted that that was what he was doing when he left the
house so her statement was given to the police and the magistrate asked whether Rush
had any questions or anything to say in response and he said no she has said enough to hang me already oh that was
his response damn she got him so during the inquest the corner happily reported that both women were expected to survive
that's good and despite the severity of the wounds to their arm and leg Yeah he hoped that they would be able to avoid
any amputation wow a few days later though the situation definitely changed for Mrs Jeremy who shot in the left arm
above the elbow there was so much damage it had shattered the bone in several places and the surgeons had to amputate
her arm near the shoulder as she's pregnant pregnant holy [ __ ] now after hearing all the evidence the jury left
the inquest just for a little bit of time to discuss what they heard and they returned with a verdict of Will from
willful murder against James Bloomfield rush and a warrant was issued for his arrest as well as the arrest of a key
witness Emily Sanford why did she get arrested they were already in custody so the warrant went out
um just because she was there and she had uh initially lied ah now on March 29 1849 the trial began at the
court of the sizes at Norwich Castle which was presided over yeah in a castle by magistrate Baron Rolfe
um there was a ton of news coverage about this a lot of public interest so it was packed in fact admittance into
the courtroom was by ticket only wow and by 8 AM it was like packed full damn um acting on behalf of the crown were
Sergeant biles Prendergast and Evans uh James Bloomfield Rush was acting as his own attorney oh no honey now in addition
to testimony the jury was going to see evidence that included you know a ton of stuff but some of them were the forge
documents the drawings of the property floor plans scale models of Stanfield Hall and Russia's Farmhouse they'd all
been created for the occasion and before opening statements were given the charges were read for the court and this
is when Rush was asked to step forward and repeat his plea and he replied not guilty he was described as Resolute and
set but his hands trebled excessively not only at first but during the day reporters also said his shoulders
support a short bull neck on which a large and massive head which a craniologist would declare indicative of
the possession of strong animal passions and considerable intellectual power is set for is firmly set in such a way as
to render it rather difficult for its owner to look straight before him so his head was slightly crooked
slightly to one side just like the staffer said yeah the person who came in and killed all those people had yup now
during the jury selection the name John Beals was called and the prosecution objected and this potential juror was
dismissed and in response to this Rush interrupted to ask why the man had been dismissed and the judge explained it was
because the prosecution objected and Rush said I wish to make one observation to the jury I shall not challenge any of
them but I hope if any of them have any unfair influence in this case they will retire of themselves
so what he had wanted was for his comments to the jury to emphasize his cooperation and how he wanted this whole
thing to be fair yeah um you know because he's so innocent he just wants all this to go the right way
but he didn't understand how the process worked which just made him seem dumb yeah because that's like that's that's
what they're doing right now exactly and it's like so now you're gonna defend yourself so
now you've already stepped into this looking very unprepared with this whole thing yeah so that's not good
and this was demonstrated again just a few minutes later because he asked the judge my Lord may I make a few
observations before the council makes his opening speech and the role for Applied this is not the right time to do
that you'll have an opportunity Hereafter yeah so he doesn't even know how this all works he's going to need an
attorney yeah so they did the jury selection and Sergeant biles took his place in front
of the courtroom and began his opening remarks so the prosecutor laid out all the evidence against James rush and said
about the year 1844 the late Mr Jeremy Advanced to Mr Rush considerable considerable sums of money upon the
potash Farm or potash Farm who knows the balance of which was coming due just days before the murders occurred okay so
he was gonna have to pay this debt days before the murders happened um and lacking the money to pay what was
owed to Jeremy Sergeant biles explained that Rush had intended to kill the Jeremy family to avoid to avoid any of
the negative consequences of his debt that makes sense now as evidence of motive and intent Sergeant biles read
aloud from the letters exchanged between rush and his son sent just after the Civil Trial between Jeremy and rush for
unpaid fees and also showed the forged documents intended to mislead the jury as to as to who was the rightful heir of
the Jeremy estate and the ownership and like who should take ownership of Stanfield Hall those had been discovered
like we said hidden in a box in Russia's closet suspicious Sergeant biles told the jury now gentlemen I will call your
attention to the contents of this pamphlet as showing you two things the state of the prisoner's mind and that he
can contemplated taking some steps with reference to the claim of these persons to the Stanfield Hall property but I
shall also put in a letter put in letter in the handwriting of the prisoner in order to show his feelings towards the
late Mr Jeremy so as far as the prosecution was concerned the case was pretty simple
against Rush he owed a ton of money to Jeremy and he couldn't pay rather than find a way to get the money
or try to arrange some sort of better deal he just came up with a plan to kill the Jeremy family conspire with Thomas
Jeremy and John Lerner to forge the documents and it would ultimately benefit everybody involved it's pretty
black and white to me yeah his evidence to support this theory was pretty strong and they found the
recently fired guns in Russia's bedroom closet along with the boots the cloak the disguises all of that and finally
most importantly they had Emily's testimony right which not only contradicted what Russia was saying
about that night yeah it led directly to a lot of the evidence that was being presented in
court including the forge documents that were hidden in a very secret location so once the prosecution had finished
presenting their case James Bloomfield Rush Rose and began what what became a 14-hour speech in
this defense 14 hours how do you he like consecutively yes 14 hours how do you even talk that long
and this was described by the press as quote without making any impression whatsoever in his favor his address was
his address was full of repetitions and everything really material might have been said in a quarter of the time
what so he just [ __ ] rambled for 14 hours 14 hours which pissed everyone off unbelievable yeah at that point I'd be
like well you're a girl yeah no matter what because you're guilty of being an [ __ ] yeah now in his version of the
events he was quote Innocent but admitted that he knew something about was about about to take place at the
hall before the night of the murders according to him a day before he had been approached by Jeremy and larner
Thomas Jeremy and uh John Lerner who wanted to enlist him in their plan to take Stanfield tall by force okay just
as they attempted to do years earlier he was like remember they've done this before of course they're going to do it
again but he said no no I won't help you with that now he's flipped it and the following evening he had gone out after
dinner to check the grounds for poachers as he obviously did all the time even though Emily was like he didn't do that
