0:00:02 > 0:00:06One thousand years of history under one roof,
0:00:06 > 0:00:11the National Archives, a treasure house of secrets.
0:00:11 > 0:00:15The records of extraordinary times and people,
0:00:15 > 0:00:18these files are this nation's story,
0:00:18 > 0:00:20our shared past.
0:00:20 > 0:00:24Documents housed here were highly classified,
0:00:24 > 0:00:28intended for the eyes of only the privileged few,
0:00:28 > 0:00:31protected from your sight for decades,
0:00:31 > 0:00:33but not now.
0:00:39 > 0:00:41I've been granted special access
0:00:41 > 0:00:44to files once kept hush-hush.
0:00:44 > 0:00:48I'll unearth amazing tales from our hidden history.
0:00:49 > 0:00:51Forget what you've been told,
0:00:51 > 0:00:54these documents tell the truth.
0:01:05 > 0:01:07Coming up in this programme,
0:01:07 > 0:01:09crime and punishment -
0:01:09 > 0:01:11infamous murderers
0:01:11 > 0:01:14and the hangman who put hundreds of them to death.
0:01:14 > 0:01:16For a good clean execution,
0:01:16 > 0:01:18you must have his height and his weight.
0:01:18 > 0:01:21Otherwise, if you get a man who's, say, 16 stone
0:01:21 > 0:01:23and you give him an 8 foot drop you'll pull his head off.
0:01:23 > 0:01:26BELL CHIMES
0:01:26 > 0:01:30The art of detection and the science of fingerprinting.
0:01:30 > 0:01:34How Scotland Yard pioneered forensics.
0:01:34 > 0:01:36I am your suspect.
0:01:36 > 0:01:38What do I need to do to clear my name?
0:01:38 > 0:01:40You know what they say, big hands...
0:01:40 > 0:01:42- I don't know what they say. - ..big fingerprints!
0:01:42 > 0:01:44Consulting detective...
0:01:44 > 0:01:46And a new mystery for Sherlock.
0:01:46 > 0:01:48Why did so many believe that
0:01:48 > 0:01:51Conan Doyle's fictitious sleuth was real?
0:01:51 > 0:01:53I get letters addressed to him
0:01:53 > 0:01:56and I get letters asking for his autograph.
0:01:56 > 0:02:00I get letters addressed to his rather stupid friend, Watson.
0:02:04 > 0:02:07The ultimate punishment for crime is death.
0:02:09 > 0:02:11These once secret files contain details
0:02:11 > 0:02:14of thousands of those crimes,
0:02:14 > 0:02:16how they were planned and perpetrated.
0:02:19 > 0:02:22But the punishment was no secret.
0:02:22 > 0:02:23In centuries gone by,
0:02:23 > 0:02:27it was out in the open for all to see
0:02:27 > 0:02:28and even enjoy.
0:02:30 > 0:02:33Imagine that I am a condemned man
0:02:33 > 0:02:36on my way to my public execution.
0:02:36 > 0:02:39There's a good chance that my journey would begin here,
0:02:39 > 0:02:42at the site of the old Newgate Prison,
0:02:42 > 0:02:43now the Old Bailey.
0:02:47 > 0:02:50Driver, take me to my fate.
0:02:52 > 0:02:54CROWD CHEERS
0:02:54 > 0:02:55Here in London,
0:02:55 > 0:02:58when the use of capital punishment was at its height,
0:02:58 > 0:03:01the condemned were transported to the gallows
0:03:01 > 0:03:03on a horse-drawn cart
0:03:03 > 0:03:06to the delight of the watching crowds.
0:03:08 > 0:03:14Throngs of people cheering, jeering, hurling rotten food.
0:03:14 > 0:03:16And no wonder they were happy,
0:03:16 > 0:03:20for an execution day was often declared a public holiday.
0:03:22 > 0:03:26The taverns along the route would be packed for the procession.
0:03:26 > 0:03:29In the slang of the time, I was going west,
0:03:29 > 0:03:32I was due to do the Tyburn jig.
0:03:32 > 0:03:36In other words, I was going to be hanged.
0:03:38 > 0:03:42Public executions may have generated a carnival atmosphere,
0:03:42 > 0:03:44but they had a darker purpose -
0:03:44 > 0:03:46to instil fear in the crowd
0:03:46 > 0:03:50and to deter them from committing crime.
0:03:50 > 0:03:52I'm heading for Tyburn, can I give you a lift?
0:03:52 > 0:03:54Oh, I think so, thank you.
