j told the police officers during the night
October 12th to 13th, and also his type-
‘tten document “My Movements”. Little
little the evidence had been gathered
d correlated, but the chronological record
at was being built up for the trial had to

altered from time to time as new pieces
evidence appeared.

House Is SEARCHED

Immediately upon Ruxton’s arrest the
use at No. 2 Dalton Square was
oroughly searched. This was no cursory
arch for a knife or some other instrument
~ death. Instead it was a thorough and
aracteristically British effort to sift out
very particle of evidence which the old
rilding could afford. With the police
me Professor Glaister and Dr. Martin to
fer suggestions of certain things they re-
aired in pursuing their examinations. The
rain pipes leading to the bathroom and
ashing facilities were cut and the traps
leaned out. In these were found small
uman debris, such as pieces of flesh and
nall strands of hair. Sections of wood-
rork were removed to be subjected to ex-
mination for blood stains. A sheet from
Ars, Ruxton’s bed was taken. Her shoes
nd also Mary Rogerson’s, as well as all
rticles of clothing that either had worn
luring their lifetime. Detective Lieut.
Jammond in charge of the photographic
nd fingerprint bureau of the Glasgow
Jity Police, even excelled his past brilliant
chievements. This officer had been called
nto the case originally in an effort to
dentify the “Ravine Victims”, but as the
nvestigation proceeded, he continued with
is enquiries at Lancaster. He went from
ellar to attic, picking up various articles
ind dusting them in a search for finger-
srints to link up with the thumb of Body
No. 1 and also a palmar print of the same
ody. He gathered up bottles from the
ellar, cups from the kitchen, a decanter
from the dining room, plates from a cup-
soard in the lounge, articles from the draw-
ing room, even a vinegar bottle from a
-upboard in the kitchen. To get these
irticles he went through a prodigious
search, but, bearing in mind that a servant
zirl would handle things in all parts of the
house he proceeded to demonstrate that the
left hand of the No. 1 body at Garden-
holme Linn was the hand of Mary Roger-
son. His evidence was of such importance
at the trial that he was reserved as the
last witness for the Crown, thus putting
the final touch to a perfect case of circum-
stantial evidence.

With painstaking care Chief Constable
Vann and the experts explored the house
from cellar to garret . . . and their search
showed that No. 2 Dalton place had been
the scene of the diabolical crime. With
typical care and precision a mass of exhibits
were collected. Some of these included the
bathroom door, bannister rails, bath stop
and chain, numerous pieces of linoleum, a
can opener, a revolver, top and side of seat
in bathroom, numerous articles of clothing,
a bathtub and fittings, woodwork from
bath and water-closet, part of a dining

FOURTEENTH EDITION

table top, sofa arm, a section of flooring and
so on. Some two hundred and thirteen
exhibits were entered at the trial. Of these,
nine represented books of photographs, each
separately numbered, which inclued 126
photographs.

The trial commenced on Monday, March
2nd, 1936, at the Manchester Winter
Assize, Mr. Justice Singleton, presiding.
An array of three counsel represented the
Crown; Messrs J. C. Jackson, K.C.,
Maxwell Fyfe, K.C., and Hartley Shaw-
cross. Messrs. Norman Birkett, K. C. and
Phillip Kershaw, K.C., acted for the
defence.

The trial lasted for eleven days, and
during that time 106 witnesses appeared for
the Crown. The Defence only put in one
witness, the accused. Ruxton put in the
better part of two days on the witness
stand and his violent bursts of emotion were
quite at variance with the usually staid
atmosphere of a British Court of Justice.

The case throughout was one of circum-
stantial evidence. There were no eye
witnesses, but it was a shining example of
many fingers pointing in one direction,
toward the accused, and nowhere else. One
by one the Crown witnesses put together
the mosiac of circumstantial evidence which
was to form for Ruxton, a gallows platform.

For example we have already found that
on Friday, September 13th, Mrs. Elizabeth
Curwen was told by Doctor Ruxton that
she would not be required till the following

Monday. Now according to the Ruxton
menage timetable, Mrs. Curwen should
have worked on Saturday all day, and
arrived at about 10 a.m. Sunday. It can
then be fairly inferred that Dr. Ruxton had
deliberately planned to have this woman
out of the way on both of these days for
some special purpose. The following day,
Saturday, September 14th, we find that
Mrs. Oxley, one of the other employees in
the household arrived at about 7.10 a.m.
and worked till about 12.20 p.m. Mary
Rogerson had been in cheerful spirits.
Doctor Ruxton had asked Mary if she
would stay and look after the children if
Mrs. Ruxton went. Mary hesitated, and
then replied that she would. By this remark
it is possible that Dr. Ruxton indicated un-
consciously that he had no designs on
Mary’s life. The last person to see Mary
alive must have been Mrs. Jackson who
called for her young children about 7
p.m. on the fateful night of September 14th.
We also have found that Mrs. Ruxton did
go to Blackpool on the same day and had
a very enjoyable evening with her two
sisters, and then left them about 11.30 p.m.
intending to go back to Lancaster. This is
the last we hear of the unfortunate lady
alive. However, the sisters of the late Mrs.
Ruxton told the Court about the marital
troubles between Ruxton and his wife, and
that on one occasion he had said Mrs.
Ruxton had attempted to commit suicide.

On the morning of September 15th,

No. 2 Dalton Square, Lancaster, England

Page Eleven