Murder Files from Scotland Yard and the Black Museum

From the files of Scotland Yard’s “Black Museum” (open only to police officers) come true crime stories of some of the most infamous murder cases of the 19th and 20th centuries—the Lambeth Poisoner, “baby farmer” Amelia Elizabeth Dyer, the Gentleman Vampire of Bournemouth, the Brides in the Bath Murders, the Rillington Place murders and many others. Along the way, investigators pass a number of crime-solving milestones, included the first use of fingerprint technology, the early use of photography and the first time “The Yard” enlisted the press to help hunt down a killer.

R. Michael Gordon is the author of several books, and has written extensively on Victorian London and the Ripper phenomenon. He lives in Long Beach, California.

R. Michael Gordon
Format: softcover (6 x 9)
Pages: 280
Bibliographic Info: 34 photos, bibliography, index
Copyright Date: 2018
pISBN: 978-1-4766-7254-0
eISBN: 978-1-4766-3127-1
Imprint: Exposit Books

Introduction 1
Section I: Scotland Yard and Its Museum of Crime
History of Scotland Yard 3
The Black Museum 7
Section II: The 19th Century—The Victorians
James Greenacre, the Dismemberment Killer of Edgware Road (1837) 13
William Sheward and the Tabernacle Street Murder (1851) 19
Dr. William Palmer, the Rugeley Poisoner (1856) 26
Madeleine Hamilton Smith, Arsenic “Not Proven” (1857) 37
Constance Emily Kent and the Road Hill House Murder (1860) 45
Dr. Edward William Pritchard, Death by Antimony (1865) 51
Christiana Edmunds, the Chocolate Cream Poisoner (1870–1872) 57
Mary Ann Robson (Cotton), the Dressmaking Serial Killer of Durham (1873) 63
Kate Webster (Catherine Lawler) and Her Bloody Little Axe (1879) 71
Charles Frederick Peace and the Banner Cross Murders (1879) 79
Percy LeFroy Mapleton and Murder on the Brighton Line (1881) 88
John Henry George Lee, the Man They Could Not Hang (1885) 96
Adelaide Blanche Bartlett and the Pimlico Mystery (1886) 104
Florence Maybrick and a Little Arsenic with Breakfast (1889) 111
Mary Eleanor Wheeler Pearcey, a Woman Scorned (1890) 120
Dr. Thomas Neill Cream, the Lambeth Poisoner (1891–1892) 127
Amelia Elizabeth Dyer, the Baby Farmer Most Foul (1896) 136
Samuel Herbert Dougal and the Moat Farm Murder (1899) 143
Section III: The 20th Century—A New Era for Murder
The Stratton Brothers and a Thumbprint to the Gallows (1905) 151
Dr. Peter Hawley Harvey Crippen and Miss Ethel Clara Le Neve (1910) 157
Mr. and Mrs. Seddon and the Death of Miss Barrow (1911) 166
George Joseph Smith and the Brides in the Bath Murders (1915) 171
The Murder of Police Constable George William Gutteridge (1927) 177
Cecil Louis England (Toni Mancini) and the Brighton Trunk Murders (1934) 183
Gordon Frederick Cummins, the Blackout Ripper (1942) 189
Neville George Clevely Heath, the Gentleman Vampire of Bournemouth (1946) 195
John George Haigh and the Acid Bath Murders (1949) 201
John Thomas Straffen, British Serial Child Killer (1951–1952) 209
John Reginald Halliday Christie and His Special Gas (1953) 219
Ruth Neilson Ellis and the Public House Murder (1955) 230
Peter Thomas Anthony Manuel, Scottish Serial Killer (1956–1958) 235
Edwin Bush and the Antique Shop Murder (1961) 241
Peter William Sutcliffe, the Yorkshire Ripper (1975–1980) 245
Bibliography 259
Index 263

Amazon (Kindle)
Apple (iBooks)
Barnes & Noble (Nook)
Chegg
Google Play
Kobo
VitalSource