Till death us do part - cold blooded killing
Extract from Tough Times and Grisly Crimes
Jealousy has been the motive for numerous murders throughout history but few have been so tragically-timed as a cold-blooded killing on Wearside in 1891.
A cold Autumn wind blew through the village of Hetton on October 31 as a small group of men sat in the ale house sipping beer by the warm glow of the fire. They paid little attention to a lone figure seated next to the window, glaring out into Station Road and gently swigging the dregs of his sixth glass of beer. It was only 11 o’clock in the morning but Billy Johnson’s mind was already blurred with drink as he gripped the pistol concealed under his jacket. Today was the day Johnson’s mind would snap under the pressure of the love he felt for one woman – and the hatred he felt for one man. For 17 years, the middle-aged farm labourer had lodged with Margaret Addison, at her small, terraced house in Four Lane Ends.
