Murder is a deliberate act which exposes the worst of human traits. Rich and poor, old and young, male and female; it knows no social boundaries. From pre-Roman times until today, murder has a heinous history. Often it is a domestic incident where the assailant is quickly identified, a confession might even ensue. But it is when the act departs from the family that the odds against conviction grow. Where to start looking? Here are five murder cases where family involvement was quickly ruled out. Motives were said to range from robbery to revenge. Four are officially unsolved, but the fifth is officially solved, with the conviction of a nineteen year- old man, but was he really guilty? And why was a lady battered beyond recognition in her own kitchen? Gentleman traders brutally bludgeoned, and the postal clerk ruthlessly gunned down? These five cases cover the period from the mid 1930s to the mid 1960s; from a time of executions to a time of enlightenment and abolition.
