Case story:

On 29 September 1935, two chopped bodies were found under the bridge near a river flowing nearby in a town called Drumfriesshir in Moffett. On initial examination, the police thought that there were two bodies, one male and one female, as all evidence to identify both the bodies had been eliminated. The fingertips of the hands had been cut off and parts of the rest of the body had been cut. Upon searching, the police found two chopped heads. Along with that, pieces of dead body and some clothes were also found wrapped in newspaper and bedsheet. The police took the bodies to the mortuary where the bodies were analysed and it was found that both the bodies were of females and from the style of cutting it was found out that the killer was from a medical background or a medical person. When there was no clue as to whose bodies these were, the police found out from the date and name in the newspaper that the murders had taken place between 13th September and 14th, 15th September and because the name was mentioned in the pieces of those newspaper, Sunday Graphics, it also came to light that it was a special edition which was distributed only in Lancaster city of England due to which the police got a lot of help. After getting information about missing people in Lancaster, the police came to know that a girl named Marry Rogerson was missing since September 14. When the police showed the clothes found with that girl to her family, they recognized that those were their daughter's clothes and that she had gone to work at her boss Mr. Buck Ruxton's house and did not return home. After getting information from Buck Ruxton, it was found out that he is a doctor and lives in Lancaster with his wife and children and his wife is also missing. After questioning Buck and presenting all the evidence, it is revealed that Buck killed his wife Isabella Ruxton and his maid Marry Rogerson. Buck suspected his wife of having illicit relations with other men and killed his maid because she was a witness to his wife's murder.

Case Facts:

·         Victim: Isabella Ruxton & Marry Rogerson

·         Accused: Buck Ruxton

·         Date of Incident: 14 September 1935

·         Date of body recovery: 29 September 1935

·         Location: England, Scotland

·         Crime Type: Murder (Homicide)

·         Case Status: Solved

·         Judgement:  Found guilty and hanged at Manchester on 12th May 1936

Role of Forensics In case solving:

1.     Forensic Anthropology: The photo of victim was superimposed into the skull found on crime scene and they matched. This technique is first used in this case.

2.     Forensic Entomology: The maggots were taken from bodies and study of their life cycle helped in time of death determination. This technique of forensic was also firstly discovered and used in this case.

3.     Forensic Fingerprinting: One of the Fingerprint was recovered from the body piece and it matched with victim.

4.     Questioned Document: The newspapers were examined and from that they were found the date of crime and crime area and accused also the victims were identified with newspaper examination.