0:00:02 > 0:00:06November 1864, London's most notorious prison.
0:00:08 > 0:00:11Inside, at the far end of the Dead Man's Walk...
0:00:13 > 0:00:17..Franz Muller, a 24-year-old German immigrant,
0:00:17 > 0:00:20was being readied for the scaffold.
0:00:20 > 0:00:23It was a scene that gave a thorough wrench to my nerves.
0:00:24 > 0:00:25It was horrid.
0:00:28 > 0:00:32Muller had been convicted of a crime that shook Victorian Britain
0:00:32 > 0:00:35to the core - the first murder on a train.
0:00:38 > 0:00:41This was a crime which aroused an almost
0:00:41 > 0:00:43instinctive spirit of vengeance.
0:00:45 > 0:00:50This one act of extreme violence had brought to the surface the anxieties
0:00:50 > 0:00:54Victorians had about the iron roads spreading across the land.
0:00:57 > 0:00:59Muller had come to personify all that seemed
0:00:59 > 0:01:02dangerous about the new world of steam and speed.
0:01:03 > 0:01:05But was he even guilty?
0:01:08 > 0:01:12I knew Mr Muller for about six months. He was kind.
0:01:12 > 0:01:14That was how Franz was.
0:01:14 > 0:01:18We now reopen the railway murder case,
0:01:18 > 0:01:22an investigation which becomes a journey into the Victorian mind
0:01:22 > 0:01:24at the dawn of the railway age.
0:01:39 > 0:01:4121st-century London,
0:01:41 > 0:01:45its streets shiny with glass and steel.
0:01:45 > 0:01:48Also a city where the past is everywhere.
0:01:53 > 0:01:56This film brings Victorian London back to life.
0:01:56 > 0:02:00We recreate documents and images from the first railway murder.
0:02:02 > 0:02:06We meet the people who became caught up in this sensational crime.
0:02:08 > 0:02:11The words they speak are taken from court transcripts,
0:02:11 > 0:02:15letters and reportage, their own testimony
0:02:15 > 0:02:17and that of other 19th-century witnesses.
0:02:20 > 0:02:23Frederick Wicks was then a young journalist.
0:02:23 > 0:02:25His search for the truth inspired him
0:02:25 > 0:02:28to follow this story right to the end.
0:02:30 > 0:02:33Now, Wicks is our guide,
0:02:33 > 0:02:38helping us to travel from the present day back to the 1800s.
0:02:38 > 0:02:39STEAM TRAIN WHISTLES
0:02:41 > 0:02:45As news of the murder spread, a feverish fear emerged.
0:02:45 > 0:02:48It was said that no-one knew when they opened a carriage door
0:02:48 > 0:02:51that they might not find blood on the cushion,
0:02:51 > 0:02:54that not a parent would entrust his daughter to the train
0:02:54 > 0:02:56without a horrid anxiety.
0:02:56 > 0:02:58That not a traveller took his seat
0:02:58 > 0:03:01without feeling how he runs his chance.
0:03:09 > 0:03:11DOG BARKS
0:03:12 > 0:03:17Our investigation begins in Hackney, East London.
0:03:17 > 0:03:20In the 19th century, a railway ran between this terrace
0:03:20 > 0:03:22and the main road behind.
0:03:25 > 0:03:30In 1864, on Saturday 9th July, at 10:10pm,
0:03:30 > 0:03:34the crime was first discovered right here,
0:03:34 > 0:03:38as train driver Alfred Ekin later testified.
0:03:52 > 0:03:59I was on me way and my attention was caught by something on the line.
0:04:01 > 0:04:04I stopped the engine as soon as possible,
0:04:04 > 0:04:07and backed to the spot where the body was lying.
0:04:07 > 0:04:10He was lying on 'is back,
0:04:10 > 0:04:14with 'is head towards Hackney.
0:04:14 > 0:04:17He was alive...
0:04:17 > 0:04:18at the time.
0:04:20 > 0:04:23Victorian train drivers were the aristocrats of the
0:04:23 > 0:04:30new steam-powered world. Railwaymen like Ekin were also resourceful.
0:04:30 > 0:04:34The victim was quickly moved to the nearest available shelter.
0:04:34 > 0:04:40I found four or five people to help carry the...
0:04:40 > 0:04:43the body. Several other persons also came to help
0:04:43 > 0:04:45besides those who carried the body.
0:04:45 > 0:04:51I suppose there must have been a dozen altogether.
0:04:51 > 0:04:55The body was carried to the public house,
0:04:55 > 0:04:58the bottom of the railway embankment.
0:05:01 > 0:05:03Then called the Mitford Castle,
0:05:03 > 0:05:06the pub has since been renamed and remodelled.
0:05:11 > 0:05:15But behind the bar is a small room that has been left as it was
0:05:15 > 0:05:17150 years ago.
0:05:24 > 0:05:28He was lying on the table. I made an examination.
0:05:28 > 0:05:33His shirt was rumpled and his hat was gone.
0:05:33 > 0:05:36It was clear that the unfortunate man's skull was broken,
0:05:36 > 0:05:41and he had a severe wound on the side of his head.
0:05:41 > 0:05:45He was still living, but groaning. He was perfectly unconscious.
0:05:46 > 0:05:50- Did you send for help? - A medical man was sent for.
0:05:58 > 0:06:02Nobody knew who the body was, nor where he'd come from.
0:06:09 > 0:06:12Just up the line at Hackney Station,
0:06:12 > 0:06:15the Victorian tracks are still in use.
0:06:17 > 0:06:21Here, another discovery was made at the same time as
0:06:21 > 0:06:23the bloodied body was found on the tracks.
0:06:26 > 0:06:30A suburban train pulled in to Hackney Station.
0:06:30 > 0:06:33One of the carriages was empty but stained with blood.
0:06:33 > 0:06:35From the appearance of the compartment, there had been
0:06:35 > 0:06:37a foul crime, there could be no doubt.
0:06:37 > 0:06:40What conclusion was drawn from the blood-stained carriage
0:06:40 > 0:06:43when put together with the body that Ekin found?
0:06:43 > 0:06:46The unfortunate victim had been assaulted on the train
0:06:46 > 0:06:48that had pulled in here.
0:06:48 > 0:06:51He had then been thrown onto the line by his assailant,
0:06:51 > 0:06:55or had struggled and fallen from the carriage in his endeavour to escape.
0:06:55 > 0:06:58STEAM TRAIN PUFFS
0:07:02 > 0:07:07The world's first steam locomotive had been built in Cornwall
0:07:07 > 0:07:08just 60 years earlier.
0:07:10 > 0:07:13The 1820s had seen the first passenger trains.
0:07:18 > 0:07:22By the mid-19th century, thousands of miles of track had been laid.
0:07:22 > 0:07:27Railway mania had created a network across the whole country.
0:07:29 > 0:07:33Speed, once a luxury for the few, had become commonplace.
0:07:33 > 0:07:38Journeys that once took days now took hours. The iron roads
0:07:38 > 0:07:41were changing how people saw their world.
0:07:46 > 0:07:50We feel we are approaching almost to the final extinction
0:07:50 > 0:07:51of space and distance.
0:07:52 > 0:07:57The surface of our country is shrivelling in size.
0:07:57 > 0:08:01It will soon become not much bigger than one immense city.
0:08:03 > 0:08:07In 1864, the power of steam was a thrilling phenomenon.
