Buck Ruxton
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The case of Dr. Buck Ruxton is one of the UK's most infamous murder cases of the mid-1930s, and gripped the nation at the time. The case is famous not so much because of the nature of the crime, but because of the innovative new forensic techniques employed in solving it.
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[edit] Background
Buck Ruxton, a Parsi, was born Bukhtyar Rustomji Ratanji Hakim but later changed his name by deed poll. He was a practising doctor in Lancaster, England, and was reputedly a well respected and popular member of the community. He lived in a large house at 2, Dalton Square (still a popular area for practising doctors) with his common-law wife Isabella Kerr and their three children. Isabella was a rather attractive lady, and regularly attended various functions throughout Lancaster's socialite calendar. She very much enjoyed the social scene, and was herself a popular guest with Lancaster's elite - a fact that Buck Ruxton found difficult to accept.
[edit] Murder
Ruxton became increasingly jealous of Isabella's popularity, allegedly exploding into fits of rage behind closed doors. Eventually his jealousy overwhelmed him and, on 15 September 1935, Ruxton strangled Isabella with his bare hands, killing her. In order to prevent their housemaid, Mary Jane Rogerson, from discovering his crime before he could dispose of the body, he suffocated her too. Ruxton then proceeded to dismember and mutilate both bodies to hide their identities.
Body parts were found over 100 miles north of Lancaster, in a stream crossed by the Edinburgh – Carlisle road, near the town of Moffat in Dumfriesshire, Scotland. They were found wrapped in newspaper on 29th September 1935, by Miss Susan Haines Johnson who was visiting from Edinburgh. Unfortunately for Ruxton, one of the newspapers he had chosen to use was a special edition of the 'Sunday Graphic', that was only sold in the Lancaster area.
[edit] Identification of the bodies
The bodies were identified using the fledgling techniques of fingerprint identification, Forensic anthropology to superimpose a photograph over the X-ray of the victims skull and Forensic entomology to identify the age of maggots. This was one of the first cases where such forensic evidence was successfully used to convict a criminal in the UK.
[edit] Experts involved in the identification of the bodies
- Professor John Glaister, Regius Professor of Forensic Medicine at the University of Glasgow
- Dr Gilbert Millar, Lecturer in Pathology at the University of Edinburgh
- Professor Sydney Smith, Regius Professor of Forensic Medicine at the University of Edinburgh
- Dr Arthur Hutchinson, Dean of the Edinburgh Dental Hospital and School
- Professor J C Brash, Professor of Anatomy at the University of Edinburgh
A preliminary examination was made at Moffat by Professor Glaister and Dr Millar, after which the remains were taken to the anatomy department at Edinburgh University for a more detailed investigation.
[edit] Punishment
Ruxton was arrested at 7.20 a.m. on 13 October 1935. His trial lasted for 11 days and ended on 13 December 1935 when the jury had returned a 'Guilty' verdict and Mr Justice Singleton sentenced him to death. The Court of Criminal Appeal dismissed Ruxton's appeal on 27 April 1936 and he was hanged at Strangeways prison, Manchester on the morning of 12 May 1936.
[edit] Trivia
- There was a pub, near where Dr. Ruxton lived called, appropriately enough, "Ruxtons". Unfortunately this has now been changed to "The Square".
- The case at the time caught the public interest so much that there was even a song about it as follows:
"Bloodstains on the carpet
Bloodstains on the knives
Oh Dr Buck Ruxton
You murdered your wife
Then Mary she saw you
You thought she would tell
So Dr Buck Ruxton
You killed her as well."
[edit] Reference
- Hodge, James H. (1964). Famous Trials 10.
