The story of the murder of Mr. Smith has entered English criminal history as one of the classic "cut-throat" cases involving a pair of killers.
Another example of such a case is that of Frederick Guy Browne and William Kennedy for the murder of Police Constable George Gutteridge in 1928.
He lived alone (though he had a gardener in the daytime), and apparently pegged his safety on some trap-guns set up on the grounds; unfortunately, he did not have any secondary level of protection.
They entered the house and found that Smith had been bound with shreds of blankets and had sustained several head wounds.
Burrell was aware of the younger brother-in-law of Milsome reportedly having a toy lantern, but understood he could not question him or other members of the family about it without tipping them off about its significance.
It eventually turned out that the men were together in a small travelling waxworks that journeyed to fairs around the country, with Fowler acting as the strong man in the circus.
Fowler denied knowing anything about the murder, but Milsome soon cracked under the strain and confessed to robbing Smith, though he said his partner had done the killing.
As it turned out the jury believed Milsome in part - the evidence had shown two knives near the dead Smith, and that suggested the two burglars had jointly committed the tying up and killing of the man.
He was subdued in a violent fight by future Chief Constable of Scotland Yard, Frederick Porter Wensley.
Seaman too was sentenced to death, and he was put between Milsome and Fowler on the gallows built at Newgate Prison on 9 June 1896.
It is possible that Seaman's comment struck Fowler as funny, and he said (according to Abinger), "Well this is the first time in my life I've ever been a bloody penitent."