0:08:08 > 0:08:10It was also terrifying.
0:08:18 > 0:08:21In the early hours of Sunday 10th July,
0:08:21 > 0:08:25the condition of the victim in Hackney worsened.
0:08:30 > 0:08:32From letters found in his pocket, he was identified
0:08:32 > 0:08:36as Thomas Briggs. This is his photograph.
0:08:36 > 0:08:38He was nearly 70.
0:08:39 > 0:08:42He had a wife and four children.
0:08:42 > 0:08:45His son was also called Thomas.
0:08:47 > 0:08:50I was sent for at two o'clock on Sunday morning, the 10th July.
0:08:50 > 0:08:52A police constable called.
0:08:52 > 0:08:55I was told my father was then gravely injured
0:08:55 > 0:08:58and in the back room of a public house called the Mitford Castle.
0:08:58 > 0:09:00Naturally, I went there directly.
0:09:02 > 0:09:06My father was then in a state of insensibility,
0:09:06 > 0:09:09covered with a blanket, his shirt open at the neck.
0:09:11 > 0:09:14Despite the best efforts of a local doctor,
0:09:14 > 0:09:18old Thomas Briggs died without regaining consciousness.
0:09:18 > 0:09:21There was no final farewell for his son.
0:09:21 > 0:09:25He was affectionate and kind,
0:09:25 > 0:09:28pleasant, courteous.
0:09:28 > 0:09:30A fine man, highly respected.
0:09:47 > 0:09:50With Briggs's death, this was a murder,
0:09:50 > 0:09:53the highest and rarest criminal incident.
0:09:53 > 0:09:56Now, even this had happened in a railway carriage.
0:10:13 > 0:10:16Though the railway carriage was covered with blood,
0:10:16 > 0:10:20there was no forensic science to analyse the crime scene,
0:10:20 > 0:10:21not even fingerprinting.
0:10:21 > 0:10:24Victorian police had to work with no more evidence than what
0:10:24 > 0:10:27they could see with their own eyes.
0:10:34 > 0:10:38The police investigation was led by an up-and-coming detective.
0:10:38 > 0:10:41Inspector Richard Tanner was described by his colleagues
0:10:41 > 0:10:43as brilliant.
0:10:49 > 0:10:53I went first thing to the works of the North London Line.
0:10:53 > 0:10:56In a shed there was the railway carriage.
0:10:56 > 0:10:59The door handle was bloody.
0:10:59 > 0:11:02And what about the inside of the compartment?
0:11:02 > 0:11:05A large quantity of blood appeared to have flowed profusely
0:11:05 > 0:11:07from the corner seat.
0:11:08 > 0:11:11There was also a small quantity of blood on the window,
0:11:11 > 0:11:14two spots, like splashes.
0:11:15 > 0:11:17They were about the size of sixpences,
0:11:17 > 0:11:20and they contained particles of brain matter.
0:11:20 > 0:11:23I inferred that Mr Briggs had been sitting in this corner,
0:11:23 > 0:11:29and that he'd fallen asleep resting his head against the window,
0:11:29 > 0:11:31and that he'd been struck by someone on the opposite side
0:11:31 > 0:11:33to the left temple.
0:11:35 > 0:11:37This murder appeared to be a sudden
0:11:37 > 0:11:40and unprovoked attack on a sleeping man.
0:11:45 > 0:11:48The police also had the medical notes of the doctor
0:11:48 > 0:11:49who'd tried to save Briggs.
0:11:53 > 0:11:55There was a jagged wound across the left ear.
0:11:57 > 0:12:01In front of that ear, there was another jagged wound.
0:12:01 > 0:12:04There were also two deep wounds to the temple.
0:12:06 > 0:12:09The medical notes suggested to the police how Briggs had
0:12:09 > 0:12:11ended up on the railway tracks.
0:12:12 > 0:12:17A distinction was made between the wounds on the side of the head
0:12:17 > 0:12:20and those to the temple.
0:12:20 > 0:12:23Those up above were attributed to some blunt instrument.
0:12:23 > 0:12:26I think that those wounds on the side of the head
0:12:26 > 0:12:28were owing to a fall.
0:12:28 > 0:12:32You're saying he fell, so it could have been an accident?
0:12:32 > 0:12:36Appearances would indicate that the murderer took Mr Briggs
0:12:36 > 0:12:38to the door and threw him out.
0:12:44 > 0:12:46The first railway murder immediately captured
0:12:46 > 0:12:51the imagination of the public and the press.
0:12:51 > 0:12:54It was one of the foulest murders of our time.
0:12:54 > 0:12:57A thrill of horror ran through the whole country
0:12:57 > 0:12:59at news of this murder.
0:12:59 > 0:13:02Within seconds, would have come the crushing blow.
0:13:02 > 0:13:05It was the rapidity of the incident,
0:13:05 > 0:13:09done on a frequented line, that caused alarm in the public mind.
0:13:11 > 0:13:14We were face to face with a fact which brought home to our mind
0:13:14 > 0:13:18with the utmost force the perils of railway travelling.
0:13:22 > 0:13:25The new rail network meant that for the first time,
0:13:25 > 0:13:27newspapers were available all over the country.
0:13:31 > 0:13:34Huge press empires were being created,
0:13:34 > 0:13:39and new readerships were often built on the back of true-life whodunnits.
0:13:43 > 0:13:48A new reading public sprang up under the stimulus of this curiosity.
0:13:49 > 0:13:53People had to have their papers and learn, even in the farthest
0:13:53 > 0:13:56village of the United Kingdom, how the case was going.
0:14:01 > 0:14:05The mainline terminus at the heart of the railway murder case
0:14:05 > 0:14:07was the City of London's Fenchurch Street.
0:14:10 > 0:14:15150 years ago, this was the start of a new suburban route
0:14:15 > 0:14:16called the North London Line.
0:14:18 > 0:14:22And here, old Thomas Briggs had boarded the train on which
0:14:22 > 0:14:23he'd ridden to his death.
0:14:29 > 0:14:33Trains leave Fenchurch Street under a covered way.
0:14:33 > 0:14:36This was originally to prevent horses taking fright from the noise
0:14:36 > 0:14:38and smoke of the steam engines.
0:14:42 > 0:14:44Soon after emerging into the open,
0:14:44 > 0:14:48the Victorian tracks turned north, away from the city.
0:14:50 > 0:14:54This stretch of the line has now been ripped up.
0:14:54 > 0:14:57But we do have an eyewitness account from the time.
0:15:02 > 0:15:05We pass through fields to Bow Common.
0:15:08 > 0:15:11We get to breathe a bit more freely.
0:15:11 > 0:15:14We've left behind the smoke of the chimneys.
0:15:19 > 0:15:22We find ourselves in deep countryside.
0:15:25 > 0:15:28We've got extensive views right over the Hackney Marshes.
0:15:33 > 0:15:38Then, on the right, rises the tower of the old Hackney church.
0:15:45 > 0:15:47We have arrived at Hackney Station.
0:15:52 > 0:15:53TRAIN WHISTLES
0:16:01 > 0:16:06Hackney Station, where the blood-stained carriage was found,
0:16:06 > 0:16:08and where Briggs would have got off the train
0:16:08 > 0:16:11if he'd lived to complete his journey.
0:16:17 > 0:16:21Nearby Clapton Square was the Briggs family home.
0:16:23 > 0:16:27In the 1860s, this was one of the smartest addresses in East London.
