Dog Uncovers Victorian Poison Bottle

0:00On March 20th, a dog lover in Devon thinks his pet has uncovered a clue from a famous Victorian murder. Paul Phillips, a 49-year-old from Clist-Hanaton, says his labrador, Stanley, dug up a blue glass bottle marked, not to be taken right in. Their backyard. Phillips believes it ties back to Marianne Ashford, who was hanged in 1866 for poisoning her husband with arsenic. Marianne stood trial at the Devon Lentissizes on March 16th, 1866, after allegedly plotting to kill her husband for his, inheritance, so she could run off with a much younger lover. The jury took just minutes to convict her of murder by arsenic. Her public execution in Exeter drew 20,000 spectators, but it went horribly wrong, leaving her struggling for minutes before death. That grim scene reportedly swayed public opinion and helped push Britain to end hangings in front of crowds by the 1860s. Phillips lives next door to where the Ashfords resided in 1865 and Stanley kept returning

1:00to dig in the exact same spot despite repairs. An online search showed these blue bottles were common poise and containers from the mid-19th century, matching reports from Marianne's case. While experts haven't confirmed the link yet, this backyard fine has locals buzzing about echoes of that dark history still buried nearby.