TRANSCRIPT - Murder On The Brighton Line: Conan Doyle's Inspiration?

Hello and welcome to the Six O’clock Knock, the true-crime podcast that takes a fresh look at murder I’m Jacques Morrell I served as a police officer from 1985 to 2015. my last 12 years in the job was spent exclusively dealing with homicides as a detective sergeant and I’m Simon Ford a journalist and writer I have years of experience in radio and broadcasting I still have a nose for a good story and Jacques is still keen to apply his copper's brain to cases whether solved or not that's right and this episode will focus on murder on the railway of course we touched on the railways a few episodes back didn't we the Frederick Deeming case serial swindler and bigamist with a parshan for murdering his wives yes indeed he used the opportunity to travel that steam trains and steamships gave 19th century society he travelled extensively and he used a different name in every town the Victorian era meant that travel was so much easier and quicker the railways had revolutionized transport replacing those horse-drawn stage coaches that up to then were the quickest way to get from one town to another right mass travel had arrived passengers were less conspicuous traveling in greater numbers the commute had arrived and with it the travelling criminal yeah we're looking at this subject after someone suggested a particular case known as the murder on the Brighton line but when we started digging we found two others on the same stretch of railway line between London and Brighton well as your fellow journalist the late Sir Harry Evans said keep digging the truth is down there somewhere wow it's not often I mentioned in the same breath as the late great Harry Evans so um thanks for that mate and in terms of the truth yes it certainly is so we're going to dig into all those grisly crimes and trust me they are grisly Jacques did you ever deal with any railway cases well not really because railways in the UK have their own police the British Transport Police, or BTP, we occasionally asked them for information or made inquiries relating to people moving through railway premises but to be honest we really saw BTP officers at our police stations well the British transport police force has its roots very early in the history of British policing the earliest record of railway police predates the formation of the metropolitan police usually recognized as the first modern police force in England and Wales by at least four years no one knows just how many individual railway dock and canal police forces existed in the 19th century but they probably numbered over a hundred largely unsung and in many cases unremembered I suppose a modern equivalent would be private security firms in the united states safeguarding the interests and assets of corporations these early forces combined to form the modern BTP we looked at the recent crime figures for the BTP there was a significant rise in all crimes of 12 percent in 2019 Adrian Han stock the deputy chief constable said the record number of passengers using the railways was behind the jump in crime rates which were mainly theft and anti-social behaviour Hanstock put a lot of this down to the fact that railway stations are becoming increasingly commercial environments well that's certainly true anyone familiar with some pancreas station in London will know that the original storage areas below platform level they're now a stylish shopping centre and the Victorian booking office is a bar and a restaurant the force also reported a surge in the number of vulnerable people it dealt with including through providing mental health support officers and rail staff performed 2529 life-saving interventions up 32 percent on the year before despite this there were only six homicides on the British railway network in 2018 to 19. one was the awful death of 51 year old Lee Pomeroy who was stabbed to death by a paranoid schizophrenic after an argument on a train maybe there is an argument for the BPT to be amalgamated into the regional forces to share experience and intelligence public transport will only increase in the years to come integrated management of our transport network imagine that so do criminals use the rail network as a way of getting about or do they prefer to use the roads instead well of course they use both but you know over the years I’ve thought about how the world has changed not just in a policing sense but how society has changed in how it moves around if I’m completely honest the core has a lot to answer for this may be just my opinion but the car has made us selfish and anti-social we treat the car as an extension of our private lives whilst it's given us choice and freedom to move around when we want to we seem to enjoy the anonymity that the car brings us and as policing has taught me the public don't like it when they're challenged do they no I suppose not we all resent being stopped by the police or getting a fixed penalty notice through the post I know I do how dare they take a photo of me driving through that red traffic light not that I make a habit of it incidentally I suppose the car has also allowed criminals to operate in even wider areas and as you say Jacques being less conspicuous you're spot on burglars are the best example dwelling