0:16:29 > 0:16:32My father arrived in London from Lancashire as a teenager
0:16:32 > 0:16:34and got a job in a City bank.
0:16:35 > 0:16:38And he'd made a success of his life in London?
0:16:38 > 0:16:43He was a gentleman, greatly trusted and respected by his employers,
0:16:43 > 0:16:46and held in high esteem by a large circle of friends.
0:16:50 > 0:16:54From his home here in suburban Hackney, Thomas Briggs had
0:16:54 > 0:16:57travelled daily to his banking job in the City.
0:17:00 > 0:17:03He'd been one of London's very first railway commuters.
0:17:09 > 0:17:12One aspect of Briggs's commute reveals a great deal
0:17:12 > 0:17:15about life in Victorian London.
0:17:17 > 0:17:21He'd always travelled first class, sitting in a private compartment
0:17:21 > 0:17:24that couldn't be accessed from the rest of the train.
0:17:25 > 0:17:29In the 19th century, the division between classes
0:17:29 > 0:17:30was meant to be impenetrable.
0:17:32 > 0:17:35The condition we live in is justly regarded as one of the strangest
0:17:35 > 0:17:40ever seen in the world. We have more riches than any other nation
0:17:40 > 0:17:43and London is full of wealth of every kind.
0:17:43 > 0:17:47But here, there are also those steeped in the most abject poverty,
0:17:47 > 0:17:49sinking into the deepest degradation.
0:17:51 > 0:17:54Victorian London had no safety net.
0:17:54 > 0:17:59For those who fell, it was a long way down, to a separate world.
0:18:01 > 0:18:05There is no intercourse, and no sympathy between rich and poor.
0:18:05 > 0:18:07They are fed by different foods,
0:18:07 > 0:18:09they are ordered by different manners,
0:18:09 > 0:18:12and they are as ignorant of each other's habits,
0:18:12 > 0:18:16thoughts and feelings as if they were dwellers on different planets.
0:18:17 > 0:18:21One can only wonder that the whole crazy fabric still hangs together.
0:18:22 > 0:18:26The murder of Thomas Briggs suggested a new fear -
0:18:26 > 0:18:30that the train was crashing through class barriers.
0:18:30 > 0:18:32If we can be murdered thus,
0:18:32 > 0:18:36travelling first class for a mere step of a journey,
0:18:36 > 0:18:39we could be slain in our pew at church
0:18:39 > 0:18:41or assassinated at our dinner table.
0:18:43 > 0:18:45Panic was coursing along the rails.
0:18:53 > 0:18:56Central London's Great Scotland Yard,
0:18:56 > 0:18:59the original headquarters of the Metropolitan Police.
0:18:59 > 0:19:03Here, the pressure was on to find the killer as soon as possible.
0:19:21 > 0:19:23The police investigation of the crime scene
0:19:23 > 0:19:26produced a promising lead.
0:19:26 > 0:19:29Inspector Tanner reckoned he had the killer's hat.
0:19:30 > 0:19:35We took from the train compartment a bag, a stick and a hat.
0:19:36 > 0:19:39The bag and stick were both recognised as having belonged
0:19:39 > 0:19:42to Mr Briggs, but the hat was not his.
0:19:43 > 0:19:47Mr Briggs had been wearing a tall hat, and that had disappeared.
0:19:47 > 0:19:49While this hat, found in the carriage,
0:19:49 > 0:19:53is a black beaver hat, and lower in the crown than the high hat
0:19:53 > 0:19:55that Mr Briggs was in the habit of wearing.
0:19:58 > 0:20:01The hat's crushed, as if it's been trodden upon in a struggle.
0:20:01 > 0:20:04And the conclusion appeared to me inevitable that the murderer,
0:20:04 > 0:20:06in hurry and excitement, took the wrong hat.
0:20:06 > 0:20:09He took Mr Briggs's hat with him and left his own.
0:20:10 > 0:20:13Though inexpensive, the hat was a new look,
0:20:13 > 0:20:18with a distinctive striped lining, which revealed the maker's name.
0:20:23 > 0:20:27Eager to find the owner of the half-crushed beaver hat,
0:20:27 > 0:20:29the police offered a huge reward.
0:20:29 > 0:20:33£300 was about five years' wages for a working man.
0:20:35 > 0:20:38I thought if I could discover the person who wore this hat
0:20:38 > 0:20:42on that night, I'd have found the murderer.
0:20:42 > 0:20:45Initially, the police's handling of the railway murder case
0:20:45 > 0:20:48was highly praised.
0:20:48 > 0:20:52In 1864, the Metropolitan Police's detective branch was newly
0:20:52 > 0:20:57established, so their investigative skills were a novelty.
0:20:57 > 0:20:59The acuteness displayed by these detectives
0:20:59 > 0:21:04in following the threads of intricate plots was very striking.
0:21:05 > 0:21:09But days passed by and nobody came forward to identify
0:21:09 > 0:21:13the owner of the killer's hat, despite the huge reward.
0:21:17 > 0:21:20It was another Victorian fashion accessory
0:21:20 > 0:21:23that gave the police their next breakthrough,
0:21:23 > 0:21:25a small gold stud.
0:21:25 > 0:21:28It was found attached to the victim's waistcoat.
0:21:30 > 0:21:32On it is a broken hook
0:21:32 > 0:21:35from where Mr Briggs had once anchored his gold watch and chain.
0:21:37 > 0:21:41It seems that Thomas Briggs was a victim of petty crime.
0:21:41 > 0:21:44This beloved old man was killed for a watch.
0:21:47 > 0:21:51At least this gave the investigation a trail to follow.
0:21:57 > 0:21:59Anyone familiar with Victorian London
0:21:59 > 0:22:03knew where the stolen jewellery would probably be fenced.
0:22:03 > 0:22:04Cheapside.
0:22:07 > 0:22:09On the edge of the City banking district,
0:22:09 > 0:22:12it's now lined with glass-fronted office blocks.
0:22:14 > 0:22:17150 years ago, it was full of shops.
0:22:28 > 0:22:32Cheapside is one mass of life,
0:22:32 > 0:22:37the greatest, busiest street in London, perhaps the world.
0:22:37 > 0:22:41It is as full of activity as a nest of vipers.
0:22:41 > 0:22:46There are tailors, shirt makers, tobacconists
0:22:46 > 0:22:49and, above all, jewellers.
0:22:49 > 0:22:53Most jewellers were also pawnbrokers.
0:22:53 > 0:22:57They exchanged valuables for cash, no questions asked.
0:22:59 > 0:23:03Here was the nucleus of Victorian London's black economy.
0:23:14 > 0:23:17It was Tanner's job to know Cheapside
0:23:17 > 0:23:19and the world that surrounded it.
0:23:19 > 0:23:23He put out word of the missing watch and chain.
0:23:23 > 0:23:25A Cheapside dealer,
0:23:25 > 0:23:28with a not inappropriate name,
0:23:28 > 0:23:30came forward with critical evidence.
0:23:35 > 0:23:41Death stated a man called at his shop selling a gold watch chain.
0:23:44 > 0:23:48It matched the watch chain worn by Mr Briggs
0:23:48 > 0:23:50on the night of his murder.
0:23:55 > 0:23:58But Death didn't know the name of the man
0:23:58 > 0:24:00who fenced Briggs's watch and chain.
0:24:00 > 0:24:04The jeweller could barely provide a description of him.
