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Crimes Through Time

17 episodes - English - Latest episode: over 1 year ago -

Welcome to Crimes Through Time. I am your host Karen Purnell. Join me as I explore real crime through history. From murder to robbery, the brutal to the strange, the heartbreaking to the amusing. I will be digging into historic cases, prominent figures, changes in law, investigative techniques, crime scene analysis, forensic developments and more.So if you like true crime with a historical twist, subscribe now and be notified when a new episode is released.

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Episodes

Thomas Briggs: First Person to be Murdered on a Train 1864

September 23, 2022 08:00 - 8 minutes - 5.63 MB

Train travel in the Victorian era provided many new opportunities, people and goods could travel around the country more freely and much more quickly.  But with it came more crime.  Many Victorians feared travelling by train, the carriages weren’t lit, couldn’t be exited between stations and there was no way to communicate with the driver or conductor during the journey.  Robbery and assault of all kinds were common but it would be the 9th of July 1864 when Thomas Briggs made history as the ...

Elizabeth Barlow - First Case of Murder By Insulin 1957

September 14, 2022 14:00 - 9 minutes - 6.37 MB

In the early morning hours of the 4th May, 1957 doctors attended the home of Kenneth and Elizabeth Barlow.  Elizabeth had been discovered apparently drown in her bath.  On the surface a tragic loss of a young mother.  But how does a healthy woman simply pass away whilst in the bath with no sign of trying to even attempt to save herself?  Suspicions began to mount that foul play was involved.  Until an eagle-eyed pathologist found 4 injection sites on her bum.  Newly developed techniques dete...

Madeleine Hamilton Smith - Scotlands Oldest Murder Mystery 1857

September 07, 2022 10:00 - 15 minutes - 10.9 MB

Madeleine Hamilton Smith was a Glaswegian socialite, beautiful, well mannered and from a wealthy family.  When she was arrested for the murder of her ex lover, it rocked Victorian Scottish society to the core.  A scandal of pre marital sex, blackmail and poison played out in the court room and the newspapers.  She received a verdict of “Not Proven” a result unique to the Scottish judicial system.  A verdict that left a cloud of suspicion over Madeleine that even today 165 years after the cri...

The Murder of Iron Mike Malloy 1933

August 18, 2022 11:00 - 6 minutes - 4.65 MB

In this episode, we are travelling over the pond to New York City.  In 1933 Michael Malloy was down on his luck when he was targeted by a group of opportunistic men who decided to murder him for money.  But Michael just wouldn’t die.  He survived over 10 attempts on his life earning him the nicknames Iron Mike Malloy and Durable Mike.

The Rayleigh Bath Chair Murder 1943

August 14, 2022 11:00 - 6 minutes - 4.64 MB

Archibald Brown ruled his household with an iron fist.  In July 1943 his son, Eric had had enough.  He modified a Hawkins mine from the barracks where he was based and hid it under the seat of his father's seat on his bath chair.  And watched as his nurse wheeled him off for his walk in the fresh air.  

The Baker Street Robbery 1971

August 10, 2022 12:00 - 15 minutes - 10.6 MB

Around 11pm on Saturday the 11th September 1971 Robert Rowland’s was at home in his Wimple Street flat in London.  Robert was an amateur radio enthusiast and was scanning the air waves for other enthusiasts to pass his Saturday night with.  He suddenly picked up conversations from nearby walkie talkies.  What he heard and then recorded put him at the centre of the investigation of one of the UK most audacious burglaries.  The gang - later dubbed the Millionaire Moles- were stealing from the ...

James William White 1926 - Murder or Mishap?

August 03, 2022 19:00 - 3 minutes - 2.54 MB

The Unsolved Death of James William White. Murder or Mishap? On the 30th June 1926, James William White Age 43 and 2 other acquaintances were at Acorn Wood in Nottinghamshire.  Spying on a couple being romantic when he is spotted.  James takes off running into the wood and is seen colliding with a tree.  He is found dead. The police believe it is murder - but the witnesses say mishap.  

