1 00:00:00,040 --> 00:00:02,920 Speaker 1: Hey, y'all were rerunning two episodes today in Troy, the 2 00:00:02,960 --> 00:00:08,239 Speaker 1: show Hello, Welcome to this day History Class, where we 3 00:00:08,400 --> 00:00:16,599 Speaker 1: dust off a little piece of history every day. The 4 00:00:16,720 --> 00:00:22,160 Speaker 1: day was February eighteen seventy four. It was the last 5 00:00:22,239 --> 00:00:27,120 Speaker 1: day of Regina versus Castro, a criminal trial that lasted 6 00:00:27,200 --> 00:00:31,400 Speaker 1: one eight eight court days, one of the longest cases 7 00:00:31,520 --> 00:00:35,920 Speaker 1: in English legal history. The star of the trial was 8 00:00:35,960 --> 00:00:38,120 Speaker 1: a man who claimed to be the heir to the 9 00:00:38,120 --> 00:00:44,000 Speaker 1: Titchborn baronetcy. A baronetcy is a hereditary honor awarded by 10 00:00:44,000 --> 00:00:47,600 Speaker 1: the British Crown that's usually given to families of nobility 11 00:00:47,800 --> 00:00:52,680 Speaker 1: or wealth. The Titchborns were a wealthy family in Hampshire, England, 12 00:00:53,640 --> 00:00:57,320 Speaker 1: and the oldest Titchborn son, Roger, was next in line 13 00:00:57,360 --> 00:01:03,680 Speaker 1: to be baronet. But he went missing, and when Roger's mom, 14 00:01:03,760 --> 00:01:07,600 Speaker 1: Henriette Titchborne, desperately searched for any clues as to where 15 00:01:07,680 --> 00:01:12,000 Speaker 1: Roger could be, the claimant stepped up saying he was Roger. 16 00:01:14,040 --> 00:01:16,800 Speaker 1: It's a weird series of events that brings us to 17 00:01:16,840 --> 00:01:19,760 Speaker 1: this day, the day on which the claimant was found 18 00:01:19,800 --> 00:01:25,520 Speaker 1: guilty of perjury for lying about being Roger Tichborne. The 19 00:01:25,520 --> 00:01:30,119 Speaker 1: Titchborne case is still shrouded in mystery, but like any 20 00:01:30,200 --> 00:01:34,800 Speaker 1: good years long scandalous drama should the case took Victorian 21 00:01:34,880 --> 00:01:41,120 Speaker 1: England by storm, Roger traveled a lot. After making his 22 00:01:41,160 --> 00:01:44,800 Speaker 1: way around South America, Roger hopped on a ship called 23 00:01:44,800 --> 00:01:49,760 Speaker 1: the Bella on April eighteen fifty four at Rio d Janniro. 24 00:01:51,320 --> 00:01:54,440 Speaker 1: The ship was headed to Kingston, Jamaica and New York, 25 00:01:55,520 --> 00:01:58,920 Speaker 1: but a few days later, wreckage in a lifeboat bearing 26 00:01:58,960 --> 00:02:01,960 Speaker 1: the name Bella were found off the coast of Brazil. 27 00:02:03,040 --> 00:02:07,920 Speaker 1: The ship and people on it were considered lost. Roger's 28 00:02:08,040 --> 00:02:11,560 Speaker 1: father accepted the fact that his son was gone, but 29 00:02:11,760 --> 00:02:15,520 Speaker 1: Roger's mother, Lady Titchborne, held out hope that her son 30 00:02:15,720 --> 00:02:20,080 Speaker 1: was still out there somewhere. She even contact a clairvoyant 31 00:02:20,480 --> 00:02:24,320 Speaker 1: who told her that her son was alive. And on 32 00:02:24,400 --> 00:02:27,119 Speaker 1: top of that, there were whispers that the people who 33 00:02:27,160 --> 00:02:31,840 Speaker 1: survived the bell Ereq were rescued and taken to Australia. 