0:24:04 > 0:24:08Tanner's foray into Cheapside had left him chasing shadows.
0:24:10 > 0:24:12Briggs had now been dead for a week.
0:24:12 > 0:24:14The early promise of the investigation
0:24:14 > 0:24:18seemed to have led the police into a dead end.
0:24:18 > 0:24:20The press grew impatient.
0:24:20 > 0:24:23It was made clear that no stone could be left unturned,
0:24:23 > 0:24:26no agency unemployed,
0:24:26 > 0:24:29to bring to justice the perpetrator of this crime.
0:24:30 > 0:24:34Then, after more days of silence,
0:24:34 > 0:24:38someone came forward to claim the £300 reward.
0:24:40 > 0:24:42A cab driver called Jonathan Matthews
0:24:42 > 0:24:45said he knew whose hat Tanner had found.
0:25:07 > 0:25:09I had a new hat,
0:25:09 > 0:25:10and this friend, he saw my hat,
0:25:10 > 0:25:13and said that he would like to have one like it.
0:25:13 > 0:25:15Did he look at it?
0:25:15 > 0:25:19Yes, he put it on his head, and said it was too small for him.
0:25:19 > 0:25:21But he said he should like one like it,
0:25:21 > 0:25:24and I said I would get him one if he wished it.
0:25:24 > 0:25:26And you got him one?
0:25:26 > 0:25:27Yes.
0:25:27 > 0:25:30- At what shop?- At the same.
0:25:30 > 0:25:32What same, what shop?
0:25:32 > 0:25:33At the hatter's.
0:25:33 > 0:25:35Of course, but where?
0:25:37 > 0:25:39Mr Walker's, Crawford Street, Marylebone.
0:25:43 > 0:25:46Matthews identified the owner of the hat
0:25:46 > 0:25:49as a young German immigrant called Franz Muller.
0:25:50 > 0:25:54He was working for a brother-in-law and came to dinner frequently.
0:25:54 > 0:25:56Twice or three times in a month.
0:26:00 > 0:26:01After one of these dinners,
0:26:01 > 0:26:05Muller had even given Matthews' family a portrait of himself.
0:26:05 > 0:26:10Calling cards with photos on were then the latest fashion.
0:26:12 > 0:26:16Tanner now had a name and a photo of a suspect.
0:26:16 > 0:26:19But along with it came disappointing news.
0:26:19 > 0:26:21This bird had flown.
0:26:23 > 0:26:26Matthews said he didn't know where Muller was gone,
0:26:26 > 0:26:29but that Muller had told Mrs Matthews, the cabman's wife,
0:26:29 > 0:26:31that he was going to America.
0:26:32 > 0:26:36Matthews' account didn't entirely add up.
0:26:36 > 0:26:40He hadn't contacted the police until after Muller had disappeared.
0:26:43 > 0:26:44Matthews later claimed
0:26:44 > 0:26:47it was because he hadn't heard about the Briggs murder,
0:26:47 > 0:26:51despite it having been the talk of the town for a whole week.
0:26:52 > 0:26:54When you are about in your cab,
0:26:54 > 0:26:56do you ever take a break?
0:26:56 > 0:27:00Yes, occasionally, when I want something to eat.
0:27:00 > 0:27:02Do you ever go into a public house?
0:27:04 > 0:27:07Perhaps I may go there sometimes.
0:27:07 > 0:27:10There's no harm in going into a public house to have a glass of ale.
0:27:10 > 0:27:11Every day?
0:27:13 > 0:27:14Yes, sir.
0:27:14 > 0:27:16I've got to loiter about for hours, in all weathers,
0:27:16 > 0:27:20so I'm none the worse for drinking a pint of beer.
0:27:20 > 0:27:23Yet, you never heard about the murder of Mr Briggs?
0:27:23 > 0:27:24No.
0:27:25 > 0:27:28Do you take in a newspaper?
0:27:28 > 0:27:29Sometimes I do.
0:27:29 > 0:27:35Did you not see a paper from the 9th until the 15th of July?
0:27:35 > 0:27:37Not to bring the murder into my mind, no.
0:27:51 > 0:27:54They are great readers of newspapers, the cabmen,
0:27:54 > 0:27:59and, in this, they devote themselves first of all to the police reports.
0:27:59 > 0:28:02I find it almost impossible to believe
0:28:02 > 0:28:03that Matthews is telling the truth
0:28:03 > 0:28:07when he says he knew nothing whatever about this before Friday.
0:28:15 > 0:28:18Matthews was a shadowy character.
0:28:18 > 0:28:22In his trade, survival depended on being ruthless and cunning.
0:28:24 > 0:28:28Because the economy of the Victorian streets
0:28:28 > 0:28:30was an energetic free for all.
0:28:32 > 0:28:35If a cabman sometimes overcharges a passenger,
0:28:35 > 0:28:38a passenger quite often underpays a cabman.
0:28:38 > 0:28:40I find ladies the worst passengers.
0:28:40 > 0:28:42They're timid and obstinate,
0:28:42 > 0:28:45and run into houses and send out their servants.
0:28:46 > 0:28:50We cabmen are neither worse than anybody else, nor yet better.
0:28:50 > 0:28:53There's good and bad amongst us, like in any basket of eggs.
0:28:54 > 0:29:00Perhaps Matthews was just spinning a yarn to get the £300 reward.
0:29:00 > 0:29:04For a Victorian cabman, money was always tight.
0:29:04 > 0:29:08As to our earnings, that depends.
0:29:08 > 0:29:12The best day is one with a fine morning and a wet afternoon.
0:29:12 > 0:29:14The people come out and are caught.
0:29:14 > 0:29:18Mind, if a day begins wet, it's bad for cabs.
0:29:18 > 0:29:20Why, in the winter time, I had ten hours of it
0:29:20 > 0:29:23without so much as a single oat for myself.
0:29:27 > 0:29:31Reading Matthews was extremely difficult for Inspector Tanner.
0:29:34 > 0:29:38Matthews's manner appeared mysterious.
0:29:38 > 0:29:41There didn't appear any truth in him.
0:29:43 > 0:29:46But one element of Matthews' story did ring true.
0:29:48 > 0:29:52He said that Franz Muller had come to visit after the Briggs murder,
0:29:52 > 0:29:56bearing a gift - a decorative box from Death, the jeweller.
0:30:00 > 0:30:04This linked the young German to the stolen watch and chain.
0:30:04 > 0:30:07So Tanner felt there had to be something in the cabman's story.
0:30:14 > 0:30:15The police soon established
0:30:15 > 0:30:18that Muller had boarded a ship called the Victoria.
0:30:18 > 0:30:21Part of the fleet that crossed the Atlantic
0:30:21 > 0:30:22carrying emigrants from Europe
0:30:22 > 0:30:25hoping to make a fresh start in New York.
0:30:28 > 0:30:31I reported to the Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police,
0:30:31 > 0:30:33my ultimate superior,
0:30:33 > 0:30:35that Muller was indeed a suspect.
0:30:36 > 0:30:39Then, I left Euston Station for Liverpool.
0:30:40 > 0:30:42I sailed from there to New York.
0:30:46 > 0:30:49We were able to publish the gratifying intelligence
0:30:49 > 0:30:52that the police were, beyond any doubt,
0:30:52 > 0:30:55on the track of the murderer of Mr Briggs.
0:30:55 > 0:30:58It took a load of apprehension off a lot of minds.