0:03:54 > 0:03:56And in the 17th and 18th centuries,
0:03:56 > 0:04:00those crimes could be petty by our standards,
0:04:00 > 0:04:03but still attract the ultimate punishment.
0:04:03 > 0:04:05At the end of the Tudor period,
0:04:05 > 0:04:07there were 50 capital crimes.
0:04:07 > 0:04:11By the end of the Regency period there were over 200.
0:04:11 > 0:04:16So you could be executed for shoplifting, house breaking, theft.
0:04:16 > 0:04:19You could even be executed for walking disguised,
0:04:19 > 0:04:21that was enough to hang you.
0:04:21 > 0:04:23At one stage, it was even a capital offence
0:04:23 > 0:04:27to be seen in the company of gypsies.
0:04:27 > 0:04:30And the courts decreed that the resulting sentence
0:04:30 > 0:04:33be carried out in full public glare.
0:04:33 > 0:04:36That was one of the strongest points of the punishment,
0:04:36 > 0:04:39the state wanted you to be humiliated.
0:04:39 > 0:04:43You spent 20, 30 minutes thrashing at the end of the rope
0:04:43 > 0:04:44with your legs kicking,
0:04:44 > 0:04:46and the crowd saw this,
0:04:46 > 0:04:50and they might just think, "That could be me."
0:04:53 > 0:04:56At Tyburn, next to what's now Marble Arch,
0:04:56 > 0:05:00the hangman let the prisoners say their last farewells
0:05:00 > 0:05:03before leading them to the Triple Tree.
0:05:03 > 0:05:08This triangular apparatus could hang up to 24 convicts at a time.
0:05:10 > 0:05:12Do we know exactly where the gallows was?
0:05:12 > 0:05:15We don't know with absolute certainty,
0:05:15 > 0:05:17but this is the most likely spot.
0:05:17 > 0:05:19It is extraordinary, isn't it?
0:05:19 > 0:05:22This tiny monument actually represents
0:05:22 > 0:05:26- tens of thousands of people... - Yes.- ..who perished here.
0:05:26 > 0:05:30Most of whom died a terrible, excruciating death
0:05:30 > 0:05:33with crowds of people watching
0:05:33 > 0:05:35or saying perhaps the silent prayer.
0:05:39 > 0:05:43So how did hanging go from being a spectator event
0:05:43 > 0:05:45to the taboo that it is now?
0:05:45 > 0:05:50For that, I need to reach into more recent archives from 1955.
0:05:54 > 0:05:57- TV ANNOUNCER:- Millions are asking, "Is it civilised to kill by law?
0:05:57 > 0:05:59"Does it really act as a deterrent?"
0:05:59 > 0:06:02This was the law of the centuries gone by,
0:06:02 > 0:06:04should it remain the law of the 20th?
0:06:09 > 0:06:14I've unearthed one document revealing details of an execution
0:06:14 > 0:06:17that helped to change Britain's attitude
0:06:17 > 0:06:19to capital punishment.
0:06:19 > 0:06:22It's the case of the last woman to be hanged in this country,
0:06:22 > 0:06:23Ruth Ellis.
0:06:26 > 0:06:31These files from 1955 are the gory bureaucratic detail
0:06:31 > 0:06:35that accompanies a judicial execution.
0:06:35 > 0:06:36Name of prisoner, Ruth Ellis.
0:06:36 > 0:06:39Prisoner number... Aged 28 years.
0:06:42 > 0:06:44The Ellis case became controversial,
0:06:44 > 0:06:47not least because of her circumstances.
0:06:47 > 0:06:50Abused as a child, she'd led a chaotic life
0:06:50 > 0:06:54and been involved in a series of disastrous relationships.
0:06:57 > 0:07:01She shot her wealthy racing driver boyfriend, David Blakely,
0:07:01 > 0:07:05after he'd been unfaithful and violent towards her,
0:07:05 > 0:07:07allegedly punching her so hard in the stomach
0:07:07 > 0:07:10that she lost her unborn baby.
0:07:19 > 0:07:21- TV ANNOUNCER:- On June 21st,
0:07:21 > 0:07:24Ruth Ellis was found guilty of murder at the Old Bailey
0:07:24 > 0:07:27and sentenced to death in accordance with the law.
0:07:28 > 0:07:31In the days leading up to her execution,
0:07:31 > 0:07:33there was a public campaign for clemency.
0:07:34 > 0:07:38Petitions attracted 50,000 signatures,
0:07:38 > 0:07:41and these files describe the last minute efforts
0:07:41 > 0:07:43made behind the scenes.
