1 00:00:00,800 --> 00:00:05,400 Speaker 1: This story contains adult content and language. Listener discretion is advised. 2 00:00:13,119 --> 00:00:14,440 Speaker 2: One of the things that struck me when I was 3 00:00:14,480 --> 00:00:17,400 Speaker 2: writing this book, Boks Scott people really put a lot 4 00:00:17,400 --> 00:00:20,680 Speaker 2: of grim effort into mergency people. You didn't just shoot someone, 5 00:00:20,880 --> 00:00:24,320 Speaker 2: you did really destroyed. The level of violence was really 6 00:00:24,360 --> 00:00:25,040 Speaker 2: off the charts. 7 00:00:31,160 --> 00:00:35,000 Speaker 1: I'm Kate Winkler Dawson, a nonfiction author and journalism professor 8 00:00:35,080 --> 00:00:37,800 Speaker 1: in Austin, Texas. I'm also the co host of the 9 00:00:37,840 --> 00:00:41,680 Speaker 1: podcast Buried Bones on Exactly Right, and throughout my career, 10 00:00:41,920 --> 00:00:45,680 Speaker 1: research for my many audio and book projects has taken 11 00:00:45,720 --> 00:00:48,960 Speaker 1: me around the world. On Wicked Words, I sit down 12 00:00:49,000 --> 00:00:53,040 Speaker 1: with the people I've met along the way, amazing writers, journalists, 13 00:00:53,120 --> 00:00:57,920 Speaker 1: filmmakers and podcasters who have investigated and reported on notorious 14 00:00:57,960 --> 00:01:01,400 Speaker 1: true crime cases. This is about the choices writers make, 15 00:01:01,680 --> 00:01:04,839 Speaker 1: both good and bad, and it's a deep dive into 16 00:01:04,880 --> 00:01:10,639 Speaker 1: the unpublished details behind their stories. Some of my most 17 00:01:10,760 --> 00:01:13,920 Speaker 1: favorite true crime stories in history come from the UK, 18 00:01:14,520 --> 00:01:17,640 Speaker 1: specifically London, so I was very excited to talk to 19 00:01:17,720 --> 00:01:21,760 Speaker 1: author Simon Read about his book Scotland Yard, a History 20 00:01:21,800 --> 00:01:26,240 Speaker 1: of the London Police Force's most infamous murder cases. Read 21 00:01:26,280 --> 00:01:30,240 Speaker 1: investigated some of Scotland Yard's most interesting cases, and now 22 00:01:30,280 --> 00:01:36,000 Speaker 1: he'll tell us about some of them. So I erroneously 23 00:01:36,440 --> 00:01:40,399 Speaker 1: assumed that you were American or Canadian based on your accent, 24 00:01:40,560 --> 00:01:45,039 Speaker 1: and I was terribly mistaken. Tell me about your background before, briefly, 25 00:01:45,080 --> 00:01:47,480 Speaker 1: before we start talking about how you got involved with 26 00:01:47,520 --> 00:01:49,720 Speaker 1: a book about Scotland Yard and its history. 27 00:01:50,360 --> 00:01:54,280 Speaker 2: Sure, I am British by birth, born in London, North London. 28 00:01:54,280 --> 00:01:56,880 Speaker 2: Actually Hendon moved out to the States when I was seven. 29 00:01:57,360 --> 00:02:00,600 Speaker 2: My parents' job brought us out here. I am celebrated citizen. 30 00:02:00,680 --> 00:02:03,280 Speaker 2: I am very much English at heart, although having lived 31 00:02:03,320 --> 00:02:05,680 Speaker 2: in the United States for whatever is forty plus years, 32 00:02:05,880 --> 00:02:08,880 Speaker 2: so I've always been an angler phile. I'm always looking 33 00:02:08,919 --> 00:02:12,800 Speaker 2: for excuses to write about England or London in particular. 34 00:02:12,919 --> 00:02:14,600 Speaker 2: Most of my books. If you go back and you 35 00:02:14,639 --> 00:02:16,560 Speaker 2: look at the books that I've written, I think, with 36 00:02:16,680 --> 00:02:18,080 Speaker 2: the exception of two of them, they all have a 37 00:02:18,080 --> 00:02:20,920 Speaker 2: British theme. So any excuse i'd have to get back there, 38 00:02:21,160 --> 00:02:23,840 Speaker 2: do research, sit in a pub, I'll. 39 00:02:23,720 --> 00:02:26,560 Speaker 1: Go for it good well. As an American who has 40 00:02:26,560 --> 00:02:30,400 Speaker 1: written about a very well known British story, John Reginald Christy, 41 00:02:30,880 --> 00:02:33,840 Speaker 1: I wanted to really figure out what your bona fides were, 42 00:02:33,880 --> 00:02:37,040 Speaker 1: and it sounds like you're all set. You've grown up 43 00:02:37,040 --> 00:02:37,760 Speaker 1: with these stories. 44 00:02:37,800 --> 00:02:40,839 Speaker 2: I'm sure, Yeah, I have, am I And by the way, 45 00:02:40,880 --> 00:02:44,240 Speaker 2: Reginald Christy one of the most disturbing cases. Yeah, I've 46 00:02:44,240 --> 00:02:46,440 Speaker 2: ever I've stood. I wrote about him in another book 47 00:02:46,480 --> 00:02:51,320 Speaker 2: of mine. But my paternal grandfather was a detective with 48 00:02:51,400 --> 00:02:52,119 Speaker 2: Scotland Yard. 49 00:02:52,280 --> 00:02:54,360 Speaker 1: Wow. Well, okay, what do you think he would have 50 00:02:54,360 --> 00:02:56,920 Speaker 1: thought of your book? You've gotten some really great reviews, 51 00:02:57,120 --> 00:02:59,560 Speaker 1: and I mean, I bet he would be thrilled. I'm 52 00:02:59,560 --> 00:03:02,840 Speaker 1: assuming you know, I think he would have. Well, let's 53 00:03:02,840 --> 00:03:05,480 Speaker 1: talk about this book. We much of the time talk 54 00:03:05,520 --> 00:03:08,000 Speaker 1: to people who are digging into one big story for 55 00:03:08,040 --> 00:03:10,239 Speaker 1: their book or for their piece of the film or 56 00:03:10,280 --> 00:03:13,680 Speaker 1: whatever they're doing. So for you, because we're talking about 57 00:03:13,680 --> 00:03:17,040 Speaker 1: the history of Scotland Yard, which is storied and traumatizing 58 00:03:17,160 --> 00:03:19,680 Speaker 1: and wonderful all at the same time. You know, you 59 00:03:19,840 --> 00:03:23,840 Speaker 1: cover a wide array of crimes and I wanted to 60 00:03:23,880 --> 00:03:26,560 Speaker 1: dig into two or three or more or less, like 61 00:03:26,639 --> 00:03:28,639 Speaker 1: we're just going to see how it goes that I 62 00:03:28,680 --> 00:03:32,000 Speaker 1: think are pretty pivotal. And I want you to start 63 00:03:32,040 --> 00:03:36,120 Speaker 1: with Ratcliffe Highway murders because it's one of to me, 64 00:03:36,680 --> 00:03:41,840 Speaker 1: the most interesting and so important because you know, I 65 00:03:41,960 --> 00:03:45,880 Speaker 1: know that these murders were really what led to the 66 00:03:46,040 --> 00:03:51,280 Speaker 1: organization of the Metropolitan Police, which was the first organization 67 00:03:51,360 --> 00:03:55,040 Speaker 1: in the world, the first police, real police organization, right right. 68 00:03:55,320 --> 00:03:57,760 Speaker 1: And what's great about that story is you get to 69 00:03:57,800 --> 00:04:00,280 Speaker 1: talk about and tell everybody who doesn't know out the 70 00:04:00,280 --> 00:04:04,600 Speaker 1: Bow Street Runners and how they interacted with the tams 71 00:04:04,680 --> 00:04:08,400 Speaker 1: River Police. And you know, I will tell you full disclosure. 72 00:04:08,520 --> 00:04:11,120 Speaker 1: I took myself down a couple of years ago when 73 00:04:11,120 --> 00:04:13,600 Speaker 1: I was in London teaching. I took myself down to 74 00:04:13,840 --> 00:04:18,200 Speaker 1: the River Police Museum and got a personalized tour from 75 00:04:18,279 --> 00:04:20,599 Speaker 1: Rob Jefferies, who is a I think he's I don't 76 00:04:20,600 --> 00:04:23,560 Speaker 1: know if he's a constable there, but he's retired and 77 00:04:23,600 --> 00:04:26,640 Speaker 1: he loves talking about that case and why it was important. 78 00:04:27,080 --> 00:04:29,560 Speaker 1: And so I'm going to geek out pretty big time, 79 00:04:29,640 --> 00:04:30,600 Speaker 1: I think on this story. 80 00:04:31,279 --> 00:04:33,760 Speaker 2: And I'm jealous because when I researched this book, I 81 00:04:33,800 --> 00:04:36,720 Speaker 2: was working during the pandemic, during lockdowns, so I had 82 00:04:36,760 --> 00:04:39,479 Speaker 2: to rely on sort of online you know, newspapers and 83 00:04:39,480 --> 00:04:42,360 Speaker 2: so to go and like chop the ground as it were. 84 00:04:42,800 --> 00:04:44,800 Speaker 2: I wish I could have done more that. But you 85 00:04:44,880 --> 00:04:48,039 Speaker 2: have the Ratcliffe Liveway murders an extremely important case, and 86 00:04:48,080 --> 00:04:50,480 Speaker 2: you're right it does lead to eventually leads to the 87 00:04:50,560 --> 00:04:53,080 Speaker 2: establishment of Scotland Yard in eighteen twenty nine. But the 88 00:04:53,120 --> 00:04:57,040 Speaker 2: Raclife Liway murders actually happened in eighteen eleven. There's an 89 00:04:57,080 --> 00:05:01,479 Speaker 2: eighteen year stretch between the murders and the formation of 90 00:05:01,760 --> 00:05:05,920 Speaker 2: Scotland Yard. But the murders happened in December of eighteen 91 00:05:05,960 --> 00:05:08,960 Speaker 2: eleven on the Ratcliffe Highway, which is the main east 92 00:05:09,000 --> 00:05:12,640 Speaker 2: thoroughfare out of London, and it's a very it's a 93 00:05:12,720 --> 00:05:16,960 Speaker 2: dangerous place, doesn't have a great reputation. It's known for debauchery, drunkenness, 94 00:05:17,000 --> 00:05:21,080 Speaker 2: vice and violence. It's popular with sailors. In fact, it's 95 00:05:21,080 --> 00:05:24,359 Speaker 2: called the Regent Street for sailors of it. Today you 96 00:05:24,480 --> 00:05:27,960 Speaker 2: have a lot of men who work the Thames who 97 00:05:28,000 --> 00:05:31,720 Speaker 2: live off the highway. They frequent the bars, the taverns, 98 00:05:32,240 --> 00:05:35,479 Speaker 2: the shops there. The highway is the home of a 99 00:05:35,520 --> 00:05:38,400 Speaker 2: gentleman named Timothy Maher. He's a he's a former sailor 100 00:05:39,240 --> 00:05:42,760 Speaker 2: with the Easterndia Company and he sets up a shop 101 00:05:42,839 --> 00:05:45,440 Speaker 2: at twenty nine Ratcliffe Highway. He's twenty four years old, 102 00:05:45,640 --> 00:05:48,919 Speaker 2: and he establishes a lnen business on the highway in 103 00:05:49,520 --> 00:05:53,279 Speaker 2: April of eighteen eleven. It's him, it's his wife, it's 104 00:05:53,279 --> 00:05:57,440 Speaker 2: their three month old son, Timothy Junior, and he wants 105 00:05:57,480 --> 00:06:01,040 Speaker 2: to know become a businessman and the life at sea 106 00:06:01,080 --> 00:06:04,000 Speaker 2: behind him. So he sets up shot there and all 107 00:06:04,120 --> 00:06:07,640 Speaker 2: is going well. Business is doing good, and he has 108 00:06:07,680 --> 00:06:10,120 Speaker 2: a servant girl named Margaret Jewel. And on the night 109 00:06:10,160 --> 00:06:15,000 Speaker 2: of December seventh, eighteen eleven, he sends Margaret out to 110 00:06:15,040 --> 00:06:19,160 Speaker 2: fetch some oysters and pay the baker's bill. And it's 111 00:06:19,200 --> 00:06:22,840 Speaker 2: around midnight when she leaves Timothy Marris's shop. Timothy's wife, 112 00:06:22,920 --> 00:06:26,000 Speaker 2: Celia is down in the basement kitchen feeding the baby. 113 00:06:26,520 --> 00:06:30,560 Speaker 2: Timothy is preparing for the next day's business. And Margaret 114 00:06:30,640 --> 00:06:33,000 Speaker 2: leaves the shop, and like I say, it's around midnight. 