house burglars usually have a rule of not [ __ ] on their own doorstep they prefer to steal from neighbouring estates or areas they were passing through they always had a problem though how to transport their ill-gotten gains now jewellery and cash is not a problem electrical goods not so easy the car changed all that not only does the car provide transport and storage they don't stand out or look out of place do they it's just another car driving on a public road privacy no interaction with the public yeah I get it I’m trying to imagine myself as a burglar and having to use public transport while carrying the contents of somebody else's house with me I’ve got a heavy hold all bulging with jewellery and ornaments candlesticks that sort of thing a Sony PlayStation and I’m having to plan my getaway so 10 minute walk to the station buy a ticket wait around a bit I’m restricted by the timetable several people might see me look at me heavens even speak to me that's it and the car changed all that within a couple of hours at any time of day a criminal could drive to another town commit a crime drive to a different town dispose of the goods then return home the risks of being stopped by the police you'd take your chance even if the police showed an interest in you, you could hide any evidence in the worst case scenario you could fail to stop for them and try and get away yeah I see what you mean there the car allows people to move around unnoticed at a time to suit them protected by a metal shell things were very different 140 years ago it is 1881. the telephone has not long been invented Matthew Webb has recently swung the English channel and unwittingly his image has made it onto millions of matchboxes the first Boer war has just ended in south Africa where the British got their butts kicked two years ago 75 people died in the Tay bridge railway disaster in Scotland this case is much further south almost as far south as you can get on the British mainland in Brighton on the south coast of England [Music] the London and Brighton railway opened in 1841 and it brought Brighton within the reach of day-trippers from London the population grew from around seven thousand in eighteen hundred and one to more than a hundred and twenty thousand by nineteen hundred and one in 1881 there was overcrowding and disease clean water and sanitation would desperately needed just 47 miles from London the train was popular the regular service to the capital went to Croydon and then split into two one line to London Victoria and the other to London bridge stations on the route from London included East Croydon, Three Bridges, Hayward's Heath, Willsfield, Burgess Hill, Hassocks and Preston park. It’s Monday the 27th of June at 2pm Preston park is a small quiet station serving a village on the outskirts of Brighton the ticket collector watches the arrival of the train from London bridge a male passenger gets off there's something about him that draws the ticket collector's attention the man emerges from the first class compartment and steps onto the platform he seems unsteady on his feet he's not wearing a hat which is unusual nor is he wearing the collar and tie even more concerning he's covered in blood he seems distressed the collector goes to his assistants the man mumbled something about having been attacked as the train entered Merced tunnel now Merston tunnel is just south of Croydon and several stops from Preston park probably a 30 minute journey away the tunnel goes through a chalk hill and is over a mile long so the train would be in darkness for what about a minute I suppose correct now this distressed and bloodstained man claimed that two men traveling in the same compartment struck him on the head he remembered nothing more until the train reached Preston park where he came round now these compartments in Victorian trains were nothing like modern trains let's set the scene the compartments have two bench seats that face each other seating up to eight people four on each side bumping these kind of thing I’m picturing them upheld with plush blue velvet cushions carpeted floor luggage nets above the seats varnish wooden paddling on the doors and brass handles that say lift to open the compartments open onto the platform but also into a corridor where staff and passengers can move along the train I think they also had a privacy option to at least pull down blinds to stop people looking in of course popular with courting couples the other thing importantly was the alarm this consisted of a chain that ran along the length of the train in a metal pipe at each compartment the chain was exposed pull the chain and ring the alarm to stop the train in capital letters which of course no one had done on this particular journey plus the ticket collector saw no one else alight from the carriage he did though see a watch chain hanging from one of the man's boots he pointed this out and the man remarked that he'd put his pocket watch in there for safety due to the man's condition and his claim of being assaulted the station master arranged for him to be taken to the police station in the nearby town hall the man gave his name as Percy Mapleton Lefroy what then happened was a rather shambolic and blundering investigation by the railway officials and the borough and