0:07:44 > 0:07:47The prison governess picks up the story of a call
0:07:47 > 0:07:50that she took on the morning of the execution.
0:07:52 > 0:07:56"I received a telephone call from a Miss or Mrs Holmes
0:07:56 > 0:07:58"who stated that she was private secretary
0:07:58 > 0:08:00"to Major Lloyd George,
0:08:00 > 0:08:01"who was the Home Secretary.
0:08:01 > 0:08:05"She said that a stay of execution was on its way
0:08:05 > 0:08:07"in the case of Ruth Ellis.
0:08:07 > 0:08:08"This caused some delay,
0:08:08 > 0:08:11"and in view of the unsatisfactory source of the message,
0:08:11 > 0:08:13"and after consultation,
0:08:13 > 0:08:17"it was decided to carry on with the execution.
0:08:17 > 0:08:18"This was done,
0:08:18 > 0:08:22"and the execution took place at 9.01am
0:08:22 > 0:08:25"instead of 9am as arranged."
0:08:26 > 0:08:29BELL CHIMES
0:08:33 > 0:08:35The man who carried out the hanging
0:08:35 > 0:08:39was Britain's most famous executioner, Albert Pierrepoint.
0:08:39 > 0:08:43During his long career, he killed more than 400 people,
0:08:43 > 0:08:46his record being 17 in a single day.
0:08:46 > 0:08:48You see, every person has to have a...
0:08:48 > 0:08:50In this 1983 interview,
0:08:50 > 0:08:52he explained the methods that he employed
0:08:52 > 0:08:55for a successful kill.
0:08:55 > 0:08:56For a good clean execution,
0:08:56 > 0:09:00you must have his age, his height and his weight.
0:09:00 > 0:09:03Otherwise, if you get a man, say, 16 stone,
0:09:03 > 0:09:04which it does happen,
0:09:04 > 0:09:07and you give him an 8 foot drop, you'll pull his head off.
0:09:07 > 0:09:10The files reveal, in macabre detail,
0:09:10 > 0:09:14his careful preparations for the Ellis execution.
0:09:15 > 0:09:17"Height, 5 foot 2.
0:09:17 > 0:09:21"Build, spare, weighing 103 pounds.
0:09:21 > 0:09:23"Character of the prisoner's neck, thin."
0:09:23 > 0:09:26Now, Pierrepoint would have used that data
0:09:26 > 0:09:30in order to make a calculation about what length of rope was necessary
0:09:30 > 0:09:33to kill Ruth Ellis.
0:09:33 > 0:09:36"A length of the drop as determined before the execution,
0:09:36 > 0:09:38"8 foot 4 inches.
0:09:38 > 0:09:41"Length of the drop as measured after the execution,
0:09:41 > 0:09:43"8 foot 6 inches."
0:09:43 > 0:09:47So the calculations had been perfectly made.
0:09:47 > 0:09:48And they had to be,
0:09:48 > 0:09:52because each hanging was subject to an official review,
0:09:52 > 0:09:54like this one.
0:09:54 > 0:09:56"Has Pierrepoint performed his duty satisfactorily?
0:09:56 > 0:09:58"Yes.
0:09:58 > 0:10:00"Was his general demeanour satisfactory
0:10:00 > 0:10:02"during the period that he was in the prison?
0:10:02 > 0:10:03"Yes.
0:10:03 > 0:10:06"Cause of death, fracture dislocation
0:10:06 > 0:10:09"between second and third cervical vertebrae
0:10:09 > 0:10:13"and clean break of the spinal cord at that level."
0:10:13 > 0:10:16Ruth Ellis would have died a quick death.
0:10:16 > 0:10:20Mr Albert Pierrepoint could have gone home that day satisfied
0:10:20 > 0:10:23he'd done exactly what was required of him
0:10:23 > 0:10:26and his performance review was good.
0:10:29 > 0:10:33The execution of Ruth Ellis caused widespread disquiet
0:10:33 > 0:10:36and strengthened the campaign to abolish capital punishment.
0:10:37 > 0:10:39That didn't happen for another decade,
0:10:39 > 0:10:43but during that time, no other woman suffered her fate.
0:10:45 > 0:10:48There was quite a high degree of public sympathy for her
0:10:48 > 0:10:52and I think part of that was people could empathise with her,
0:10:52 > 0:10:55they could identify with this, er, love story gone wrong.
0:10:55 > 0:10:58And she was actually found at the scene of the crime
0:10:58 > 0:11:01- with a gun in her hand, I think... - Yes, yeah.
