The 2010 discovery of a skull in broadcaster David Attenborough's backyard finally closed a 130-year-old case that enraged Victorian London. When a box of boiled and mutilated human remains washed up on the bank of the Thames in southwest London in 1879, no one could have imagined who was responsible for the heinous act. When police finally arrested the Barnes Mystery murderer, Victorian Britain became disgusted and enraged, but mostly terrified. How well does anyone really know the people they allow into the safety of their home?
Sources:
"The Jury of Matrons." First Hundred Years. 27 June, 2016. https://first100years.org.uk/the-jury-of-matrons/
"Kate Webster - The 'Barnes Mystery'" Capital Punishment- U.K.. http://www.capitalpunishmentuk.org/webster.html
Kontur, Daniel, director. Murder Maps: The Richmond Case. Dark Crimes, 2020. 43 min. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mWn1r00E5zM
McKinnell, Ellie. "The Victorian murder victim whose skull was found in David Attenborough's Richmond garden." MyLondon News. 2 September, 2019.https://www.mylondon.news/news/west-london-news/victorian-murder-victim-whos-skull-16838132
O'Donnell, Elliot. The Trial of Kate Webster. (William Hodge & Company, Ltd.: Glasgow, 1925).
Old Bailey Proceedings Online (www.oldbaileyonline.org, version 8.0, 21 February 2022), June 1879, trial of CATHERINE WEBSTER (29) (t18790630-653).
"Trial, sentence & execution of Kate Webster for the murder of Mrs Thomas, at Richmond" London, 1879.
Music: Dellasera by Shane Ivers - https://www.silvermansound.com
For more information, visit www.oldbloodpodcast.com