railway police so poor was their handling of it that it became the subject of an editorial column in the times newspaper the first officer involved suspected that Lefroy had attempted suicide a criminal offence in those days however Lefroy continued to claim he had been attacked after an initial interview at the police station he was taken to the county hospital for his injuries to be treated the doctor wanted to admit him but Lefroy insisted on being discharged stating he had an important engagement in London officers took him back to the police station they allowed him to purchase a new collar and tie on the way he was spoken to again this time Mr Lefroy even offered a reward for the capture of his attackers while at Brighton station he was taken into an office and searched or at least his possessions were recorded he had two coins in his possession of which he denied all knowledge hmm so having only just arrived in Brighton he's keen to return to London and it's difficult to understand why someone should attack him and leave some money in his pockets money that wasn't his meanwhile the carriage where Lefroy claimed to have been assaulted was shunted into a siding so that it could be examined you would have hoped that someone would have already taken at least a cursory look around the compartment three bullet holes were found and there was blood everywhere on the floorboards the mat the door handle on a handkerchief and a newspaper left in the compartment there had certainly been violence in there were some more coins too similar to those found on Laphroaig so Jacques what are your thoughts how would a 21st century investigator approach this situation okay well there's some detail missing isn't there however we can assume that the officers have spoken to Lefroy over a few hours and they are still not happy with his account the crime scene though is key whoever was supervising this incident must have been aware of bullet holes and blood everywhere the blood the involvement of a firearm that's not been located and the coins it must have been immediately clear that the most likely offense here was robbery the question remained was Lefroy the victim or the perpetrator either way he should have been arrested in cases like this where it's unclear whether you have a victim or a perpetrator of a crime we used to call it taking a hostage lock them up until the story is a lot clearer it's not as easy these days to convince a custody officer to authorize such a detention but in 1881 I doubt there was much scrutiny well despite the inconsistencies in Laphroaig's story and the suspicious circumstances neither the Brighton police nor the railway police considered it necessary to arrest him instead they decided to let him return to London they did however arrange for a Scotland Yard detective named George Holmes to travel with him but detective sergeant Holmes did not live up to the reputation of sherlock Holmes Conan Doyle’s fictional sleuth detective sergeant Holmes didn't shower himself in glory at all so much so that after the widespread criticism of him Scotland Yard disowned him publicly stating he had left the metropolitan police and was working for the railway it's always easy to be wise after the event perhaps poor Holmes was not on his a-game but in my opinion neither was the officer who authorized this let's hear more while Lefroy and Holmes were traveling back to London a search of the line was being conducted presumably for evidence or a person and we presume that staff at the other stations on the route had been spoken to, to confirm that no suspicious individuals had got off the train before Preston park the search of the line would take some organizing wouldn't it well part of the line was another tunnel closer to London than Merstham where Lefroy claimed the attack had taken place the Balkan tunnel was also about a mile long in the darkness of the tunnel at the side of the track they found a body it was an elderly man he had been shot and stabbed a blood-stained knife lay nearby the man was Isaac Gold a retired corn merchant who was now operating as wait for it a coin dealer he'd been traveling from London to his home in Brighton using the first class smoking compartment a check of his body also revealed a section of watch chain but no pocket watch or coins of which he'd been carrying a considerable amount now for an amazing twist the body was discovered in time for a telegraph to be sent to the next station up the line the station master at three bridges met the train and told detective Holmes that a murder victim had been found you would have thought that Percy Lefroy would have been arrested immediately but no Diaz Holmes was given one instruction not to let Lefroy out of his sight incredible indeed someone in Brighton was calling the shots and sherlock Holmes was just following orders it also seemed that he was more interested in getting back to the nick in London and filling out his overtime form and lucky Lefroy can't believe his good fortune he followed his instinct and bluffed his way out of the situation he was on a roll he even convinced his minder to accompany him to an address in Wallington surrey so that he could get a change of clothing they arrived at the house at 9 30 pm despite being told not to let Lefroy out of