all the time but when he got to the edge of his property he felt ill and decided
to turn back and then he heard a pistol go off and then a second shot and it caused him to run back into his house
okay now he said after his so after his rambling and exhaustive speech he began making several complaints to the judge
and the jury about among other things the way he was treated in the Press by the and by the magistrates and by 8 PM
that evening the judge had finally had enough and adjourned the court it was like I'm done listening I'm
surprised they let him go on that long before doing that yeah and they adjourned for a few days they didn't
come back for a few days and then when they did Rush called a bunch of witnesses all of whom provided testimony
that was irrelevant pretty contradictory to what would help him and all none of them were
contradictory to the evidence that was presented by the prosecution so none of it was wild because it's black and white
here so Rush rested his case after six days and um uh judge Baron Rolfe began summarizing the case for the court and
according to the press the process was repeatedly interrupted by The Prisoner who attempted to correct him
and to give different versions of the evidence wow and finally he dismissed the jury to review and deliberate
now given how Sensational the crimes had been and how crazy this trial had been the audience in the court they all
waited like they wanted to hear this then they thought they were going to like wait for a while to hear this like
they thought all this was going to build up but the jury returned just five minutes later with a guilty verdict of
course because they were like [ __ ] yeah I [ __ ] that Rush was pissed and yelled I
am innocent all the same and God Almighty knows it so I don't know when you got there man
everyone went into a tizzy but order had to be restored and the judge addressed Rush directly he said James Bloomfield
Rush after a trial unusually protracted you have found you've been found guilty that of the charge of willful murder a
crime the highest any human being can perpetrate on another the deepest under any circumstances of extenuation but I
regret to say that in your case there is everything which could add a deeper die
to guilt the most horrible it appears from letters which you yourself put into in that to the father of the unfortunate
victim of your malice you owe a deep debt of gratitude you commenced a career of crime by endeavoring to cheat your
landlord you followed It Up by making the unfortunate girl whom you'd had subdued the tool whereby you should
commit forgery and having done that you terminated your guilty career by the murder of the son and Grandson of your
friend and benefactor more cannot be said it unfortunately sometimes happens that
great guilt is too nearly connected with something that is calculated to Dazzle the mind but unfortunately in your case
you have made Vice as loatham as loathsome as it is terrible whoa beautiful very poetic very poetic Rush
immediately tried to argue with the judge again you know I get the final word and the judge cut him off and said
you have been convicted on testimony so clear the observation and comment are unnecessary wow so he's like I don't
want to hear [ __ ] shut up it's black and white that you did this and with that he
was removed from the court and taken back to his cell now after the reading of the verdict
James Bloomfield Rush was sentenced to be hanged on the grounds of Norwich Castle on April 23 1849 and it was
reported that while he was waiting for the execution date he sat quietly in his cell and didn't have any visitors he
wouldn't let anyone in damn um but but the night before his execution he received a short note from
one of his children oh that's sad I forgot that he had kids yeah on April 23rd the excitement that it surrounded
the initial trial seemed to have come back because now we got ourselves an 1800s execution and you know people love
that [ __ ] so apparently um crowds of individuals from both sexes had been hurrying the throughout the
morning from all parts of the county and even far beyond it to the awful scene of
ignominous death wow that was from the um the Caledonian Mercury paper in 1849. so a little after 12 p.m he was let out
of his cell and he walked past all the onlookers and led to the Gallows and in the days leading up to this he had
tried to persuade anyone who listened that he was innocent but it nobody believed him
um and because of that when he asked if he had any when he was asked if he had anything to say before his execution he
said no and all he did was simply repeat the Lord's Prayer to himself quietly while
the lever was pulled and the floor dropped out beneath him and he was killed instantly wow he had no family
member willing to claim his body yeah James Bloomfield Rush was buried on the grounds of Norwich Castle
and after his death the Press reported thus was closed the life of him whose murderous deeds and other Wicked acts
have excited Universal abhorrence and of whom it may be said England never furnished his parallel
um that's haunting so just like as a clothing a closing thing here um a death mask of James Bloomfield Rush
is uh on display at the welcome collection in well in London I saw that yeah um Staffordshire potteries produced
collectible figures of Rush and Sanford Emily his mistress I don't know about that plus the locations of the farm
their Homestead and Stanfield Hall in Norwich Castle so you could get collectible collectible figures of these
things interesting um he was also Rush himself was made into a wax figure and was at Madame Tussauds wow because
remember there was a time when Madame Tussauds had a chamber of Horrors section we had a couple of other people
that have been in that section yeah from long long ago like 1800s that's creepy yeah they had a chamber of horror
section that would have like murderers in it and like crime scenes and [ __ ] he
was on display in that from 1849 until 1971. wow yeah that's wild um there were several like you know I
think there was a novel made about this case there was um it was the inspiration
for a film from 1948 called Blanche for Blanche Fury which starred Valerie Hobson and Stuart Granger listen to that
and last but not least Charles Dickens was very intrigued by these murders random uh he was there for the execution
he was present for it I think I feel like he's been present at other restaurants Dickens loved an execution
yeah yeah he was he was at a couple you're right yeah he went later went to stanfield's uh hall because you could
you can still go and yeah still a house I mean you I think it's like a private residence now yes I don't go there don't
go there yeah don't do that but you could before like actually go and see it right right um and he called it which
this is such a [ __ ] talk this is a poet like author when they say he called it quote a grand place for a scoundrel's
exit oh that's that's nice you got a grand place for a Scoundrels exit that's deep what a what a thought and
that is the story of The Murders At Stanfield Hall wow what a what a a wild ride it was because I really thought
like Thomas and John yeah I thought they were gonna be like the the kios yeah the
main baddies no the big bads if you will and then they flip James on his ear because he's the one who stops them the
first time yeah and you don't think he's coming back no and I had no idea and then all of a sudden you're like guess
what like well [ __ ] James I was crazy really [ __ ] me up I'm gonna I'm gonna go have a glass of coffee after that's
me a glass piece of coffee I just said just go get a glass of coffee oh nice mug of dead sled baby dead sled well we
hope you keep listening and we hope you keep it you don't go buy our coffee because it's
so yummy it's gonna be so fun it's gonna be coffee and delicious yum [Music] foreign
[Music] [Music]

