 In 1678 a local innkeeper , John Barnes was hanged after being found guilty of highway robbery . He had waylaid , with the help of accomplices , a coach travelling from Exeter to London and made off with about £ 600 but he was recognised by the guards from Exeter , where he had been a taverner . Another local man called Tom Austin was hanged in August 1694 . Although he had been wealthy , he spent all his money and turned to highway robbery . He killed Sir Zachary Wilmott during a robbery . Then , in a single day in 1694 , he killed his aunt , her five children , his own wife and his two children . 
