Local man's link to gruesome murders (From Free Press Series)

Local man's link to gruesome murders

IT WAS early morning on July 17, 1878, when a boy ran home calling for his mother.

He'd seen a body lying in the garden of a neighbouring cottage near the village of Llangibby, on the Usk to Newport road.

With his mother, he returned to the cottage - and a scene of horror.

The bodies of William Watkins, his wife and their three children lay dead.

Their throats had been cut and the bodies of the children partially burned.

Four months later, an itinerant Spanish sailor was hanged for the multiple murders.

The jury took just two minutes to convict him, relying on what was mainly circumstantial evidence. Some thought he was a convenient scapegoat and that the trial was unfair.

The BBC Wales Crimesolvers programme re-examined the case recently.

In the programme, broadcast on June 31, former police chief Gerald Toms looked again at the evidence.

His conclusion - that while the trial was brief and probably unfair - the right man hanged.

For Keith Watkins, the programme offered nothing new. Keith, from the Varteg, discovered a tragic branch of his family tree after he began researching his ancestry.

A former merchant seaman, Keith, 80, found he was related to the murder victims. His grandfather James Watkins was the brother of the murdered man. After watching Crimesolvers he said: "I was a little bit apprehensive about the programme. I thought they might decide Garcia hadn't done it."

Spaniard Joseph Garcia was arrested at Newport as he tried to board a train for Cardiff. Garcia, 21, had walked from Usk, where he'd served nine months at Usk prison for burglary.

When he was held, he was wearing Watkins' boots and clothes and carrying food and items from the house. He was covered in blood.

Keith offered his view of what happened on that dark day.

"I think Garcia went to the house looking for something to eat," said Keith. "William Watkins was a big man. They could have got into an argument. It seems he was hit over the head with a piece of wood and his throat cut. His wife heard his screams and came out and she was killed too. Then he went into the house and killed the three children."

The children were aged eight, five and four. Four other, older children survived - they were away from home at the time.

The prosecution at his trial maintained Garcia slept the night in the bloody house after his murderous spree and left on the morning of July 17.

Garcia spoke little English, but his defence was that he had stumbled upon the bloody murder scene and found a bag filled with items from the house which had been left behind by the real felon. No evidence was offered to back up that version.

"I thought at first all the evidence was circumstantial, until I looked deeper," said Keith.

"Garcia was just 21. He'd been involved in armed fighting in Spain. He was used to violence and murder and armed robbery. I believe he did it."