34 00:02:32,400 --> 00:02:37,240 Speaker 1: So Lady Titchborne put out advertisements offering money to anyone 35 00:02:37,560 --> 00:02:43,959 Speaker 1: who could provide information on Roger's whereabouts. Her appeals were unsuccessful. Initially, 36 00:02:45,320 --> 00:02:49,200 Speaker 1: Roger's father died in eighteen sixty two, so Roger was 37 00:02:49,280 --> 00:02:53,959 Speaker 1: set to be the eleventh Baronet of Titchborne. Roger did 38 00:02:54,000 --> 00:02:57,600 Speaker 1: have a brother, Alfred, who would have taken Roger's place 39 00:02:57,639 --> 00:03:02,160 Speaker 1: and become baronet, but Lady Titchborne refused to give up 40 00:03:02,160 --> 00:03:07,799 Speaker 1: on Roger. In eighteen sixty a butcher named Thomas Castro 41 00:03:08,320 --> 00:03:12,400 Speaker 1: in Wagga Wagga, Australia stepped forward to say that he'd 42 00:03:12,440 --> 00:03:17,760 Speaker 1: survived a shipwreck and had property in England. He claimed 43 00:03:17,760 --> 00:03:21,560 Speaker 1: he was Roger Titchborne, and he wrote to Lady Titchborne 44 00:03:21,639 --> 00:03:25,920 Speaker 1: to tell her that yes, he was alive. His answers 45 00:03:26,000 --> 00:03:30,360 Speaker 1: to some of Lady Titchborne's questions were suspicious, but that 46 00:03:30,440 --> 00:03:35,200 Speaker 1: didn't phase her. Her willingness to accept that Castro truly 47 00:03:35,360 --> 00:03:38,640 Speaker 1: was Roger might have been affected by the fact that 48 00:03:38,680 --> 00:03:43,040 Speaker 1: she had lost her other son, Alfred in eighteen sixty six. 49 00:03:44,360 --> 00:03:47,400 Speaker 1: But this mystery man said a ship called the Asprey 50 00:03:47,880 --> 00:03:51,800 Speaker 1: rescued him after the Bella crashed, and it took him 51 00:03:51,840 --> 00:03:55,480 Speaker 1: to Australia, where he decided to stay and make a living. 52 00:03:56,840 --> 00:04:00,160 Speaker 1: After reaching out to Lady Titchborne, the claimant at he 53 00:04:00,240 --> 00:04:03,720 Speaker 1: came to be known, moved to Sydney with plans to 54 00:04:03,800 --> 00:04:08,320 Speaker 1: move to England. In Sydney, he ran into two people 55 00:04:08,440 --> 00:04:12,720 Speaker 1: who had been servants for the Titchborne family. They both 56 00:04:12,760 --> 00:04:16,960 Speaker 1: agreed that the butcher was Roger, though one changed his 57 00:04:17,040 --> 00:04:21,360 Speaker 1: mind after the claimant asked him for money. But the 58 00:04:21,360 --> 00:04:26,320 Speaker 1: claimant's actions didn't exactly inspire confidence that he was actually Roger. 59 00:04:27,480 --> 00:04:30,080 Speaker 1: The claimant wrote a will in which he called his 60 00:04:30,160 --> 00:04:35,240 Speaker 1: supposed mother, Lady Titchborne, the wrong name, but either way, 61 00:04:35,680 --> 00:04:39,440 Speaker 1: Lady Titchborne helped the claimant fun travel back to England 62 00:04:39,839 --> 00:04:44,279 Speaker 1: and he arrived in England in eighteen sixty six. When 63 00:04:44,279 --> 00:04:47,320 Speaker 1: he got to England and met with Lady Titchborne, she 64 00:04:47,520 --> 00:04:51,040 Speaker 1: accepted him as Roger and began paying him a yearly 65 00:04:51,080 --> 00:04:56,520 Speaker 1: allowance of one thousand pounds. But Lady Titchbourne was one 66 00:04:56,560 --> 00:05:00,280 Speaker 1: of the few people who were on his side. Much 67 00:05:00,360 --> 00:05:04,120 Speaker 1: of the family and family friends weren't falling for the 68 00:05:04,120 --> 00:05:10,039 Speaker 1: claimants assertions, and with good reason. Based on apparents alone, 69 00:05:10,480 --> 00:05:13,880 Speaker 1: he weighed a lot more than Roger had before he left, 70 00:05:15,320 --> 00:05:18,920 Speaker 1: but there were more serious issues with his claim. For one, 71 00:05:19,160 --> 00:05:22,599 Speaker 1: he didn't understand French or have an accent, even though 72 00:05:22,720 --> 00:05:27,040 Speaker 1: Roger had, and he didn't remember anything about the boarding 73 00:05:27,120 --> 00:05:32,279 Speaker 1: college Roger had attended, but he did remember details about 74 00:05:32,400 --> 00:05:36,039 Speaker 1: Roger's childhood that would be hard for anyone else to fake, 75 00:05:37,320 --> 00:05:40,279 Speaker 1: so there was room to believe he was telling the truth, 76 00:05:40,960 --> 00:05:45,240 Speaker 1: especially after he claimed that the shipwreck had affected his memory. 