his sight diaz homes was happy to wait outside probably to enjoy a cigarette in the quiet summer's evening well by the time he'd taken the first draw on his player's navy cut Lefroy was straight out the back door and gone have you ever lost a prisoner Jacques yes once it's not a pleasant experience are you willing to tell me about it only that it was early in my service and it was a split second thing plus he ran off in his bare feet plus we knew exactly who he was and plus he hadn't committed a murder is that what you told the sergeant did you get him back into custody quickly uh yes he surrendered the following day after a call to his solicitor that's your story and you're sticking to it I am [Music] the inquest into Mr Gold's death was opened on the 29th of June and lasted several days Holmes and the other officers had a bad time in the witness box and a verdict of wilful murder against Lefroy was returned the railway company then offered a substantial reward for information leading to his arrest [Music] the public would take a great interest in the hue and cry for the Brighton line murderer the mysterious Mr Lefroy was big news and no they didn't have an address where they could find him for seven hours he'd fed the police a pack of lies and then disappeared he even made the national papers the daily telegraph made history on the 4th of july by publishing a wanted poster for a murder suspect for the first time the artist's impression shows a sketch portrait of a man who's well chinless wonder really wearing a bowler hat presumably one that the officers had helped him purchase bearing in mind he didn't have one in Brighton the image is a strange looking thing guy with a rather weaselly face unsurprisingly men answering this description were seen all over the country the police had to follow up on these sightings one man presumably a look alike was even arrested but later released on the 8th of July Lefroy was found in a house at 32 smith street stepney east London he was lodging there under the name of park he kept the blinds down in his room all day and only went out at night it must have come as some relief for the detectives that he'd also kept his bloodstained clothing which was found in his room not only that local businesses were able to describe him exchanging some more of those counterfeit coins and also pawning a revolver the evidence against him was stacking up so what do we know about him well he was a journalist by profession and by some accounts a plausible type now why doesn't that surprise me what exactly do you mean Jacques I don't know you seem to relish in the mistakes of my police officer colleagues I guess we're all fallible aren't we true well his real name was not Lefroy not park the name he was lodging under but Mapleton he was described as unusually arrogant on arrest telling the arresting officer I am not obliged to say anything and I think it better not to make any answer the arresting officer wrote this down in his notebook and read it over to Lefroy who added I will qualify that by saying I am not guilty Lefroy appeared at Cookfield police court and was tried at Maidstone sizes the jury took 10 minutes to find him guilty evidence was given by several railway witnesses including diaz Holmes the booking clerk who issued a ticket to Lefroy the guard of the train the ticket collector at Preston park and also by a woman living at Hawley who saw two men struggling violently in a train as it passed her cottage so this wasn't exactly Agatha christie was it the next stop after Hawley is Balcom and the tunnel where poor old Mr Gold came to such an undignified end Lefroy had probably been chatting to Mr Gold and seized his opportunity to rob him he probably would have then stepped off the train at Balcombe and calmly returned to London however Mr Gold put up a fight and it got messy the Balkan tunnel gave Lefroy a convenient opportunity to open the door of the carriage and say goodbye to his traveling companion I guess Lefroy stayed on the train to clear his head and work out his story well Lefroy’s personal story was completed for him by the judge at Maidstone who sentenced him to hang he went to the gallows at Lewes in Sussex on the 29th of November 1881 five months after the crime at the time of the murder he was indeed short of money and had gone to London bridge intending to rob a passenger he hoped to find a woman or someone who would be easy to subdue he didn't expect the courageous old gentleman to resist Lefroy robbed Mr Gold of his watch coin dealer's purse and wallet and going back to your comment earlier about the police taking a hostage until they can sort things out it was Mr Gold's watch that was hidden in Lefroy’s shoe for safe keeping wasn't it the police also recovered the coin dealer's person the wallet from behind pipes in the washroom of Brighton police station he'd managed to hide them while actually under investigation and the weapons well the knife that was found in the tunnel near to Mr Gold's body it's not clear what happened to the gun used that day I guess it was thrown from the train and never found the revolver pawned back in London surely that wasn't the murder weapon was it nothing would surprise me with this case but you're right though if he'd been taken hostage he would never have