0:11:01 > 0:11:03So was there considerable public shock
0:11:03 > 0:11:06when the sentence was carried out?
0:11:06 > 0:11:08Er, yes, there was shock
0:11:08 > 0:11:10and then when people gathered outside the prison,
0:11:10 > 0:11:13some people reportedly sort of dropped to their knees
0:11:13 > 0:11:16at around the time that, erm, she would have been hanged.
0:11:16 > 0:11:20Do you think, in terms of the history of the death penalty,
0:11:20 > 0:11:23the Ruth Ellis case is very significant?
0:11:23 > 0:11:25I think it would be too straightforward to say
0:11:25 > 0:11:26because of Ruth Ellis
0:11:26 > 0:11:30it became more likely that the death penalty would be abolished,
0:11:30 > 0:11:32but in a sort of wider context,
0:11:32 > 0:11:36Ruth Ellis' case can be seen as one of those really important ones.
0:11:36 > 0:11:38What of Albert Pierrepoint?
0:11:38 > 0:11:41Less than a year after he executed Ellis,
0:11:41 > 0:11:46the most prolific hangman in British history finally retired.
0:11:46 > 0:11:49He wrote an autobiography in which, amazingly,
0:11:49 > 0:11:53he spoke out against the efficacy of capital punishment.
0:11:53 > 0:11:56"It is said to be a deterrent,
0:11:56 > 0:11:57"I cannot agree.
0:11:57 > 0:12:00"All the men and women whom I have faced at that final moment
0:12:00 > 0:12:04"convince me that in what I have done
0:12:04 > 0:12:07"I've not prevented a single murder."
0:12:09 > 0:12:15If Ellis had committed her crime in 1965, not 1955,
0:12:15 > 0:12:17she'd probably have lived.
0:12:17 > 0:12:21By then, Parliament had begun moves to abolish the ultimate sentence,
0:12:21 > 0:12:24but for her, that change came a decade too late.
0:12:29 > 0:12:31Shortly before she was hanged,
0:12:31 > 0:12:34Ruth Ellis wrote to the parents of David,
0:12:34 > 0:12:36the boyfriend that she had murdered.
0:12:36 > 0:12:40She said, "We were very much in love with one another.
0:12:40 > 0:12:45"Unfortunately, one woman in his life wasn't enough for David.
0:12:45 > 0:12:47"I have forgiven him.
0:12:47 > 0:12:49"I wish I could have found it in my heart
0:12:49 > 0:12:52"to have forgiven him while he was alive.
0:12:52 > 0:12:55"I shall die loving David.
0:12:55 > 0:12:59"You should feel content that his death has been repaid.
0:13:01 > 0:13:03"Goodbye, Ruth Ellis."
0:13:13 > 0:13:16The name Scotland Yard has long been associated
0:13:16 > 0:13:19with cutting-edge investigative techniques
0:13:19 > 0:13:24and many brilliant detectives have passed through its doors.
0:13:24 > 0:13:25But could any of them measure up
0:13:25 > 0:13:28to Britain's most celebrated crime fighter?
0:13:31 > 0:13:33This hat is widely worn in Scotland,
0:13:33 > 0:13:36yet you're already thinking Sherlock Holmes,
0:13:36 > 0:13:40an elementary demonstration of the power over our imagination
0:13:40 > 0:13:43exercised by the fictitious detective
0:13:43 > 0:13:48a century after he was created by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.
0:13:48 > 0:13:50But had you ever fallen into the trap
0:13:50 > 0:13:53of thinking that the great sleuth was real?
0:13:53 > 0:13:55Well, Watson, what do you make of it?
0:13:55 > 0:13:57Me, Holmes?
0:13:57 > 0:13:59You know my methods.
0:13:59 > 0:14:00Apply them.
0:14:01 > 0:14:05Scotland Yard has thick files of people who wrote in
0:14:05 > 0:14:08asking the whereabouts of Sherlock Holmes.
0:14:08 > 0:14:12This one comes from Odessa in present day Ukraine.
0:14:12 > 0:14:15Erm, "Will you do me the favour of informing me
0:14:15 > 0:14:18"where the great detective Sherlock Holmes is
0:14:18 > 0:14:20"and what is his position?
0:14:20 > 0:14:21"I want this information badly
0:14:21 > 0:14:25"as I've had a bet with the great inspector named Von Lange
0:14:25 > 0:14:28"who says Sherlock Holmes never existed."
0:14:28 > 0:14:32And it's signed Nicolai Ivanovich Novaselski
0:14:32 > 0:14:37who turns out to be the Secretary of the Odessa Suburban Police.