77 00:05:46,240 --> 00:05:51,040 Speaker 1: Even with the claimants misspellings and shaky memory, Lady Titchbourne 78 00:05:51,080 --> 00:05:55,440 Speaker 1: still believed he was her son, but she died in 79 00:05:55,520 --> 00:05:59,440 Speaker 1: eighteen sixty eight, which meant the claimant no longer had 80 00:05:59,520 --> 00:06:04,320 Speaker 1: his biggest supporter and source of income. But his time 81 00:06:04,360 --> 00:06:07,039 Speaker 1: to prove his identity and claim his rights to the 82 00:06:07,040 --> 00:06:11,320 Speaker 1: Titchborne estate did come. When his civil trial began in 83 00:06:11,360 --> 00:06:17,400 Speaker 1: May seventy one. Investigators said that the claimant was actually 84 00:06:17,600 --> 00:06:20,599 Speaker 1: Arthur Orton, the son of a butcher from London who 85 00:06:20,600 --> 00:06:23,800 Speaker 1: had moved to Australia and took the name Tom Castro. 86 00:06:25,040 --> 00:06:28,760 Speaker 1: He'd taken advantage of Lady Titchborn's ads to improve his 87 00:06:28,839 --> 00:06:34,320 Speaker 1: finances and status. They suggested. The claimant denied he was Orton, 88 00:06:35,600 --> 00:06:39,000 Speaker 1: but in the end the claimant did not have tattoos 89 00:06:39,040 --> 00:06:43,720 Speaker 1: that Roger had, so the claimant was arrested on perjury 90 00:06:43,800 --> 00:06:48,279 Speaker 1: charges and sent to prison. The public was paying close 91 00:06:48,320 --> 00:06:51,960 Speaker 1: attention to the trial and the claimant appealed to people 92 00:06:52,040 --> 00:06:56,640 Speaker 1: to support him. The working class was largely on his side, 93 00:06:56,960 --> 00:07:01,599 Speaker 1: but the upper class sided with the Titchborns, and on 94 00:07:01,680 --> 00:07:08,640 Speaker 1: April seventy three, the criminal trial began. Sir Alexander Cockburne 95 00:07:09,040 --> 00:07:11,320 Speaker 1: was the president of the panel of judges who heard 96 00:07:11,360 --> 00:07:16,880 Speaker 1: the case. Edward Connely was the claimants lawyer. Henry Hawkins 97 00:07:16,960 --> 00:07:20,840 Speaker 1: led the prosecution team, and Hawkins ended up calling hundreds 98 00:07:20,840 --> 00:07:24,280 Speaker 1: of witnesses to deny that the claimant was Roger or 99 00:07:24,320 --> 00:07:29,360 Speaker 1: to confirm that he was Arthur Orton. A handwriting expert 100 00:07:29,800 --> 00:07:33,320 Speaker 1: said that the claimants writing was that of Arthur, not Roger, 101 00:07:34,280 --> 00:07:36,840 Speaker 1: and the ship that the claimant said he arrived at 102 00:07:36,880 --> 00:07:40,400 Speaker 1: Australia on didn't have records of it picking up any 103 00:07:40,480 --> 00:07:45,920 Speaker 1: shipwrecked passengers. Basically, the evidence was stacked against the claimant. 104 00:07:47,200 --> 00:07:50,680 Speaker 1: In the end, the jury took thirty minutes to deliberate. 105 00:07:51,640 --> 00:07:55,280 Speaker 1: They said that the claimant was Arthur Orton, not Roger 106 00:07:55,280 --> 00:08:00,040 Speaker 1: titch Worn and they found him guilty of perjury. He 107 00:08:00,080 --> 00:08:05,080 Speaker 1: was sentenced to prison for fourteen years. Canneely, who had 108 00:08:05,160 --> 00:08:09,800 Speaker 1: led a confrontational defense, was barred from practicing law after 109 00:08:09,840 --> 00:08:14,200 Speaker 1: the jury condemned his behavior on trial. The claimant did 110 00:08:14,240 --> 00:08:19,920 Speaker 1: ten years in prison before he was released. In he 111 00:08:20,040 --> 00:08:24,480 Speaker 1: confessed to being Arthur Orton, but he quickly retracted his statement. 