115 00:06:33,120 --> 00:06:36,120 Speaker 2: Pretty much everything is closed up. She goes to pay 116 00:06:36,160 --> 00:06:38,360 Speaker 2: the baker's bill, she finds the baker's close. She goes 117 00:06:38,400 --> 00:06:40,840 Speaker 2: to get some oysters, she finds the oyster shop is closed. 118 00:06:41,200 --> 00:06:44,640 Speaker 2: She returns to Timothy morris shop and she's not gone 119 00:06:44,760 --> 00:06:47,479 Speaker 2: very long. But when she gets back, it's very strange. 120 00:06:47,560 --> 00:06:51,799 Speaker 2: The place is shuttered up. The chaser drawn across the windows. 121 00:06:51,839 --> 00:06:54,359 Speaker 2: The door is locked, all the lights are out, and 122 00:06:54,440 --> 00:06:56,600 Speaker 2: she knocks on the door and she doesn't get a response, 123 00:06:56,920 --> 00:07:00,400 Speaker 2: and she knocks again, no response. Her knocks on the 124 00:07:00,440 --> 00:07:04,800 Speaker 2: door become more panicked, and she hears a noise behind 125 00:07:04,839 --> 00:07:07,760 Speaker 2: the door. She hears what she describes as a footfall 126 00:07:07,920 --> 00:07:10,760 Speaker 2: on the stairs inside the shop, and then she hears 127 00:07:11,360 --> 00:07:14,400 Speaker 2: the muffled cry of the baby very month full of 128 00:07:14,440 --> 00:07:16,760 Speaker 2: Timothy Junior, and this sort of puts her into a panic, 129 00:07:16,920 --> 00:07:19,240 Speaker 2: and she starts really like patting on the door, and 130 00:07:19,320 --> 00:07:22,360 Speaker 2: this gets the attention of a night watchman who happens 131 00:07:22,400 --> 00:07:25,720 Speaker 2: to be walking by. Night watchmen were sort of an 132 00:07:25,720 --> 00:07:28,440 Speaker 2: early form of law enforcement in London at the time. 133 00:07:28,480 --> 00:07:32,600 Speaker 2: They patrolled the streets between sunset and sunrise, armed with 134 00:07:32,720 --> 00:07:35,360 Speaker 2: a rattle and a whistle, and they were meant to 135 00:07:35,400 --> 00:07:38,840 Speaker 2: sort of raise the alarm if they encountered any commotion. 136 00:07:39,040 --> 00:07:41,640 Speaker 2: And he comes across Margaret. He asks what the problem is, 137 00:07:41,760 --> 00:07:44,400 Speaker 2: She explains the situation. He starts banging on the door. 138 00:07:44,800 --> 00:07:48,600 Speaker 2: This attracts the attention of a neighbor who hops from 139 00:07:49,240 --> 00:07:53,200 Speaker 2: his house into Timothy Morris's backyard and he goes inside 140 00:07:53,240 --> 00:07:55,360 Speaker 2: the shop. He finds a lick candle on the stairs. 141 00:07:55,360 --> 00:07:58,880 Speaker 2: He picks it up. He goes into the shop and 142 00:07:59,280 --> 00:08:03,400 Speaker 2: he walks into a horrific, horrific crime scene. Timothy's Waxelia. 143 00:08:04,040 --> 00:08:07,720 Speaker 2: They've been butchered, now not just murdered, but butcherd horrendously, 144 00:08:07,800 --> 00:08:09,960 Speaker 2: throat slashed down to the bone. Their heads have been 145 00:08:09,960 --> 00:08:13,320 Speaker 2: carved in. They have a young servant boyd His brains 146 00:08:13,320 --> 00:08:15,240 Speaker 2: are actually spattered up onto the ceiling. I mean he's 147 00:08:15,280 --> 00:08:18,520 Speaker 2: been beaten with such vorocity. The neighbor opens the door. 148 00:08:18,640 --> 00:08:20,920 Speaker 2: A crowd that's been now gathered outside the marshop. They 149 00:08:20,960 --> 00:08:24,200 Speaker 2: rush in and see this awful scene, and someone says, 150 00:08:24,200 --> 00:08:26,560 Speaker 2: where's the baby, And they find the baby in its 151 00:08:26,640 --> 00:08:30,120 Speaker 2: crib down in the basement kitchen. The baby's throat's been splashed, 152 00:08:30,320 --> 00:08:35,040 Speaker 2: no mercy shown. This causes a huge shock. It's interesting, 153 00:08:35,120 --> 00:08:37,040 Speaker 2: you know, London in this time we tend to think 154 00:08:37,080 --> 00:08:39,200 Speaker 2: of it as this place where murder happened all the time. 155 00:08:39,480 --> 00:08:42,760 Speaker 2: I don't have specific numbers, but throughout the nineteenth century London, 156 00:08:43,080 --> 00:08:46,960 Speaker 2: seventy five percent of the crimes were theft and robbery, 157 00:08:47,400 --> 00:08:49,960 Speaker 2: and murder only accounted for ten percent of the crime. 158 00:08:50,040 --> 00:08:52,760 Speaker 2: So when a murder did happen, It garnered a lot 159 00:08:52,880 --> 00:08:56,240 Speaker 2: of a lot of headlines and so this murder obviously 160 00:08:56,400 --> 00:08:59,400 Speaker 2: sent shock waves. The city London doesn't have a police 161 00:08:59,440 --> 00:09:02,200 Speaker 2: force at this time, like we discussed, they have this 162 00:09:02,400 --> 00:09:09,040 Speaker 2: missmash patchwork of parish constables and night watchmen and then 163 00:09:09,200 --> 00:09:12,439 Speaker 2: the Bow Street Runners who are work out of the 164 00:09:12,440 --> 00:09:15,680 Speaker 2: Ball Street Magistrate's Court. They report to the Chief Magistrate 165 00:09:15,760 --> 00:09:19,240 Speaker 2: Henry Building. They have the power to investigate crime, but 166 00:09:19,440 --> 00:09:21,360 Speaker 2: they're they're they're a small force. And there's also the 167 00:09:21,360 --> 00:09:24,640 Speaker 2: Thames River Police and try to keep all on order 168 00:09:25,000 --> 00:09:26,839 Speaker 2: on the Thames. But there's no sort of there's no 169 00:09:26,880 --> 00:09:30,240 Speaker 2: coordination between any of these these entities. They don't they 170 00:09:30,240 --> 00:09:33,959 Speaker 2: don't talk to each other, they don't share information, so 171 00:09:34,000 --> 00:09:36,120 Speaker 2: there's there would be nothing what you consider sort of 172 00:09:36,280 --> 00:09:40,640 Speaker 2: coordinated investigation, certainly by today's standards, don't find really any 173 00:09:40,720 --> 00:09:42,520 Speaker 2: clues that the Marti crime team. What they do find 174 00:09:42,720 --> 00:09:46,040 Speaker 2: is a it's called a mall and it's a hamm 175 00:09:46,040 --> 00:09:49,360 Speaker 2: are used in shipbuilding. It has like a Wesdend use 176 00:09:49,400 --> 00:09:52,560 Speaker 2: for plying, hammering and spikes and playing out when when 177 00:09:52,559 --> 00:09:56,080 Speaker 2: building ships, and that's found upstairs. But the crime team 178 00:09:56,080 --> 00:09:59,280 Speaker 2: doesn't really yield anything else, and the city's kind of 179 00:09:59,320 --> 00:10:01,920 Speaker 2: reeling from all of this, and so trying to figure 180 00:10:01,920 --> 00:10:05,920 Speaker 2: out what happened. And then twelve days later, on December nineteenth, 181 00:10:05,960 --> 00:10:07,280 Speaker 2: the same thing happens again. 182 00:10:10,679 --> 00:10:13,280 Speaker 1: Let me ask you like a series of questions here. Yeah, 183 00:10:13,400 --> 00:10:15,679 Speaker 1: one thing that I wanted to make clear and correct 184 00:10:15,720 --> 00:10:17,679 Speaker 1: me if I'm wrong here. My understanding is that when 185 00:10:17,679 --> 00:10:20,480 Speaker 1: we say Ratcliff Highway, which was supposedly known as the 186 00:10:20,480 --> 00:10:23,559 Speaker 1: most dangerous road in the world, it's not a highway 187 00:10:23,600 --> 00:10:25,760 Speaker 1: the way we think, certainly at least Americans think of 188 00:10:25,760 --> 00:10:28,200 Speaker 1: a highway. What would you consider it like a large 189 00:10:28,320 --> 00:10:29,439 Speaker 1: road or. 190 00:10:29,400 --> 00:10:32,080 Speaker 2: It's a large road. It's a large road. It's a road. 191 00:10:32,240 --> 00:10:34,680 Speaker 2: It's a road aligne with shops on either side. It's 192 00:10:34,720 --> 00:10:38,040 Speaker 2: got little alleyways going off the side of it, you know, 193 00:10:38,120 --> 00:10:42,079 Speaker 2: cram with tenement housing and sailors cottages. It was called 194 00:10:42,080 --> 00:10:43,360 Speaker 2: a highway back in the day because it was one 195 00:10:43,360 --> 00:10:44,960 Speaker 2: of the main thorough bears in an out of the 196 00:10:44,960 --> 00:10:48,520 Speaker 2: city on the east end. But it's not our highway 197 00:10:48,679 --> 00:10:50,880 Speaker 2: like we think of it today, with four lanes of traffic, 198 00:10:51,240 --> 00:10:53,800 Speaker 2: and so it's more think of it more like a 199 00:10:53,920 --> 00:10:55,520 Speaker 2: high street. A busy main road. 200 00:10:55,800 --> 00:10:59,840 Speaker 1: Yeah, okay, so in that area when there is a crime, 201 00:11:00,080 --> 00:11:03,160 Speaker 1: a theft or whatever, how is the decision made between 202 00:11:03,240 --> 00:11:05,120 Speaker 1: to what You've got the boat street runners, the night 203 00:11:05,160 --> 00:11:09,120 Speaker 1: watchmen and the tims River Police. Did I miss anybody? 204 00:11:09,160 --> 00:11:11,040 Speaker 1: Is there any other law enforcement entity? 205 00:11:11,240 --> 00:11:14,360 Speaker 2: No, that's that's that's sort of yeah, that's a good question. 206 00:11:14,440 --> 00:11:17,439 Speaker 2: There wasn't really any sort of chain of command. This 207 00:11:17,640 --> 00:11:19,840 Speaker 2: is the problem. This is one of the problems with 208 00:11:19,920 --> 00:11:22,640 Speaker 2: London at that time. It doesn't have a centually organized 209 00:11:22,679 --> 00:11:25,160 Speaker 2: peace force. And by that we mean a force that 210 00:11:25,280 --> 00:11:29,200 Speaker 2: has the resources and command structure in place to ensure 211 00:11:29,520 --> 00:11:35,800 Speaker 2: uniformity and coordination across a large metropolitan area and across investigations. 212 00:11:35,800 --> 00:11:40,720 Speaker 2: So each sort of the constables, the nightwatchmen, bow street Runners, 213 00:11:41,040 --> 00:11:44,720 Speaker 2: the taserra police, they're all sort of doing their own thing. 214 00:11:44,920 --> 00:11:47,240 Speaker 2: And so this is one of the problems why nothing 215 00:11:47,320 --> 00:11:49,440 Speaker 2: sort of happens with this case in terms of white 216 00:11:49,520 --> 00:11:53,760 Speaker 2: cohesive investigation, because there's no cohesive law enforcement framework to 217 00:11:53,880 --> 00:11:57,360 Speaker 2: tackle a crime of this magnitude, and this crime it 218 00:11:57,440 --> 00:12:02,000 Speaker 2: generates a huge shockwave. It really generates a love look 219 00:12:02,040 --> 00:12:05,000 Speaker 2: shock that won't be seen until you know the jack 220 00:12:05,040 --> 00:12:08,320 Speaker 2: the Ripper killings in eighteen eighty eight. But the difference 221 00:12:08,400 --> 00:12:11,800 Speaker 2: is when Jack the Rippers doing his stuff in Whitechapel, 222 00:12:12,200 --> 00:12:15,679 Speaker 2: he's being hunted by a Metropolitan police force with more 223 00:12:15,720 --> 00:12:19,079 Speaker 2: than ten thousand officers. Yeah, now he's you know, the 224 00:12:19,320 --> 00:12:23,600 Speaker 2: Ratcliff Hyery murders being hunted by this ragtag, uncoordinated bunch 225 00:12:23,640 --> 00:12:25,680 Speaker 2: of unprofessional law enforcement officers. 