MURDERER AS GUEST

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LXVI, 6 January 1936, Page 8

MURDERER AS GUEST

In a book, “Leaves From the Life of a Country Doctor,’’ by Dr. Gunn, of Peebles, there is disclosed the extraordinary fact that the notorious murderer Deeming once attended a Burns “nicht” at Peebles. The supper was in one of tlie local hotels, with Dr. Gunn as croupier. There arrived from the landlord a message asking whether the company would allow two visitors who were staying in the hotel to join the party. The diners, full of the Burns spirit, were only too glad to grant permission, and two unobtrusive men entered. They were made welcome, took their places at the festive, board, and joined in the conversations during the evening, without introductions. The diners heard later, to their horror, that one of the guests was Deeming, who, in an isolated house near Manchester, to which lie had conveyed his wife and several children, had murdered all, and had buried them beneath the kitchen floor.