been able to dispose of those items Lefroy was a strange individual he was also incredibly vain he wore a full evening suit in court because he thought it would impress the jury he was even allowed to take his silk hat into court he was more interested in the hat than the proceedings fiddling with it throughout the trial the public however were more interested in the failings of the investigation the railway police were subjected to a great deal of ridicule fortunately it was another 19 years before the next murder on the Brighton line but when it came another followed in quick succession [Music] [Music] now if you go back to those most recent crime statistics for homicides on the railways there were six in the whole of the UK in 2018-19 murders on the railway are rare our research though found another case where some of the locations will sound familiar to you there were clearly some unpleasant individuals that used the Brighton line in the old days Louisa Masset was certainly one to fit that category for her crime she was hanged at Newgate prison on January the 9th 1900 this made her the first person executed in Britain in the 20th century Masset was born in France to a French father and an English mother she had an illegitimate child and as a result moved to England after becoming something of a pariah in her hometown she wasn't exactly the motherly type though Louisa soon placed Manfred her three-year-old in foster care with a Mrs Helen Gentle fair enough if she needed help but she also took on a 19 year old lover hearing about her exploits and neglectful parenting the boy's father sent word that he should live with him in France on October the 27th 1899 Louisa was expected to take Manfred to France and deliver her son to his father surely this arrangement would have suited her but the timing of it inconvenienced her she'd also planned a romantic getaway that weekend to Brighton our favourite railway destination things seemed all set Louisa picked up Manfred from his foster home and she took him to London bridge station after waiting a short while she took Manfred to get something to eat three hours later Louisa returned alone and boarded the train to Brighton soon afterwards staff checked the women's lavatory at Dalston junction station where they found the lifeless and battered body of little Manfred Masset suspicion immediately fell on Louisa when she was traced and interviewed she claimed she had handed her son over to a Mrs browning who ran a children's home however she also wrote a conflicting letter to Mrs gentle saying that she was taking Manfred to France nobody bought her story and there was enough physical evidence to convict Louisa Masset of murder a tragic story involving the death of an innocent child it's easy to condemn the mother she'd outwardly appeared to resent her child and the responsibility that he placed on her maybe her emotional state meant that she was not ready to return to France where she was regarded as an unfit mother and lacking in morals this was 1900 and at that time Louisa Masset was highly unlikely to get any sympathy or understanding of her mental and emotional state and since she was hanged all opportunity for psychoanalysis was lost she'd have been an interesting subject for Henry H. Goddard the American forensic psychologist somebody like Goddard could have shared what he learned with society generally and added to a growing body of knowledge about why otherwise peaceable people resort to murder [Music] the final case in our Brighton line trilogy is even more taxing than the others not least because it was never solved this case is known as the Merced tunnel mystery it is Sunday the 24th of September 1905. five years after Louisa Masset went to the gallows for the murder of young Manfred at 10 55 pm inspector peacock was walking through Merstham tunnel this was a routine check as he stepped along the side of the track with his lantern held out in front of him he saw something out of place it was the body of a woman the body was horribly mutilated peacock reported the matter immediately to the Merstham station master and the local police attended there wasn't a lot to go on there were no letters or papers of any kind on the body to assist identification and more significantly there was no money or a railway ticket no report was received of any doors being found open on trains as they passed through the tunnel and in the early stages of the inquiry there was no indication that any untoward incident had occurred on a train the first theory was that the woman had walked into the tunnel to commit suicide a preliminary medical examination however revealed that a scarf had been thrust down the woman's throat and this coupled with the fact that certain marks were found on the wall of the tunnel gave the case a sinister dimension a description of the dead woman was circulated and on Monday a young man named Robert money identified the body as that of his sister Mary money so how did Mary money die well a home office expert expressed the opinion that the woman had been dead approximately one hour when found and that the bruises and other injuries must have been caused before death probably as a result of a violent struggle he also stated that there had been no sexual assault it was considered that