The Halifax Slasher 1938

August 03, 2022 16:00 - 9 minutes - 6.75 MB

For 2 weeks in November 1938, the town of Halifax in the North of England was engulfed in mass hysteria. A terror that spread through the community and beyond.  A perpetrator was on the loose attacking local people dubbed the Halifax Slasher. Scotland Yard was dispatched such was the seriousness of the situation. Vigilante groups patrolled the streets, and Businesses in the town were shut down.  Only one problem, the Slasher was completely fictional, an imagined monster constructed from the ...

Ethel Major The Corned Beef Killer 1934

July 17, 2022 11:00 - 6 minutes - 4.71 MB

Ethel Major was the only woman to be hanged at Hull Prison, but she was so close to getting away with the murder of her husband had it not been for an anonymous letter delivered to the coroner. 

Del Fontaine The Punch Drunk Killer 1935

July 06, 2022 08:00 - 13 minutes - 9.02 MB

1931 saw Del Fontaine travel to the United Kingdom to further his boxing career.  He had travelled the US and Canada fighting, winning the Canadian Middleweight Boxing Championship twice.  The UK was a place full of potential for the young fighter.  By 1935 he was established and in love.  A love that would end with a crime of passion leaving one woman dead and another seriously injured.  His defence, Del was Punch Drunk.  So what is it to be punch drunk and was that the cause of Del’s rage?...

The 4 Euston Square Murder Mystery 1879

June 22, 2022 11:00 - 9 minutes - 6.86 MB

This case takes us back to Victorian London, 1879.  The body of a woman is found in the coal cellar of a lodging house.  She had laid undiscovered for some time.  Who is she? how did she die? And who has hidden her in the cellar? This is a case that leaves you with more questions than answers because despite 2 trials no one has been brought to justice for this crime.  So let’s examine the facts in this still-unsolved case and see if someone got away with murder The Case of The Silenced Song...

Mary Pearcey - Jill the Ripper?

June 17, 2022 17:00 - 13 minutes - 9.2 MB

When a woman's body is found on a secluded street in 1890 following a savage attack, fear ran high that Jack the Ripper was back. The murderer was Mary Pearcey, the victim her love rival but then speculation began could Jack the Ripper really be Jill and Ripper and if so was it Mary Pearcey who was responsible for the Whitechapel murder spree just 2 years previous. The Case of the Silenced Songbird - The Crime Mystery Game with a Historical Twist. Available Here www.crimesthroughtime.co.uk/...

The Killer Princess 1923

May 19, 2022 12:00 - 13 minutes - 9.2 MB

In this episode, we are travelling back to 1923, to the Savoy Hotel London. On the night of a thunderous storm that rocked the city, following a loud and raucous argument, a wife shoots her husband dead. She is discovered with the gun in her hand and admitted to the murder immediately. She committed the crime, no doubt about it. Then how was she found not guilty at trial?  This case has it all, privilege, money, royalty and affairs.

The Chocolate Cream Poisoner 1871

May 04, 2022 11:00 - 10 minutes - 7.09 MB

Hello and welcome to Crimes Through Time, where I talk about snapshots of crime history.  In this episode, we are travelling back to 1870’s Brighton on the English coast. Christiana Edmunds was in love.  The object of her desire Dr Charles Beard is tall, handsome and “extremely prepossessing of demeanour” - which is 19th century English for very attractive. But when Dr Beard ended their friendship Christiana made a plan.  A plan that would leave an innocent 4-year-old boy dead.

The Cleft Chin Murder 1944

April 27, 2022 12:00 - 13 minutes - 9.62 MB

1944 London was a scene of devastation, after years of being bombarded from the air as World War 2 raged.  The people though were standing strong, united in fighting the common enemy.  This backdrop makes the crime spree which culminated in the murder of George Edward Heath - the man with the cleft chin even more cowardly and selfish.  It rightly outraging the nation.  

The Culvert Murder 1946

January 21, 2022 09:00 - 13 minutes - 9.13 MB

The 3rd January 1946 should have been a normal workday for Loans Manager Bernard Phillips and it started out that way.   Until George Wood entered the office requesting a £60 loan. A snapshot in crime history, where one man's greed and infidelity not only cost a life but made it harder for people in post-war Britain to obtain loan's to rebuild their lives. 

Crimes Through Time Trailer

September 30, 2021 13:00 - 33 seconds - 432 KB

Crimes Through Time Podcast Trailer