226 00:12:25,720 --> 00:12:29,480 Speaker 1: Basically, I mean, I always got the impression that before 227 00:12:29,880 --> 00:12:33,920 Speaker 1: the Metropolitan Police were formed, these entities were always on defense. 228 00:12:33,960 --> 00:12:37,080 Speaker 1: They were never playing. There's no offense. Like it was like, 229 00:12:37,160 --> 00:12:39,440 Speaker 1: we're there if something bad happens, but we're not going 230 00:12:39,520 --> 00:12:42,400 Speaker 1: to like prevent you from you if we see something. 231 00:12:42,520 --> 00:12:45,920 Speaker 2: You know, that's absolutely correct, that's actually correct. They're always 232 00:12:45,960 --> 00:12:49,160 Speaker 2: responding to stuff. They're never sort of like out there 233 00:12:49,480 --> 00:12:52,400 Speaker 2: trying to suck stuff from happening. They you know, like 234 00:12:52,400 --> 00:12:54,760 Speaker 2: I said, you've got the night watchmen who are meant 235 00:12:54,760 --> 00:12:57,400 Speaker 2: to patrol the streets at night, and if they see something, 236 00:12:57,480 --> 00:12:59,680 Speaker 2: they make a noise with their rattle and they blow 237 00:12:59,679 --> 00:13:02,120 Speaker 2: their w That's how it's mental work. But if you 238 00:13:02,160 --> 00:13:04,240 Speaker 2: read the newspaper accounts of the day, you find out 239 00:13:04,280 --> 00:13:06,560 Speaker 2: most of them are sitting in their guardhouses getting drunk 240 00:13:06,559 --> 00:13:09,440 Speaker 2: on gin, you know, and aren't very effective. You have 241 00:13:09,480 --> 00:13:13,439 Speaker 2: the parish constables who serve a law enforcement officers for 242 00:13:13,480 --> 00:13:16,400 Speaker 2: the various districts and parishes throughout London. They have law 243 00:13:16,480 --> 00:13:19,040 Speaker 2: enforcement power and that they can sort of make arrests 244 00:13:19,040 --> 00:13:21,760 Speaker 2: and you know, if they see trouble they can haul 245 00:13:21,840 --> 00:13:24,280 Speaker 2: someone off to court. But you know it's either a 246 00:13:24,360 --> 00:13:26,800 Speaker 2: volunteer gig or a low paying wage. You know, these 247 00:13:26,840 --> 00:13:30,120 Speaker 2: aren't they're not very effective. And then you know the 248 00:13:30,160 --> 00:13:33,120 Speaker 2: Bow Street Runners. They are sort of the first for 249 00:13:33,320 --> 00:13:36,000 Speaker 2: runner to a proper police force, but they're very limited 250 00:13:36,040 --> 00:13:38,720 Speaker 2: in their scope. And other magistrate offices in London set 251 00:13:38,800 --> 00:13:42,120 Speaker 2: up something similar to what Bow Street is doing with 252 00:13:42,280 --> 00:13:46,120 Speaker 2: these constables, but again there's no coordination. And then you 253 00:13:46,120 --> 00:13:48,280 Speaker 2: have the River Police wore out on the water, so 254 00:13:48,320 --> 00:13:50,200 Speaker 2: they're kind of like a forward of the identity. 255 00:13:50,360 --> 00:13:53,640 Speaker 1: So let me summarize so far. So December eighteen eleven, 256 00:13:53,720 --> 00:13:56,000 Speaker 1: I have to assume it's just colder than hell in London. 257 00:13:56,520 --> 00:13:59,640 Speaker 1: In the most dangerous street in the world. You've got 258 00:13:59,679 --> 00:14:02,600 Speaker 1: the mar family, which is just an upstanding family with 259 00:14:02,679 --> 00:14:07,640 Speaker 1: their business. A young couple they are murdered brutally. I mean, 260 00:14:07,880 --> 00:14:11,440 Speaker 1: just horrifically murdered, as well as their baby and a 261 00:14:11,480 --> 00:14:14,559 Speaker 1: servant boy. How did we say the young boy was. 262 00:14:14,840 --> 00:14:17,680 Speaker 2: Twelve or fourteen? Can he's a young teen? 263 00:14:18,280 --> 00:14:22,080 Speaker 1: Yeah? Not enough to defend himself, I'm assuming. Okay, now 264 00:14:22,120 --> 00:14:24,760 Speaker 1: we just jump in immediately into the mystery before we 265 00:14:24,800 --> 00:14:27,520 Speaker 1: get to the second set of murders here. I have 266 00:14:27,680 --> 00:14:31,440 Speaker 1: always wondered, and I don't remember if I asked Rob Jeffries, 267 00:14:31,520 --> 00:14:33,920 Speaker 1: my wonderful tour guide on the river, about this, But 268 00:14:34,240 --> 00:14:36,560 Speaker 1: did they really expect this was at midnight? Is that 269 00:14:36,560 --> 00:14:37,240 Speaker 1: when she went out? 270 00:14:37,400 --> 00:14:39,920 Speaker 2: Yeah, she goes out. She goes out shortly before midnight. 271 00:14:40,000 --> 00:14:42,840 Speaker 2: And if I remember on the newspaper accounts, she's only 272 00:14:42,880 --> 00:14:45,320 Speaker 2: gone for about fifteen or twenty minutes or so. 273 00:14:45,320 --> 00:14:48,760 Speaker 1: So is that normal that a bakery and an oyster 274 00:14:48,840 --> 00:14:51,720 Speaker 1: shop would be open at midnight in this area? I mean, 275 00:14:51,760 --> 00:14:54,640 Speaker 1: why would she do that? Why would he do that? Understand? 276 00:14:54,840 --> 00:14:57,680 Speaker 2: I thought the same thing. So I'd heard of the 277 00:14:57,760 --> 00:15:01,080 Speaker 2: Ragnifiery murders prior to writing this book, but this was 278 00:15:01,080 --> 00:15:03,320 Speaker 2: the first time i'd ever sort of like researched the crimes, 279 00:15:03,440 --> 00:15:06,120 Speaker 2: and I didn't know the specifics necessarily about them, and 280 00:15:06,160 --> 00:15:10,280 Speaker 2: when I read that, I thought that was very very odd, 281 00:15:10,800 --> 00:15:13,160 Speaker 2: you know, like the righttically by the way, like you said, 282 00:15:13,680 --> 00:15:16,320 Speaker 2: very dangerous reputation back one of the newspapers said it 283 00:15:16,360 --> 00:15:19,720 Speaker 2: was representative all of all that was dirty, disorderly and debased. 284 00:15:20,720 --> 00:15:25,160 Speaker 2: So it seems sending out a young servant girl after midnight, 285 00:15:25,640 --> 00:15:28,120 Speaker 2: at midnight to you know, track down oysters and pay 286 00:15:28,160 --> 00:15:31,440 Speaker 2: the baker, it's a weird it's a weird decision to make, 287 00:15:31,520 --> 00:15:33,560 Speaker 2: and that the fact that you know, a baker would 288 00:15:33,560 --> 00:15:35,240 Speaker 2: be open at midnight or an oyster shot would be 289 00:15:35,240 --> 00:15:37,840 Speaker 2: open at midnight, doesn't make much sense. One of the 290 00:15:37,880 --> 00:15:41,520 Speaker 2: newspaper counts I found where they Margaret Jewel is giving 291 00:15:41,520 --> 00:15:43,240 Speaker 2: tesscona during an inquest. She says, you know, when she 292 00:15:43,280 --> 00:15:45,040 Speaker 2: stepped out on the street, the street was you know, 293 00:15:45,080 --> 00:15:47,200 Speaker 2: the street was quiet. You know, stores were closed. So 294 00:15:47,920 --> 00:15:51,040 Speaker 2: it seems an odd decision to do. Honestly, it was 295 00:15:51,040 --> 00:15:53,840 Speaker 2: probably a lucky decision though, because if she'd been around 296 00:15:54,000 --> 00:15:56,280 Speaker 2: in the house, she would have ended up suffering the 297 00:15:56,320 --> 00:15:56,680 Speaker 2: same fight. 298 00:15:57,200 --> 00:15:59,520 Speaker 1: Okay, so we're we're at a point where now you've 299 00:15:59,520 --> 00:16:02,920 Speaker 1: got who was responding to this, Who are the investigators 300 00:16:02,960 --> 00:16:07,440 Speaker 1: who come to Timothy Maher's place and see this just 301 00:16:07,520 --> 00:16:10,800 Speaker 1: cornage and begin to interview Margaret Jewele and trying to 302 00:16:10,800 --> 00:16:13,080 Speaker 1: figure out, you know, what has happened that night. 303 00:16:13,360 --> 00:16:15,240 Speaker 2: I would say, I don't have the name, but it 304 00:16:15,320 --> 00:16:18,560 Speaker 2: was they were interviewed by us the night watchman who 305 00:16:18,560 --> 00:16:21,640 Speaker 2: showed up local constables, and then the local corner came 306 00:16:21,680 --> 00:16:24,760 Speaker 2: and there was an inquest held one or two days 307 00:16:24,760 --> 00:16:27,520 Speaker 2: after the murders at a pub right across the street 308 00:16:27,840 --> 00:16:31,560 Speaker 2: from the mar household. You know, Margaret Jewel gives testimony 309 00:16:32,160 --> 00:16:36,640 Speaker 2: in that inquest, and she's actually overcome with emotion recounting 310 00:16:36,840 --> 00:16:40,080 Speaker 2: what she saw. She breaks down on the witness stand, 311 00:16:40,320 --> 00:16:43,480 Speaker 2: you know, understandably, and she actually passes out. She's able 312 00:16:43,640 --> 00:16:46,720 Speaker 2: to sort of just recount the offense of that evening 313 00:16:46,760 --> 00:16:49,240 Speaker 2: and being sent out to get the oysters and pay 314 00:16:49,360 --> 00:16:53,800 Speaker 2: the Baker bill. And then when she starts recounting about 315 00:16:53,800 --> 00:16:56,040 Speaker 2: what she saw when she was led in to the 316 00:16:56,080 --> 00:16:58,520 Speaker 2: Mar home and she saw the baby in the crib, 317 00:16:58,840 --> 00:17:02,120 Speaker 2: she really loses it, rightfully, so she passes out, and 318 00:17:02,400 --> 00:17:04,320 Speaker 2: they do revive her, but they don't they don't make 319 00:17:04,359 --> 00:17:09,639 Speaker 2: her continue her testimony. The coroner's juryous brought across the 320 00:17:09,680 --> 00:17:12,960 Speaker 2: street to sort of view the crime scene. They view 321 00:17:13,000 --> 00:17:15,720 Speaker 2: the bodies, the nature of the wounds are discussed for 322 00:17:15,760 --> 00:17:19,040 Speaker 2: the first time. You know. The initial press reports just 323 00:17:19,080 --> 00:17:22,119 Speaker 2: say they were murdered brutally. Then during the corner's inquest, 324 00:17:22,160 --> 00:17:25,639 Speaker 2: they go into just how badly these people were. I mean, 325 00:17:25,680 --> 00:17:28,480 Speaker 2: they weren't just murdered, they were butchered, you know, throats 326 00:17:28,480 --> 00:17:30,720 Speaker 2: cut down to the bone almost at the point of decapitation, 327 00:17:30,880 --> 00:17:36,480 Speaker 2: facial bones smashed. It's really really horrendous. So the corner's 328 00:17:36,520 --> 00:17:40,480 Speaker 2: jury you know, returns a verdict of sort of you know, 329 00:17:40,720 --> 00:17:44,520 Speaker 2: murder against a person or person's unknown, and then the 330 00:17:44,560 --> 00:17:47,960 