one was ever caught. •
In August 1896, a tragedy on the London stage briefly made Temple Edgecumbe Crozier (dates unknown) a household name. Crozier was playing the villain in a popular melodrama – The Sins of the Night – opposite his theatrical chum Wilfred Moritz Franks (dates unknown). At the height of the drama, Franks lunged forwards to stab his fellow actor with a fake dagger. For some reason, however, the dummy knife was real and pierced Crozier’s chest, inflicting a fatal wound. As the audience departed, Crozier literally died on stage. Franks was arrested for manslaughter, but a magistrate dismissed the charge on the grounds no jury would convict him. •
Above. illustrated police news, 22 august 1896. wilfred moritz franks stabs his co-star, unaware
that his theatrical prop is in fact a real weapon.
Above. illustrated police news, 22 october 1904. harriet farmer’s dead body is found, gagged
and bound, by police on the commercial road.
novelty theatre, great queen street, holborn.478 commercial road, whitechapel.
0 August . October 0.
englandlondon.
englandlondon.
WILFRED MORITZ FRANKS.× Temple Edgecumbe Crozier.
UNKNOWN.× Harriet Farmer.
weapon. dagger.
weapon. suffocation.
typology. accident.
typology. property crime.
policing.n/a.
policing.n/a.
44
PART ONE — EUROPE.
In March 1905, when Melville Macnaghten (1853–1921), head of the London Criminal Investigation Department, found a smudge on a cash box, he seized the opportunity to put a new forensic technology to the test. The box was found at Chapman’s Oil and Colour Shop in Deptford, southeast London, where the body of the shop’s owner, Thomas Farrow (1834–1905), lay dead.
The 71-year-old had been beaten to death and his wife, Ann (1840–1905), had been similarly attacked and later died in hospital. The newly established Fingerprint Bureau quickly determined that the smudge was a thumbprint, probably from a right hand. Prints were taken from the shop employees, which allowed them to be eliminated as suspects.
Witnesses reported seeing two men leave the shop in the early hours on the morning of the attack, and more than one witness positively identified one of them as Alfred Stratton (1882–1905). Alfred and his brother Albert (1884–1905) were arrested and their prints taken – Alfred’s right thumb exactly matched the one Macnaghten had found. The pair stood trial on 5 May, where the defence case rested on rubbishing fingerprinting as a forensic tool. This failed and the brothers were hanged eighteen days later, the first killers to be condemned in Britain by their fingerprints. •
Opposite. crude masks made by the robbers alfred
and albert stratton from a pair of stockings.
Below. chapman’s oil and colour shop in deptford, where the shopkeeper thomas
farrow was beaten to death by robbers.—————Bottom. the cash box, on which macnaghten
discovered alfred stratton’s fingerprint.
Below. alfred stratton’s fingerprint (right), a perfect
match for that found on the cash box (left).
chapman’s oil and colour shop, high street, deptford.
March 0.
englandlondon.
ALFRED STRATTON
& ALBERT STRATTON.× Tomas Farrow. × Ann Farrow.
weapon.knife.
typology. property crime.
policing. fingerprinting.
alfred stratton.
Above. map showing where thomas and ann
farrow were murdered by the stratton brothers.
albert stratton.
45
ENGLAND — LONDON.
1
3
4
1COLDWATER, MICHIGAN. the city in which hawley harvey crippen was born.
2
46
PART ONE — EUROPE.
Dr Hawley Harvey Crippen (1862–1910) was an unlikely murderer. Quiet and mild-mannered, he was ‘a most pleasant fellow’ according to his executioner. Despite this, he is credited with perhaps the most celebrated murder of the early 20th century, a murder that garnered almost as many newspaper columns as Jack the Ripper. The man who ‘caught’ Crippen – Chief Inspector Walter Dew (1863–1947) – retired soon afterwards, this case bookending a career that had begun in 1888 in Whitechapel and ended in 1910 in north London.
In July 1910, Dew called at the Crippen house at 39 Hilldrop Crescent, Islington, north London, to enquire after Cora Crippen (1872–1910), who had disappeared. Cora (also known by her stage name Belle Elmore) was a colourful character and her marriage to Hawley was far from perfect. She was a dominating personality and Hawley sought love
in the company of his demure secretary Ethel Le Neve (1883–1967). In January 1910, the morning after a dinner party with friends, Mrs Crippen vanished. Hawley said she had gone abroad, and then reported she had died of an illness. Her friends’ suspicions were raised when Ethel was seen out wearing Cora’s jewelry. Dew interviewed Crippen, who admitted his relationship with Ethel and said he had made up the story about Cora’s death to avoid the shame of her leaving him. Dew found him plausible but had doubts, and when he visited him a few days later 39 Hilldrop Crescent was deserted: Crippen and Le Neve had fled. By running away, Crippen seemed to be implicating himself in his wife’s disappearance, but since there was no body and nothing to tie Crippen to any harm that might have befallen Cora all he could do was issue a description of Cora and hope she turned up.
39 hilldrop crescent, islington.
anuary 0.
englandlondon.
HAWLEY HARVEY CRIPPEN.× Cora Crippen.
weapon.poison.
typology. domestic.
policing. radiotelegraphy.
39 HILLDROP CRESCENT, LONDON. the house where
cora crippen was murdered.
B
C
DE
hawley crippen returns to england aboard the
ss megantic
.
crowds wait on the harbourside for the return
of the murderer.
hawley crippen walks down the gangplank of
the
ss megantic
.
hawley crippen accompanied
by