On February 25 1867, it was a cold and snowy evening in Newmarket, New Jersey. Reverend Charles Little was at home relaxing until someone began knocking on his door. The reverend opened the door to a barefoot woman named Bridget Deignan. She held a baby in her arms.

The young woman shared a horrible story with Reverend Little. Two men had broken into her home and murdered her employer Mary Ellen Coriell. After beating Mrs. Coriell to death, the men set the house on fire. Bridget grabbed the baby and fled.

The young woman was a servant for the reverend’s neighbors—Doctor William Coriell and his wife Mary Ellen. The couple were well-known and respected in the community. After locals saw the burning Coriell house, they rushed to the house to offer their assistance.

One witness said thick black smoke poured from the house. He entered the house and found the deceased body of Mrs. Mary Ellen Coriell. Someone had stabbed and beaten her to death.

Bridget told authorities she saw two men outside the house around 8:30 p.m. They left and returned two hours later. Bridget said the men had broken into the house intending to rob the family. She described one man as tall and the other as short.

After Bridget identified the two killers as strangers, she changed her story and blamed two local men named Michael Hunt and Brian Doyle as the killers. She changed her story again and claimed Anne Linen, a servant for another family, had killed Mrs. Coriell. After naming Anne Linen, Bridget changed her story again and claimed an Irish woman named Mary Gilroy had killed Mary Ellen Coriell. Like Bridget, Gilroy had also left Ireland to work in America.

Authorities soon excluded Hunt, Doyle and Linen, but considered Bridget Deignan the killer and Mary Gilroy as a potential accomplice.

So who was Bridget Deignan?

Bridget left Ireland seeking opportunity. She embarked on a journey to America and found employment as a servant.

On October 22, 1866, William Coriell and his wife Mary Ellen hired Bridget as a servant. She cared for the home and Mamie, the couple’s two-year-old daughter. Doctor Coriell once served in the Civil war and treated Bridget for catalepsy, a condition associated with catatonic seizures and muscular rigidity.

At first, the arrangement worked. The Coriells paid Bridget well and trusted her with Mamie. Bridget, however, soon confused the doctor’s kindness for affection. She became infatuated with the doctor and began planning Mrs. Coriell’s demise. Bridget had grown to despise Mary Ellen.

After four months of service, Mary Ellen fired Bridget because her medical condition prevented her from performing her job duties. Bridget’s dirty habits also angered Mary Ellen. The Coriells agreed to dismiss Bridget, who became unhinged after her termination. Although she despised Mary Ellen, losing her job sent Bridget into a maniacal rage.

On February 25, 1867, Bridget worked her final day for the Coriells. She spent the day seething with hatred and anger towards Mary Ellen. Later in the evening, Doctor Coriell left home to deliver a baby in a nearby town. Bridget Deignan then decided to murder Mary Ellen Coriell.

Mary Ellen was roughly five feet tall and weighed 100 pounds. She would be no match for Bridget’s violent assault. The angry servant grabbed a butcher knife and stick. She beat Mary Ellen with the stick and stabbed her several times with the butcher knife.

A newspaper report stated there were over twenty gashes, teeth marks and hair torn from the dead woman’s scalp. The victim also had many bruises. And since bruises aren’t postmortem, this meant Mary Ellen lived to suffer a painful death. To destroy evidence, Bridget then set the house on fire. She then grabbed Mamie and fled to Israel Coriell, the doctor’s cousin for help. He referred her to Reverend Little.

Bridget took Mamie to the reverend’s home and told him that two men had broken into the home, killed Mrs. Coriell, and then set the house on fire. She had rescued the baby and escaped. However, her story changed several times. The reverend also noticed a handprint sized blood spot on her white skirt. Bridget also reeked of kerosene, which made her a suspect in setting the house on fire.

After completing their investigation, authorities charged Bridget Deignan with murdering Mary Ellen Coriell. A letter in the New York Times described Bridget as an immoral and inhuman woman with no character of beauty. The trial captivated thousands since women rarely committed such brutal murders.

On May 31, 1867, Bridget Deignan was found guilty and sentenced to hang. She didn’t show any reaction. Authorities also decided Bridget committed the murder alone after she told authorities Mary Gilroy wasn’t an accomplice.

On the morning of August 30, 1867, authorities hanged Bridget Deignan. Afterward, authorities permitted the crowd to observe her body.

Before her execution, she wrote a confession letter and admitted to killing Mary Ellen Coriell. She had planned the crime long before the night it occurred. Several newspapers shared the confession letter, but the details varied.

After Bridget’s death, the media portrayed her as an illiterate beast. Although she was found guilty, some people think the police coerced her into writing a confession letter. But no one knows for sure. Today’s historians consider the case closed; they also believe obsession and hate had driven Bridget Deignan into a murderous rage.

Marc is a longtime resident of Clermont County and an avid reader. Contact him through his website at www.themarcabe.com or through Facebook: www.Facebook.com/themarcabe or his Twitter account @themarcabe