Speaker 2: family are are laid to rest in the local parish church, 331 00:17:48,000 --> 00:17:51,119 Speaker 2: Saint George's, I believe, and Timothy Maher is buried in 332 00:17:51,160 --> 00:17:55,800 Speaker 2: his own coffin, and then Cecilia is buried with her baby. 333 00:17:56,760 --> 00:18:00,520 Speaker 2: There's a huge turnout, huge turnout. People are you know, 334 00:18:00,680 --> 00:18:05,600 Speaker 2: ractive highway to bid their final respects. And during the 335 00:18:05,640 --> 00:18:09,000 Speaker 2: funeral service, the preacher who presides over the funeral service, 336 00:18:09,040 --> 00:18:11,880 Speaker 2: you know, he says, made God, you know, enact vengeance 337 00:18:11,920 --> 00:18:15,440 Speaker 2: against whoever did this awful deed. So this family's laid 338 00:18:15,440 --> 00:18:17,680 Speaker 2: to rest, but without any answers as to who did 339 00:18:17,680 --> 00:18:19,640 Speaker 2: this or even even why. 340 00:18:20,119 --> 00:18:23,040 Speaker 1: So what is the speculation. We don't have very much 341 00:18:23,080 --> 00:18:26,040 Speaker 1: time between what happens with Timothy Moore's family and then 342 00:18:26,080 --> 00:18:29,520 Speaker 1: what happens next. What is the speculation so far? Do 343 00:18:29,600 --> 00:18:30,800 Speaker 1: people have any idea? 344 00:18:31,040 --> 00:18:32,440 Speaker 2: They don't this And this is one of the things 345 00:18:32,440 --> 00:18:36,360 Speaker 2: when I was like reading the newspaper accounts from the day, 346 00:18:36,600 --> 00:18:38,480 Speaker 2: was that was one of the things that was so 347 00:18:38,600 --> 00:18:42,000 Speaker 2: puzzling about the case. This guy was, you know, it 348 00:18:42,119 --> 00:18:44,320 Speaker 2: was an inoffensive individual. He ran and he ran a 349 00:18:44,359 --> 00:18:46,680 Speaker 2: linen shop. He was a father, you know, young father, 350 00:18:46,720 --> 00:18:49,600 Speaker 2: he was twenty four years old. No one wished him 351 00:18:49,640 --> 00:18:52,199 Speaker 2: ill will, and so that's one of the things that 352 00:18:52,400 --> 00:18:55,840 Speaker 2: was so pleasant. There's there's nothing to point to a motive. 353 00:18:55,920 --> 00:18:57,760 Speaker 2: This was a guy who was folding linens for the 354 00:18:57,800 --> 00:19:00,480 Speaker 2: next day's business. His wife's beating the baby, and someone 355 00:19:00,560 --> 00:19:03,719 Speaker 2: barges in and butchers all of them. Because there was 356 00:19:04,560 --> 00:19:08,639 Speaker 2: no clear motive for why this happened, there is it 357 00:19:08,680 --> 00:19:11,080 Speaker 2: generates real fear in the area. If it can happen 358 00:19:11,080 --> 00:19:14,320 Speaker 2: to these people, it could happen again, and well and behold, 359 00:19:14,440 --> 00:19:16,160 Speaker 2: that's exactly what happens. 360 00:19:16,400 --> 00:19:18,040 Speaker 1: I don't know if you know this. I have another 361 00:19:18,119 --> 00:19:21,480 Speaker 1: show with a cold case investigator named Paul Holes. It's 362 00:19:21,520 --> 00:19:24,480 Speaker 1: called Buried Bones. And if I were telling Paul this story, 363 00:19:25,000 --> 00:19:27,320 Speaker 1: he would say probably, I would guess if I'm going 364 00:19:27,400 --> 00:19:31,080 Speaker 1: to channel Poul Holes, he would say, it is fantastical 365 00:19:31,160 --> 00:19:34,719 Speaker 1: to think that there is somebody lying in wait, waiting 366 00:19:34,760 --> 00:19:37,640 Speaker 1: for the servant girl at midnight to leave, not knowing 367 00:19:37,640 --> 00:19:39,840 Speaker 1: when she's going to come back, and this guy has 368 00:19:40,000 --> 00:19:43,200 Speaker 1: just enough time to slaughter this whole family before Margaret 369 00:19:43,280 --> 00:19:45,679 Speaker 1: Jewel comes back. The more I think about it, the 370 00:19:45,680 --> 00:19:47,879 Speaker 1: more I think this is bus I don't understand. 371 00:19:48,320 --> 00:19:52,400 Speaker 2: It's very strange. I don't understand it either. Honestly, would 372 00:19:52,400 --> 00:19:56,920 Speaker 2: your co hosts think maybe Margaret Jewel will somehow and involve. 373 00:19:56,600 --> 00:20:00,320 Speaker 1: Yes, I think he would. I think he would say 374 00:20:00,640 --> 00:20:04,040 Speaker 1: that seems odd. I mean, I guess, okay, was anything taken? 375 00:20:04,600 --> 00:20:07,280 Speaker 1: Is there robbery anywhere in this? Do you think nothing? 376 00:20:08,080 --> 00:20:10,000 Speaker 2: Was in the newspaper council and I didn't see anything of 377 00:20:10,040 --> 00:20:13,720 Speaker 2: anything taken. The only thing odd that they found out 378 00:20:13,760 --> 00:20:17,960 Speaker 2: was the shipping mallet the mall. But then what would 379 00:20:17,960 --> 00:20:21,879 Speaker 2: Margaret jules motive? Maybe her freaking out on the stand 380 00:20:21,920 --> 00:20:23,600 Speaker 2: and passing out. Maybe that was an act she didn't 381 00:20:23,600 --> 00:20:25,040 Speaker 2: want to have to answer too many questions. 382 00:20:28,400 --> 00:20:31,040 Speaker 1: So people are completely freaked out, even though this is 383 00:20:31,080 --> 00:20:33,960 Speaker 1: the most dangerous road in the world. Where do we 384 00:20:34,000 --> 00:20:34,680 Speaker 1: go next? 385 00:20:34,960 --> 00:20:38,080 Speaker 2: The more murder is on December seventh, and then twelve 386 00:20:38,160 --> 00:20:40,840 Speaker 2: days later, on December nineteenth, just a two minute walk 387 00:20:41,200 --> 00:20:44,560 Speaker 2: from the Mars shop, there's a place called the King's 388 00:20:44,640 --> 00:20:47,879 Speaker 2: Arms Tavern. This is a place. It's owned by a 389 00:20:47,920 --> 00:20:52,440 Speaker 2: gentleman named John Williamson and his wife Elizabeth, and their servant, 390 00:20:53,240 --> 00:20:56,720 Speaker 2: a woman named Bridget. And they've owned the place. I 391 00:20:56,720 --> 00:20:58,880 Speaker 2: think it was fifteen years. They've run the place. They're 392 00:20:58,960 --> 00:21:02,520 Speaker 2: very well established in the area. They're very well h liked. 393 00:21:02,640 --> 00:21:05,879 Speaker 2: The press actually call out that the King's Tavern was 394 00:21:05,920 --> 00:21:09,520 Speaker 2: open to one and all foreigners of all kinds. There 395 00:21:09,560 --> 00:21:14,440 Speaker 2: was no discrimination. You know. Williams is a really friendly guy. 396 00:21:14,560 --> 00:21:16,080 Speaker 2: It's not as a place to go get a mail 397 00:21:16,080 --> 00:21:19,960 Speaker 2: and a drink and everyone's welcome. But on the night 398 00:21:20,000 --> 00:21:25,119 Speaker 2: of December and nineteenth, Williams and his wife and Serbra 399 00:21:25,160 --> 00:21:28,720 Speaker 2: went Bridget. They are also horribly murdered in much the 400 00:21:28,720 --> 00:21:32,800 Speaker 2: same fashion as the mar family. But what's different in 401 00:21:32,840 --> 00:21:35,679 Speaker 2: this case is there is a witness of sorts. So 402 00:21:35,760 --> 00:21:39,040 Speaker 2: the King's Tavern, it's u pub. It has rooms upstairs 403 00:21:39,040 --> 00:21:42,560 Speaker 2: that you can let. And there's a gentleman upstairs who's 404 00:21:42,600 --> 00:21:45,480 Speaker 2: been living living at the pub for quite a while. 405 00:21:45,520 --> 00:21:47,920 Speaker 2: He's and he's upstairs. He's he's getting ready for bed. 406 00:21:48,040 --> 00:21:50,760 Speaker 2: He came home from a night out on the town. 407 00:21:50,920 --> 00:21:53,840 Speaker 2: He sees John Willimson and his wife. He talks him 408 00:21:53,840 --> 00:21:56,720 Speaker 2: for a bit. They seem perfectly normal. He bets them 409 00:21:56,840 --> 00:21:59,840 Speaker 2: good night, and he goes upstairs and he's getting ready 410 00:21:59,840 --> 00:22:03,920 Speaker 2: for bed, and he's he's naked, and he suddenly hears 411 00:22:04,119 --> 00:22:07,879 Speaker 2: a commotion downstairs. He hears someone like barging into the place, 412 00:22:08,119 --> 00:22:11,840 Speaker 2: and he hears John Williamson cry out, we are murdered. 413 00:22:11,960 --> 00:22:14,600 Speaker 2: And there's a sound, there's there's screaming, there's sounds of 414 00:22:14,600 --> 00:22:18,960 Speaker 2: all this violence happening. He hears a number of really 415 00:22:19,000 --> 00:22:23,040 Speaker 2: heavy thumps, like something being bashed in and he's petrified, 416 00:22:23,480 --> 00:22:25,320 Speaker 2: and he's he's up there in his room, like he said, 417 00:22:25,320 --> 00:22:28,160 Speaker 2: he's naked. He doesn't, you know, because he's got ready 418 00:22:28,160 --> 00:22:30,960 Speaker 2: for bed. He opens his bedroom door and he sneaks 419 00:22:31,000 --> 00:22:32,879 Speaker 2: down the stairs and he gets to the bottom up 420 00:22:32,920 --> 00:22:35,040 Speaker 2: the stairs, and there's a door at the bottom up 421 00:22:35,080 --> 00:22:38,000 Speaker 2: the stairs, and the door is slightly ajar, and he 422 00:22:38,119 --> 00:22:42,240 Speaker 2: peers through it and he looks into the room and 423 00:22:42,240 --> 00:22:46,280 Speaker 2: the rooms lit by the fireplace, and he can see 424 00:22:46,320 --> 00:22:49,159 Speaker 2: a body lying on the ground, and he sees a 425 00:22:49,240 --> 00:22:53,719 Speaker 2: man kneeling over the body. And the man's back is 426 00:22:53,760 --> 00:22:55,919 Speaker 2: to him, so he doesn't see the face. But the 427 00:22:55,960 --> 00:22:59,680 Speaker 2: man appears to be wearing like a long leather trench coat, 428 00:22:59,880 --> 00:23:02,040 Speaker 2: and it seems to be going through the pockets of 429 00:23:02,200 --> 00:23:05,480 Speaker 2: the body. And he hears this man take change or 430 00:23:05,520 --> 00:23:07,919 Speaker 2: coins out of the body's pockets, sort of jangle him 431 00:23:07,920 --> 00:23:11,080 Speaker 2: in his hands and stick him in his pocket. He 432 00:23:11,320 --> 00:23:16,600 Speaker 2: is he's petrified, and he sneaks back upstairs as quietly 433 00:23:17,200 --> 00:23:19,960 Speaker 2: as he can, and he puts on a night shirt 434 00:23:20,080 --> 00:23:22,879 Speaker 2: and some pants, and he has to get out of here. 435 00:23:22,960 --> 00:23:25,240 Speaker 2: You know, he's terrified he's going to be slaughtered next 436 00:23:25,240 --> 00:23:26,920 Speaker 2: and so he takes a couple of sheets from his bed, 437 00:23:26,960 --> 00:23:29,160 Speaker 2: he ties them around his bed head, and he lures 438 00:23:29,200 --> 00:23:32,919 Speaker 2: them out the window of his room and he starts 439 00:23:33,000 --> 00:23:35,560 Speaker 2: crawling out. And as he's crawling out the window, a 440 00:23:35,680 --> 00:23:37,920 Speaker 2: night washman happens to come by and see a guy 441 00:23:38,000 --> 00:23:41,359 Speaker 2: crawling out the pulp window, you know, in his night shirt. 