Book Review: Last Man Hanging

Author: Kelvin Whelan Genre: Crime, Thriller & Mystery Price: £12.99

Published: April 2025 by Blue Ormer Publishing Review by: Keith Le Page

Sometimes one can be slightly dubious when asked to do a book review. And this was the case when asked to look at ‘Last Man Hanging’, the 1853-54 true story of John Charles Tapner, the last man hanged in Guernsey.

But I shouldn’t have had any concerns.This is a well-researched book that is good to read, and that makes an important contribution to Guernsey’s history. It takes you through the events of the tale in stages, starting with the murder of Elizabeth Saujon, then the investigation and subsequent trial, a confession, and finally execution. You might think that this could be rather grisly, but the story is told well, with details about the complexity of the case that makes for a fascinating narrative.

Wherever possible, the dialogue reflects the words actually spoken, as reported by the journalists of ‘The Comet’ and ‘The Star’ newspapers, who covered the trial in detail. The trial was sensational news and the revelation of John’s various wrong doings including a secret affair made the story even more interesting to the newspaper readers.

In some senses this remains a murder mystery novel, even though the end result is known. John Charles Tapner was convicted on circumstantial evidence, and the reader is left to judge whether the conviction was sound, and whether the verdict would have been the same today.

As is well known, Victor Hugo was a lifelong opponent of the death penalty, and he took a serious interest in this case. He was yet to arrive in Guernsey but wrote an address to the people of Guernsey seeking support to press the Home Secretary to commute the death sentence to transportation.

All the petitions failed, and John Charles Tapner was duly executed on 10th February 1854. This did not go smoothly, with the problems blamed on the executioner. The story strengthens opposition to the death penalty, and it is good that no-one has been executed in Guernsey for over 170 years.