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Murder Cases, Trunks and the Entanglement of Ethics: The Preservation and Display of Scenes of Crime Material

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Crime and the Construction of Forensic Objectivity from 1850

Part of the book series: Palgrave Histories of Policing, Punishment and Justice ((PHPPJ))

Abstract

This chapter explores the materiality of recording serious crime and the police record, examining the agency and entanglement of objects as they move through time and space. It focuses on murder files because they often survive as ‘accidental tourists’ in record offices and may be accompanied by baggage in the form of forensic evidence. The framework of the chapter is four historic murders which occurred between 1924 and 1934 in the South East of England. The chapter concentrates on the materiality of the surviving evidence: the bodies of all the women were left in trunks and at least one of these trunks, along with murder weapons and blood-stained clothing, has survived in a museum and been displayed as an artefact.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Material culture refers to the physical objects, resources and spaces that people use to define their culture.

  2. 2.

    J. Hoskins, Biographical Objects: How Things Tell the Stories of People’s Lives, London and New York: Routledge, 1998.

  3. 3.

    Believed because England was found not guilty, though later in 1976 he confessed to her murder in a News of the World interview.

  4. 4.

    I. Burney and N. Pemberton, Murder and the Making of English CSI, John Hopkins University Press, 2016, p. 3.

  5. 5.

    Ibid., p. 7.

  6. 6.

    S. D’Cruze, S. Walklate and S. Pegg, Murder: Social and Historical Approaches to Understanding Murder and Murderers, Devon: Willan, 2006, p. 105.

  7. 7.

    H. Häkkänen-Nyholm et al., ‘Homicides with mutilation of the victim’s body’, Journal of Forensic Sciences, 54(4): 2009, 933–937.

  8. 8.

    C. Quigley, The Corpse: A History, Kindle (ed.), McFarland & Company, 2005, location 2820–2823, Citing R. Jackson and F. Camps, Famous Case Histories of the Celebrated Pathologist, London: Hart-Davis, MacGibbon, 1975, p. 77.

  9. 9.

    T. Mulholland, British Boarding houses in Interwar Women’s Literature: Alternative Domestic Spaces, Routledge, 2017, p. 3.

  10. 10.

    R. Wall. ‘“Surplus women”: A legacy of World War One?’ World War I Centenary: Continuations and Beginnings (website), University of Oxford, http://ww1centenary.oucs.ox.ac.uk/unconventionalsoldiers/%E2%80%98surplus-women%E2%80%99-a-legacy-of-world-war-one/.

  11. 11.

    ‘Her identity: Trunk victim wife of Italian waiter’, Western Daily Press, Bristol, 13 May 1927, 6.30 a.m. ed., Back page.

  12. 12.

    ‘Trunk crime No. 1 unsolved’, Illustrated Police News, London, 28 February 1935, 3.

  13. 13.

    ‘Another body found in Brighton cloakroom: Trunk mystery deepens’, The Midland Daily Telegraph, Warwickshire, 20 June 1934, Last ed., front page.

  14. 14.

    ‘Baby in trunk at station’, Daily Herald, London, 5 July 1934, 11.

  15. 15.

    Mulholland, British Boarding Houses, p. 2.

  16. 16.

    ‘The bungalow crime: Amazing statement said to have been made by accused’, Illustrated Police News, London, 29 May 1924, p. 3.

  17. 17.

    The Poor Law system was only finally abolished in 1948 with the introduction of the modern welfare state and the passing of the National Assistance Act.

  18. 18.

    For example, G. Nicholls, Avenues of the Human Spirit, Hampshire: John Hunt Publishing Limited, 2011, p. 64.

  19. 19.

    ‘Clue to “Jim the chauffeur”’, Daily Herald, London, 20 May 1927, Late London ed., p. 5.

  20. 20.

    The 1834 Poor Law Amendment Act introduced a new national system of poor relief based on administrative areas called Poor Law Unions. Each Union employed a Relieving Officer to evaluate applications for medical or poor relief and to authorize emergency relief or entry to the workhouse.

  21. 21.

    W.H. Johnson, Sussex Murders (True Crime History Series), Stroud: The History Press, 2011, p. 124.

  22. 22.

    S. Slater, ‘Prostitutes and popular history: Notes on the “underworld”’, Crime, History & Societies, 2009, 13(1): 25–48. The author writes about the isolation of prostitutes and their dependency on their pimps: many were forced to move frequently and because of their work lost touch with family and friends.

  23. 23.

    A. Wollensak and B. Terry, ‘Transient spaces’, Generative Art Conference, held at Politecnico University, Milan, 2005.

  24. 24.

    In which bombs were exploded on the London Underground and in left-luggage offices at Kings Cross and Victoria railway stations.

  25. 25.

    Burney and Pemberton, Murder, p. 2.

  26. 26.

    J. Schlör, ‘Means of transport and storage: Suitcases and other containers for the memory of migration and displacement’, Journal of Jewish Culture and History, 2014, 15(1–2): 76–92.

