Real Crime/Paranormal/Conspiracy Theories Book III

Stratton Brothers

Alfred Edward Stratton(1882-1905) and his brother Albert Ernest Stratton (1884-1905)were the first men to be convicted in Britain for murder based onfingerprint evidence. They were both executed at 9 am on 23 May 1905at HM Prison Wandsworth. The case, otherwise known as the MaskMurders (due to the black stocking-top masks that had been left atthe scene of the crime), the Deptford Murders (due to the location)or the Farrow Murders (the last name of the victims), was one of theearliest convictions using forensic science.

The crime

On Monday 27 March 1905, at 8:30 am,William Jones went to Chapman's Oil and Colour Shop at 34 DeptfordHigh Street, where he worked. When he arrived at the shop he found itclosed and shuttered, which he found very unusual. The manager of thepaint shop Thomas Farrow, aged 71, lived with his wife, Ann, aged 65,in the flat above the shop and he was not in the habit of having theshop still closed at such a late hour. Unable to open the door, Jonestried knocking but since he did not get any response from either Mror Mrs Farrow he peeked through a window and saw that there werechairs knocked over.

Alarmed at what he saw, he ran for helpand found Louis Kidman, a local resident who worked in a nearbystore, and the two men forced their way into the shop. It was notlong before they found the body of Mr Farrow on the ground dead,while Mrs Farrow was found barely alive but unconscious in thecouple's bed in the upstairs flat. Both bore the signs of having beenrepeatedly beaten. A doctor and the police were called and Mrs Farrowwas taken to hospital.

The investigation

Despite the disarray within the shop,the police found no signs of forced entry. It was shortly determinedthat robbery was the motive: Jones told the police that Mr Farrowwould collect the week's earnings and deposit them to a local bankevery Monday, and an empty cash box was found on the floor, which wasestimated to have contained about £13, equivalent to £1,400 in2019. To ensure the doctor would not trip over it, Sergeant AlbertAtkinson pushed it aside with his bare hands. It was at this pointthat Chief Inspector Frederick Fox and Melville MacNaghten, theAssistant Commissioner (Crime) of the Metropolitan Police and head ofthe Criminal Investigation Department took over the case.

Aside from the lack of forced entry aswell as the empty cash box, it was clear that Mr and Mrs Farrow hadbeen attacked separately and the discovery of two black masksfashioned from stockings that were left at the scene indicated thatthere were two men involved. Since the victims were in their nightclothes, the police had speculated that Mr Farrow was deceived intoopening the door while he was still half asleep. He was immediatelyattacked, but was still conscious enough to go after the robbers, andwas hit again. His assailants went up to the upstairs flat, attackedMrs Farrow, located the cash box, and fled with the money. However,based on the separate pools of blood at the scene, it was determinedthat Mr Farrow had again regained consciousness, and this time themen killed him and afterwards washed their hands in a nearby basin.

A greasy smudge on the cash box

When MacNaghten was told of the emptycash box, he chose to examine it. He noticed that on the underside ofthe box's inner tray, there was a greasy smudge which appeared to bea fingerprint. As a member of the Belper Committee which hadrecommended the use of fingerprints as a method for identificationfive years before, he wondered if this might be a case to test outthis new technique. He used his handkerchief to carefully pick up thecash box, had it wrapped in paper and took it into the fledglingFingerprinting Bureau at Scotland Yard.