News of the Times - Unlocking the vaults of historical crime

Stalked by Her Brother-in-Law: The Christmas Murder That Shook Post-War Britain | Liverpool, 1918News of the Times | Episode 595 |1918As Britain celebrated the end of the Great War, one young Liverpool widow was facing a danger far closer to home.This week, we step into December 1918, a moment when church bells rang for peace, soldiers returned to broken households, and thousands of war widows tried to rebuild lives reshaped by loss.But for Mary Ellen Rooney, a 32-year-old widow raising four children, the threat did not come from the battlefield —it lived across the street.After months of unwanted attention, jealousy, and open threats from her brother-in-law, Mary’s attempts to find safety ended in a Paddington corner shop on a cold November afternoon.Witnesses would describe what happened next as sudden, furious, and chillingly deliberate.Why did this case — shocking, public, and tragic — receive almost no press coverage at the time?What can it tell us about post-war Britain, the pressures on returning soldiers, and the precarious position of the women left behind?And how did one man’s fixation escalate into murder just weeks after the Armistice?In tonight’s episode, we uncover:The realities of life in 1918 Liverpool after the warThe hidden dangers faced by war widowsA deeply unsettling pattern of stalking and threatsA murder that played out in broad daylightA trial that passed almost without noticeAnd an execution carried out one week before ChristmasFor our Further Particulars, we turn to Widnes in 1881, where a revolver accident led to…another revolver accident — a Victorian tragedy so bizarre it defies summary.👤 Narrated by Robin Coles  📅 New episodes: Monday, Wednesday & Friday  🎞️ Long-form historical crime compilations: Final Sunday of every month  ❤️ Support Independent History  If you enjoy our ad-free, archive-based storytelling, help us keep the lantern lit:  👉 **Patreon** – Full archive, early access, bonus compilations (and it keeps us independent):  https://www.patreon.com/NewsOfTheTimesHistoricalCrime  ☕ Prefer a one-off thank-you? We LOVE a posh coffee indulgence! We tip our top hats:  https://www.buymeacoffee.com/newsofthetd🕯 About the Channel  We’re an independent team of historical researchers and narrators specialising in 18th to early 20th century British true crime. Each episode is based entirely on archival materi Hear about our ad-free archive on Patreon – 650+ episodes and counting! 🎩 https://www.patreon.com/c/NewsoftheTimesHistoricalCrime Fancy a chuckle between corpses? Discover our first lovingly illustrated volume of wildly unreliable memoirs. Grab it here: https://ko-fi.com/s/b406f6f11e Support us on Patreon for ad-free early access and exclusive bonus episodes. https://www.patreon.com/c/NewsoftheTimesHistoricalCrimeSupport the showThanks for listening! You can also connect with us onOur YouTube Channel: | https://www.youtube.com/@newsofthetimesOur Facebook Page: | https://www.facebook.com/News-of-the-Times-101108282697405Have a question or comment? Get in touch with us at [email protected] If you would like to donate, we love coffee! Warmly appreciated :-) | https://www.buymeacoffee.com/newsofthetd

Murder on the Winter Road: A Christmas Killing in Ballinrobe | True Crime 1880News of the Times | Episode 594 | 1880A Christmas walk home… a dark boreen outside Ballinrobe… and two figures lying in wait.Tonight we return to County Mayo, Ireland, 1880, for a chilling winter murder that stunned a rural community and left questions hanging over the snow-covered road for generations.This is the story of Peter Mullen, a small farmer whose final journey took him through family quarrels, a mysterious sprinkling of holy water, and—according to his son—an ambush by two tall, clean-shaven men on a moonlit December night.But who really knew he would pass that way?And was this tragic killing a random act… or something far more calculated?In this episode we explore:• Life in Ballinrobe at Christmas, 1880• Domestic tensions and a bitter marital quarrel• Holy water, strange choices, and a wife in hiding• A son’s account that raised more questions than it answered• The midnight ambush on the frozen road• Why the suspects—his wife and two nephews—were ultimately released• How this case slipped quietly into the long history of unsolved Irish rural killingsAs always, we draw from contemporary newspaper reports and inquest testimony to follow the story as people of the time understood it.This episode includes material from:And in today’s Further Particulars, we detour briefly to Derbyshire—where a Victorian vicar, a bread knife, and a very excitable evening led half the parish straight to the magistrates’ court.Settle in with something warm and join us for The Christmas Road Murder: Ballinrobe, 1880—an atmospheric winter mystery where small choices, quiet tensions, and old grievances may have led a man straight into the line of fire.👤 Hosted by Robin Coles  📅 New episodes: Monday, Wednesday & Friday  🎞️ Long-form historical crime compilations: Final Sunday of every month  ❤️ Support Independent History  If you enjoy our ad-free, archive-based storytelling, help us keep the lantern lit:  👉 **Patreon** – Full archive, early access, bonus compilations (and it keeps us independent):  https://www.patreon.com/NewsOfTheTimesHistoricalCrime  ☕ Prefer a one-off thank-you? We LOVE a posh coffee indulgence! We tip our top hats:  https://www.buymeacoffee.com/newsofthetd🕯 About the Channel  We’re an independent team of historical researchers and narrators specialising in 18t Hear about our ad-free archive on Patreon – 650+ episodes and counting! 🎩 https://www.patreon.com/c/NewsoftheTimesHistoricalCrime Fancy a chuckle between corpses? Discover our first lovingly illustrated volume of wildly unreliable memoirs. Grab it here: https://ko-fi.com/s/b406f6f11e Support us on Patreon for ad-free early access and exclusive bonus episodes. https://www.patreon.com/c/NewsoftheTimesHistoricalCrimeSupport the showThanks for listening! You can also connect with us onOur YouTube Channel: | https://www.youtube.com/@newsofthetimesOur Facebook Page: | https://www.facebook.com/News-of-the-Times-101108282697405Have a question or comment? Get in touch with us at [email protected] If you would like to donate, we love coffee! Warmly appreciated :-) | https://www.buymeacoffee.com/newsofthetd

