Nicholas Bain (c. 1824 – December 15, 1854), also known as Beheehan or Behan, was an American farmworker who murdered three people on Long Island in 1854, a crime that gained much notoriety. The author

Charles Dickens Charles John Huffam Dickens (; 7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English novelist, journalist, short story writer and Social criticism, social critic. He created some of literature's best-known fictional characters, and is regarded by ...

commented on this crime in his ''Household Narrative of Current Events'' periodical. In May 1854, Bain had been working for James and Francis Wickham on their farm near

Cutchogue, New York Cutchogue ( ) is a Hamlet (New York), hamlet and census-designated place (CDP) in Suffolk County, New York, Suffolk County, New York (state), New York, United States, on the North Fork (Long Island), North Fork of Long Island's East End (Long Isl ...

, for the past two years. Bain asked Ellen Holland, a female servant at the farm, to marry him, but she rejected his proposal. An enraged Bain then threatened her. Holland later discovered that Bain had stolen $30 from her room and she complained to James Wickham. He fired Bain on June 1, 1854. Around midnight that same day, Bain murdered the Wickhams and attacked Stephen Winston, a young servant boy who survived, at the house with an axe. Bain first attacked the boy downstairs while he slept, then murdered the couple in their bedroom after a violent struggle. Bain later said that his intent was to rape Holland and then kill the two owners out of revenge. However, Holland and another servant girl had fled the house to get help. Authorities quickly identified Bain as the killer because he left his hat and distinctively large bloody footprints at the murder scene. According to his confession, Bain's plan after the murders was to take the ferry that day from

Long Island Long Island is a densely populated continental island in southeastern New York (state), New York state, extending into the Atlantic Ocean. It constitutes a significant share of the New York metropolitan area in both population and land are ...

New London, CT New London is a seaport city and a port of entry on the northeast coast of the United States, located at the outlet of the Thames River in New London County, Connecticut, which empties into Long Island Sound. The city is part of the Southeaste ...

and then catch a train to New York City. However, a crowd near the dock made him fear capture. His next plan was to take a train on Long Island to New York, but he was unable to hop onto a

box car A boxcar is the North American (Association of American Railroads, AAR) and South Australian Railways term for a Railroad car#Freight cars, railroad car that is enclosed and generally used to carry freight. The boxcar, while not the simpl ...

. Desperate at this point, Bain went into a swamp to hide. That evening he went to the house of a fellow Irishman in the area to get food, but the man attempted to detain Bain. However, Bain escaped and ran back into the woods. On June 6, after an extensive manhunt with 1,000 searchers from towns all around

Suffolk County, New York Suffolk County ( ) is the easternmost county in the U.S. state of New York, constituting the eastern two-thirds of Long Island. It is bordered to its west by Nassau County, to its east by Gardiners Bay and the open Atlantic Ocean, to its no ...

, Bain was found and arrested in the woods near Cutchogue. Sheriff's deputies had to draw their weapons to prevent an angry crowd from immediately

lynching Lynching is an extrajudicial killing by a group. It is most often used to characterize informal public executions by a mob in order to punish an alleged or convicted transgressor or to intimidate others. It can also be an extreme form of i ...

him. While receiving medical treatment for a wound, Bain confessed to all three murders. He was later convicted and then hanged on December 15, 1854.

References

1820s births 1854 deaths 19th-century executions of American people 19th-century executions by New York (state) American people executed for murder {{US-crime-bio-stub People convicted of murder by New York (state) People executed by New York (state) by hanging Axe murder