442 00:23:41,840 --> 00:23:46,240 Speaker 2: This raises the alarm, and the nightwashman sounds his rattle, 443 00:23:46,280 --> 00:23:49,920 Speaker 2: blows his whistle, and folks in the surrounding houses come 444 00:23:49,920 --> 00:23:52,600 Speaker 2: out and they break into the pub. They break down 445 00:23:52,640 --> 00:23:55,239 Speaker 2: the front door, and they smash a basement window. Call 446 00:23:55,320 --> 00:23:58,520 Speaker 2: and they enter in and they find again a horrible 447 00:23:58,520 --> 00:24:02,719 Speaker 2: seeing John Williamson. He's you know, his throat's been slipped 448 00:24:02,760 --> 00:24:05,280 Speaker 2: down to the bone. He's been beaten balley. He actually 449 00:24:05,280 --> 00:24:07,199 Speaker 2: has a broken leg. Looks like he took a tumble 450 00:24:07,920 --> 00:24:10,840 Speaker 2: down a flight of stairs into the basement level while 451 00:24:10,840 --> 00:24:14,000 Speaker 2: he was trying to defend himself. His wife, Elizabeth, she's 452 00:24:14,040 --> 00:24:17,240 Speaker 2: been stabs, throw slat, you know, head caved in. The 453 00:24:17,480 --> 00:24:21,639 Speaker 2: servant woman Bridget They said she had a huge, a 454 00:24:21,840 --> 00:24:24,159 Speaker 2: huge hole in the side of her neck where you know, 455 00:24:24,480 --> 00:24:29,000 Speaker 2: she'd been mutilated. And this time there's there's a clue 456 00:24:29,320 --> 00:24:31,320 Speaker 2: such as it was. It probably be a gold line 457 00:24:31,359 --> 00:24:34,080 Speaker 2: of the clue today back then, but there was a 458 00:24:34,760 --> 00:24:38,280 Speaker 2: like a bloody handprint on a window sill that led 459 00:24:38,320 --> 00:24:40,560 Speaker 2: out the back of let out the back of the pub. 460 00:24:41,080 --> 00:24:43,240 Speaker 2: The way it's described in the newspapers up the day 461 00:24:43,400 --> 00:24:45,080 Speaker 2: is the back of the pub fased out on. I 462 00:24:45,119 --> 00:24:47,439 Speaker 2: guess you could call it wasteland. It was wet clay, 463 00:24:47,960 --> 00:24:51,760 Speaker 2: and the killer climbed up this mountain of wet clay 464 00:24:51,960 --> 00:24:54,520 Speaker 2: and then ran away once he got to the top 465 00:24:54,560 --> 00:24:56,760 Speaker 2: of the hill. So the speculation is that this guy 466 00:24:56,840 --> 00:25:00,480 Speaker 2: would have probably been covered in clay when he when 467 00:25:00,480 --> 00:25:03,080 Speaker 2: he got to the top. But you know, except that 468 00:25:03,119 --> 00:25:05,120 Speaker 2: he left a handprint, well he handprint on the windowsill, 469 00:25:05,280 --> 00:25:07,440 Speaker 2: which today would have been a gold mine. Back then, 470 00:25:07,680 --> 00:25:11,560 Speaker 2: it didn't mean anything. And so you've got you know, 471 00:25:12,040 --> 00:25:13,880 Speaker 2: was it twelve days since the war murder and now 472 00:25:13,880 --> 00:25:17,600 Speaker 2: it's it's happened again. And one of the London newspapers, 473 00:25:17,720 --> 00:25:20,359 Speaker 2: which I caught in the book, they're almost like apologetic 474 00:25:20,440 --> 00:25:23,719 Speaker 2: that they have to report. Thence the following day they 475 00:25:23,760 --> 00:25:26,040 Speaker 2: actually start off with like, you know, we're sorry we 476 00:25:26,119 --> 00:25:28,879 Speaker 2: have to tell you this, but it's happened again. You 477 00:25:29,040 --> 00:25:32,560 Speaker 2: have you know, the Nightwatchman, the Constables. This sort of 478 00:25:32,560 --> 00:25:36,760 Speaker 2: mismashed investigation with no sort of like coordinated effort happening. 479 00:25:37,119 --> 00:25:40,760 Speaker 2: It kind of goes nowhere until a couple of people 480 00:25:40,800 --> 00:25:43,879 Speaker 2: stepped forward and you know, with some information that I 481 00:25:43,960 --> 00:25:45,760 Speaker 2: think is pivotal to the case. 482 00:25:46,280 --> 00:25:49,240 Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean I think this is this set of 483 00:25:49,320 --> 00:25:52,639 Speaker 1: murders too, is just so terrifying to think. Again, you know, 484 00:25:53,320 --> 00:25:57,040 Speaker 1: a well liked business owner, you know, at home late 485 00:25:57,080 --> 00:26:00,199 Speaker 1: at night into some birds cold outside the story of 486 00:26:00,240 --> 00:26:02,960 Speaker 1: the lodger. It's John Turner. I had remembered is the 487 00:26:03,000 --> 00:26:03,520 Speaker 1: guy's name? 488 00:26:03,640 --> 00:26:05,560 Speaker 2: Thank you? Yes, thank you, yes. 489 00:26:05,400 --> 00:26:08,280 Speaker 1: John Turner. And when he says that he sees a 490 00:26:08,320 --> 00:26:11,320 Speaker 1: tall man in a long coat standing over Missus Williamson's 491 00:26:11,320 --> 00:26:13,680 Speaker 1: body right at the bottom of the stairs and jingling 492 00:26:13,720 --> 00:26:16,440 Speaker 1: money and stuff like that. Yet again you've got another 493 00:26:16,680 --> 00:26:20,159 Speaker 1: character who's there who kind of a little bit like 494 00:26:20,280 --> 00:26:22,040 Speaker 1: Margaret Jewel. It's sort of like to me in a 495 00:26:22,040 --> 00:26:24,080 Speaker 1: little bit of a mysterious character. I mean, there's all 496 00:26:24,119 --> 00:26:27,000 Speaker 1: sorts of weird things happening. You always look at people 497 00:26:27,000 --> 00:26:29,159 Speaker 1: who are the survivors and think, how did that happen? 498 00:26:29,359 --> 00:26:31,199 Speaker 1: You know, when you have all of these victims. So 499 00:26:31,240 --> 00:26:34,359 Speaker 1: I find that interesting. And also, you know, I had thought, well, 500 00:26:34,400 --> 00:26:37,280 Speaker 1: there's you know, if maybe he's mistaken or I don't know, 501 00:26:37,359 --> 00:26:39,280 Speaker 1: we don't know if he's been drinking, and we you know, 502 00:26:39,280 --> 00:26:40,520 Speaker 1: we don't know if he's the one who did it. 503 00:26:40,600 --> 00:26:43,679 Speaker 1: There's just so many weird inconsistencies, I think, but this 504 00:26:43,720 --> 00:26:44,760 Speaker 1: had to have been terrifying. 505 00:26:45,080 --> 00:26:47,720 Speaker 2: Yeah, it is word and when I was researching this, 506 00:26:47,880 --> 00:26:50,359 Speaker 2: I thought, God, this guy had a lucky break, you 507 00:26:50,400 --> 00:26:51,879 Speaker 2: know the fancas he said with a tipsoe back up 508 00:26:51,920 --> 00:26:54,480 Speaker 2: the stairs without sort of sounding the a arm. And 509 00:26:54,520 --> 00:26:57,920 Speaker 2: then you're thinking, you know, these old pubger maybing around upstairs, 510 00:26:57,960 --> 00:27:01,040 Speaker 2: you know, aren't floor boards creaking and a massort? One 511 00:27:01,040 --> 00:27:02,840 Speaker 2: thing I didn't include it in the book, but one 512 00:27:02,840 --> 00:27:05,040 Speaker 2: thing also, The other person who was in the house 513 00:27:05,040 --> 00:27:09,120 Speaker 2: and slept the whole thing was John Wallinson's young granddaughter. Yeah, 514 00:27:09,200 --> 00:27:11,800 Speaker 2: she sleeps through the whole thing. She scares. But John 515 00:27:11,840 --> 00:27:15,159 Speaker 2: Turner us seem a bit of crief for, like, you know, 516 00:27:15,200 --> 00:27:19,440 Speaker 2: fleeing the place when there was a child sleeping sleeping upstairs. 517 00:27:19,680 --> 00:27:21,800 Speaker 2: On the flip side of that, you can't blame something 518 00:27:21,800 --> 00:27:23,720 Speaker 2: for trying to scarey out a window to escape. But 519 00:27:23,760 --> 00:27:27,400 Speaker 2: it is strange both the murders, you have the survivors. Hey, 520 00:27:27,400 --> 00:27:30,119 Speaker 2: who knows, maybe Margaret Jewel and John Turner were working 521 00:27:30,160 --> 00:27:30,720 Speaker 2: in cahoots. 522 00:27:31,000 --> 00:27:34,200 Speaker 1: I think that's just as probable as what it sounds like. 523 00:27:34,520 --> 00:27:36,840 Speaker 1: We're going to learn about the main suspect here. Pretty 524 00:27:36,840 --> 00:27:39,600 Speaker 1: soon it gets a little confusing when we start talking 525 00:27:39,600 --> 00:27:42,360 Speaker 1: about the main suspect, because we have the victim, John Williamson, 526 00:27:42,600 --> 00:27:44,919 Speaker 1: and then we've got a suspect that has a very 527 00:27:44,920 --> 00:27:48,439 Speaker 1: similar last name. Well, before we get into that, is 528 00:27:48,480 --> 00:27:51,960 Speaker 1: there anyone who could say definitively that anything was taken 529 00:27:52,040 --> 00:27:56,480 Speaker 1: from the Williamson household, considering everybody is dead or too 530 00:27:56,520 --> 00:27:59,680 Speaker 1: young to know, or you know, is a lodger who 531 00:28:00,200 --> 00:28:01,400 Speaker 1: has bigger concerns. 532 00:28:01,480 --> 00:28:03,320 Speaker 2: Yeah, based on the newspaper accounts of the day that 533 00:28:03,359 --> 00:28:05,920 Speaker 2: I read, no one definitely said anything was taken from 534 00:28:05,920 --> 00:28:09,200 Speaker 2: the pub, except for John Turner, who witnessed the pillar 535 00:28:09,280 --> 00:28:11,960 Speaker 2: bending over the body of one of the victims and 536 00:28:12,160 --> 00:28:15,119 Speaker 2: taking you know, coins from the pocket and jangling in 537 00:28:15,160 --> 00:28:17,879 Speaker 2: his hands. And so from that point of view, the 538 00:28:18,400 --> 00:28:22,800 Speaker 2: murder is again it's a motiveless crime. You had another family, 539 00:28:22,960 --> 00:28:25,640 Speaker 2: a business owner, well respected in the area, well liked, 540 00:28:26,119 --> 00:28:29,560 Speaker 2: but sure for no apparent reason, which really adds to 541 00:28:29,600 --> 00:28:31,600 Speaker 2: the sort of terrifying nature of the crimes. You know. 542 00:28:31,640 --> 00:28:34,840 Speaker 2: The barbarity obviously is one aspect that makes it solf frightening, 543 00:28:34,880 --> 00:28:36,359 Speaker 2: but the fact that these people should be killed for 544 00:28:36,440 --> 00:28:39,800 Speaker 2: all apparent reason sort of makes it even more disturbing. 545 00:28:40,440 --> 00:28:42,440 Speaker 1: No, I know, you said that they have a handprint, 546 00:28:43,240 --> 00:28:45,840 Speaker 1: and I was trying to remember or even sort of 547 00:28:45,880 --> 00:28:48,560 Speaker 1: process whether or not that was going to be helpful, 548 00:28:48,600 --> 00:28:52,800 Speaker 1: because I don't know if in eighteen eleven they realized 549 00:28:52,840 --> 00:28:56,760 Speaker 1: there was a distinctiveness, like an actual you can identify somebody. 