In the summer of 1887, Victorian London’s East End, fraught with poverty and unrest, became the setting for a bizarre and senseless true crime. Miriam Angel, an impoverished Jewish immigrant who was six months pregnant, was found poisoned in a locked room, her body lying on the bed. Incredibly, a fellow tenant in the same lodging house, Israel Lipski, was discovered hiding beneath it. The case, with its puzzling lack of motive, divided the public. Lipski’s infamy lingered, with his name even becoming a racial slur—shouted just minutes before Elizabeth Stride’s murder during Jack the Ripper’s reign of terror a year later.

Sources:

The Trials of Israel Lipski by Martin L Friedland
Old Bailey Court Transcript
The Salisbury Times - Saturday 27 August 1887
South Wales Daily News - Saturday 20 August 1887
The People - Sunday 28 August 1887
Swansea and Glamorgan Herald - Wednesday 14 August 1889  

 Music:

 "Unanswered Questions" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ "Long Note Two" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ "Long Note Three" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License

In 1892, the dismembered body of Annie Pritchard was discovered in a ditch in East Haddon, England, leading to an investigation that linked her death to Andrew MacRae, a man with whom she had an affair. MacRae, who had been living with his wife and children in Birmingham, had moved to Northampton with Annie, where they set up a home, and he eventually murdered her after she gave birth to their child. MacRae was convicted of murder and hanged in January 1893, while Annie was buried in East Haddon Cemetery, her grave marked by a headstone funded by public subscription.

But questions remain....was that really Annie Pritchard's body? and was Andrew MacRae the killer?

For news about my books and free true crime blog posts, check out my website www.prashganendran.com. Thanks for your support and I’ll see you again soon!


Sources:
Northamptonshire Tales of Mystery and Murder by David Saint
Diss Express - Friday 23 September 1892
Sevenoaks Chronicle and Kentish Advertiser - Friday 23 September 1892
Chicago Tribune Wed, 21 Dec 1892
Birmingham Daily Post Monday 26 Dec 1892
Cornish Echo and Falmouth & Penryn Times - Saturday 07 January 1893

Joseph Waller was born in St Mary Cray near Chislehurst, Kent, in 1857 and seemed by all accounts to be a perfectly ordinary child. He aspired to join the police force and went to London to become a constable with the Metropolitan Police, having no inkling that his dream profession would lead to his downfall.

This is the curious case of a killer who handed himself in more than 20 years after committing murder. What made him come forward after so long, when he could have continued to lay low, safe in the knowledge that he was unlikely to ever be found, in the days long before the advent of DNA?

For news about my books and free true crime blog posts, check out my website www.prashganendran.com.


Sources

Bondeson Jan, ‘Victorian Murders’, 2017, Amberley Publishing
Chelmsford Chronicle - Friday 03 July 1857
Morning Advertiser - Thursday 16 July 1857
Leeds Times - Saturday 18 July 1857 https://www.digitalpanopticon.org/life?id=obpdef1-147-18551217 https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/187716259 https://www.oldbaileyonline.org/browse.jsp?name=18791020

In December 1938, Ernest Percival Key never made it home for Christmas. His body was discovered by his own son, with only one notable clue left behind—a lone bowler hat, possibly dropped by his killer. But would this single item be enough to unlock the mystery of this true crime case and uncover the person responsible for this brutal crime?

In 1803, Hammersmith was gripped by fear after multiple sightings of a supposed ghost. Amid the panic, a vigilante named Francis Smith took drastic action, believing he had shot the ghost—only to discover he had killed an innocent man, bricklayer Thomas Millwood. What followed was a trial at the Old Bailey, an unexpected twist, and a revelation about who was behind the ghostly scare. This true story became a landmark case in British legal history.

This little known true crime case is set in the rural village of Curry Mallet in Somerset. The year is 1933. The crime is murder. In a family which harbours a dark secret and incestuous relationships, a tragedy is about to take place.


Sources: Daily Mirror 25 March 1933 Daily Mirror 9 June 1933 Illustrated Police News - Thursday 09 March 1933

Music:

ES_Exile - Lo Mimieux "Long Note Two" and “Lightless Dawn” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

How do you go about finding someone who walks round a corner and disappears, seemingly without a trace? This is what happened in the curious case of Benjamin Bathurst…

In World War II London, most people came together to fight for victory, whether on the frontlines, in factories, or on farms. But there were some who took advantage of the chaos of war to indulge in their own depraved desires, hoping they would get away with their crimes by slipping away into the blackout, with fewer police on the streets to catch them. Most people wearing a military uniform automatically inspired trust and respect for the sacrifice they were making for their country. But as 21-year-old Iris Deeley tragically found out on Valentines Day 1944, not everyone wearing medals could be trusted…

https://prashganendran.com


Sources:
Daily Mirror
UK Prison Commission Records
National Archives

Music: Unusual Suspects Eternal Moment by Farrell Wootten

Here's another collection of short but gruesome vintage true crime cases from the 1800s. Let’s go back in time for a whistle-stop tour of three Victorian crimes that are intriguing, shocking, and little known, including a spate of unidentified body parts which appeared all over Norwich, a sinister servant who bludgeoned his employer with a rolling pin, and the first murder case ever to be solved by a bloodhound. 


Sources Blackburn Standard, April 1 & April 8 1876 Cheshire Observer - Saturday 01 August 1868 Daily News, April 8 1876 Essex Weekly News - Friday 23 April 1869 Famous Crimes Past & Present, 1903 IPN, April 15 & May 6 1876 Kentish Gazette - Tuesday 26 January 1869 Liverpool Daily Post - Tuesday 01 August 1876 & Friday 21 August 1868 Lloyds Weekly Newspaper, April 9 1876 Magnet (London) - Monday 14 August 1876 Old Bailey Trial Account 17 August 1868 Penny Illustrated Paper 22 April 1876 Reynolds Newspaper, April 16, 23, 30 1876, & 24 May 1868 Rochdale Times - Saturday 29 July 1876 Sheffield Daily Telegraph - Tuesday 15 August 1876

 Music:

"Long Note Two" and “Long Note Three” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Eternal Moment by Farrell Wooten