True Crime On The North Fork: The Wickham Axe Murders

At 1:30 a.m. on Saturday, June 3, 1854, Mr. and Ms. Bettes of Cutchogue, New York awoke to the sound of two neighbor girls pounding at their front door.

“For God’s sake go to our house, there’s a murder being committed!” the girls screamed.

According to the reports from 150-plus years ago, Ms. Bettes, thinking the girls had gone mad, told her husband, “Don’t let them in!”

But Mr. Bettes ignored his wife and went to the door to find out what was wrong.

The two girls were Ellen Holland and Catherine Dowd and they worked as servants for the Wickham family, who lived 600 yards from the Bettes. After hearing what the two servant girls had to say, Mr. Bettes solicited the help of his neighbors, Dr. Carpenter and Mr. Corwin, and all three set out toward the Wickhams’ farmhouse.

The three men cautiously approached the house and stood outside listening for any sounds. Not hearing anything, they circled around and located James and Frances Wickham’s bedroom window, which was wide open. It was at this time that they heard the groaning sounds of Mr. and Ms. Wickham inside.

The men quickly procured a light, broke down the back door and made their way carefully up the stairs. Upon entering the bedroom, Dr. Carpenter saw Mr. Wickham on the floor covered in blood. He was raised up on his hands and knees.

“Oh my! Oh dear!” Mr. Wickham said as he collapsed to the floor.

Those were the last words Mr. Wickham would ever speak.

Dr. Carpenter rushed to Mr. Wickham’s side to render medical aid and discovered that he had no less than 20 wounds about the face and head. His jaw was broken in three places and his skull smashed behind both ears. Both his face and skull were virtually covered with cuts and bruises. Mr. Wickham’s hands, face and body showed evidence of a violent struggle.

He remained in what was termed an “insensible” condition for 20 hours and died a little after 8 p.m. that night.

Ms. Wickham, who was unconscious at the scene, lasted only two hours before her death.

An African-American boy who worked for the Wickhams, 14-year-old Stephen Winston, was found in a downstairs room by the kitchen. He had suffered terrible injuries to his head, including a severed ear and a fractured skull.

He was taken to the local hospital where doctors declared there was no hope for recovery. The young man, who never regained consciousness, was described as a “favorite” in the household.

Later, Ms. Holland and Ms. Dowd would repeat their story in more detail to the police.

At 12:30 a.m. the girls said they awoke to the sounds of a barking dog and horrible screaming inside of the house.

“Nicholas! Don’t kill him! Don’t kill him! Take what you want but don’t kill him!” Ms. Holland reported that Ms. Wickham said.

Upon hearing that, Ms. Holland said she woke her roommate, Ms. Dowd, and they crouched down in the upstairs room, listening as Ms. Wickham’s screams grew louder. At some point, both girls realized that they were listening to the sounds of a murder taking place.

Too frightened to run downstairs and make their escape, they decided to exit through the garret window and make their way across the kitchen roof to the milk house roof, where both girls were able to jump to the ground and run to the Bettes’ farm for help.

They pointed the finger at Nicholas Behan, a farmhand who had been dismissed five days before the murders and had left under unpleasant circumstances. Before leaving, Mr. Behan had threatened everyone in the house.

(Note: Nicholas Behan’s name was actually Beheehan. But after moving to America from Ireland, he began using Bain and Behan. For the purpose of this article he is referred to as Behan.)

Word quickly spread throughout the township that three murders had been committed and the culprit was on the loose. People began gathering in the streets as news of the murders spread.

From the looks of the bed clothing, the police deduced that the Wickhams were awake when the attack began. The killer struck with “the ferocity of a demon,” according to the reports, delivering more than 20 blows to the face and head of Mr. Wickham. The evidence indicated that the killer grabbed Ms. Wickham by the throat to stop her screams and struck her twice in the forehead with an axe. She then fell to the floor. Her bed clothing had been removed at some point after the attack.

It was later determined that after the girls had escaped the house, the murderer had proceeded up the stairs in search of them. Finding their room empty, he returned to the Wickham’s bedroom, stepped over the bodies, raised the window and jumped out, leaving traces of blood from his hands and stocking feet.

Blood was also found on the fence and the killer left his tracks through the cornfield as he made his escape toward the woods.

By daylight, a large search party was formed. The citizens of Cutchogue and the surrounding communities began a massive manhunt for Mr. Behan.

As the angry mob searched through the swamps and the woods and pounded the streets looking for the murderer, word came from Greenport that Mr. Behan was begging food from residents and living in an Irish shanty located there. The news was that he had breakfast at Mr. Thompson’s house that morning and at 8 p.m. in the evening he was again seen at the house of Mr. Thompson, asking for something to eat and drink.

When in the house the second time that day, Mr. Thompson asked Mr. Behan if he was not the man that used to live with the Wickhams. Mr. Behan replied, yes, he was.

“Then you are the man who has done these murders,” Mr. Thompson was reported to have said.

Mr. Behan replied, “Yes but I did not do as much as I meant to do.”

