Dennis John Whitty was born in 1941 in England. By 1963, at the age of 22, he was living a transient lifestyle in a caravan at Kenwyn Caravan Park near Truro, Cornwall. He shared the cramped accommodation with his close associate Russell Pascoe, aged 23, and three young women.

Whitty worked as a labourer at Truro Gas Works, though his life outside of work was unstable. Accounts suggest that he was impressionable and heavily influenced by stronger personalities, including Pascoe. Those who knew him recalled his eccentric behavior, and his defense team would later raise questions about his mental health, pointing to claims of blackouts, hallucinations, and epileptic fits.

He reportedly believed in supernatural occurrences, once claiming he had seen a “figure with wings” on a beach and telling others he experienced doors opening and pictures moving on their own. His fiancée, Bridget Hamilton, remained devoted to him, even appearing outside his prison during his final hours.

On the night of August 14, 1963, Dennis Whitty and his accomplice Russell Pascoe carried out a premeditated attack on 64-year-old farmer William Garfield Rowe, who lived alone at Nanjarrow Farm near Falmouth, Cornwall. Pascoe had previously worked for Rowe and believed the reclusive farmer kept large sums of cash hidden in his home.

Armed with an iron bar, a starting pistol, and a knife, the two men rode to Rowe’s farmhouse on Pascoe’s motorcycle. Whitty dressed in dark clothing with a blazer resembling a uniform, enabling him to pose as an official when he knocked on Rowe’s door. Claiming that they had crashed a helicopter nearby, Whitty asked to use Rowe’s telephone.

When Rowe admitted them, the men launched their assault. Whitty used the knife while Pascoe wielded the iron bar. Rowe was savagely beaten and stabbed multiple times. He sustained six or seven head wounds, a fractured skull, broken jaw, a severed finger, and five chest wounds—one piercing his heart. The ferocity of the attack shocked the local community and was described in court as “brutal and savage in the extreme.”

The killers searched the farmhouse but found very little. Their entire haul amounted to £4 in cash, a watch, two boxes of matches, and a set of keys. The two split the money, taking just £2 each, before returning to their caravan in Truro. Whitty was seen grinning after the murder, while Pascoe wiped blood from his face.

The following day, Pascoe’s girlfriend confronted Whitty with a newspaper headline about the murder. When asked if he was involved, Whitty admitted, “Yes I did.” Both men also threatened the young women they lived with, warning them not to talk to police.

On August 16, 1963, Pascoe was stopped by police while riding his motorcycle near Constantine. He was taken in for questioning, and his link to Rowe soon raised suspicions. Whitty was arrested the same day. During interrogation, both men blamed each other for the killing. Whitty admitted stabbing Rowe but insisted Pascoe forced him into it, saying: “Pascoe made me stick him.” Pascoe countered that Whitty had “gone mad with the knife.”

At Bodmin Assizes in late October, Whitty’s defense lawyer, Norman Skelhorn QC, argued that Whitty either acted under Pascoe’s influence or suffered from diminished responsibility due to his unstable mental health. Witnesses described him as prone to epileptic fits. Future Liberal politician David Penhaligon, then a 19-year-old student, testified that Whitty was known for unpredictable seizures.

The jury deliberated for four and a half hours before convicting both men of murder on October 29, 1963. Judge Mr Justice Thesiger sentenced them both to death.

Appeals were rejected on November 23, 1963, and petitions for clemency were denied by both Home Secretary Henry Brooke and the Queen.

On the morning of December 17, 1963, Dennis John Whitty was executed by hangman Robert Leslie Stewart, assisted by Harry Robinson, at Winchester Prison. His accomplice, Russell Pascoe, was hanged simultaneously at Horfield Prison in Bristol by Harry Allen.

Outside Winchester, a small group of protesters gathered, including Whitty’s fiancée, Bridget Hamilton, who collapsed as the prison clock struck eight o’clock, the time of his execution. Whitty was buried in an unmarked grave within the prison grounds.