  27. 27.

    Album of six photographs, 15–19 July 1924. SPA 2/37/34. Criminal conviction: R v Patrick Herbert Mahon, collection of Sussex Police Authority. East Sussex Record Office, Brighton.

  28. 28.

    Cabin trunks were flatter versions of steamer trunks designed to fit under beds or seats in steamer cabins or train compartments.

  29. 29.

    ‘Pencilled word clue in trunk murder’, Sunderland Daily Echo and Shipping Gazette, 19 June 1934, six o’clock ed., Front page.

  30. 30.

    ‘Link with trunk murder: Label addressed to “St Lenards”’, Hastings and St Leonards Observer, Sussex, 14 May 1927, p. 2.

  31. 31.

    ‘The trunk mystery: First steps of police investigation’, Belfast News-Letter, County Antrim, 12 May 1927, p. 7.

  32. 32.

    ‘Woman’s body found in trunk’, Daily Herald, London, 11 May 1927, Late London ed., Front page.

  33. 33.

    Ibid.

  34. 34.

    Burney and Pemberton, Murder, p. 76.

  35. 35.

    ‘Women at the Old Bailey: Trunk murder trial’, Evening News and Southern Daily Mail, Portsmouth, 11 July 1927, p. 5.

  36. 36.

    ‘The Riviera trunk mystery’, Dundee Courier and Advertiser, Angus, Scotland, 6 January 1936, 2nd ed., p. 7.

  37. 37.

    ‘The trunk murderer executed at Armley Gaol’, Illustrated Police News, London, 18 February 1937, p. 9.

  38. 38.

    G. Dilnot (ed.), The Trial of Patrick Herbert Mahon (Famous Trials Series), London: Geoffrey Bles, 1928.

  39. 39.

    A.J. Alan et al., Great Unsolved Crimes, London: Hutchinson & Co., 1935, pp. 342–351.

  40. 40.

    P. Savage, Savage of Scotland Yard: The Thrilling Autobiography of Ex-superintendent Percy Savage of the C.I.D., London: Hutchinson & Co. Ltd., 1934.

  41. 41.

    G.W. Cornish, Cornish of the ‘Yard’: His Reminiscences and Cases, London: John Lane and The Bodley Head, 1935.

  42. 42.

    C. Keene, The Mystery of the Brass Bound Trunk (Nancy Drew Mystery Stories), Grosset & Dunlap, 1940.

  43. 43.

    J. Conway, ‘The trunk mystery’, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, 1935, Film.

  44. 44.

    R. Denham, ‘The silent passenger’, Associated British Film Distributors, 1935, Film.

  45. 45.

    D.G. Browne and E.V. Tullett, Bernard Spilsbury: His Life and Cases, Penguin Books, 1955, pp. 143–160.

  46. 46.

    D. Rowland, The Brighton Trunk Murders, East Sussex: Finsbury Publishing, 2008.

  47. 47.

    Johnson, Sussex Murders, pp. 115–130.

  48. 48.

    ‘What does the black man want?’ was asked by Frantz Fanon in the introduction to his 1952 publication, Black Skin, White Masks.

  49. 49.

    C. Gosden, ‘What do objects want?’, Journal of Archaeological Method and Theory, 2005, 12(3): 193–211.

  50. 50.

    W.J.T. Mitchell, What Do Pictures Want?: The Lives and Loves of Images, 2nd ed., University of Chicago Press, 2005.

  51. 51.

    In material culture agency is an action or intervention producing a particular effect.

  52. 52.

    ‘Where notorious criminals’ secrets are revealed’, Lancashire Daily Post, Lancashire, 12 August 1935, 4.

  53. 53.

    Ibid.

  54. 54.

    H. Towers, ‘Episode 47: The trunk’, in The Black Museum, Narrated by Orson Welles: Radio Luxembourg, 1952.

  55. 55.

    Ibid.

  56. 56.

    The International Council of Museums defines a museum as a ‘non-profit, permanent institution in the service of society and its development, open to the public, which acquires, conserves, researches, communicates and exhibits the tangible and intangible heritage of humanity and its environment for the purposes of education, study and enjoyment.’ http://archives.icom.museum/definition.html.

  57. 57.

    Nicholls, Avenues, p. 63.

  58. 58.

    J. Keily and J. Hoffbrand (curators), ‘The Crime Museum uncovered: Inside Scotland Yard’s special collection’, Exhibition hosted by The Museum of London, 9 October 2015 to 10 April 2016.

  59. 59.

    ‘Al Capone’s car’, Northern Daily Mail, Durham, 17 July 1934, West Hartlepool six o’clock ed., p. 2.

  60. 60.

    A. Day, ‘Crime Museum uncovered: The complex ethics and expectations’, Museum ID (website), http://museum-id.com/crime-museum-uncovered-the-complex-ethics-and-expectations-by-annette-day/.

  61. 61.

    Dark tourism has been defined as tourism involving travel to places historically associated with death and tragedy.

