On 17th February in 1903 William Hughes was hanged in the jail and his body buried in the grounds. Hughes, from Denbugh, had fought with the British army in India, separated from his wife in 1901 after the death of one of their children. William was prosecuted for "family desertion" and in 1902 was sentenced to three months in the gaol. He was released in November 1902, procured a double-barrel gun, went to the home where his wife was working and shot her dead. Hughes surrendered to the police. Despite a plea of insanity he was found guilty of murder, the jury taking only ten minutes to decide his fate. He was executed at 8 o'clock in the morning and it is said the last thing he did before his death was look at a photograph of his family.