I found human bones in the walls of my house and then discovered the horrifying truth

A woman found human bones in the walls while renovating her 16th century farmhouse — and discovered a murderer lived next door.Emmie Brookman, 28, bought the three-bedroom property with her fiancé, Norton Johnston, 34, and had to renovate it after finding pink mould on the walls.The couple hand-chiseled off the exterior render themselves — after being quoted $23,000 by professionals – but were surprised when they found a bone in the wall.After initially being “creeped out,” Emmie discovered bones used to be put in walls to ward off evil during the 16th century.They found four bones in total in the exterior — and a further two inside — and Emmie believes one is a human finger bone and the rest are from animals.The couple also discovered local murderer James Hargreaves lived in the manor house next door — but haven’t been put off by the history.Emmie, who is co-owner of a homeware business, from Barrowford, Lancashire, said: “We were taking the render off and when I was by the front something popped out of the wall.“It was very obviously a bone.“I was really creeped out.“What do you do when you find a bone in the wall?“We found about four more in the exterior.“At first we thought we were going to find a full body.”Emmie bought the 1580s home in February 2023 for $413,000 after falling in love with its “character and quirkiness”.The couple had originally thought it just needed some “new carpets and paint” but then discovered it needed a lot more work.Emmie said: “There was pink mould growing on the wall.“It smelled really musty.“Our paperwork would get soggy.”The couple realized the wrong render had been used on the property which was trapping moisture and had to chisel it off to get to the old stonework.They started renovating in August 2024 – spending just $400 on hand chiseling the render off instead of the $23,000 they were quoted.But Emmie and Norton, a science teacher, were shocked to discover the bones in their ...