0:14:38 > 0:14:41I suspect that the Yard's top brass
0:14:41 > 0:14:44considered letters like this to be a bit of a nuisance.
0:14:44 > 0:14:48Still, they were courteous enough to reply to each one.
0:14:48 > 0:14:52"Sir, with reference to your letter of the 16th ultimo,
0:14:52 > 0:14:55"I am directed by the Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis
0:14:55 > 0:14:58"to acquaint you that Sherlock Holmes is not a real person
0:14:58 > 0:14:59"but a character in fiction.
0:14:59 > 0:15:01"I am, sir, your obedient servant."
0:15:01 > 0:15:04And it's signed by the Chief Clerk.
0:15:04 > 0:15:07Given that Sherlock Holmes often showed up the Metropolitan Police
0:15:07 > 0:15:08to be Plodders,
0:15:08 > 0:15:11I feel there's a certain tight-lipped sourness
0:15:11 > 0:15:12about this reply.
0:15:17 > 0:15:19Holmes was, of course, entirely the product
0:15:19 > 0:15:23of Arthur Conan Doyle's imagination.
0:15:23 > 0:15:26The stories published in instalments from 1887
0:15:26 > 0:15:29became instant classics
0:15:29 > 0:15:32and the central character, an instant hero.
0:15:33 > 0:15:35Well, he caught on almost immediately.
0:15:35 > 0:15:37Within a year of his first appearance,
0:15:37 > 0:15:39er, letters started coming in
0:15:39 > 0:15:41to the editor of the Strand Magazine
0:15:41 > 0:15:44asking if in fact Sherlock Holmes really existed.
0:15:44 > 0:15:47And the editor had a standard reply where he said,
0:15:47 > 0:15:50"I cannot confirm whether it be aye or nay,
0:15:50 > 0:15:52"but let us hope so."
0:15:52 > 0:15:55Why do you think people might have thought
0:15:55 > 0:15:56that this detective was real?
0:15:56 > 0:15:59Partly to do with the brilliance of Conan Doyle's writing, of course,
0:15:59 > 0:16:03and also, the illustrations which accompanied the stories
0:16:03 > 0:16:06gave a focus for their imagination.
0:16:06 > 0:16:10And Doyle also included so many factual details into the stories,
0:16:10 > 0:16:12you know, real locations
0:16:12 > 0:16:15and also real people he mentions in passing.
0:16:15 > 0:16:19And so, you're getting Doyle putting a real person with Holmes
0:16:19 > 0:16:23and so they...the reality rubs off on the character.
0:16:25 > 0:16:27At the height of Sherlock's popularity,
0:16:27 > 0:16:32fact and fiction became blurred in many people's minds
0:16:32 > 0:16:34and the confusion continued for years
0:16:34 > 0:16:37as his creator, Conan Doyle, recalled.
0:16:39 > 0:16:42Well, the curious thing is how many people around the world
0:16:42 > 0:16:45who are perfectly convinced that he is a living human being.
0:16:45 > 0:16:47I get letters addressed to him
0:16:47 > 0:16:51and I get letters asking for his autograph.
0:16:51 > 0:16:56I get letters addressed to his rather stupid friend, Watson.
0:16:56 > 0:16:58I've even had ladies writing to say that
0:16:58 > 0:17:00they'd be very glad to act as his housekeeper.
0:17:02 > 0:17:04Despite Holmes' popularity,
0:17:04 > 0:17:07Conan Doyle began to tire of him
0:17:07 > 0:17:10so he decided on extreme literary action.
0:17:12 > 0:17:14He upset his mother by saying,
0:17:14 > 0:17:17"In the last story I shall be killing Holmes."
0:17:17 > 0:17:22And when he died, such was the effect on the populous at the time
0:17:22 > 0:17:24that men in the City wore black arm bands
0:17:24 > 0:17:28in respect for the death of this great detective character.
0:17:28 > 0:17:31Another sign that he was treated as though he was a real person.
0:17:31 > 0:17:34Someone wrote to Conan Doyle, a lady wrote to Conan Doyle
0:17:34 > 0:17:37after the death of Holmes in the Final Problem
0:17:37 > 0:17:40and said, "Mr Doyle, you brute!"
0:17:42 > 0:17:45Nine million quid, for what?
0:17:45 > 0:17:49The pressure from fans persuaded the author
0:17:49 > 0:17:51to bring his character back to life
0:17:51 > 0:17:54and more than a century on, he's still with us.
0:17:54 > 0:17:57But it's all computer generated, electronic codes,
0:17:57 > 0:17:58electronic ciphering methods...