the 33 pm train from London bridge was the most likely involved as it was scheduled to pass through the tunnel at the crucial period the train guard though couldn't recall certain vital points until some days after he was interviewed he recalled that at east Croydon he'd noticed a young man with a young woman answering money's description in a first-class compartment at south Croydon he'd seen them again sitting close together beyond the tunnel at red hill he saw the man alight from what he believed to be the same compartment and walked towards the exit further information came from a signalman at pearly oaks he reported that when the 933 train passed his signal box he saw a man and woman struggling in the first class carriage he wasn't concerned by this as he was accustomed to passengers wrestling amorously in first-class carriages and he didn't attach much importance to it so the police had a suspicious death and they needed to find Mary money's killer the police thought that it was merely a question of checking up on her male acquaintances and bingo the case would be solved but Mary did not appear to have any boyfriends she worked for a dairyman named Bridger and lived in lavender hill Clapham on the day of her death she'd been at work according to a fellow employee Emma hohn Mary had announced at 7pm that she was quote going for a little walk and wouldn't be long so what were her movements that evening between going for a walk at seven and when her body is found in the tunnel four hours later well a miss Golding who ran a sweet shop at Clapham junction told detectives that shortly after 7pm Mary who was a regular customer had bought some chocolate and mentioned that she was going to Victoria station the ticket collector at Clapham identified money from a photograph and confirmed he'd seen her at 7 20 p.m. when she told him she was going to Victoria from that moment there was nobody who could say positively that they saw Mary money until she was found in the tunnel the interesting thing about Mary money was that either she was not in any relationship or that she kept things very discreet the woman who lived with Mary money and knew her very well did not know of any male acquaintances an inquest was opened and then adjourned there was a request that a young railway clerk be asked to account for his movements on the day of the murder he'd known money for years and had apparently walked out with her he proved he was miles away at the vital time and so was cleared of all suspicion when the inquest resumed money's employers gave evidence to refute suggestions that any of them had a sexual relationship with her superintendent warren of the London and southwestern railway police gave evidence he'd arranged for various experiments to be conducted in the tunnel with the actual carriages that were on the 9 33 pm train on the night of the murder he concluded that Mary money met her death by severe injuries brought about by a train but the evidence was insufficient to show whether she fell or was thrown from it there seems little doubt that Mary unknown to her family with the possible exception of her brother which we'll come on to had a male friend who she met on that fateful Sunday night perhaps she met him at Victoria or at some other station they must have eaten somewhere as the autopsy showed she'd had a meal about three hours before her death it's plausible that her male friend suggested they take a train ride together using the first class carriage it seems clear that first-class carriages on quiet evening trains were a popular way for couples to get some privacy what if she didn't want sex what if the mystery man assaulted her what if stuffing the scarf into her mouth was a precursor to raping her it seems that she kept her relationships very private and that this meant the man responsible for her death was never traced yeah that's true Jacques although Mary money had her purse with her at Clapham it was never found was it taken to give the impression that robbery was the motive or was robbery the motive after all was the murder a regular acquaintance or was it what you might call a first date and the man seen by the train guard leaving the train at red hill he was described as thin with a moustache and wearing a boulder hat we've heard that description before haven't we it's about as general as a grainy cc tv image from a camera 50 meters away unsurprisingly he was never traced maybe we should talk about Mary’s brother Robert money yeah and I often look at these historic cases and think about contemporary personalities and lifestyles in those days somebody's character was determined by the evidence of so-called character witnesses who were as you can imagine more or less subjective in today's society our lifestyle and our attitudes are recorded in the emails photos messages that we leave on our phones and laptops there's generally a mountain of evidence of a person's lifestyle an added twist to the Mary money case was the character of Robert money remember he was the man who came forward to report her missing and to identify her body the siblings they seem to have been close and they lived in the same area he may have known more about her than was revealed the monies were a large family Robert and another brother were in business together