On November 28, 1848, Isaac Jermy and his son were shot and killed in their Wymondham estate, Stanfield Hall. After a brief search, investigators located the killer, James Blomfield Rush, a tenant farmer who was leasing land from Jermy and had fallen behind on his payments. Fearing eviction and destitution, Rush concocted a plan to kill the entire Jermy family and their staff, then cast blame on Jermy’s relatives, with whom the family had been feuding over the title of the estate. However, the plan fell apart when several of the victims survived and identified Rush as the killer.

Thank you to the lovely David White, of Bring Me the Ax podcast, for research assistance.

References

Bayne, A.D. 1849. The Stanfield Tragedy: A Complete Narrative. Norwich, England: Jarold and Sons.

Bristol Mercury. 1849. "Rush's trial." Bristol Mercury, April 7: 2.

Caledonian Mercury. 1849. "Execution of Rush." Caledonia Mercury, April 23.

Liverpool Mercury. 1848. "Horrible murders in Norfolk." Liverpool Mercury, December 5: 2.

Royal College of Physicians of London. 1850. A Full Report of the Trial of James Blomfield Rush for the

Murder of Mr. Jermy and His Son. London, England: W.M. Clark.

The Times. 1848. "Horrible murders at Stanfield Hall, near Wymondham." The Times, December 01: 5.

—. 1848. "The murders at Stanfield Hall." The Times, December 4: 3.

Brief Summary

The episode covers the 1848 Stanfield Hall murders by James Bloomfield Rush and the ensuing trial and execution.

Key points

Launching Morbid Coffee. Ash and Elena introduce their collaboration with Dead Sled Coffee, featuring two unique blends.
The Stanfield Hall Murders. A deep dive into the historical murders at Stanfield Hall, involving family feuds and legal battles.
James Rush's Troubled Life. The story of James Rush, who faced many challenges and legal troubles throughout his life.
The Unraveling Agreements. Rush enters multiple tenancy agreements, but they are discovered to be illegal.
A Fatal Hunting Trip. Rush's father-in-law dies under suspicious circumstances during a hunting trip.
The Forged Will. Rush forges his mother's will to gain control of her money after her death.

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

I love a building covered in Greenery and Moss and Ivy!

Ash describes her love for the estate's appearance.

6:05WatchOct 10, 2023

Tension

85/ 100High tension

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