0:17:58 > 0:18:01Today, the Victorian sleuth has been reinvented
0:18:01 > 0:18:04as a 21st-century action hero.
0:18:04 > 0:18:07Whatever was stolen, he wants it back...
0:18:07 > 0:18:10This detective is 125 years old,
0:18:10 > 0:18:13even his creator tried to kill him off
0:18:13 > 0:18:18and yet, even today, people love him and even find him realistic, why?
0:18:18 > 0:18:19Well, he's a magical character,
0:18:19 > 0:18:22enigmatic, a superhero.
0:18:22 > 0:18:24- Sherlock? - Where is it? Quickly, where?
0:18:24 > 0:18:29It's here, it's in 221 Baker Street...
0:18:29 > 0:18:31And, of course, there is the wonderful friendship
0:18:31 > 0:18:33between Holmes and Watson which appeals too many.
0:18:33 > 0:18:38But there's something about him that appeals to the heart,
0:18:38 > 0:18:40and you can't fully explain that.
0:18:40 > 0:18:43Those who feel it know it.
0:18:43 > 0:18:44The cipher, the book,
0:18:44 > 0:18:47it's the London A to Z that they use...
0:18:47 > 0:18:49TENSE MUSIC PLAYS
0:19:00 > 0:19:03Today, when the police arrive at a crime scene,
0:19:03 > 0:19:06their first task is to seal the area,
0:19:06 > 0:19:10so that forensic officers can do their work.
0:19:10 > 0:19:14But the validity of forensic evidence wasn't always accepted
0:19:14 > 0:19:17by the British Criminal Justice system.
0:19:17 > 0:19:20A breakthrough came at the start of the 20th century
0:19:20 > 0:19:24with a trial that transformed the investigation of crime.
0:19:26 > 0:19:28Nowadays, we take it for granted
0:19:28 > 0:19:31that on everything that we touch with our fingers,
0:19:31 > 0:19:32we will leave our prints,
0:19:32 > 0:19:35and that because those marks are unique,
0:19:35 > 0:19:37we can be identified from them.
0:19:38 > 0:19:40But at one time,
0:19:40 > 0:19:43that science had to be pioneered, tested and proven
0:19:43 > 0:19:45to public satisfaction.
0:19:46 > 0:19:49That happened in a Court of Law.
0:19:49 > 0:19:51I'm looking at court papers
0:19:51 > 0:19:56on the double murder of a Mr and Mrs Farrow in 1905.
0:19:56 > 0:20:00Two men attempted to rob their South London shop late at night.
0:20:02 > 0:20:05When the couple resisted, they were brutally killed
0:20:05 > 0:20:07and their money stolen from a cashbox.
0:20:10 > 0:20:14The prime suspects were Alfred and Albert Stratton,
0:20:14 > 0:20:17but witnesses couldn't identify the brothers,
0:20:17 > 0:20:20as they'd been wearing these very masks.
0:20:23 > 0:20:25So the prosecution turned to
0:20:25 > 0:20:27the revolutionary science of fingerprints
0:20:27 > 0:20:30in an effort to convict them.
0:20:30 > 0:20:33The jury, sceptical of newfangled ideas,
0:20:33 > 0:20:34would need convincing.
0:20:37 > 0:20:42The files that I have here record that very moment in history
0:20:42 > 0:20:45when public suspicions were overcome,
0:20:45 > 0:20:49the occasion on which an expert witness, Charles Collins,
0:20:49 > 0:20:51was able to convince a jury
0:20:51 > 0:20:56to convict the Stratton brothers of the crime of murder
0:20:56 > 0:20:58based on a fingerprint.
0:20:59 > 0:21:01Charles Collins says,
0:21:01 > 0:21:04"There was a mark of a digit
0:21:04 > 0:21:08"on the side of the inner case of the cashbox.
0:21:08 > 0:21:10"I have since photographically enlarged the mark
0:21:10 > 0:21:13"and produced the result marked X.
0:21:13 > 0:21:16"On the 3rd of April, I went to Greenwich Police Station
0:21:16 > 0:21:17"and there took an imprint of
0:21:17 > 0:21:21"the right thumb of the prisoner, Alfred Stratton,
0:21:21 > 0:21:24"which I produced marked Y.
0:21:24 > 0:21:26"On exhibits X and Z,
0:21:26 > 0:21:30"I have marked with red ink 11 points of identity
0:21:30 > 0:21:34"and I have numbered them respectively one to 11.