THE WHITELEY MURDER (1907) — The Crime That Shook Edwardian BritainNews of the Times | Episode 593 | 1907In January 1907, William Whiteley — London’s famous “Universal Provider” and the man who transformed British shopping — was shot dead inside his own department store.The killer? A well-dressed young man who calmly announced he was Whiteley’s illegitimate son.What followed was one of the most sensational murder trials of the Edwardian age: a story of hidden relationships, vast wealth, respectability, scandal, and a public so captivated that hundreds of thousands signed a petition to save the killer from the gallows.In today’s episode, we uncover:• The moment gunfire shattered Britain’s most modern store• The extraordinary claim that turned a murder into a national reckoning• A tangled family history of secrecy, money and legitimacy• How the press shaped public outrage — and unexpected sympathy• Why the Whiteley case still echoes through British legal and social historyPlus:A remarkable Further Particulars story — when a runaway horse smashed through a Moorgate jeweller in 1922 and left London’s pavement literally covered in diamonds.👤 Narrated by Robin Coles  📅 New episodes: Monday, Wednesday & Friday  🎞️ Long-form historical crime compilations: Final Sunday of every month  📚 Related cases from the archive:  1907: Monte Carlo Trunk Murder |  EP284 https://youtu.be/oTOwoof-jKs1907: The Croydon Killer |  Ep287 https://youtu.be/JOcmekUMZjw1907: Camden Town Murder Mystery |  EP326 https://youtu.be/glZvLvCJVZY❤️ Support Independent History  If you enjoy our ad-free, archive-based storytelling, help us keep the lantern lit:  👉 **Patreon** – Full archive, early access, bonus compilations (and it keeps us independent):  https://www.patreon.com/NewsOfTheTimesHistoricalCrime  ☕ Prefer a one-off thank-you? We LOVE a posh coffee indulgence! We tip our top hats:  https://www.buymeacoffee.com/newsofthetd🕯 About the Channel  We’re an independent team of historical researchers and narrators specialising in 18th to early 20th century British true crime. Each episode is based entirely on archival material — from coroners’ inquests to forgotten newspaper columns.  If you like your true crime thoug Hear about our ad-free archive on Patreon – 650+ episodes and counting! 🎩 https://www.patreon.com/c/NewsoftheTimesHistoricalCrime Fancy a chuckle between corpses? Discover our first lovingly illustrated volume of wildly unreliable memoirs. Grab it here: https://ko-fi.com/s/b406f6f11e Support us on Patreon for ad-free early access and exclusive bonus episodes. https://www.patreon.com/c/NewsoftheTimesHistoricalCrimeSupport the showThanks for listening! You can also connect with us onOur YouTube Channel: | https://www.youtube.com/@newsofthetimesOur Facebook Page: | https://www.facebook.com/News-of-the-Times-101108282697405Have a question or comment? Get in touch with us at [email protected] If you would like to donate, we love coffee! Warmly appreciated :-) | https://www.buymeacoffee.com/newsofthetd

