John Babbacombe Lee

John Henry George "Babbacombe" Lee (15 August 1864 – 19 March 1945) was an Englishman famous for surviving three attempts to hang him for murder. Born in Abbotskerswell, Devon, Lee served in the Royal Navy, and was a known thief.

In 1885, Lee was convicted of the murder of his employer, Emma Keyse, at her home at Babbacombe Bay near Torquay on 15 November 1884, with a knife. The evidence was circumstantial: Lee was the only male in the house at the time of the murder, had a prior criminal record for theft for stealing silverware from a previous employer, and was found with an unexplained cut on his arm. The alleged motive was that Keyse and Lee had been in a dispute. Keyse was disappointed with Lee's recent behavior and had reduced his wages and threatened to fire him.

After surviving three attempts at hanging, his sentence was commuted to life imprisonment. Lee became popularly known as "the man they couldn't hang".