Upon hearing the confession, Mr. Thompson seized his gun and stood across the doorway. In response, Mr. Behan drew a pistol from his pocket and pointed it toward Mr. Thompson. But no shots were fired and Mr. Behan eventually raised the kitchen window and was able to get away.

A number of neighbors ran after Mr. Behan armed with guns, pistols and two large dogs. He was spotted along the railroad near the woods several times but managed to escape the searchers each time.

The next day, hundreds of men were stationed along the railroad between Greenport and Cutchogue, armed with all sorts of weapons. They carried everything from rusty old pocket pistols to a venerable Revolutionary War musket. And yet, by the next evening, Mr. Behan still had not been captured.

In the meantime, officers Dowling and Nesmith were dispatched by Justice Osborne to assist in the search for the murderer. At 8 p.m. on Sunday, the officers left Riverhead by the Long Island Rail Road on a handcar. They used the handcar to travel up and down the railroad in order to supervise the situation and aid the searchers in any way they could.

At 3 a.m., a local country man came to Officer Dowling and told him that Mr. Behan had been seen crossing the railroad. The officer immediately directed the searchers to fire their guns as a signal to others to “close in.”

The party quickly surrounded the area and after only a few minutes Mr. Behan was found, covered with trees and branches in such a manner as to be completely hidden with the exception of his boots, which were visible.

Upon the capture of the alleged murderer, the officers had difficulty controlling the bloodthirsty crowds.

Mr. Behan, who feigned that he was dying as he was being carried out of the woods, had made an attempt at suicide by cutting his throat but he failed to make a serious wound. The cut was 3 inches in length and “not of a nature to end his existence.” A razor case was found near the place where he had been hiding.

The officers found a pistol, a knife and some papers on Mr. Behan’s person, which was described as “large boned, round shouldered, red faced, no whiskers, long arms and dark sunken eyes.” Medical assistance was summoned, but when the suspect was bathed and all the blood washed from his face and throat, it became evident that he was not seriously hurt.

Afterward, perhaps the most chilling account of that night came from Mr. Behan himself. When it came time to save his own skin, he willingly told his story to the police, in the hopes of gaining some leniency.

“I took my trunk and belongings to the O’Conner home in Greenport on the day of the murders,” Mr. Behan reportedly confessed. “After a hearty dinner, I headed for Cutchogue. I arrived at the Wickham house by 11. I got the post axe from the wood pile and got into the house through the window in the kitchen. I passed up into the garret where the boy slept and I struck him three or four times over the head with the axe. I did not kill him owing to the lowness of the roof which prevented my swinging the axe ... Upon opening the door to the hallway Mrs. Wickham called out ‘Who’s that?’ and then stated ‘Nicholas, what are you doing here? What do you want?’”

“Mr. Wickham then sprang to the door and I attempted to strike him with the axe. I then struck him in the mouth with my fist. Mrs. Wickham was crying out, ‘Don’t kill him Nicholas, take anything you want but don’t kill him!’ And in her struggles with me she tore off part of my shirt. I struck Mr. Wickham several blows with the axe in the struggle. While I was striking Mr. Wickham, I observed that Mrs. Wickham was trying to get out of the window. I pulled her back and then finished her with the axe.”

“Mr. Wickham got up three times and I hit him several blows each time. I passed through the parlor and up the stairs of the main building to the servant girls room but found the door and window opened. Finding that they had escaped, I could find no way out of the house so I was obliged to go through Mr. Wickham’s room and through the window.”

“I threw my axe and lamp out of the window and then dropped out myself. I went back to Greenport. I got there at 2 in the morning and slept until daylight. I passed into the bushes and remained there during the day and at night went to the house of Mr. Thompson, an Irishman, and asked for food and drink.”

“Mr. Thompson said, ‘You are the man that lived with the Wickhams?’ I replied, ‘Yes.’ Thompson then stepped between me and the door and presented a gun to my breast. I drew a pistol and said, ‘I have murdered one and am not done yet. If you stop me, I will shoot you.’”

“I was able to jump out of the window and run into the woods. I then crossed the railroad bridge to get to New York on foot. It was then that I was hailed and ordered to stop by someone who snapped a gun or pistol at me. I turned and ran back into the woods again and was chased by two men. I laid down in the woods and stayed there until 8 or 9 on Sunday morning. On Sunday night I made another attempt to go west toward the city and was shot at by three men.”

“I went back into the woods and laid down. Monday I saw the people searching the woods but did not change my position. I laid still until they came within a few feet of me and I saw that they had discovered me. I then took a razor from my pocket and cut my throat.”

Mr. Behan further confessed that it was his intention to “ravish the girl Ellen and kill both Ellen and Catherine.”

He was then asked why he wanted to kill the Wickhams.

He replied that he felt angry toward Mr. Wickham for discharging him and he disliked Ms. Wickham for “taking the side of the servant girl Ellen Holland.”

On December 15, 1854, Nicholas Behan was hanged. He was the last man hanged in Suffolk County, New York.

Special thanks to Mariella Ostroski of Cutchogue-New Suffolk Free Library, Tom Wickham and Prudence Heston.