The Wardrobe Murder: The Grim Discovery in 1889 BuryNews of the Times | Episode 592| 1889A missing businessman. A manager with too many stories. A wardrobe that no one was meant to open.In 1889 Bury, Lancashire, a routine visit to a bustling Bolton Street furniture shop ended in one of the most shocking Victorian murder discoveries ever recorded. Behind drawn blinds, shifted furniture, and a locked cupboard with a missing key, police found a scene that stunned even seasoned detectives.This is the true story of George Gordon, a respected young businessman who vanished after a mid-week meeting — and the extraordinary investigation that exposed deception, forged letters, a fake customer, suspicious errands, and a chilling attempt to conceal a body in plain sight.From disturbed flagstones in a cellar to charred ledgers in a hearth, every clue pointed toward one man: shop manager William Dukes.Tonight, we unspool the lies, the forensic twists, and the Victorian policework that led to the discovery that would dominate northern newspapers and remain one of the most disturbing cases in Bury’s history.🕯 PLUS: Today’s Further ParticularsA New Jersey gaol, a hands-on ghost, and a haunting with far more initiative than anyone wanted…If you enjoy atmospheric Victorian true crime blended with real archival reporting, this is one to settle in for.Warm drink ready, lights a little low — and perhaps… keep wardrobes firmly shut.👤 Narrated by Robin Coles  📅 New episodes: Monday, Wednesday & Friday  🎞️ Long-form historical crime compilations: Final Sunday of every month  📚 Related cases from the archive:  •1889: The Infamous Bloody Trunk Case |  Ep254 https://youtu.be/esL5RNishTU1889: The Mystery of the Hansom Cab Murder |  EP368 https://youtu.be/OObOZ1J_-Mk1889: Was This the Ripper’s Comeback? The 1889 Whitechapel Murder |  EP508 https://youtu.be/5Um9DOETHHI1889: The Goatfell Murder: A Charming Stranger, A Missing Tourist, and the Mountain with Secrets |  Ep521 https://youtu.be/nA-yUf84JK4❤️ Support Independent History  If you enjoy our ad-free, archive-based storytelling, help us keep the lantern lit:  👉 **Patreon** – Full archive, early access, bonus compilations (and it keeps us independent):  https://www.patreon.com/NewsOfTheTimesHistoricalCrime  ☕ Prefer a one-off thank-you? We LOVE a posh coffee indulgence! We tip our top hats:  https://www.buym Hear about our ad-free archive on Patreon – 650+ episodes and counting! 🎩 https://www.patreon.com/c/NewsoftheTimesHistoricalCrime Fancy a chuckle between corpses? Discover our first lovingly illustrated volume of wildly unreliable memoirs. Grab it here: https://ko-fi.com/s/b406f6f11e Support us on Patreon for ad-free early access and exclusive bonus episodes. https://www.patreon.com/c/NewsoftheTimesHistoricalCrimeSupport the showThanks for listening! You can also connect with us onOur YouTube Channel: | https://www.youtube.com/@newsofthetimesOur Facebook Page: | https://www.facebook.com/News-of-the-Times-101108282697405Have a question or comment? Get in touch with us at [email protected] If you would like to donate, we love coffee! Warmly appreciated :-) | https://www.buymeacoffee.com/newsofthetd

The Christmas Execution No One Tried to Stop | True Crime 1898News of the Times | Episode 591 | 1898In today’s episode, we travel to Bugsworth, Derbyshire, where the brutal murder of Hannah Cotton shocked Victorian reporters… but what stunned them even more was this:When her husband John Cotton was sentenced to hang — just four days before Christmas — no one asked for clemency.No neighbours.No friends.No anti-capital-punishment campaigners.Not even the canal community who had known him for decades.Victorian newspapers called him “friendless,” a man whose violence had driven away every human tie long before the gallows claimed him. Tonight, we examine how a life shaped by hardship, jealousy, and cruelty ended with an execution that the public accepted without hesitation.Along the way, we uncover:• the shadowy world of Victorian canal-boat life• allegations surrounding two previous wives• the testimony of three schoolgirls who saw the murder• why even at Christmastime, no voice rose to save him• shifting attitudes toward capital punishment in 1890s BritainAnd in a lighter Further Particulars: a wedding at St John’s, Hammersmith, collapses spectacularly when someone stands mid-ceremony to announce, “Stop! That man has a wife already!”👤 Narrated by Robin Coles  📅 New episodes: Monday, Wednesday & Friday  🎞️ Long-form historical crime compilations: Final Sunday of every month  📚 Related cases from the archive:  1843 - 1898: Favourite Victorian Cases 2024 |  EP428 https://youtu.be/K-6i26HYCgI1898: The Case of the St Neots Murder |  EP448 https://youtu.be/4qvv0FZ36g81898: The Nolagh House of Horror: Ireland’s 1898 Family Massacre |  EP556https://youtu.be/jLFY8LtgtZk❤️ Support Independent History  If you enjoy our ad-free, archive-based storytelling, help us keep the lantern lit:  👉 **Patreon** – Full archive, early access, bonus compilations (and it keeps us independent):  https://www.patreon.com/NewsOfTheTimesHistoricalCrime  ☕ Prefer a one-off thank-you? We LOVE a posh coffee indulgence! We tip our top hats:  https://www.buymeacoffee.com/newsofthetd🕯 About the Channel  We’re an independent team of historical researchers and narrators specialising in 18th to early 20th century Brit Hear about our ad-free archive on Patreon – 650+ episodes and counting! 🎩 https://www.patreon.com/c/NewsoftheTimesHistoricalCrime Fancy a chuckle between corpses? Discover our first lovingly illustrated volume of wildly unreliable memoirs. Grab it here: https://ko-fi.com/s/b406f6f11e Support us on Patreon for ad-free early access and exclusive bonus episodes. https://www.patreon.com/c/NewsoftheTimesHistoricalCrimeSupport the showThanks for listening! You can also connect with us onOur YouTube Channel: | https://www.youtube.com/@newsofthetimesOur Facebook Page: | https://www.facebook.com/News-of-the-Times-101108282697405Have a question or comment? Get in touch with us at [email protected] If you would like to donate, we love coffee! Warmly appreciated :-) | https://www.buymeacoffee.com/newsofthetd