0:30:59 > 0:31:01Although he had a head start,
0:31:01 > 0:31:05Muller's ship, the Victoria, was wind-powered
0:31:05 > 0:31:08and would take over a month to reach America.
0:31:08 > 0:31:12He was about to be caught up by the Industrial Revolution.
0:31:19 > 0:31:22By 1864, there were steam-powered ships,
0:31:22 > 0:31:23which crossed the Atlantic
0:31:23 > 0:31:26in a fraction of the time it took a sailing ship.
0:31:32 > 0:31:34Though he'd left after Muller,
0:31:34 > 0:31:37Tanner steamed into New York weeks before him.
0:31:39 > 0:31:41Now, Tanner lay in wait for his prey.
0:31:47 > 0:31:49Muller made many mistakes.
0:31:49 > 0:31:52But his greatest was taking passage on a sailing ship.
0:31:52 > 0:31:54Even he must have known
0:31:54 > 0:31:58that if the police had alighted on the broad trail he'd left behind,
0:31:58 > 0:32:01that steam would frustrate his escape.
0:32:06 > 0:32:10Back in London, Muller, up till now an enigma,
0:32:10 > 0:32:12was becoming better known.
0:32:15 > 0:32:18A report sent to the Yard by the police in Germany
0:32:18 > 0:32:22states, "Reflecting on his character and conduct,
0:32:22 > 0:32:27"nothing whatever has transpired to his disadvantage."
0:32:27 > 0:32:29But after coming to Britain,
0:32:29 > 0:32:31Muller slid almost to the bottom
0:32:31 > 0:32:36of Victorian London's steep social pyramid.
0:32:36 > 0:32:41It seems that Muller was apprenticed as a gunsmith in his native country.
0:32:41 > 0:32:42He came over to England
0:32:42 > 0:32:45about two years before the murder of Mr Briggs
0:32:45 > 0:32:50and, failing to find work as a gunsmith, he'd turned tailor.
0:32:55 > 0:32:58Johan Hoffa was also a German immigrant.
0:32:58 > 0:33:00He'd once worked alongside Muller,
0:33:00 > 0:33:02and so was interviewed by the police.
0:33:04 > 0:33:06A German tailor's testimony
0:33:06 > 0:33:09gives us a glimpse of the life that Muller endured
0:33:09 > 0:33:12in what were unforgiving streets.
0:33:13 > 0:33:16The German tailors in the eastern part of London
0:33:16 > 0:33:17are not that well-off.
0:33:17 > 0:33:20It's a piece-work system in the clothing factories,
0:33:20 > 0:33:23and production is incredibly cheap.
0:33:23 > 0:33:26We make these coats for eight pence each.
0:33:26 > 0:33:29Trousers and waistcoats are made for three to four pence.
0:33:31 > 0:33:34I very often have to work all night, but slave as hard as I might
0:33:34 > 0:33:36I never can get out of debt.
0:33:38 > 0:33:40What is to become of a society
0:33:40 > 0:33:42in which it is not possible for the hard-working worker
0:33:42 > 0:33:45to support himself, let alone a family?
0:33:47 > 0:33:48It's not surprising
0:33:48 > 0:33:53that people who live such an existence despair of their future.
0:33:53 > 0:33:55You talk of despair.
0:33:55 > 0:33:58Might this have driven Franz Muller to murder?
0:33:58 > 0:34:02Franz was always very well conducted, in every respect.
0:34:02 > 0:34:06I never heard of him getting into rows or committing any assaults.
0:34:09 > 0:34:10He was kind.
0:34:14 > 0:34:17Across the Atlantic, Muller breezed into New York harbour,
0:34:17 > 0:34:19on the 25th August.
0:34:19 > 0:34:23He'd no idea the police were lying in wait for him.
0:34:23 > 0:34:26I found Muller on board the Victoria.
0:34:26 > 0:34:29I remember he said to me, "What's the matter?"
0:34:29 > 0:34:30And then what?
0:34:30 > 0:34:34The American police officer I was with said,
0:34:34 > 0:34:36"You are charged with the murder of Mr Briggs."
0:34:36 > 0:34:39And I followed up with, "Yes, on the North London Railway,
0:34:39 > 0:34:42"between Hackney and Bow, on the 9th of July."
0:34:44 > 0:34:47Muller said, "I never was on that line."
0:34:47 > 0:34:50Then, I took possession of the effects of the prisoner.
0:34:50 > 0:34:52In particular, I took hold of a hat.
0:34:53 > 0:34:56I asked Muller, "Is this your hat?"
0:34:56 > 0:34:58He said, "Yes."
0:34:59 > 0:35:00This is the hat.
0:35:01 > 0:35:04It was not a hat a poor tailor would wear,
0:35:04 > 0:35:06but a gentleman's topper made from silk.
0:35:08 > 0:35:10What's more, it tied Muller
0:35:10 > 0:35:12even closer to the crime scene.
0:35:12 > 0:35:14The topper matched the description
0:35:14 > 0:35:16of the one taken from Briggs
0:35:16 > 0:35:18on the night of his murder.
0:35:18 > 0:35:21I asked him, "How long have you possessed it?"
0:35:21 > 0:35:23He said, "About 12 months."
0:35:23 > 0:35:25What did you say in reply?
0:35:26 > 0:35:29I told him I should have to hold him as a prisoner.
0:35:31 > 0:35:35The hat from the crime scene had made Muller a police suspect.
0:35:35 > 0:35:38The hat in his luggage seemed to confirm his guilt
0:35:38 > 0:35:39in the public mind.
0:35:39 > 0:35:42The hat of the murdered man!
0:35:42 > 0:35:45If it was true that the hat of the murdered man
0:35:45 > 0:35:47had actually been found on the prisoner's person,
0:35:47 > 0:35:49it would have been idle
0:35:49 > 0:35:52to entertain any doubt as to his criminality.
0:35:52 > 0:35:55So far as anything that is done in secret can be certain,
0:35:55 > 0:35:58we were certain that Muller committed this crime.
0:36:01 > 0:36:06Tanner and Muller embarked for home together on an ocean liner.
0:36:06 > 0:36:08The two men shared quarters,
0:36:08 > 0:36:12and seem to have got to know each other on the 15-day passage.
0:36:12 > 0:36:14I told him that it was usual
0:36:14 > 0:36:17to place prisoners of his class in irons,
0:36:17 > 0:36:20but that I didn't wish to put him to any discomfort.
0:36:20 > 0:36:23If, therefore, he would promise to comply with my requests,
0:36:23 > 0:36:24I should not iron him.
0:36:25 > 0:36:28I supplied him with books to pass away the time.
0:36:28 > 0:36:32I lent him first Mr Dickens' hilarious Pickwick Papers.
0:36:32 > 0:36:35Then, two volumes of David Copperfield.
0:36:36 > 0:36:37Muller behaved himself well.
0:36:37 > 0:36:40He could not have been a better-conducted prisoner.
0:36:40 > 0:36:44Tanner and Muller's ship docked at Liverpool,
0:36:44 > 0:36:46from where they took the train south.
0:36:54 > 0:36:58Muller's imminent arrival at London's Euston Station
0:36:58 > 0:37:00was somehow discovered beforehand.
0:37:05 > 0:37:08A mob turned out to greet the young German.
0:37:13 > 0:37:17Muller's arrival here was a tumult.
