Crime During the Second World War

 In Britain, the Second World War created new opportunities for crime. The crime rate rose by 57% between 1939 and 1945. The blackout meant all indoor lights had to be hidden by dark curtains or other means. Street lights were switched off or dimmed, so German planes could not spot British cities from the air. But the dark streets also encouraged burglary. German bombing meant looting became widespread.

In 1940, the death penalty was introduced for looting, although nobody was actually executed. Bombed buildings were often looted, especially shops. People also stole rings and other valuables from dead bodies. They also stole from the living. In London, people used the Underground stations as bomb shelters. Thieves would wait till people fell asleep, then steal their bags. There were also pickpockets operating among the crowds.

Another crime was fraud. People were given some compensation if they owned a house and it was bombed. Some people falsely claimed their house had been bombed. Because so many houses were being damaged or destroyed, it was initially difficult to process claims. However, the government began checking more carefully in 1941. A man named Walter Handy had claimed to have been bombed 19 times. He was given a 3-year prison sentence. The murder rate also increased by 22% in Britain during the Second World War.

Franz Muller

 Franz Muller, a German, was the first person to murder someone on a train in Britain. Muller was born on 31 October 1840. He became a tailor. In 1864, he was living in England but he struggled to make a living.

At that time, trains were divided into carriages, without connecting corridors. On 9 July 1864, a train was travelling between two railway stations in North London, Fenchurch Street and Hackney. It arrived at 10.11 pm. Two men entered a carriage and they immediately spotted blood. They called the guard who also saw blood. He found a stick, a beaver skin hat and a bag. The carriage was sealed and it was sent for examination.

At 10.20 pm a train was travelling in the other direction when the crew spotted the body of a man lying by the track. The man was still alive but he died of head injuries the next day. He was identified as 69-year-old Thomas Briggs, a chief bank clerk. Mr Briggs had been beaten and thrown off the train. Whoever killed him had stolen his gold watch and chain, but failed to take £5 (a large sum of money at that time) from his pocket. 

Thomas Brigg’s relatives identified the bag and the stick found in the carriage but they did not recognise the hat. 

It seems that in his hurry, the attacker had taken the wrong hat, leaving his behind. He also failed to search the victim’s pockets.

A jeweller named John Death said that a man with a German accent came to his shop on 11 July, two days after the murder and sold him a gold watch chain (but not the watch). The chain was identified as belonging to the victim. A reward of £300 was offered for anyone who gave information leading to the arrest of the murderer.

A cabdriver named Jonathan Matthews didn’t hear about the murder until nine days after it happened. Matthews said he didn’t read newspapers, as they were expensive). He knew Franz Muller, and he became suspicious. Muller had given his youngest daughter a box from Death’s jewellers. Matthews took it to the police. Fortunately, he also had a photo of the suspect. The police took the hat found in the carriage to Muller’s landlady. She confirmed that it was his. He had foolishly left it behind and taken the victims.

Muller had boarded a ship to the USA on 15 July but two policemen boarded a faster ship and they arrived in New York before Muller. When the ship carrying Muller arrived, they went on board and arrested him. Among his luggage they found Thomas Brigg’s watch and his hat (although it had been altered, it was still identifiable). Muller was then extradited to stand trial in Britain.

The trial began on 27 October 1864. Muller denied being on the same train as the victim but the jury did not believe him. Muller was sentenced to death and he was hanged on 14 November 1864.

Golf

 The word "golf" is believed to be derived from an old Dutch word, kolf, which meant "club". Dutch people played games with clubs in the Middle Ages, but golf evolved in Scotland in the 15th century. In 1457, King James II of Scotland banned football and golf because people played them instead of practicing archery. However, Mary Queen of Scots loved playing golf. She was one of the first women known to play golf. The first women's golf tournament took place in Scotland in 1811. The Scot, King James I (1603-1625) introduced golf into England.

The Charing Cross Trunk Murder

 An infamous trunk murder took place in 1927. On Friday, 6 May 1927, a man deposited a trunk at Charing Cross Railway Station. By Monday, 10 May, the trunk was beginning to stink. Staff alerted the police and when the trunk was opened, it was found to contain several paper parcels. They contained parts of a body. The murderer had cut off a woman’s head, arms and legs and then wrapped them and the torso in parcels and placed them in the trunk. The woman had suffered blows to her head and chest but she died of asphyxiation.

However, the murderer was inept. Some items of clothing were also found in the trunk. They were traced to a Mrs Holt, who suggested they had been stolen some time before by a Mrs Rolls, who she had once employed as a cook. 

It turned out that Mrs Rolls was actually Minnie Bonati, aged 36. She was separated from her Italian husband and she was a sex worker. 

The police appealed for information. A taxi driver remembered collecting a man with a heavy trunk from outside a block of offices in Rochester Road in London. He drove the man to Charing Cross Railway Station. 

Two vital clues were found in the trunk. A tea towel had a label with the name ‘Greyhound’ stitched onto it. It was traced to the Greyhound Hotel in Hammersmith, London. A woman named Mrs Robinson worked there and police found her husband, John had an office in Rochester Road.

Unfortunately, neither the taxi driver nor the railway employee could identify John Robinson. However, the police found a tiny but vital clue. 

In a wastepaper basket in Robinson’s office, they found a bloodstained match. It was found to be the same blood type as Minnie Bonati. At first Robinson denied all knowledge of the murder but he could not explain how the bloody match got there. 

Eventually, Robinson admitted to killing Bonati but he claimed it was an accident. 

According to him, she visited his office and she became abusive and demanded money. He pushed her over, and she banged her head and died. He said he panicked and he dismembered the body. Not surprisingly, the police did not believe him. 

Nor did the jury. His trial began on 11 July 1927. A pathologist said the injuries to her head were not sufficient to kill her. Bruises on the victim’s chest suggested that Robinson kneeled on her and he may have suffocated her. On 13 July, Robinson was found guilty of murder and sentenced to death. He was hanged on 12 August 1927.

William Henry Bury

 On 24 April 1889, William Henry Bury became the last person to be hanged in Dundee, Scotland. I thought you might be interested because Bury has been named as a Jack the Ripper suspect. He strangled his wife, then stabbed the body. It's known he lived in Bow, London, at the time of the Whitechapel murders. But Bury does not seem to be a strong suspect. He did not mutilate his wife's body. The murder seems to have been a 'domestic' murder, sadly, all too common but different from the sadistic murders of strangers. It seems to have been a coincidence that he was living in London in 1888.