World Day Against the Death Penalty

 10 October is World Day Against the Death Penalty 

Infanticide

 In 1849, Rebecca Smith became the last woman in Britain to be hanged for infanticide (killing one’s own child). She poisoned her baby son with arsenic. She was hanged in Devizes, Wiltshire. 

Madeleine Smith

 I found a very good video about Madeleine Smith. She was accused of poisoning her former lover in Glasgow in 1857. A jury returned a verdict of 'not proven', a Scottish verdict that meant she was not necessarily innocent but there was not sufficient evidence to convict her.

Dr Bodkin Adams

 Bodkin Adams was a doctor who murdered people in Brighton, England in the 1950s. The not-so-good doctor made a lot of money from his crimes. This is an excellent video about him.

Octogenarian hanged

 On 4 October 1843 an 84 year old man was hanged in Scotland for the murder of his wife. His name was Alan Mair. 

House in Philadelphia

 A frightening case in Philadelphia USA 

A letter from Jack the Ripper

 On 27 September 1888, Central News Agency in London received a letter signed 'Jack the Ripper'. It was probably a hoax. It's unlikely it was from the murderer but it gave him his name. It's almost certain now that we will never know the killer's real name, too much time has passed and things like the victim's clothes that might contain evidence were destroyed long ago because at that time they didn't see any point in keeping it. Obviously, they had no concept of DNA or other modern forensic techniques.