0:37:17 > 0:37:18Two months before,
0:37:18 > 0:37:22there had been scarcely a human being in our vast metropolis more unknown
0:37:22 > 0:37:24than this waif and stray from a foreign land.
0:37:28 > 0:37:30Poor Muller.
0:37:30 > 0:37:33To wake up one morning and find oneself famous.
0:37:34 > 0:37:38By strange fortune, this is what befell this obscure German tailor.
0:37:41 > 0:37:45This was also the first time the press set their eyes on Muller.
0:37:45 > 0:37:48A dull-looking young man
0:37:48 > 0:37:51with a mouth like a slit cut into wood
0:37:51 > 0:37:54and eyes sunk deep under a low forehead.
0:37:57 > 0:38:02On 17th September, two months after the murder of Thomas Briggs,
0:38:02 > 0:38:06Franz Muller was back in London under arrest.
0:38:06 > 0:38:09This was the end of Inspector Tanner's involvement
0:38:09 > 0:38:11in the first railway murder.
0:38:11 > 0:38:13It seemed that the case was closed.
0:38:15 > 0:38:18We didn't know the precise circumstances of the deed,
0:38:18 > 0:38:20but that Franz Muller committed it
0:38:20 > 0:38:23was more certain than any human conclusion can be.
0:38:35 > 0:38:39These London backstreets were where Muller was imprisoned
0:38:39 > 0:38:41while he awaited his trial.
0:38:41 > 0:38:44It was scheduled for a month after his return.
0:38:47 > 0:38:49Though a pariah to many,
0:38:49 > 0:38:53Muller's predicament meant he did attract some supporters.
0:38:53 > 0:38:56I considered Mr Muller to be innocent of the crime
0:38:56 > 0:38:59and resolved to save no trouble or expense
0:38:59 > 0:39:01to prove him being not guilty.
0:39:02 > 0:39:06Gottfried Kinkel was another German immigrant.
0:39:06 > 0:39:08He too had done time.
0:39:08 > 0:39:11He'd been imprisoned in his home country
0:39:11 > 0:39:14for rebelling against Germany's autocratic rulers.
0:39:15 > 0:39:18He'd escaped and had fled to Britain,
0:39:18 > 0:39:23where he'd become as well known as his fellow radical Karl Marx.
0:39:23 > 0:39:26Kinkel now became a leading figure
0:39:26 > 0:39:30in a group of influential Germans who tried to help Muller.
0:39:43 > 0:39:44I first met Muller in here.
0:39:46 > 0:39:50I explained that we were undertaking his defence, that he had friends.
0:39:51 > 0:39:54When I told him a change of clothes had been provided for him,
0:39:54 > 0:39:59his lips quivered forth an expression of thanks
0:39:59 > 0:40:01as his eyes filled with tears.
0:40:02 > 0:40:04Things were very bad for him.
0:40:05 > 0:40:08Muller's whole demeanour was not that of a man
0:40:08 > 0:40:10who is guilty of murder.
0:40:10 > 0:40:14His natural kindliness of temper never was seen to change.
0:40:14 > 0:40:17Yet, it was supposed that this poor tailor
0:40:17 > 0:40:18got into a first-class carriage
0:40:18 > 0:40:22able to murder or rob someone in a minute or two.
0:40:22 > 0:40:25Such a hypothesis was fallacious.
0:40:25 > 0:40:28Muller's German supporters claimed the case against him
0:40:28 > 0:40:30was based on prejudice.
0:40:31 > 0:40:35Germans had initially been welcomed to Britain.
0:40:35 > 0:40:39By the 1860s, they were the second largest immigrant group in London.
0:40:40 > 0:40:43But in February 1864,
0:40:43 > 0:40:45Denmark, a British ally,
0:40:45 > 0:40:48had been invaded by Germany.
0:40:48 > 0:40:51Then, attitudes had changed.
0:40:51 > 0:40:52Muller was a German.
0:40:52 > 0:40:54And Englishmen of those days
0:40:54 > 0:40:56had been reading often enough in their papers
0:40:56 > 0:41:01that the war that we were carrying on was nothing better than burglary.
0:41:01 > 0:41:05So a German, in English eyes, was more likely to be a robber than not.
0:41:05 > 0:41:10Muller's bad character was by now deeply etched into the public mind.
0:41:10 > 0:41:14Calling the case against him "anti-German prejudice"
0:41:14 > 0:41:16appears to have backfired.
0:41:16 > 0:41:19With extraordinary obtuseness of feeling,
0:41:19 > 0:41:21Muller's defence was treated
0:41:21 > 0:41:24as one in which German honour was also on trial.
0:41:24 > 0:41:26And every sensible unprejudiced man,
0:41:26 > 0:41:29be he a foreigner or an Englishman,
0:41:29 > 0:41:31must have considered this as impertinence.
0:41:32 > 0:41:36If some of the Germans residing in England were not happy with that,
0:41:36 > 0:41:38they had much better stay at home.
0:41:44 > 0:41:49On 27th October, three months after Briggs was killed,
0:41:49 > 0:41:52Franz Muller stood trial for the first railway murder
0:41:52 > 0:41:54at London's Old Bailey,
0:41:54 > 0:41:57the most famous criminal court in Britain.
0:42:01 > 0:42:05A Victorian courtroom contained little that looks like justice
0:42:05 > 0:42:08to 21st-century eyes.
0:42:11 > 0:42:15In the 1860s, someone accused of murder wasn't allowed
0:42:15 > 0:42:19to say a word in their own defence other than to enter their plea.
0:42:19 > 0:42:22Muller's plea was not guilty.
0:42:22 > 0:42:26And the punishment Muller faced if convicted was death by hanging,
0:42:26 > 0:42:28in public.
0:42:35 > 0:42:36If ever there are cases
0:42:36 > 0:42:39in which care and caution need to be exercised,
0:42:39 > 0:42:41it's cases like this was,
0:42:41 > 0:42:45where life or death hung upon the balance.
0:42:45 > 0:42:46The jury had the transcendent power
0:42:46 > 0:42:49to bid that young man to live or to die.
0:42:51 > 0:42:54John Parry was Muller's lawyer.
0:42:54 > 0:42:57He'd made a name for himself by winning sensational trials.
0:42:59 > 0:43:03So Gottfried Kinkel had raised the money to pay Parry to defend Muller.
0:43:05 > 0:43:10In court, Parry tore into the case against the young tailor.
0:43:10 > 0:43:12The prosecution relied mainly
0:43:12 > 0:43:15upon three pieces of evidence.
0:43:15 > 0:43:16The watch and chain,
0:43:16 > 0:43:18exchanged at Mr Death's.
0:43:18 > 0:43:21The hat found in the railway carriage.
0:43:21 > 0:43:23Next, upon the hat found with the prisoner.
0:43:25 > 0:43:27Now,
0:43:27 > 0:43:29as regard the watch and chain,
0:43:29 > 0:43:32Muller never denied having been at Mr Death's.
0:43:32 > 0:43:35But it does not follow he knew anything of the murder.
0:43:35 > 0:43:38He said he purchased those articles at the docks.
0:43:38 > 0:43:41Either the murderer or an agent of the murderer
0:43:41 > 0:43:43must have sold them to him.
0:43:44 > 0:43:47And the hat that is supposed to belong to Mr Briggs...
0:43:47 > 0:43:51Well, there are thousands just like it at the second-hand market.
0:43:51 > 0:43:53Muller said he'd had his 12 months.
