Laura Thompson

On 7 November 1974, nanny Sandra Rivett was bludgeoned to death in a Belgravia basement. Veronica, Countess of Lucan, was also attacked. The man named in court as perpetrator of these crimes, Richard John Bingham, 7th Earl of Lucan, disappeared in the early hours of the following morning. The case, solved in the eyes of the law, has retained its fascination ever since.

On the night of 3 October 1922, Edith Thompson and her husband Percy were walking home when a man sprang out of the darkness and stabbed Percy to death. The assailant was Frederick Bywaters, a merchant seaman who had been Edith's lover. Edith, was arrested as his accomplice, despite protesting her innocence. Edith and Freddy were hanged for murder, Freddy was demonstrably guilty; but was Edith truly so?