0:21:39 > 0:21:42"I am of the opinion on the doctoring of chances
0:21:42 > 0:21:46"that the odds are a hundred thousand million to one
0:21:46 > 0:21:50"against the imprint on the cashbox shown being any other
0:21:50 > 0:21:55"than that of the right thumb of Alfred Stratton, the accused."
0:21:57 > 0:22:00The power of the numbers was overwhelming,
0:22:00 > 0:22:03and it took the jury just two hours to convict.
0:22:08 > 0:22:10The brothers were to be hanged.
0:22:15 > 0:22:19110 years have passed since the Stratton case,
0:22:19 > 0:22:23but basic fingerprinting science remains the same.
0:22:23 > 0:22:28Today, former fingerprint expert for the Met Janice Runacres
0:22:28 > 0:22:31is going to take my dabs.
0:22:31 > 0:22:32There's a first time for everything.
0:22:34 > 0:22:37- Right, I am your suspect.- OK.
0:22:37 > 0:22:40What do I need to do to clear my name?
0:22:40 > 0:22:41Make a fist with your right hand
0:22:41 > 0:22:44- and then roll carefully across. - Roll it.
0:22:44 > 0:22:47Try not to press hard at all, otherwise they will be blurry.
0:22:47 > 0:22:50Really gently and lift up.
0:22:50 > 0:22:52- Perfect.- Oh, how's that? - That's perfect.
0:22:55 > 0:22:58There certainly is a knack to it
0:22:58 > 0:23:02and the results are definitely worth all the care and effort.
0:23:02 > 0:23:06- Do you mind if I have a look... - Certainly.- ..for myself?
0:23:06 > 0:23:09It's extraordinary how much you see, isn't it?
0:23:09 > 0:23:11Yes and it's all the individual characteristics
0:23:11 > 0:23:13that we are looking at.
0:23:13 > 0:23:16So when a ridge changes direction or stops abruptly,
0:23:16 > 0:23:17we call that a ridge ending.
0:23:17 > 0:23:21If it faults into two, we call it a bifurcation,
0:23:21 > 0:23:23and it's those individual characteristics
0:23:23 > 0:23:26that form our identification process.
0:23:26 > 0:23:29Are our fingerprints always the same throughout our life?
0:23:29 > 0:23:30Yes, they are.
0:23:30 > 0:23:33They're formed whilst the, er, foetus is in the womb.
0:23:33 > 0:23:36Then, by 6 months, all the characteristics are fully formed
0:23:36 > 0:23:39on the pads of the fingers and on the soles of the feet.
0:23:41 > 0:23:43Back in 1905,
0:23:43 > 0:23:46it must have been extremely hard for the Stratton brothers
0:23:46 > 0:23:49to understand how carelessly leaving a thumb print
0:23:49 > 0:23:51would lead them to the gallows.
0:23:51 > 0:23:54- Is that one nice and clear? - That's lovely and clear, yeah.
0:23:54 > 0:23:56Lots of clarity here, lots of definition.
0:23:56 > 0:23:57Yeah, that would be good.
0:23:57 > 0:23:59And we're going again, are we?
0:23:59 > 0:24:02Well, we're just going to put your four fingers flat down.
0:24:02 > 0:24:04Straight down and then lift up.
0:24:04 > 0:24:06And then, you've got to get them into this silly little box.
0:24:06 > 0:24:08- So you've got...- Right. - ..big hands here.
0:24:08 > 0:24:10You know what they say, big hands...
0:24:10 > 0:24:12- I don't know what they say. - ..big fingerprints!
0:24:17 > 0:24:21The use of fingerprint evidence to solve the Stratton case
0:24:21 > 0:24:25is rightly celebrated inside Scotland Yard's Museum.
0:24:25 > 0:24:28But it was the use of forensics in another trial,
0:24:28 > 0:24:29just five years later,
0:24:29 > 0:24:32that cemented the Yard's reputation
0:24:32 > 0:24:35for pioneering detection techniques.
0:24:35 > 0:24:40It was the notorious case of Dr Hawley Crippen.
0:24:45 > 0:24:49Here, in about half a dozen images,
0:24:49 > 0:24:56is told the story of a murder that gripped Britain in 1910.
0:24:56 > 0:24:59TENSE MUSIC PLAYS
0:24:59 > 0:25:03The disappearance of Crippen's American wife, Cora,
0:25:03 > 0:25:06seemed, initially, a mundane affair,
0:25:06 > 0:25:08until some months later,
0:25:08 > 0:25:11when the police made a gruesome discovery
0:25:11 > 0:25:13at the home that she'd shared with her husband.