0:43:54 > 0:43:57As regard the hat found in the railway carriage,
0:43:57 > 0:44:01Matthews' evidence was entirely unreliable.
0:44:01 > 0:44:03Does anyone believe he never heard of the murder for a week
0:44:03 > 0:44:05after it was in the newspapers?
0:44:07 > 0:44:12Matthews was evidently actuated by a desire to obtain the reward.
0:44:12 > 0:44:15That has animated his whole conduct.
0:44:21 > 0:44:24The attempt to destroy the prosecution case
0:44:24 > 0:44:27hinged on Matthews becoming the villain of this story.
0:44:29 > 0:44:32Parry revealed to the jury that the cabman had debts
0:44:32 > 0:44:35and had done time for theft.
0:44:37 > 0:44:40It was a catastrophic miscalculation of the public mood.
0:44:42 > 0:44:44I should be very wicked if I was not to admit
0:44:44 > 0:44:47that suspicion has pointed towards Matthews.
0:44:47 > 0:44:50But I should be very sorry to see him charged
0:44:50 > 0:44:52with being a party to the murder.
0:44:53 > 0:44:56What is the imputation against Matthews?
0:44:56 > 0:45:00What is the object of advertising a reward
0:45:00 > 0:45:03if you do not want anyone to be influenced by them?
0:45:03 > 0:45:04And if you are to disbelieve
0:45:04 > 0:45:07every man who gives evidence because of a reward,
0:45:07 > 0:45:10at once and for ever cease to give rewards
0:45:10 > 0:45:12for the purpose of detecting great offences.
0:45:19 > 0:45:22Matthews was regarded as a lovable rogue.
0:45:22 > 0:45:27His testimony was accepted, and the case against Muller remained strong.
0:45:31 > 0:45:34So Parry played his trump card -
0:45:34 > 0:45:35an alibi for Muller.
0:45:40 > 0:45:42Camberwell, in south London,
0:45:42 > 0:45:46was miles away from the scene of the attack on Briggs.
0:45:48 > 0:45:51Here, just off Vassall Road,
0:45:51 > 0:45:54where there is still a terrace of Victorian cottages,
0:45:54 > 0:45:57Muller was seen just minutes before the murder.
0:46:02 > 0:46:05Did you know Mr Muller?
0:46:05 > 0:46:09Yes. I met him a twelvemonth before.
0:46:09 > 0:46:11Did you see him often?
0:46:14 > 0:46:17He asks, "Did you see him often?"
0:46:18 > 0:46:20Yes. Yes.
0:46:23 > 0:46:27Mary Ann Eldred, a young deaf woman, was Muller's sweetheart.
0:46:29 > 0:46:32She testified along with her landlady, Elizabeth Jones.
0:46:33 > 0:46:37When was the last time you saw him...before the 9th of July?
0:46:40 > 0:46:42He says, "When was the last time..."
0:46:42 > 0:46:47I met him on the Saturday preceding the 9th of July, in Cheapside.
0:46:47 > 0:46:49And did you see him on the 9th?
0:46:49 > 0:46:51The night that Thomas Briggs was murdered?
0:46:51 > 0:46:53I went out at nine o'clock.
0:46:53 > 0:46:55Mary Ann wasn't at home.
0:46:55 > 0:46:57She had gone out at nine o'clock,
0:46:57 > 0:46:59and she'd been out about half an hour.
0:46:59 > 0:47:02Muller called to see her and found she wasn't at home.
0:47:02 > 0:47:06He stayed talking with me about five or ten minutes at the door.
0:47:06 > 0:47:10I'm quite sure it was as much as half past nine o'clock.
0:47:10 > 0:47:11He then left.
0:47:13 > 0:47:17Elizabeth Jones's testimony put Muller in south London
0:47:17 > 0:47:21only a few minutes before he was alleged to be killing Thomas Briggs
0:47:21 > 0:47:23in a train on the North London Line.
0:47:24 > 0:47:27I am quite sure it was Saturday evening, the 9th of July,
0:47:27 > 0:47:30about half past nine, that I saw that young man.
0:47:31 > 0:47:33I thought his name was Miller,
0:47:33 > 0:47:36and I used to call him the little Frenchman.
0:47:36 > 0:47:38I didn't know he was a German.
0:47:38 > 0:47:40Mary Ann used to say that he was a German,
0:47:40 > 0:47:43but I used to call him the little Frenchman.
0:47:46 > 0:47:48Parry's unveiling of an alibi
0:47:48 > 0:47:53was the first glimmer of hope for Muller in many weeks.
0:47:53 > 0:47:55But under cross-examination,
0:47:55 > 0:47:58another story emerged from behind this tale
0:47:58 > 0:48:00of a missed rendezvous with a sweetheart.
0:48:00 > 0:48:04Parry's key witness was exposed as a prostitute.
0:48:04 > 0:48:08Mary Ann Eldred was what is called an unfortunate girl.
0:48:09 > 0:48:13But moral indignation ought not to press too heavily on her head.
0:48:13 > 0:48:17We all know well what is going on in all the classes,
0:48:17 > 0:48:19from the highest to the lowest.
0:48:20 > 0:48:25Victorian London's sex industry was vast.
0:48:25 > 0:48:29There were an estimated 55,000 prostitutes,
0:48:29 > 0:48:32about one for every 20 adult men.
0:48:32 > 0:48:38What drove many women into prostitution was economic necessity.
0:48:38 > 0:48:41I had worked at shirt making,
0:48:41 > 0:48:45the fine full-fronted white shirts.
0:48:45 > 0:48:47I got tuppence each for them.
0:48:49 > 0:48:52By working from five o'clock in the morning till midnight each night,
0:48:52 > 0:48:55I was able to do seven in the week.
0:48:55 > 0:48:58This brought me to a profit of 15 pence.
0:48:58 > 0:49:02It stands to reason that no-one can live, pay rent, and find clothes
0:49:02 > 0:49:03upon 15 pence a week.
0:49:05 > 0:49:08So I was forced to go out at night to make my living.
0:49:11 > 0:49:15I can and I will solemnly state that it was the smallness of the price
0:49:15 > 0:49:18for my labour that drove me to prostitution for a living.
0:49:23 > 0:49:25It's cruel to call them prostitutes.
0:49:27 > 0:49:30I know how horrible all this is.
0:49:30 > 0:49:32In my heart, I hate it,
0:49:32 > 0:49:34my whole nature rebels against it.
0:49:36 > 0:49:38And no-one but God...
0:49:38 > 0:49:40knows how I struggle to give it up.
0:49:46 > 0:49:49Mary Ann Eldred's admission of prostitution was devastating
0:49:49 > 0:49:52for the reputation of Elizabeth Jones.
0:49:53 > 0:49:57It became clear that Jones was no ordinary landlady,
0:49:57 > 0:50:00but was running a house of ill repute.
0:50:02 > 0:50:04Mary Ann Eldred...
0:50:04 > 0:50:07It was difficult to see her without feeling some compassion
0:50:07 > 0:50:10for the situation of life that she was in.
0:50:10 > 0:50:12But Mrs Jones...
0:50:12 > 0:50:15Someone who is living off the profits of such a calling
0:50:15 > 0:50:18is about the most infamous of womankind.
0:50:20 > 0:50:23In court, the judge advised the jury
0:50:23 > 0:50:26that they shouldn't trust Jones's testimony.
0:50:27 > 0:50:30Muller's alibi was in tatters.