112 00:08:24,520 --> 00:08:30,440 Speaker 1: Oddly enough, the claimant died destitute in eight and the 113 00:08:30,560 --> 00:08:33,959 Speaker 1: verdict that he was actually Arthur Orton has since been 114 00:08:34,000 --> 00:08:39,760 Speaker 1: widely accepted. But what really happened to Roger Tichbourne remains 115 00:08:39,800 --> 00:08:44,160 Speaker 1: to be seen. I'm Eve Steff Coote and hopefully you 116 00:08:44,200 --> 00:08:47,000 Speaker 1: know a little bit more about history today than you 117 00:08:47,080 --> 00:08:52,360 Speaker 1: did yesterday. If you feel like correcting my pronunciation or 118 00:08:52,520 --> 00:08:54,880 Speaker 1: my accent on anything that I've said in the show, 119 00:08:55,320 --> 00:08:58,440 Speaker 1: feel free to leave a very kind comment on Twitter, 120 00:08:58,679 --> 00:09:03,840 Speaker 1: Instagram or Facebook. At t d I h C podcast, 121 00:09:04,760 --> 00:09:18,040 Speaker 1: tune in tomorrow for another Day in History. Hey everyone, 122 00:09:18,320 --> 00:09:21,640 Speaker 1: I'm Eves and welcome back to This Day in History class, 123 00:09:22,000 --> 00:09:24,880 Speaker 1: a podcast where we unwrap a piece of history candy 124 00:09:25,080 --> 00:09:36,640 Speaker 1: every day. The day was February nineteen eighty six, Swedish 125 00:09:36,720 --> 00:09:42,360 Speaker 1: Prime Minister Olaf Palmer was assassinated. The case remains unsolved, 126 00:09:42,520 --> 00:09:46,600 Speaker 1: though the investigation of the murder is still underway. Olaf 127 00:09:46,679 --> 00:09:49,480 Speaker 1: Palma got his law degree from the University of Stockholm 128 00:09:49,640 --> 00:09:53,880 Speaker 1: in nineteen fifty one. He soon joined the Social Democratic 129 00:09:53,960 --> 00:09:57,360 Speaker 1: Labor Party and got a job in Sweden's Defense ministry. 130 00:09:58,360 --> 00:10:01,600 Speaker 1: In nineteen fifty three, Palma was hired as the speech 131 00:10:01,600 --> 00:10:05,240 Speaker 1: writer and private secretary of todg er Lander, the Prime 132 00:10:05,280 --> 00:10:08,760 Speaker 1: minister of Sweden from nineteen forty six to nineteen sixty nine. 133 00:10:09,920 --> 00:10:12,800 Speaker 1: Palma was elected as a member of Parliament in nineteen 134 00:10:12,840 --> 00:10:16,200 Speaker 1: fifty seven, and he continued to climb the political ladder. 135 00:10:17,000 --> 00:10:21,240 Speaker 1: In nineteen sixty three, he was appointed Cabinet Minister without portfolio. 136 00:10:21,880 --> 00:10:24,199 Speaker 1: That title just means that he was elevated to the 137 00:10:24,280 --> 00:10:28,080 Speaker 1: rank without being given responsibilities for a specific area of 138 00:10:28,080 --> 00:10:32,520 Speaker 1: the government's activities. From nineteen sixty five to nineteen sixty seven, 139 00:10:32,760 --> 00:10:36,480 Speaker 1: Palma was Minister of Communication, and in nineteen sixty seven 140 00:10:36,679 --> 00:10:41,040 Speaker 1: he was Minister of Education and Culture. As Minister of Education, 141 00:10:41,480 --> 00:10:45,239 Speaker 1: he advocated for the inclusion of Marxist thought in curriculum, 142 00:10:45,520 --> 00:10:48,480 Speaker 1: and in nineteen sixty eight he marched against the US 143 00:10:48,600 --> 00:10:53,239 Speaker 1: involvement in the Vietnam War. Palma morphed into an outspoken 144 00:10:53,240 --> 00:10:57,000 Speaker 1: opponent of US foreign policy, and as a result, relations 145 00:10:57,040 --> 00:11:01,760 Speaker 1: between Sweden and the US deteriorated. In nineteen sixty nine, 146 00:11:02,000 --> 00:11:05,440 Speaker 1: he was elected chairman of the Social Democratic Party, and 147 00:11:05,600 --> 00:11:09,480 Speaker 1: he became Prime Minister of Sweden. Palma continued to be 148 00:11:09,559 --> 00:11:13,400 Speaker 1: critical of the US's involvement in the war in Vietnam. 