At twenty minutes past one on the morning of the 10th of July a boy went into a coffee-shop next door to Mrs. Squires’ house, and said he had seen blood on the counter of the unfortunate woman’s shop.
Upon going in to ascertain the cause, a most horrible spectacle presented itself.
Behind the counter was discovered the body of Mrs. Squires in a pool of blood, with her hand to the right side of her head, which was shockingly injured. The daughter was found with her head in the parlour and her legs in the shop. She was also covered with blood, and her head battered in.
The police at once reached the house, which they found ransacked from top to bottom, and in the parlour was found a clock that had been knocked down, which had stopped at twelve, at which time, no doubt, the deed had been committed, as the doctor who was called in said he should think they had been dead about two hours.
Inquiries were set on foot, and every possible means taken to discover the perpetrators of this dreadful crime, but without avail—like the rest it has been shrouded in impenetrable mystery.
The Ladbroke-lane murder will be remembered by most persons. A girl named Margaret Clemson was found by a policeman in the lane in question frightfully wounded; her skull was laid open in several places (a portion of the brain was protruding from one of the wounds). She was just able to exclaim—“Oh, let me die!”
She was conveyed to the hospital, where after several days of intense agony, she expired. The murderer is at present at large.
Some short time after this the dismembered portions of a female were found in the Thames. A murder of an atrocious nature had been evidently committed, but neither the identity of the woman was established, nor was her assassin discovered.
The body of a boy was found in a lane at Acton some years ago; he had evidently met with a violent death, but the perpetrator of the foul deed escaped discovery or punishment.
In addition to these we could cite numberless instances of crimes of a similar nature.