I found this today, regarding the murder,....
Extract from Crime and Criminals in Victorian Lincolnshire by Adrian Gray A confusing case where disability was clearly an issue arose over the murder of a village schoolmistress at Quadring, near Spalding, in 1892. Miss Mary Spencer, aged 40, lived in a cottage just off the turnpike road, and pupils came to her for lessons there. One Friday morning the scholars arrived to find the blinds still down. As the door was unlocked, one or two ventured to look inside, and found a dreadful scene. The floors, wall and furniture were spattered with blood and the body of Miss Spencer lay with its head half-severed. News of the brutal murder spread rapidly through the district and the scene was discussed by a Mr Loughland, a land surveyor, with a friend. He was overheard by a labourer called Hewitt, who commented, ‘I wonder what Bill’s been up to. He was out all night and came home covered in blood,’ Hewitt’s son was soon arrested and most of the details of the case had been collected together by the time the inquest was held at the Brown Cow Inn. Bill Hewitt, aged 22, was a ‘very good looking’ and powerful man, who was both deaf and dumb. His family seems to have tried to tell the truth, reporting that he came home late on the night of the murder and acted in a disturbed or frightened manner. He changed his clothes, getting rid of a blue smock, and attempted to wash a white shirt himself rather than letting his mother do it. The shirt was found by a policeman between his mattress and the bed with blood marks on it. Through an interpreter, Hewitt explained that he’d got drunk and had had a nosebleed, which he used as the explanation for bloody marks found on his knife. He claimed to have seen a ‘man with a bundle’ pass Miss Spencer’s house on the Thursday night, and to have been frightened by a mysterious stranger outside his own house. However, the Coroner’s court recorded that Miss Spencer had been murdered and Hewitt was sent to Lincoln gaol. What was unclear was the reason for Miss Spencer’s death. Hewitt died of tuberculosis whilst still in prison, so the extent by which he was hampered through his disabilities was never made clear. It was reported, that he had had dinner at Miss Spencer’s house during the fateful week. The full story, however, must remain a mystery.