  62. 62.

    P. Rock, After Homicide: Practical and Political Responses to Bereavement, Clarendon Studies in Criminology, New York: Oxford University Press, 1998, p. 25.

  63. 63.

    L. Shanahan (curator), ‘Forensics: The anatomy of crime’, Exhibition held by the Wellcome Collection, London, 26 February to 21 June 2015.

  64. 64.

    S. McCorristine, ‘The dark value of criminal bodies: Context, consent and the disturbing sale of John Parker’s skull’, Journal of Conservation and Museum Studies, 2015, 13(1): 1–7.

  65. 65.

    Police forces such as Merseyside and Thames Valley now publish property and evidence management policies: https://www.merseyside.police.uk/media/12798/property-evidence-mgt-policy-procedure-2016-06-23.pdf and https://www.thamesvalley.police.uk/SysSiteAssets/foi-media/thames-valley-police/policies/policy%2D%2D-property-management-evidential.pdf.

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  • Quigley, C., The Corpse: A History, Kindle (ed.), McFarland & Company, 2005.

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    Google Scholar 

  • Schlör, J., ‘Means of transport and storage: Suitcases and other containers for the memory of migration and displacement’, Journal of Jewish Culture and History, 2014, 15(1–2): 76–92.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Slater, S., ‘Prostitutes and popular history: Notes on the “underworld”’, Crime, History & Societies, 2009, 13(1): 25–48.

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Exhibitions, Film and Radio

  • Conway, J. ‘The trunk mystery’, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, 1935. Film.

    Google Scholar 

  • Denham, R., ‘The silent passenger’, Associated British Film Distributors, 1935. Film.

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    Google Scholar 

  • Towers, H., ‘Episode 47: The trunk’, In The Black Museum. Narrated by Orson Welles: Radio Luxembourg, 1952. Radio broadcast.

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Archive

  • Album of six photographs, 15–19 July 1924. SPA 2/37/34. Criminal conviction: R v Patrick Herbert Mahon, collection of Sussex Police Authority. East Sussex Record Office, Brighton.

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Newspapers

  • ‘Al Capone’s car’, Northern Daily Mail, Durham, 17 July 1934, West Hartlepool six o’clock ed., 2.

    Google Scholar 

  • ‘Another body found in Brighton cloakroom: Trunk mystery deepens’, The Midland Daily Telegraph (Warwickshire), 20 June 1934, Last ed., front page.

    Google Scholar 

  • ‘Baby in trunk at station’, Daily Herald, London, 5 July 1934, 11.

    Google Scholar 

  • ‘The bungalow crime: Amazing statement said to have been made by accused’, Illustrated Police News, London, 29 May 1924, 3.

    Google Scholar 

  • ‘Clue to “Jim the chauffeur”’, Daily Herald, London, 20 May 1927, Late London ed., 5.

    Google Scholar 

  • ‘Her identity: Trunk victim wife of Italian waiter’, Western Daily Press, Bristol, 13 May 1927, 6.30 a.m. ed., back page.

    Google Scholar 

  • ‘Link with trunk murder: Label addressed to “St Lenards”’, Hastings and St Leonards Observer, Sussex, 14 May 1927, 2.

    Google Scholar 

  • ‘Pencilled word clue in trunk murder’, Sunderland Daily Echo and Shipping Gazette, 19 June 1934, six o’clock ed., front page.

    Google Scholar 

  • ‘The Riviera trunk mystery’, Dundee Courier and Advertiser, Angus, Scotland, 6 January 1936, 2nd ed., 7.

    Google Scholar 

  • ‘Trunk crime No. 1 unsolved’, Illustrated Police News, London, 28 February 1935, 3.

    Google Scholar 

  • ‘The trunk murderer executed at Armley Gaol’, Illustrated Police News, London, 18 February 1937, 9.

    Google Scholar 

  • ‘The trunk mystery: First steps of police investigation’, Belfast News-Letter, County Antrim, 12 May 1927, 7.

    Google Scholar 

  • ‘Where notorious criminals’ secrets are revealed’, Lancashire Daily Post, Lancashire, 12 August 1935, 4.

    Google Scholar 

  • ‘Woman’s body found in trunk’, Daily Herald, London, 11 May 1927, Late London ed., front page.

    Google Scholar 

  • ‘Women at the Old Bailey: Trunk murder trial’, Evening News and Southern Daily Mail, Portsmouth, 11 July 1927, 5.

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  1. Open University, Milton Keynes, UK

    Angela Sutton-Vane

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  1. Sheffield Hallam University, Sheffield, UK

    Alison Adam

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Sutton-Vane, A. (2020). Murder Cases, Trunks and the Entanglement of Ethics: The Preservation and Display of Scenes of Crime Material. In: Adam, A. (eds) Crime and the Construction of Forensic Objectivity from 1850. Palgrave Histories of Policing, Punishment and Justice. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-28837-2_12

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-28837-2_12

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