149 00:11:13,440 --> 00:11:17,600 Speaker 1: He forged connections with cultural leaders and politicians around the world, 150 00:11:18,040 --> 00:11:21,920 Speaker 1: all the while gaining more international attention. He spoke out 151 00:11:21,960 --> 00:11:25,840 Speaker 1: against apartheid in South Africa. He allied with Fadale Castro, 152 00:11:26,040 --> 00:11:29,880 Speaker 1: prime Minister of Cuba. At the same time, Sweden was 153 00:11:29,960 --> 00:11:33,840 Speaker 1: undergoing extensive social reforms. Some of the issues that these 154 00:11:33,840 --> 00:11:38,480 Speaker 1: reforms affected were subsidized housing, social security, maternity leave, and 155 00:11:38,520 --> 00:11:42,000 Speaker 1: other family policies. This meant that taxes in Sweden or 156 00:11:42,040 --> 00:11:45,960 Speaker 1: some of the highest in the world. Palma's first term 157 00:11:46,000 --> 00:11:49,520 Speaker 1: as prime minister lasted until nineteen seventy six, when the 158 00:11:49,600 --> 00:11:52,440 Speaker 1: lack of support for the Social Democrats led Palma to 159 00:11:52,480 --> 00:11:56,080 Speaker 1: fall from power. During this time, he acted as a 160 00:11:56,120 --> 00:11:59,400 Speaker 1: mediator in the Iran hostage crisis as well as the 161 00:11:59,400 --> 00:12:03,440 Speaker 1: Iran a War, but he was once again elected prime minister, 162 00:12:03,880 --> 00:12:07,840 Speaker 1: taking office in nineteen eighty two. He continued to focus 163 00:12:07,840 --> 00:12:12,480 Speaker 1: on international issues, addressing once like disarmament and security, but 164 00:12:12,640 --> 00:12:16,040 Speaker 1: he had evolved to become a little less politically controversial 165 00:12:16,960 --> 00:12:20,720 Speaker 1: On February nineteen eighty six, Palma and his wife Lise 166 00:12:20,800 --> 00:12:23,880 Speaker 1: Bid were walking home from the movies in Stockholm. He 167 00:12:23,960 --> 00:12:27,440 Speaker 1: did not have bodyguards with him at the time. Just 168 00:12:27,600 --> 00:12:31,640 Speaker 1: before midnight, Palma was shot from behind. The first bullet, 169 00:12:31,720 --> 00:12:34,319 Speaker 1: which hit him in the back, severed his spinal cord. 170 00:12:34,920 --> 00:12:39,120 Speaker 1: A second bullet grace liose Bid. He was quickly transported 171 00:12:39,120 --> 00:12:43,160 Speaker 1: to the hospital, but he was soon declared dead. Many 172 00:12:43,200 --> 00:12:47,040 Speaker 1: conspiracy theories about who killed Palma emerged. A man named 173 00:12:47,120 --> 00:12:51,040 Speaker 1: Krisht Pettershan was arrested and convicted of his murder, but 174 00:12:51,120 --> 00:12:54,480 Speaker 1: the conviction was overturned in nineteen eighty nine, and Peter 175 00:12:54,520 --> 00:12:58,960 Speaker 1: Shane died in two thousand and four. Investigators have suspected 176 00:12:59,040 --> 00:13:02,720 Speaker 1: the Swedish military area, the South African Secret Service, and 177 00:13:02,920 --> 00:13:06,719 Speaker 1: the Kurdistan Workers Party. Though there were many witnesses to 178 00:13:06,800 --> 00:13:10,000 Speaker 1: the shooting and thousands of people have been questioned, the 179 00:13:10,080 --> 00:13:14,600 Speaker 1: murder has not been solved. I'm each STEPF. Coote, and 180 00:13:14,640 --> 00:13:17,480 Speaker 1: hopefully you know a little more about history today than 181 00:13:17,559 --> 00:13:21,360 Speaker 1: you did yesterday. Give us a shout or a share 182 00:13:21,400 --> 00:13:26,199 Speaker 1: on social media at t D I h C podcast, 183 00:13:27,040 --> 00:13:29,320 Speaker 1: or if you are so inclined, you can send us 184 00:13:29,320 --> 00:13:34,280 Speaker 1: a message at this day At i heart media dot com. 185 00:13:34,280 --> 00:13:36,560 Speaker 1: We're here every day, so you know where to find 186 00:13:36,679 --> 00:13:42,880 Speaker 1: us by For more podcasts from my heart Radio, visit 187 00:13:42,920 --> 00:13:45,440 Speaker 1: the i heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you 188 00:13:45,440 --> 00:13:46,600 Speaker 1: listen to your favorite shows.