Murder on Wimbledon Common: The Fireside Poker Killing | 1917 True Crime
News of the Times | Episode 575 | 1917
A quiet house. A brutal assault. And a killer hiding in plain sight.

In November 1917, wartime London was still reeling from Zeppelin raids and rations — but nothing prepared the residents of Wimbledon Common for the horror inside Winkfield Lodge. When a maid opened the bedroom door that morning, she found her employer, Captain Edward Tighe, barely clinging to life — his skull shattered by a bent and bloodied poker.

🕯️ Four days later, the retired army officer was dead. The hunt began

📜 This gripping episode includes:
• The violent murder of a decorated army veteran
• A string of burglaries, a false identity, and a fateful pawnshop visit
• Trial coverage from the Old Bailey courtroom
• The final walk to the gallows, under the hand of hangman John Ellis
• And a rare look into wartime London's underworld of crime

📰 Further Particulars:
And finally, from fireplace pokers to broken hearts, we turn now to the treacherous world of Edwardian romance — a time when courtship was conducted not by swiping right, but by cautiously wording your larder habits in the Matrimonial Advertiser.

In 1917, one hopeful woman of fifty dared to make the first move — only to be met with a red silk handkerchief rendezvous, a suspected poacher offering to keep her larder full, and a musical "gentleman" whose publishing credentials turned out to be as fictional as his hairline.

If you thought modern dating was unforgiving, wait until you hear how leap-year love fared when advertised by the column inch. 🕯️💔📬

👤 Narrated by Robin Coles  

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