I caught yet another grisly documentary on infamous murders…centred around Clapham in south London.
In the 1920s, a trunk was discovered on a train as it was giving off a stench so it was handed over to the station office (at Clapham or Charing Cross). It sat there unclaimed and eventually had to be investigated as the stench became unbearable.
The dismembered body of a woman was found within, and Scotland Yard were called in. By carefully examining the remnants of clothes and belongings in the case, the victim was identified as a woman who had left her husband in the country and had to turn to prostitution to survive. She fell pregnant and had an abortion, and made her way to London in the hope of earning more money.
Sadly, she fell into the hands of a man who lived in Brixton - I can’t remember how they met but next thing you know, the Yardies have got down him at the Dock. But at first, he denied involvement.
But eventually…he confesses to chopping her up and stuffing her in a trunk and leads the police to the weapon used to cut her up…buried in Clapham Common, a quite nasty looking knife. The man got hanged not long after that.
Just imagine, when I last saw Clapham Common, it was midsummer and people were casually sitting and lying in the lush grass, actually looking happy. It didn’t look like the sort of place you’d find a murder weapon buried. It was actually pretty idyllic. English people are so well-tempered when the weather is lovely, and when there’s still hope for the national football team in the World Cup. I’d love to go back, right about now.