550 00:28:56,800 --> 00:28:59,560 Speaker 1: We all have distinct handprint, fingerprint. I don't think that 551 00:28:59,600 --> 00:29:01,680 Speaker 1: came into a little bit later they did it. 552 00:29:02,160 --> 00:29:04,840 Speaker 2: Scullnyard does actually start using fingerprints until nineteen oh one. 553 00:29:05,240 --> 00:29:07,680 Speaker 2: But I'm just gonna jump ahead very quickly here. There 554 00:29:07,720 --> 00:29:10,520 Speaker 2: was actually a pretty infamous murder in eighteen forty where 555 00:29:10,520 --> 00:29:12,720 Speaker 2: a guy named Lord William Russell's murdered in his bed. 556 00:29:12,800 --> 00:29:15,479 Speaker 2: The butler ends up doing it. The press reports at 557 00:29:15,480 --> 00:29:17,720 Speaker 2: the time report that there's a bloody pomp print found 558 00:29:17,720 --> 00:29:21,360 Speaker 2: on Lord William Russell's pillow. At the time of this murder. 559 00:29:21,400 --> 00:29:24,480 Speaker 2: There is a country doctor up in Norfolk named Richard 560 00:29:24,520 --> 00:29:28,800 Speaker 2: Overton who has just out of his own interest, studied 561 00:29:29,000 --> 00:29:33,000 Speaker 2: the weird marks that human skin leaves on surfaces, and 562 00:29:33,080 --> 00:29:36,080 Speaker 2: he reads about this eighteen forty murder. You know, shortly 563 00:29:36,120 --> 00:29:37,840 Speaker 2: after it happens, and he sends a letter to Scotland 564 00:29:37,920 --> 00:29:39,600 Speaker 2: Yard and he says, you know, he's not very well known, 565 00:29:40,080 --> 00:29:44,200 Speaker 2: but human skin has ridges which is particular that each 566 00:29:44,200 --> 00:29:47,480 Speaker 2: individual and can be left on the surface. And so 567 00:29:47,520 --> 00:29:50,320 Speaker 2: if you arrest the suspect and you take their pondpernt, 568 00:29:50,360 --> 00:29:51,600 Speaker 2: he might be able to compare it with the pomp 569 00:29:51,640 --> 00:29:54,080 Speaker 2: print found on the pillow. And as a demonstration he 570 00:29:54,120 --> 00:29:56,440 Speaker 2: includes his own fingerprints on the layer and he sends 571 00:29:56,440 --> 00:29:58,960 Speaker 2: off to Scotland Yard. It gets stuck in the slush 572 00:29:58,960 --> 00:30:01,920 Speaker 2: file and is saying for fifty years. It's not found 573 00:30:02,000 --> 00:30:05,360 Speaker 2: until eighteen ninety and that is one of the great 574 00:30:05,640 --> 00:30:08,640 Speaker 2: what if What if scott Yard had opened that letter 575 00:30:08,640 --> 00:30:11,240 Speaker 2: when it arrived in eighteen forty well sort of followed 576 00:30:11,280 --> 00:30:13,920 Speaker 2: up in this Victorian crime fighting might have been completely 577 00:30:14,080 --> 00:30:17,080 Speaker 2: completely different. So in eighteen eleven go back to the 578 00:30:17,080 --> 00:30:20,240 Speaker 2: Poor Williamson's and yeah, they're pump They can't do anything 579 00:30:20,240 --> 00:30:21,720 Speaker 2: with it. All they meant was that they knew the 580 00:30:21,800 --> 00:30:23,120 Speaker 2: killer to escape through the back window. 581 00:30:23,480 --> 00:30:27,440 Speaker 1: So they have no suspects. We don't think anything really 582 00:30:27,640 --> 00:30:29,960 Speaker 1: that we can actually confirm has been taken from either 583 00:30:30,000 --> 00:30:33,640 Speaker 1: of these households. They're brutal murders, including a baby in 584 00:30:33,680 --> 00:30:36,960 Speaker 1: the first household. Young people that just seemed to be, 585 00:30:37,120 --> 00:30:41,480 Speaker 1: you know, left with wreckage. You've got survivors, neither of 586 00:30:41,480 --> 00:30:43,720 Speaker 1: whom I'm sure I believe, I don't know. We'll see. 587 00:30:44,200 --> 00:30:46,920 Speaker 1: So where do we go next when we are not 588 00:30:47,080 --> 00:30:50,920 Speaker 1: living in an era of CCTV credit cards. What do 589 00:30:51,000 --> 00:30:52,080 Speaker 1: they end up doing next? 590 00:30:52,400 --> 00:30:56,040 Speaker 2: Well, well, what happens as the investigation, if you can 591 00:30:56,080 --> 00:31:00,600 Speaker 2: call it that. And three days after the Williams some murder, 592 00:31:00,960 --> 00:31:04,240 Speaker 2: some people come forward and they name a guy named 593 00:31:04,320 --> 00:31:06,920 Speaker 2: John Williams. So back trigger Loving, there's no man named 594 00:31:06,960 --> 00:31:09,720 Speaker 2: John Williams. He's living at a pub called the Pear Tree, 595 00:31:09,920 --> 00:31:13,640 Speaker 2: and he has he has two roommates he's been bunking with. 596 00:31:13,840 --> 00:31:19,120 Speaker 2: John Williams is a sailor. He actually knew Timothy Maher. 597 00:31:19,280 --> 00:31:23,080 Speaker 2: The two had celts together at some point in their career. 598 00:31:23,280 --> 00:31:27,720 Speaker 2: And he sort of piques the suspicions of his two 599 00:31:27,800 --> 00:31:31,240 Speaker 2: roommates because in the wake of these murders, he suddenly 600 00:31:31,280 --> 00:31:33,560 Speaker 2: seems to have come into a little bit of money. 601 00:31:33,600 --> 00:31:35,720 Speaker 2: You know, he usually doesn't have a lot, but now 602 00:31:35,720 --> 00:31:38,200 Speaker 2: he's got a little bit to spend. And he's also 603 00:31:38,360 --> 00:31:41,880 Speaker 2: changed his appearance. He has shaved his beard. The women 604 00:31:41,920 --> 00:31:45,200 Speaker 2: who are doing his laundry at the pub, they report 605 00:31:45,280 --> 00:31:50,120 Speaker 2: having found what they believed to have been blood on 606 00:31:50,120 --> 00:31:52,920 Speaker 2: one of his shirts in the wake of the murders. 607 00:31:53,080 --> 00:31:55,400 Speaker 2: And he was also known to have possessed a knife 608 00:31:55,400 --> 00:31:58,440 Speaker 2: that had a quoe unquote peculiar blade that theory I 609 00:31:58,480 --> 00:32:01,840 Speaker 2: think could have inflicted the women's fans at the crime scene. 610 00:32:02,000 --> 00:32:05,240 Speaker 2: But what really sort of peaks the curiosity of the 611 00:32:05,280 --> 00:32:07,160 Speaker 2: constables I want to work in the case is that 612 00:32:07,280 --> 00:32:11,280 Speaker 2: the Pear Tree, the pub where John Williams is staying, 613 00:32:11,600 --> 00:32:16,040 Speaker 2: had a mall one of these shipbuilding hammers that went missing, 614 00:32:16,880 --> 00:32:21,719 Speaker 2: and the mall found at the Timothy Mahra residence is 615 00:32:22,560 --> 00:32:28,040 Speaker 2: identified supposedly as the mall that went missing from the 616 00:32:28,080 --> 00:32:31,720 Speaker 2: Pear Tree. Based on this eference, which is circumstantial. John 617 00:32:31,760 --> 00:32:35,560 Speaker 2: Williams is arrested and he is put through what one 618 00:32:35,600 --> 00:32:39,560 Speaker 2: newspaper calls a very thorough interrogation, and we can only. 619 00:32:39,680 --> 00:32:42,880 Speaker 1: In America we'd call the third degree. Probably yes, exactly. 620 00:32:43,360 --> 00:32:46,160 Speaker 2: He's put through this really brutal interrogation where we can 621 00:32:46,200 --> 00:32:49,680 Speaker 2: only assume is brutal. He's taken back to his cell 622 00:32:50,600 --> 00:32:54,719 Speaker 2: and he hangs himself with a handkerchief on a pipe 623 00:32:54,920 --> 00:32:59,240 Speaker 2: that is used to hang clothing, and his body's found 624 00:32:59,280 --> 00:33:02,280 Speaker 2: not long after he he hangs himself, So no one 625 00:33:02,360 --> 00:33:05,160 Speaker 2: really knows if John Williams did it or not. In 626 00:33:05,240 --> 00:33:07,360 Speaker 2: the eyes of the public, he certainly did. 627 00:33:07,840 --> 00:33:10,640 Speaker 1: So let's talk about the evidence before we talk about 628 00:33:10,800 --> 00:33:12,760 Speaker 1: his death. I mean, again, this is one of the 629 00:33:12,760 --> 00:33:16,800 Speaker 1: most befuddling cases. I've always thought about why the Ratcliff 630 00:33:16,840 --> 00:33:19,400 Speaker 1: Highway murders were not as infamous as Jack the Ripper, 631 00:33:19,440 --> 00:33:21,640 Speaker 1: And I think it's the taunting part of it. The 632 00:33:21,800 --> 00:33:24,600 Speaker 1: murders that at least are a provable connected to this 633 00:33:24,680 --> 00:33:28,520 Speaker 1: have stopped after John Williams is dead. But if we 634 00:33:28,520 --> 00:33:30,640 Speaker 1: go back and look at the evidence, so the evidence 635 00:33:30,680 --> 00:33:34,640 Speaker 1: really was that he knew. I know that Tom de Quincy, 636 00:33:34,720 --> 00:33:37,479 Speaker 1: who was a very famous essayist, wrote and did kind 637 00:33:37,520 --> 00:33:39,840 Speaker 1: of an investigation also and wrote an essay right and 638 00:33:39,880 --> 00:33:42,800 Speaker 1: he said there was this definitive connection between Timothy Marr 639 00:33:42,960 --> 00:33:46,880 Speaker 1: and John Williams. What was the connection between John Williams 640 00:33:46,920 --> 00:33:50,240 Speaker 1: and John Williamson the victim? I feel like I read 641 00:33:50,280 --> 00:33:52,720 Speaker 1: that maybe he had stayed there at some point, but 642 00:33:52,800 --> 00:33:54,960 Speaker 1: I don't remember that could have been in a PD 643 00:33:55,080 --> 00:33:56,000 Speaker 1: James book, the P. D. 644 00:33:56,120 --> 00:33:58,600 Speaker 2: James book. I mean colors like everything that does with 645 00:33:58,720 --> 00:34:02,320 Speaker 2: Williams and mar that there was a definitive connection and 646 00:34:02,320 --> 00:34:05,239 Speaker 2: that they and that they sell together. I don't know 647 00:34:05,280 --> 00:34:08,640 Speaker 2: how close they were, if they were friends or or 648 00:34:08,680 --> 00:34:11,200 Speaker 2: what not, but I mean that was definitely a damning 649 00:34:11,239 --> 00:34:14,759 Speaker 2: piece of evidence against him. The other stuff, Yeah, the 650 00:34:14,840 --> 00:34:16,759 Speaker 2: shaving of the beard. 651 00:34:16,719 --> 00:34:18,680 Speaker 1: I just don't think there's no evidence. 652 00:34:18,880 --> 00:34:19,800 Speaker 2: There's no evidence. 653 00:34:19,880 --> 00:34:22,320 Speaker 1: And people steal tools all the time. 654 00:34:22,560 --> 00:34:24,840 Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, exactly, And the blood found on his clothes, 655 00:34:24,840 --> 00:34:28,319 Speaker 2: it's not even sure it was blood. These two laundrywomen, Yeah, 656 00:34:28,400 --> 00:34:29,920 Speaker 2: two ways he did the laundry. He saw it and 657 00:34:29,960 --> 00:34:31,760 Speaker 2: just assumed it was blood. 658 00:34:31,880 --> 00:34:34,200 Speaker 1: Yeah. My thought had been, of course, there's no way 659 00:34:34,200 --> 00:34:38,280 Speaker 1: that to definitively match the mall from the crime scene 660 00:34:38,600 --> 00:34:41,960 Speaker 1: unless there's fingerprints or something, and even then they wouldn't 661 00:34:41,960 --> 00:34:44,520 Speaker 1: have been able to use that. And people stole stuff 662 00:34:44,560 --> 00:34:47,040 Speaker 1: all the time. Weren't a terrible area of London. I 663 00:34:47,080 --> 00:34:49,719 Speaker 1: just don't none of this is compelling in any way 664 00:34:49,880 --> 00:34:52,120 Speaker 1: at all, especially his suicide. 