Robert appeared to be involved in the dairy trade and remember that Mary worked in a dairy too Robert money though was an unscrupulous liar and a fraud his own life ended in tragedy seven years later he'd married two sisters from the same middle class family having convinced the whole family that he was an officer in the army using the name Robert Murray he divided his time between the two women but like all complicated and deceitful relationships it started to go wrong financially for him on the 19th of august 1912 in a burning house at Eastbourne on the south coast of England were found the bodies of a man his wife and three children all of whom had been murdered another woman the mother of two of the three children had received two bullet wounds in the neck but survived Robert Murray had rented the property in Eastbourne for a holiday and invited his two wives and children to join him intending to kill them and then kill himself but this doesn't mean that he was involved in his sister's death does it although having committed multiple murders in 1912 he was now in the frame for Mary’s death Mary would have trusted him they ate a family dinner together that Sunday evening maybe she had something on her brother maybe he wanted to discuss it in private and you don't get much more private than a first-class compartment on the Brighton line on a Sunday evening no it doesn't and we are speculating there's another twist to the tale following Robert Murray’s death and his real identity of Robert money becoming known the detectives from both areas got together and considered the possibility of other crimes it was only then that the detectives in the Mary money case revealed something that the coroner hadn't covered the inquest interesting Mary money had a gambling problem and she'd been stealing money from her employers was there any evidence for that yes there was apparently her gambling was common knowledge and takings were down at the dairy where she worked meaning that she could have been depressed due to her gambling and the stress of stealing from her employer correct or whether she was in cahoots with her brother Robert and they fell out over it either way the coroner left out the gambling evidence so did Mary money jump from the train or was she pushed well we've still got the indication she had some material stuff down her throat and that she fell backwards from the train I guess the coroner was leaning towards foul play but he didn't want to taint a lady's reputation hmm this doesn't get easier does it no it doesn't and it's baffled crime historians ever since that Brighton line has a lot to answer for it certainly does we've got Percy Mapleton the jumped up journalist and turned armed robber who should have been arrested at the time rather than a bungled Six O’clock Knock weeks later we've got Louisa ‘Massette’ or ‘Massay’ a young French woman probably suffering from postnatal depression and other issues due to the way the cards had been dealt for her probably desperate for love and affection a young woman who kills her child in absolute desperation and who was hanged for the crime then the baffling case of Mary money a young woman who kept herself to herself and was killed for rejecting a man's advances or a dishonest gambler and thief who came from a family of cheats and nerdy wells and these were only three of the grisly murders linked to Brighton in separate incidents in 1934 the bodies of two women were found in trunks the first discovered by an unlucky attendant in the left luggage office of Brighton railway station had been dismembered and she has never ever been identified in the second case the body of violet k was found stuffed into a trunk at her boyfriend's lodgings near the station the boyfriend a waiter called tony Mancini was tried and acquitted of murder it sounds like these trump murders deserve our attention too I’ll second that we should pay Brighton a visit when we're allowed to again we could get some fish and chips on the seafront and I’ll show you lovers walk in Preston park it's where in 1831 john Holloway buried his murdered wife Celia after wheeling her body there in a trunk that's what happens when we start lifting the floorboards or digging up the flower beds you never know what you're going to find and that's the beauty of the Six O’clock Knock thanks for listening we hope you enjoyed this episode remember crimes on the railways are rarely this horrendous although plenty of us would call the price of a season ticket daylight robbery we hope we've piqued your interest in true crime stories if there's a case you'd like us to investigate why not tweet us we're at six knock or send us a message on Facebook if you'd like to contribute to our work please do check out our Patreon account your donations keep us in shoe leather and when you've got size 13 feet like the governor here new soles don't come cheap do they Jacques just saying and with that final rattle of the collecting tin it's goodbye from us until we meet again very soon for another Six O’clock Knock the Six O’clock Knock is presented by Simon Ford and Jacques Morrell and produced by Paul Bradshaw and is available on every major listening app please help us spread the word by giving us a five star review and telling your friends to subscribe.