0:25:15 > 0:25:18Officers began to investigate,
0:25:18 > 0:25:20and they discovered a shovel
0:25:20 > 0:25:23which Crippen used to use.
0:25:23 > 0:25:27And, apparently, he had dug a grave in his cellar...
0:25:28 > 0:25:30..for bits and pieces of his wife.
0:25:31 > 0:25:36Dr Crippen insisted that Cora had left him months earlier.
0:25:36 > 0:25:38If the police wanted to put him on trial,
0:25:38 > 0:25:42they had to prove that the headless body parts were hers,
0:25:42 > 0:25:46so they turned to the new science of forensics.
0:25:46 > 0:25:52What could the police do with the evidence of parts of a body in 1910?
0:25:52 > 0:25:55Bearing in mind that there was partial putrefaction
0:25:55 > 0:25:57they were in a pretty terrible state,
0:25:57 > 0:25:59they had to call in the experts,
0:25:59 > 0:26:01people from St Mary's Hospital, Paddington,
0:26:01 > 0:26:03which by this time had built up quite a reputation,
0:26:03 > 0:26:07pioneering fields of medicine, toxicology, bacteriology
0:26:07 > 0:26:09and, indeed, pathology.
0:26:09 > 0:26:10If it was Mrs Crippen,
0:26:10 > 0:26:13she would have had a scar as a result of an operation
0:26:13 > 0:26:15she had in America in the 1890s.
0:26:15 > 0:26:17That was very, very important.
0:26:20 > 0:26:22Tests did discover a scar on the remains,
0:26:22 > 0:26:25providing the police with crucial evidence
0:26:25 > 0:26:28that the body was indeed that of Cora.
0:26:28 > 0:26:30And not only that,
0:26:30 > 0:26:34the forensic team discovered that before being mutilated,
0:26:34 > 0:26:39she'd been poisoned with the deadly narcotic hyoscine.
0:26:39 > 0:26:41Now, this is very, very significant
0:26:41 > 0:26:45because Crippen had bought five grains of hyoscine,
0:26:45 > 0:26:48which I may add is between five and 10 times a fatal dose,
0:26:48 > 0:26:50at a chemist's in London
0:26:50 > 0:26:53about a fortnight before Mrs Crippen disappeared.
0:26:53 > 0:26:56Now, how new, then, was it, at that time,
0:26:56 > 0:27:00for Scotland Yard to be able to make deductions about the toxicology?
0:27:00 > 0:27:02- Was this novel? - This was, this was very new.
0:27:02 > 0:27:05This is really pioneering stuff. Very, very important.
0:27:05 > 0:27:07It's a landmark case, in that respect.
0:27:08 > 0:27:09As the net tightened,
0:27:09 > 0:27:14Crippen fled with his mistress aboard a ship bound for Canada.
0:27:14 > 0:27:17But when its captain recognised them,
0:27:17 > 0:27:20he used the innovatory ship to shore telegram
0:27:20 > 0:27:22to alert Scotland Yard.
0:27:22 > 0:27:24And as their ship arrived,
0:27:24 > 0:27:27officers were waiting to arrest the couple.
0:27:28 > 0:27:31Crippen's trial was a global sensation,
0:27:31 > 0:27:34and thanks to the forensic evidence,
0:27:34 > 0:27:37the jury found him guilty of murdering his wife
0:27:37 > 0:27:40after just 27 minutes deliberation.
0:27:43 > 0:27:47Dr Crippen was hanged in Pentonville Jail
0:27:47 > 0:27:49and the use in this case
0:27:49 > 0:27:52of toxicology, forensics and the telegraph
0:27:52 > 0:27:55strengthened the view around the world
0:27:55 > 0:27:58that the Yard always got its man.
0:28:01 > 0:28:06And yet, as with all good detective stories,
0:28:06 > 0:28:08there's a twist.
0:28:08 > 0:28:10Remember how the police were so confident
0:28:10 > 0:28:12that the remains found in Crippen's cellar
0:28:12 > 0:28:15were those of his missing wife?
0:28:15 > 0:28:18Well, it turns out that that confidence
0:28:18 > 0:28:20may have been misplaced.
0:28:20 > 0:28:24In 2010, exactly 100 years after Cora's death,
0:28:24 > 0:28:28American researchers carried out new tests,
0:28:28 > 0:28:32this time using much more modern DNA techniques.
0:28:32 > 0:28:35Their controversial conclusion,
0:28:35 > 0:28:38the remains were not Mrs Crippen's
0:28:38 > 0:28:41and they may even have been those of a man.