665 00:34:52,400 --> 00:34:55,239 Speaker 2: Yeah, ef theft was an incredibly common crime. I think 666 00:34:55,239 --> 00:34:57,520 Speaker 2: I said the beginning of very I think seventy five 667 00:34:57,560 --> 00:35:00,560 Speaker 2: percent of all crimes. Yeah, in London at the time 668 00:35:00,800 --> 00:35:03,960 Speaker 2: our left and Roberty. So the evidence is purely circumstantial. 669 00:35:04,040 --> 00:35:06,239 Speaker 2: I think this is one of those things where authorities 670 00:35:06,280 --> 00:35:08,400 Speaker 2: just want this case to go away, so let's put 671 00:35:08,440 --> 00:35:10,120 Speaker 2: on this guy and be done with it. 672 00:35:10,160 --> 00:35:12,920 Speaker 1: Is there an insinuation that someone murdered him, that this 673 00:35:13,120 --> 00:35:15,360 Speaker 1: was not, you know, an act of suicide. 674 00:35:15,880 --> 00:35:17,520 Speaker 2: I didn't se any insinuation in the you know, in 675 00:35:17,560 --> 00:35:20,560 Speaker 2: the newspaper coverage of the day. The newspapers were either 676 00:35:20,680 --> 00:35:23,400 Speaker 2: like happy this guy was gone or angry that he 677 00:35:23,440 --> 00:35:26,760 Speaker 2: didn't get justice in court. But I certainly wondered that 678 00:35:27,239 --> 00:35:30,000 Speaker 2: when I was when I was researching it. Now it 679 00:35:30,080 --> 00:35:34,360 Speaker 2: seems pretty convenient. So who who knows? You know, nothing's 680 00:35:34,400 --> 00:35:37,239 Speaker 2: beyond the remay. Hey, look, we've identified Margaret Joel as 681 00:35:37,280 --> 00:35:39,640 Speaker 2: a possible suspect now, so nothing's beyond the realm up 682 00:35:39,800 --> 00:35:41,560 Speaker 2: right possibility. 683 00:35:42,160 --> 00:35:45,040 Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean, you know, you have two able bodied 684 00:35:45,040 --> 00:35:48,040 Speaker 1: people who are survivors, you know, John Turner on one 685 00:35:48,120 --> 00:35:50,279 Speaker 1: household and Margaret Jewel and another. And I'm not saying 686 00:35:50,280 --> 00:35:52,279 Speaker 1: they did it, but I'm just saying that there could 687 00:35:52,280 --> 00:35:55,680 Speaker 1: be a coordinated effort I have never thought that John 688 00:35:55,719 --> 00:36:00,440 Speaker 1: Williams was a decent suspect at all. But you know, 689 00:36:00,480 --> 00:36:02,879 Speaker 1: I'm missing some information. I would like you to talk 690 00:36:02,880 --> 00:36:07,799 Speaker 1: about the next level amount of just discussed and what 691 00:36:07,880 --> 00:36:11,400 Speaker 1: they did with John Williams after it was discovered that 692 00:36:11,480 --> 00:36:14,120 Speaker 1: he had died and they were not able to take 693 00:36:14,200 --> 00:36:16,440 Speaker 1: him to trial. What happens next. 694 00:36:16,680 --> 00:36:20,600 Speaker 2: They yeah, they he's not let off the hook, even 695 00:36:20,600 --> 00:36:23,200 Speaker 2: in death. They take his body down, they strip him, 696 00:36:23,200 --> 00:36:25,680 Speaker 2: they stick him on a cart. They wheel him on 697 00:36:25,719 --> 00:36:28,399 Speaker 2: a cart through the East End of London. Crowds are 698 00:36:28,440 --> 00:36:32,120 Speaker 2: turning out to sort of jeer him, and you know, 699 00:36:32,160 --> 00:36:34,239 Speaker 2: they're throwing fruit and rocks at the guy, and it's 700 00:36:34,600 --> 00:36:37,000 Speaker 2: you know, at this corpse. And they take him to 701 00:36:38,200 --> 00:36:41,120 Speaker 2: an intersection, a main intersection in the East end of London. 702 00:36:41,200 --> 00:36:43,920 Speaker 2: They actually they drive a stake through him and then 703 00:36:44,000 --> 00:36:46,600 Speaker 2: they bury him in a hole in the road and 704 00:36:46,719 --> 00:36:49,759 Speaker 2: they cover him up there and that's where they leave him. 705 00:36:49,800 --> 00:36:52,479 Speaker 2: And then you're right, the case sort of after all, 706 00:36:52,560 --> 00:36:56,399 Speaker 2: it's sort of disappears. I'm surprised it's not as well 707 00:36:56,440 --> 00:36:59,000 Speaker 2: known as the Ripper case. But like he said, there's 708 00:36:59,000 --> 00:37:00,799 Speaker 2: an other sort of reper case is kind of the 709 00:37:00,840 --> 00:37:03,400 Speaker 2: first modern day serial killer case where you have the 710 00:37:03,480 --> 00:37:06,279 Speaker 2: killer taunting the press. Yeah, and kind of setting the 711 00:37:06,320 --> 00:37:08,960 Speaker 2: temb left for that, and the ractifying murders didn't sort 712 00:37:08,960 --> 00:37:12,440 Speaker 2: of have that element to it, so it's kind of 713 00:37:12,480 --> 00:37:13,080 Speaker 2: been forgotten. 714 00:37:13,920 --> 00:37:17,120 Speaker 1: Well, you know a couple of points. One was when 715 00:37:17,280 --> 00:37:20,239 Speaker 1: I know when John Williams was buried, he's buried at 716 00:37:20,239 --> 00:37:23,120 Speaker 1: this intersection. They did it because, you know, they wanted 717 00:37:23,120 --> 00:37:24,759 Speaker 1: to bury him at a crossroad so that when his 718 00:37:24,840 --> 00:37:27,439 Speaker 1: spirit rose, it wouldn't know where to go, it would 719 00:37:27,440 --> 00:37:30,879 Speaker 1: be perpetually confused, it wouldn't and I think they buried 720 00:37:30,920 --> 00:37:33,960 Speaker 1: him face down too. It's pretty awful. Rob Jeffrey said, 721 00:37:33,960 --> 00:37:35,799 Speaker 1: you should really go visit this place. The pub's out 722 00:37:35,800 --> 00:37:37,680 Speaker 1: there anymore. And I thought, Okay, well, I don't know 723 00:37:37,680 --> 00:37:40,800 Speaker 1: if I want to go to this intersection. That's really creepy. 724 00:37:41,080 --> 00:37:43,520 Speaker 1: But you know, that idea of sort of convicting somebody, 725 00:37:43,600 --> 00:37:46,880 Speaker 1: not letting it go until it was done. I'm sure 726 00:37:46,920 --> 00:37:50,280 Speaker 1: people in the mid eighteen hundreds to later eighteen hundreds 727 00:37:50,320 --> 00:37:53,240 Speaker 1: before Jack the Ripper knew a lot about Ratcliffe Highway. 728 00:37:53,320 --> 00:37:56,520 Speaker 1: And then you've got the Jack the Ripper with its 729 00:37:56,560 --> 00:37:59,480 Speaker 1: criminal profiling kind of the first well known case of 730 00:37:59,520 --> 00:38:03,919 Speaker 1: criminal profiling, which surprises me because you know, I think 731 00:38:03,960 --> 00:38:06,920 Speaker 1: that the Ratcliffe Highway murders is ripe for criminal profiling. 732 00:38:06,960 --> 00:38:09,239 Speaker 1: I think you could really have somebody now look at 733 00:38:09,239 --> 00:38:11,120 Speaker 1: that case and go, God, this doesn't make any sense, 734 00:38:11,200 --> 00:38:12,960 Speaker 1: this guy doesn't fit in at all, or oh yeah, 735 00:38:13,040 --> 00:38:15,680 Speaker 1: this is exactly what you would see. I just don't 736 00:38:15,719 --> 00:38:17,600 Speaker 1: think you have enough information to know. But it's an 737 00:38:17,640 --> 00:38:18,480 Speaker 1: enduring mystery. 738 00:38:18,680 --> 00:38:21,439 Speaker 2: It is fascinating. You're right, it would absolutely be great 739 00:38:21,480 --> 00:38:24,520 Speaker 2: for a criminal profiler. And yes, Scott, you know that 740 00:38:24,640 --> 00:38:27,080 Speaker 2: Jack the Ripper case is the first attempt made at 741 00:38:27,200 --> 00:38:29,480 Speaker 2: criminal profiling. And I'm kind of bouncing around here, But 742 00:38:30,320 --> 00:38:32,560 Speaker 2: when I was thinking about writing this book, I know 743 00:38:32,600 --> 00:38:34,440 Speaker 2: it's going to have to write about the Jack the 744 00:38:34,520 --> 00:38:37,080 Speaker 2: Ripper case, obviously, because you can't write about Scotlan year 745 00:38:37,080 --> 00:38:38,440 Speaker 2: and uncluded the Ripper. But I was trying to think 746 00:38:38,480 --> 00:38:41,080 Speaker 2: of a different approach to the Ripper case, and that 747 00:38:41,280 --> 00:38:44,160 Speaker 2: was one of the things when I was researching. I 748 00:38:44,200 --> 00:38:46,520 Speaker 2: discovered that the Jack theap case, it's the first attempt 749 00:38:46,520 --> 00:38:49,719 Speaker 2: made a criminal profiling. It's also a first attempt made 750 00:38:49,760 --> 00:38:53,120 Speaker 2: at using sniffer dogs returned the scot returned Stellton Yard 751 00:38:53,080 --> 00:38:55,680 Speaker 2: a merciless amount of ridicule in the press, but that 752 00:38:55,760 --> 00:38:57,480 Speaker 2: sort of ties back into kind of the point of 753 00:38:57,480 --> 00:39:00,399 Speaker 2: the book and sort of showing how Scotton Yard really 754 00:39:00,480 --> 00:39:03,200 Speaker 2: sort of laid the foundation for a lot of modern 755 00:39:03,280 --> 00:39:05,600 Speaker 2: day investigative work and the things we see today and 756 00:39:05,840 --> 00:39:08,399 Speaker 2: sort of true crime documentaries and you know we read 757 00:39:08,400 --> 00:39:09,520 Speaker 2: about detective thrillers. 758 00:39:09,800 --> 00:39:13,440 Speaker 1: Yeah, absolutely, I mean developing some really innovative techniques and 759 00:39:14,080 --> 00:39:16,319 Speaker 1: you know, I just think the history of Scotland Yard 760 00:39:16,400 --> 00:39:20,520 Speaker 1: is so fascinating. In the old building, finding Torso's you know. 761 00:39:20,680 --> 00:39:23,000 Speaker 2: That's it's one of when I actually wrote the book 762 00:39:23,040 --> 00:39:26,600 Speaker 2: proposal for h for Scotland Yard. Yeah, when they were 763 00:39:26,600 --> 00:39:29,920 Speaker 2: building what became known as New Scotland Yard, their new headquarters, 764 00:39:30,520 --> 00:39:33,799 Speaker 2: they found a victim up the Thames Torso murder in 765 00:39:33,880 --> 00:39:37,080 Speaker 2: the in the basement who was actually killing at the 766 00:39:37,120 --> 00:39:38,640 Speaker 2: same time as Jack the Riper. A lot of people 767 00:39:38,640 --> 00:39:40,840 Speaker 2: don't realize the Yard was like pursuing two serial killers 768 00:39:40,880 --> 00:39:43,160 Speaker 2: at the same time, the Ripper in the tenth Social Order. 769 00:39:43,440 --> 00:39:46,360 Speaker 2: But because they found a victiamall the Tennis Sourzew murder 770 00:39:46,400 --> 00:39:48,480 Speaker 2: in the basement of Scotlan Yard's headquarters, the first. One 771 00:39:48,520 --> 00:39:50,480 Speaker 2: of my book proposal was Scotland Yard is built on 772 00:39:50,520 --> 00:39:56,080 Speaker 2: an nonsoul mystery because they never actually solved the Torso murders. 773 00:39:56,160 --> 00:39:58,040 Speaker 1: I don't know if I've mentioned this on the show 774 00:39:58,120 --> 00:40:00,320 Speaker 1: before or not. I had heard of the Ratcliff Highway 775 00:40:00,360 --> 00:40:02,600 Speaker 1: murders for years because I had read through you know, P. D. 776 00:40:02,760 --> 00:40:05,880 Speaker 1: James book. My mom's a huge PD James fan, and 777 00:40:05,960 --> 00:40:08,279 Speaker 1: so I knew about the book. But one of my 778 00:40:08,280 --> 00:40:11,279 Speaker 1: favorite TV series is Whitechapel. Did you ever watch Whitechapel? 