0:50:31 > 0:50:34The girl Eldred evidently did her best
0:50:34 > 0:50:36to save the life of the young man.
0:50:36 > 0:50:38And as she left the court,
0:50:38 > 0:50:43Muller looked at her with an expression of sincere gratitude.
0:50:47 > 0:50:51The trial lasted just three days.
0:50:51 > 0:50:52The verdict of the jury
0:50:52 > 0:50:56was that Muller was guilty of murdering Thomas Briggs.
0:50:58 > 0:51:02The judge passed a sentence of death by hanging.
0:51:14 > 0:51:17Gottfried Kinkel refused to give up the fight for Franz Muller.
0:51:18 > 0:51:20A petition was organised
0:51:20 > 0:51:23and sent to the Home Secretary begging for mercy.
0:51:30 > 0:51:34A delegation of Germans went to the Briggs home in Hackney.
0:51:37 > 0:51:41It was hoped that if the victim's family signed the petition,
0:51:41 > 0:51:43Muller's death sentence would be overruled.
0:51:46 > 0:51:50Refused entry, the Germans persisted.
0:51:50 > 0:51:54They waited on the doorstep for 45 minutes.
0:51:54 > 0:51:57You cannot doubt that the widow and children of a murdered man
0:51:57 > 0:52:01would have been the last to wish to see an innocent man punished.
0:52:01 > 0:52:02But I put it to you
0:52:02 > 0:52:06we should have been spared so indelicate and ill-timed an appeal.
0:52:06 > 0:52:09It was foolish, unwarranted and cruel.
0:52:11 > 0:52:14The Briggs family refused to meet the Germans.
0:52:17 > 0:52:20And the Home Secretary turned down Kinkel's appeal.
0:52:21 > 0:52:25Nothing could now save Muller from the rope.
0:52:30 > 0:52:34What had begun in death, by the law which society these days maintains,
0:52:34 > 0:52:36also ended in death.
0:52:57 > 0:53:00Early on the morning of 14th November,
0:53:00 > 0:53:03three months after the death of Thomas Briggs,
0:53:03 > 0:53:07Franz Muller was prepared for his execution.
0:53:07 > 0:53:10Watched closely by the journalist Frederick Wicks.
0:53:11 > 0:53:14I remember it all as if it had occurred last week.
0:53:14 > 0:53:17And I believe I shall never forget it.
0:53:19 > 0:53:23The hangman was as quick in his movements as he was noiseless.
0:53:24 > 0:53:29Muller had his hands down at his sides in the most natural manner,
0:53:29 > 0:53:32and in this position they were strapped down
0:53:32 > 0:53:35by a pair of leather handcuffs.
0:53:35 > 0:53:38The hangman then removed Muller's collar.
0:53:38 > 0:53:43With gruesome delicacy, he tucked this into the waistcoat.
0:53:44 > 0:53:46It was horrid.
0:53:51 > 0:53:54But the horror was only just beginning.
0:53:54 > 0:53:58Muller was led out of his prison so that he could be hanged in public.
0:54:00 > 0:54:03Wicks, determined to keep on his story,
0:54:03 > 0:54:06went with Muller all the way to the scaffold.
0:54:06 > 0:54:08It was erected right here -
0:54:08 > 0:54:10between the church of St Sepulchre
0:54:10 > 0:54:13and the Old Bailey courthouse across the road.
0:54:13 > 0:54:16The chaplain led the way to the scaffold,
0:54:16 > 0:54:18reading the burial service.
0:54:18 > 0:54:23And the hangman then led Muller up a flight of about ten steps.
0:54:23 > 0:54:25And I...
0:54:26 > 0:54:27..followed.
0:54:30 > 0:54:34Perhaps my presence on the scaffold was regarded as an intrusion,
0:54:34 > 0:54:38but nothing to me seemed more proper.
0:54:40 > 0:54:42From up on the scaffold,
0:54:42 > 0:54:47Wicks had a condemned man's view of a judicial slaughter.
0:54:47 > 0:54:5050,000 people came to see Muller hang.
0:54:56 > 0:54:58The entire space in front of me
0:54:58 > 0:55:02presented an unbroken mass of human faces
0:55:02 > 0:55:06and every unholy passion that humanity is capable of.
0:55:11 > 0:55:18The mouths of all the myriads of dirty yellow faces were open
0:55:18 > 0:55:24and all the thousands of eyes upturned upon the spot where I stood.
0:55:24 > 0:55:28Meanwhile, the hangman put the rope round Muller's neck,
0:55:28 > 0:55:33and tightened the slipknot just under his right ear.
0:55:33 > 0:55:36And last of all, he pulled a dirty yellow hood
0:55:36 > 0:55:39down over the man's head to his chin.
0:55:40 > 0:55:42He then stood aside.
0:55:42 > 0:55:48The priest continued to beseech Muller to confess his crimes.
0:55:48 > 0:55:52But Muller preserved the same stolid, unimpassioned manner
0:55:52 > 0:55:54that had characterised his attitude throughout.
0:55:56 > 0:55:58I stood just behind him as...
0:56:03 > 0:56:04..the drop fell.
0:56:06 > 0:56:08Then a movement -
0:56:08 > 0:56:12so slight, it could scarcely be called a movement,
0:56:12 > 0:56:15but rather an almost imperceptible muscular flicker
0:56:15 > 0:56:17went through Muller's frame.
0:56:19 > 0:56:20This was all...
0:56:21 > 0:56:24..and Muller had ceased to live.
0:56:27 > 0:56:29HE SIGHS
0:56:31 > 0:56:33But just before he died,
0:56:33 > 0:56:38Muller, up till then silent in this story, had finally spoken.
0:56:40 > 0:56:42It was as he was launched into eternity,
0:56:42 > 0:56:45that Muller gave his infamous last words.
0:56:45 > 0:56:47He spoke in German,
0:56:47 > 0:56:48"Ich habe es gethan."
0:56:50 > 0:56:52I am told this means...
0:56:52 > 0:56:54"I did it."
0:57:02 > 0:57:08In a few years, the terror inspired by the first railway murder faded.
0:57:08 > 0:57:10The train became part of everyday life.
0:57:16 > 0:57:18For Inspector Richard Tanner,
0:57:18 > 0:57:22finding and capturing Muller was the highlight of his career.
0:57:22 > 0:57:25He died soon after, aged just 41.
0:57:27 > 0:57:29Gottfried Kinkel, the former revolutionary,
0:57:29 > 0:57:33founded London's only German-language newspaper.
0:57:33 > 0:57:36He never returned to his native country.
0:57:38 > 0:57:41The cabman, Jonathan Matthews,
0:57:41 > 0:57:42got the £300 reward
0:57:42 > 0:57:46for providing the information that led to Muller's arrest.
0:57:46 > 0:57:50But it was all swallowed up by his creditors.
0:57:52 > 0:57:56There is no record of the fate of Mary Ann Eldred.
0:57:56 > 0:57:58But the prospects of a Victorian prostitute
0:57:58 > 0:58:01were for a short and miserable life.
0:58:03 > 0:58:07Frederick Wicks became a notable writer and newspaper owner.
0:58:12 > 0:58:16Franz Muller was buried beneath the Old Bailey prison.
0:58:16 > 0:58:18It has since been knocked down
0:58:18 > 0:58:21and replaced with another court complex.
0:58:21 > 0:58:24But perhaps his bones lie here still.
0:58:53 > 0:58:56Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd