 Bury was orphaned at an early age and was educated at a charitable school in the English Midlands . After a few years in regular employment as a clerk , he fell into financial difficulty , was dismissed for theft , and became a street peddler . In 1887 , he moved to London , where he married probable prostitute Ellen Elliot . During their stormy marriage , which lasted just over a year , they faced increasing financial hardship . In January 1889 , they moved to Dundee . The following month , he strangled his wife with a rope , stabbed her dead body with a penknife , and hid the corpse in a box in their room . A few days later , he presented himself to the local police and was arrested for her murder . Tried and convicted , he was sentenced to death by hanging . Shortly before his execution , he confessed to the crime . Although Bury 's guilt was not in doubt , Dundee had a history of opposition to the death penalty and The Dundee Courier printed an editorial the day after his execution decrying the " judicial butcheries " of capital punishment . 
