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Historical True CrimeAuthor: Lizzie
Step into the shadows of the past with "Historical True Crime," the podcast that takes you on a gripping journey through some of history's most captivating and chilling criminal stories. Each episode is a meticulously researched exploration into the depths of history, where true crime meets the intriguing backdrop of different eras. From legendary criminals and unsolved mysteries to the groundbreaking investigations that shaped the course of justice, our narratives paint a vivid picture of the darker side of humanity throughout time. Language: en Genres: True Crime Contact email: Get it Feed URL: Get it iTunes ID: Get it |
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The Ratcliffe Highway Murders: Terror in London’s East End
Episode 174
Thursday, 19 March, 2026
In December 1811, two households on London’s Ratcliffe Highway were brutally murdered within days of each other. As panic spread through the East End, investigators searched for a killer moving through the dockside streets. A sailor named John Williams soon became the prime suspect but his death would leave the truth uncertain.Source MaterialsP. D. James and T. A. Critchley. The Maul and the Pear Tree: The Ratcliffe Highway Murders, 1811. Faber & Faber, 1971.Judith Flanders. The Invention of Murder: How the Victorians Revelled in Death and Detection and Created Modern Crime. Thomas Dunne Books, 2011.John Fairburn. Fairburn’s Account of the Dreadful Murder of Mr. Marr and Family, Who Were Barbarously Murdered in Their House on Ratcliffe Highway. London, 1811.Peter Ackroyd. London: The Biography. Nan A. Talese / Doubleday, 2000.The Proceedings of the Coroner’s Inquest on the Marr and Williamson Murders, London, December 1811. The OldBailey Proceedings Online. https://www.oldbaileyonline.org Radzinowicz, L. “The Ratcliffe Murders.” The Cambridge Law Journal 14, no. 1 (1956): 39–66. https://www.jstor.org/stable/4504366













