As the sound of the slow moving waters in the near distance began to  reemerge, the startled birds which had fled to nearby pastures could  still be heard in the darkened sky above as the figure of a man stumbled  onto his feet.   In the distance, the low rumble of thunder could be  heard, menacingly making its way towards him.

With his hands shaking and holding a small bottle, he turned around  but could barely look at the sight in front of him.  Lifting the bottle  to his lips, the stranger nervously opened his mouth, slowly emptying  the contents and taking a couple of gulps in the process.

He then paused for a few seconds before collapsing back onto his  knees as the darkness of the night slowly encompassed him.  And with the  first specks of rain beginning to fall, he laid himself down onto the  ground, closing his eyes for one last time – or so he thought.

The week leading up to Saturday, 3rd July, 1926 had been one of ups and downs for the Barker family, with Willie Stanworth Barker, a weaver by trade, apparently becoming tired of his wife’s whereabouts in recent weeks.

But life wasn’t always like this and after Willie and Sarah had  married on the 19th August, 1911 – they had enjoyed a relatively happy  marriage up until the end of the war in 1918.  Together, they had three  children, a daughter who was 14 years old and two son’s, one aged 11 and  the other being 3.

Sarah was one to enjoy socialising and it appears that since the end  of the war, she had began staying out late at night, and although she  would always inform her husband of where she had been, it appears Willie  would turn a blind eye and apparently believe everything he was being  told.

However, on Monday, 28th June, and after another late night outing,  Sarah returned home and despite her reassurances that she had been with  friends, Willie complained, telling Sarah that she had to stop in her  ways and spend more time with her family over that of her friends.   Whilst no row took place, Willie made it clear he was unhappy with his  wife’s apparently wayward lifestyle.

As the week wore on, the tensions that had been apparent between  Willie and Sarah would become a thing of the past and by Saturday, 3rd  July, Sarah would spend some time with her children, taking them into  Burnley.  Her daughter, Alice, had been poorly and so Sarah had been out  to pick up some medicine.  As for Willie, he had left home at around  1.30pm in the afternoon to help his brother-in-law with haymaking over  at Haggate House Farm.   However, when he returned home  later that evening, at around ten o’clock, his youngest son would soon  inform him that Sarah had ‘gone out’.

Three days later, and at four o’clock in the morning on Tuesday, 6th July, twenty-six year old, Richard Kay Massey stood at the front door of his home, which he had shared with his  mother, Ellen, at number 16 Hill Street.  Shaking, he knocked nervously  on the door and waited for someone to answer.

It didn’t take long and as the door opened, he smiled at the welcoming figure that appeared in front of him.

“Feel at me, mam.” he said in a soft tone of voice.  “I have killed that woman and I have taken poison.”

For more on this story, please visit our website : www.daysofhorror.com