779 00:40:11,480 --> 00:40:13,800 Speaker 2: No? I never. I never did, and I should. 780 00:40:14,040 --> 00:40:15,839 Speaker 1: You got to watch it. I think it's on Prime now. 781 00:40:16,160 --> 00:40:20,160 Speaker 1: So the reason that I am fascinated by that show 782 00:40:20,480 --> 00:40:24,840 Speaker 1: is they do an excellent episode that mimics the Ratcliffe 783 00:40:24,880 --> 00:40:29,080 Speaker 1: Highway murders, where you have a tailor's shop where everybody's 784 00:40:29,160 --> 00:40:32,280 Speaker 1: murdered when the seamstress goes out to go get bagels 785 00:40:32,520 --> 00:40:35,680 Speaker 1: late at night and comes back and you know she's suspected, 786 00:40:35,760 --> 00:40:38,000 Speaker 1: and then there's like a series of other murders that 787 00:40:38,040 --> 00:40:41,920 Speaker 1: are very very similar, and they use a historian, a 788 00:40:41,960 --> 00:40:44,359 Speaker 1: crime history like me, a crime historian who knows all 789 00:40:44,400 --> 00:40:47,040 Speaker 1: about these stories and can say this is what you 790 00:40:47,080 --> 00:40:50,520 Speaker 1: can learn from the Ratcliff Highway murders to solve this 791 00:40:50,680 --> 00:40:52,719 Speaker 1: case now. And so that might seem like a really 792 00:40:52,800 --> 00:40:56,960 Speaker 1: silly premise, but it's an excellent way to talk about 793 00:40:56,960 --> 00:40:58,680 Speaker 1: what you and I both talk about, which is that 794 00:40:58,760 --> 00:41:02,400 Speaker 1: we can learn so much about current crime, current criminals, 795 00:41:02,520 --> 00:41:05,520 Speaker 1: why people kill, how to stop them by looking into 796 00:41:05,520 --> 00:41:08,160 Speaker 1: the past, you know. And I think that it's taken 797 00:41:08,200 --> 00:41:10,200 Speaker 1: a while for some of my listeners to kind of go, oh, 798 00:41:10,280 --> 00:41:12,480 Speaker 1: I get it. I see, these are real people from 799 00:41:12,480 --> 00:41:15,920 Speaker 1: the eighteen hundreds, and they are no different. They're no 800 00:41:16,040 --> 00:41:18,279 Speaker 1: different than us. I mean, you know, they had different money, 801 00:41:18,280 --> 00:41:22,200 Speaker 1: different jobs, different language, but the human emotions all the same. 802 00:41:22,320 --> 00:41:25,880 Speaker 1: Everything's the same, you know, everything's. 803 00:41:25,160 --> 00:41:26,920 Speaker 2: You know, human beings do not change. Anything that changes 804 00:41:26,920 --> 00:41:29,319 Speaker 2: is that sort of the technology and the methods to 805 00:41:29,400 --> 00:41:31,759 Speaker 2: catch them. And that's one of the things with this 806 00:41:31,840 --> 00:41:33,759 Speaker 2: book is that, you know, it doesn't appeal just to 807 00:41:33,800 --> 00:41:36,200 Speaker 2: people who are fascinated by true crime, but it appeals 808 00:41:36,239 --> 00:41:38,920 Speaker 2: to sort of people who enjoy a detective thrillers now 809 00:41:39,000 --> 00:41:41,040 Speaker 2: Spelpi or sort of made it up as they went along, 810 00:41:41,120 --> 00:41:42,920 Speaker 2: case by bloody case. And so you do see the 811 00:41:42,920 --> 00:41:47,040 Speaker 2: evolution of you know, sort of no role book for detectives, 812 00:41:47,080 --> 00:41:49,319 Speaker 2: and then you see them sort of gradually developing the 813 00:41:49,360 --> 00:41:52,719 Speaker 2: trade craft of detective work, and it's fascinating. You know, 814 00:41:52,920 --> 00:41:54,560 Speaker 2: one of the early cases, one of the things that 815 00:41:54,760 --> 00:41:57,680 Speaker 2: I found fascinating was one of their early cases in 816 00:41:57,719 --> 00:42:01,080 Speaker 2: eighteen thirty seven. You know, we find this poor woman's 817 00:42:01,080 --> 00:42:05,120 Speaker 2: found this membered on blong edgeware road. Her head's missing, 818 00:42:05,200 --> 00:42:07,880 Speaker 2: her legs are missing. Her head eventually shows up in 819 00:42:07,880 --> 00:42:10,520 Speaker 2: a canal just north of central London. Scouting the artplusts 820 00:42:10,520 --> 00:42:12,279 Speaker 2: they had on display, they put it in a jar 821 00:42:12,360 --> 00:42:14,320 Speaker 2: of spirits. They put it on display in the Pattinson 822 00:42:14,400 --> 00:42:17,319 Speaker 2: workhouse to try and identify her, and it works. You know, 823 00:42:17,560 --> 00:42:19,600 Speaker 2: a guy comes through sees and goes, oh my god, 824 00:42:19,640 --> 00:42:22,440 Speaker 2: that's my sister. And then that leads to the rest 825 00:42:22,480 --> 00:42:24,640 Speaker 2: of the killers. So you see these sort of like innovative, 826 00:42:25,080 --> 00:42:27,880 Speaker 2: very sort of thinking out of the box approaches to 827 00:42:27,960 --> 00:42:31,120 Speaker 2: solving these conflicts times. The other thing too, you know, 828 00:42:31,120 --> 00:42:34,040 Speaker 2: when we're talking about murderers today, this is kind of 829 00:42:34,040 --> 00:42:36,279 Speaker 2: sound where it's relatively easy to kill someone. You just 830 00:42:36,360 --> 00:42:38,560 Speaker 2: have to pull a trigger, you can shoot them. One 831 00:42:38,600 --> 00:42:40,040 Speaker 2: of the things that struck me when I was writing 832 00:42:40,120 --> 00:42:42,920 Speaker 2: this book was Gott. People really put a lot of 833 00:42:43,000 --> 00:42:46,439 Speaker 2: grim effort into murdering people. He didn't just shoot someone. Yeah, 834 00:42:46,560 --> 00:42:48,960 Speaker 2: the level of violence was really off the charts. 835 00:42:49,160 --> 00:42:51,680 Speaker 1: I talked on my show a lot about axe murders, 836 00:42:51,719 --> 00:42:54,279 Speaker 1: which I said, you know, Paul was sort of surprised, 837 00:42:54,280 --> 00:42:56,560 Speaker 1: and I said, people used wood to burn for heat, 838 00:42:56,600 --> 00:42:58,880 Speaker 1: and so there was an axe in every household and 839 00:42:58,920 --> 00:43:01,120 Speaker 1: if you wanted to kill someone, you could probably find 840 00:43:01,160 --> 00:43:02,920 Speaker 1: an axe in their house if you need it to. 841 00:43:03,000 --> 00:43:06,200 Speaker 1: And that happened a lot. It doesn't happen as much anymore. 842 00:43:06,280 --> 00:43:08,040 Speaker 2: You've got to make use of the tools you have available. 843 00:43:08,600 --> 00:43:10,680 Speaker 1: Well, I mean, I guess if you're determined to kill 844 00:43:10,680 --> 00:43:13,640 Speaker 1: somebody and find the weapon there, I've never understood. We 845 00:43:13,680 --> 00:43:15,560 Speaker 1: could get into a whole other episode of people who 846 00:43:15,600 --> 00:43:18,040 Speaker 1: do that. I still don't get it. But well, this 847 00:43:18,120 --> 00:43:20,920 Speaker 1: has been really great, Simon, because I know that every 848 00:43:21,040 --> 00:43:25,160 Speaker 1: policing agency has their flaws, big flaws, and I know 849 00:43:25,200 --> 00:43:28,960 Speaker 1: that Scotland Yard is no exception. But between the history 850 00:43:29,040 --> 00:43:32,920 Speaker 1: and as we've said them, innovativeness and the determination for 851 00:43:33,000 --> 00:43:35,720 Speaker 1: a lot of the detectives who have worked for Scotland 852 00:43:35,760 --> 00:43:38,640 Speaker 1: Yard and Metropolitan Police to crack some of the cases 853 00:43:38,640 --> 00:43:41,840 Speaker 1: and to stop things terrorism, stop the things that they've stopped, 854 00:43:42,200 --> 00:43:45,239 Speaker 1: has been really incredible to just see develop over the 855 00:43:45,320 --> 00:43:47,640 Speaker 1: last you know, one hundred and fifty to two hundred years. 856 00:43:47,680 --> 00:43:49,880 Speaker 1: When you read all those old documents, I'm glad you 857 00:43:49,920 --> 00:43:51,719 Speaker 1: pulled them all together into a book. 858 00:43:51,480 --> 00:43:53,759 Speaker 2: Thank you very much. Gain No, it was great. One 859 00:43:53,760 --> 00:43:55,160 Speaker 2: of the things I wanted to do with this book 860 00:43:55,360 --> 00:43:57,759 Speaker 2: is Scotlan Yard has a certain mistique to it from 861 00:43:57,880 --> 00:43:59,960 Speaker 2: its very curious name. You know, why is it closer 862 00:44:00,440 --> 00:44:02,440 Speaker 2: to the fact that it has sold some of the 863 00:44:02,440 --> 00:44:06,120 Speaker 2: most infamous crimes in the history. And when I started researching, 864 00:44:06,200 --> 00:44:09,040 Speaker 2: five killings quickly turned into ten, turned into fifteen, turned 865 00:44:09,080 --> 00:44:10,560 Speaker 2: in I mean, it was just like a lot of 866 00:44:10,719 --> 00:44:12,680 Speaker 2: murders about. One of the things that came out during 867 00:44:12,719 --> 00:44:15,040 Speaker 2: the research was that the Yard did and I did. 868 00:44:15,120 --> 00:44:16,880 Speaker 2: I was sort of unaware of it, but the Yard 869 00:44:16,960 --> 00:44:20,000 Speaker 2: did play a pivotal part in sort of establishing the 870 00:44:20,040 --> 00:44:22,880 Speaker 2: foundation for modern day detective work. And so you know, 871 00:44:22,920 --> 00:44:24,680 Speaker 2: a lot of the crimes that are in this book 872 00:44:24,719 --> 00:44:27,080 Speaker 2: are in there for that very reason. They show the 873 00:44:27,120 --> 00:44:30,520 Speaker 2: advancement of police work and sort of investigative technique. So, 874 00:44:30,680 --> 00:44:32,759 Speaker 2: you know, I hope people come away thinking, Wow, I 875 00:44:32,760 --> 00:44:34,400 Speaker 2: didn't realize Scotlandyard did all this stuff. 876 00:44:45,600 --> 00:44:48,480 Speaker 1: If you love historical true crime stories, check out the 877 00:44:48,520 --> 00:44:51,400 Speaker 1: audio versions of my books The Ghost Club, All That 878 00:44:51,520 --> 00:44:54,759 Speaker 1: Is Wicked, and American Sherlock and Don't Forget. There are 879 00:44:54,840 --> 00:44:58,600 Speaker 1: twelve seasons of my historical true crime podcast, Tenfold More 880 00:44:58,640 --> 00:45:02,279 Speaker 1: Wicked right here in this podcast feed, scroll back and 881 00:45:02,320 --> 00:45:05,080 Speaker 1: give them a listen if you haven't already. This has 882 00:45:05,120 --> 00:45:08,920 Speaker 1: been an exactly right production. Our senior producer is Alexis 883 00:45:08,960 --> 00:45:13,800 Speaker 1: a Morosi. Our associate producer is Christina Chamberlain. This episode 884 00:45:13,920 --> 00:45:17,400 Speaker 1: was mixed by John Bradley. Curtis heath is our composer. 885 00:45:17,680 --> 00:45:22,120 Speaker 1: Artwork by Nick Toga. Executive produced by Georgia Hardstark, Karen 886 00:45:22,200 --> 00:45:26,600 Speaker 1: Kilgarriff and Danielle Kramer. Follow Wicked Words on Instagram at 887 00:45:26,680 --> 00:45:30,720 Speaker 1: tenfold More Wicked and on Facebook at Wicked Words Pod