Tom Francis Collins was an English drifter who was convicted and hanged for murder in Albert County, New Brunswick

Albert County, New Brunswick

Albert County is located in southeastern New Brunswick, Canada on the Chignecto Bay of the Bay of Fundy. Prior to the abolition of county government in 1967, the county seat was Hopewell Cape...

 in 1907. The events of the murder and trials resulted in several legal firsts in Canada.

Background

Tom Collins arrived in Albert County in the fall of 1906. He found room and board

Room and board

Room and board describes a situation where, in exchange for money, labor or other considerations, a person is provided with a place to live as well as meals on a comprehensive basis...

 with the parish priest of New Ireland, north of present day Fundy National Park

Fundy National Park

Fundy National Park is located on the Bay of Fundy, near the village of Alma, New Brunswick. The Park showcases both seashore habitats and highland Acadian forests...

. He was there about a week when the priest left on church business. When the priest returned he found the body of his housekeeper Mary Ann McAuley in the woodshed with an axe wound to the back of her head and her throat slit. Tom Collins could not be located in the area but was eventually found south of Saint John

Saint John, New Brunswick

City of Saint John , or commonly Saint John, is the largest city in the province of New Brunswick, and the first incorporated city in Canada. The city is situated along the north shore of the Bay of Fundy at the mouth of the Saint John River. In 2006 the city proper had a population of 74,043...

 in the community of St. George. He was found with a set of the priest's cloths and a pocket watch belonging to Mary Ann.

Tom Collins was taken into custody and questioned later that night. Collins gave his statement of what had happened that day, stating he had had an argument with Mary Ann but denying his guilt in the murder. This statement was not admitted at the first trial due to improper reading of Collins' rights.

First trial

The first trial began in January 1907. The prosecutor's case was circumstantial but it received assistance when the judge gave his final instructions to the jury stating in effect that the case was fully proven. The jury took two hours to come back with a verdict of guilty and the judge immediately ordered Collins hanged. The verdict was overturned on the basis of a judicial misdirection, a first in Canadian legal history.

Second trial

The second trial began on June 25, 1907 with Collins himself taking the stand. The jury deliberated two days but were unable to come to a unanimous verdict, with seven in favour of innocence and five opposed. A hung jury

Hung jury

A hung jury or deadlocked jury is a jury that cannot, by the required voting threshold, agree upon a verdict after an extended period of deliberation and is unable to change its votes due to severe differences of opinion.- England and Wales :...

 was declared which precipitated a third trial.

Third trial

The third trial began in the fall of 1907, presided over by the noted Daniel Lionel Hanington

Daniel Lionel Hanington

Daniel Lionel Hanington was a New Brunswick, Canada politician and jurist.He was born at Shediac, New Brunswick, the son of Daniel Hanington, and was educated there and at Mount Allison Academy in Sackville. He went on to study law and was called to the New Brunswick bar in 1861. In that same...

. The trial faced immediate trouble selecting the jury. Having had two previous trials and a media circus

Media circus

Media circus is a colloquial metaphor, or idiom, describing a news event where the media coverage is perceived to be out of proportion to the event being covered, such as the number of reporters at the scene, the amount of news media published or broadcast, and the level of media hype...

 surrounding the case, it was difficult to find twelve impartial jurors. 120 people were examined, a record at the time, before a suitable jury was selected. Tom Collins was found guilty and sentenced to be hanged.

Execution

There were several appeals to Ottawa and a last-minute plea to Governor General Earl Grey

Albert Grey, 4th Earl Grey

Albert Henry George Grey, 4th Earl Grey was a British nobleman and politician who served as Governor General of Canada, the ninth since Canadian Confederation....

 who, on the advice of the Privy Council

Queen's Privy Council for Canada

The Queen's Privy Council for Canada ), sometimes called Her Majesty's Privy Council for Canada or simply the Privy Council, is the full group of personal consultants to the monarch of Canada on state and constitutional affairs, though responsible government requires the sovereign or her viceroy,...

, declined commutation

Commutation of sentence

Commutation of sentence involves the reduction of legal penalties, especially in terms of imprisonment. Unlike a pardon, a commutation does not nullify the conviction and is often conditional. Clemency is a similar term, meaning the lessening of the penalty of the crime without forgiving the crime...

. He was hanged by executioner John Radclive at the Albert County Jail on November 15, 1907.