Catherine Hall was born in 1690 near Birmingham, England, into a poor family. At the age of 16, she secured employment as a servant in the household of a Warwickshire farmer named Hayes. During her tenure, she became acquainted with John Hayes, the farmer's 21-year-old son who worked as a carpenter. The two developed a romantic relationship and married within a year. 

The couple eventually moved to London, where they opened a small shop on Oxford Road in Tyburn. John Hayes also found success as a moneylender. Together, they had 12 children, though many did not survive infancy. Catherine later claimed that John was abusive, alleging that he forbade her from attending church and was responsible for the deaths of their newborns.

In late 1725, the Hayes household took in two lodgers: Thomas Wood and Thomas Billings. Catherine became intimately involved with both men and conspired with them to murder her husband. On March 1, 1726, the trio executed their plan. They encouraged John to partake in a drinking challenge, and once he was inebriated, Wood and Billings attacked him. 

To hinder identification, they dismembered his body, discarding parts in a pond in Marylebone Fields and throwing his head into the River Thames. The head was discovered the following day and displayed in the churchyard of St. Margaret's in Westminster, leading to John's identification. By March 24, the remaining body parts were found. Catherine and Billings were arrested, with Wood apprehended shortly thereafter. 

Wood confessed, implicating both Billings and Catherine. While Billings admitted his involvement, Catherine denied any participation in the crime. Despite her pleas of innocence, she was convicted of petty treason—a charge for a wife murdering her husband—and sentenced to be burned at the stake. Wood and Billings were sentenced to death by hanging. 

Wood died of fever in Newgate Prison before his execution, and Billings was hanged and his body displayed in chains in Marylebone Fields. Catherine's execution on May 9, 1726, was notably gruesome; the executioner failed to strangle her before the fire was lit, resulting in her being burned alive. ​