Nicholas Bain (1824December 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 writer and social critic. He created some of the world's best-known fictional characters and is regarded by many as the greatest novelist of the Victorian e ...

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 and census-designated place (CDP) in Suffolk County, New York, United States, on the North Fork of Long Island's East End. The population was 3,349 at the 2010 census. The Cutchogue CDP roughly represents the area of t ...

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 $10 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 luckily 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 island in the southeastern region of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York, part of the New York metropolitan area. With over 8 million people, Long Island is the most populous island in the United Sta ...

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 mouth of the Thames River in New London County, Connecticut. It was one of the world's three busiest whaling ports for several decades ...

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 ( AAR) term for a railroad car that is enclosed and generally used to carry freight. The boxcar, while not the simplest freight car design, is considered one of the most versatile since it can carry most lo ...

. 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. It is mainly located on the eastern end of Long Island, but also includes several smaller islands. According to the 2020 United States census, the county's populatio ...

, 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 transgressor, punish a convicted transgressor, or intimidate people. It can also be an ex ...

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

1824 births 1854 deaths {{US-crime-bio-stub