Latest news with #forensicscience
The Guardian
4 days ago
- The Guardian
Three more victims of 9/11 terrorist attacks identified in New York City
Advances in DNA testing have allowed forensic scientists to identify three more victims of the terrorist attacks in New York City on 11 September 2001, authorities in Manhattan have confirmed. The development brings to 1,653 the number of individuals who have been positively identified from the 2,753 who died after al-Qaida terrorists flew two hijacked commercial aircraft into the twin towers of the World Trade Center on that morning. The names of two of the victims were announced on Thursday afternoon by New York's chief medical examiner, Dr Jason Graham, almost 24 years after the biggest ever terrorist attack on US soil. The identity of the third newly identified person, an adult woman, was withheld at the request of her family. Graham named Barbara Keating, 72 in 2001, of Palm Springs, California, and Ryan Fitzgerald, 26, of Floral Park, New York. Keating was a church worker and retired disability advocate who was onboard American Airlines flight 11 on her way home from a late summer break in Massachusetts. The plane in which she was traveling, a Boeing 767 flying from Boston to Los Angeles with 76 passengers and 11 crew, had been hijacked by the Islamist terrorists and was the first incident in the attack when it was flown directly into the north tower of the skyscraper complex in lower Manhattan at 8.46am ET on 9/11. Fitzgerald was a foreign currency trader working on the 94th floor of the south tower when United Airlines flight 175, also a Boeing 767 traveling from Boston to Los Angeles, with 51 passengers and nine crew members, struck at 9.03am. Both towers burst into flames where the planes hit. Horrific scenes followed of survivors frantically escaping and first responders charging up flights of stairs to try to rescue others, while some leapt from high floors and a gigantic toxic cloud engulfed lower Manhattan. Then, not long after, both gigantic towers collapsed in seconds as their structures burned, melted and failed, sending the death toll exponentially higher. The site, known as Ground Zero for years afterwards and now the site of a museum and memorial, smoldered for weeks. 'We had forensic experts telling us two decades ago, 'Really, you should not expect any DNA because of the physical act of the explosion itself, because of the heat,'' Keating's son Paul, 61, told the New York Times. 'We're talking about people putting in overtime 24 years later, for us. That's the amazing, amazing part. You know they're not going to stop until they've identified every person.' Graham said enhancements in DNA technology, including automation allowing forensic scientists to more easily extract samples from bone fragments, had resulted in the identifications, along with prolonged outreach to victims' families. Keating's brother and sister gave their own DNA samples three years ago after scientists identified what they believed was their mother's hairbrush. According to the Times, researchers maintain a depository of 22,000 body parts retrieved from the rubble, with 1,100 victims still to be identified. 'Nearly 25 years after the disaster at the World Trade Center, our commitment to identify the missing and return them to their loved ones stands as strong as ever,' Graham said in a statement. Sign up to Headlines US Get the most important US headlines and highlights emailed direct to you every morning after newsletter promotion 'Each new identification testifies to the promise of science and sustained outreach to families despite the passage of time. We continue this work as our way of honoring the lost.' The names of Fitzgerald and Keating are among 2,983 inscribed on the 9/11 memorial in New York built on the footprints of the twin towers, also honoring those killed in attacks on the same day at the Pentagon and on another hijacked plane brought down in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, as it was headed for Washington DC. Six who died in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing are also remembered. Eric Adams, New York's mayor, promised work would continue to try to identify everybody who was killed. 'The pain of losing a loved one in the September 11 terror attacks echoes across the decades, but with these three new identifications we take a step forward in comforting the family members still aching from that day,' he said in a statement reported by the Times.
Washington Post
29-07-2025
- Science
- Washington Post
How high-tech tools, and pigs, could help in the search for Mexican drug cartel victims
ZAPOPAN, Mexico — First the scientists dress dead swine in clothes, then they dispose of the carcasses. Some they wrap in packing tape, others they chop up. They stuff the animals into plastic bags or wrap them in blankets. They cover them in lime or burn them. Some are buried alone, others in groups. Then they watch. The pigs are playing an unlikely role as proxies for humans in research to help find the staggering number of people who have gone missing in Mexico during decades of drug cartel violence. Families of the missing are usually left to look for their loved ones with little support from authorities. But now, government scientists are testing the newest satellite, geophysical and biological mapping techniques — along with the pigs — to offer clues that they hope could lead to the discovery of at least some of the bodies. The ranks of Mexico's missing exploded in the years following the launch of then-President Felipe Calderón's war against drug cartels in 2006. A strategy that targeted the leaders of a handful of powerful cartels led to a splintering of organized crime and the multiplication of violence to control territory. With near complete impunity, owing to the complicity or inaction of the authorities, cartels found that making anyone they think is in their way disappear was better than leaving bodies in the street. Mexican administrations have sometimes been unwilling to recognize the problem and at other times are staggered by the scale of violence their justice system is unprepared to address. Mexico's disappeared could populate a small city. Official data in 2013 tallied 26,000 missing, but the count now surpasses 130,000 — more than any other Latin American nation. The United Nations has said there are indications that the disappearances are 'generalized or systematic.' If the missing people are found — dead or alive — it is usually by their loved ones. Guided by information from witnesses, parents and siblings search for graves by walking through cartel territory, plunging a metal rod into the earth and sniffing for the scent of death. Around 6,000 clandestine graves have been found since 2007, and new discoveries are made all the time. Tens of thousands of remains have yet to be identified. Jalisco, which is home to the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, has the largest number of people reported missing in Mexico: 15,500. In March, human bone fragments and hundreds of items of clothing were discovered at a cartel ranch in the state. Authorities denied it was the site of a mass grave . José Luis Silván, a coordinator of the mapping project and scientist at CentroGeo, a federal research institute focused on geospacial information, said Jalisco's disappeared are 'why we're here.' The mapping project, launched in 2023, is a collaboration by Guadalajara University, Mexico's National Autonomous University and the University of Oxford in England, alongside the Jalisco Search Commission, a state agency that organizes local searches with relatives. 'No other country is pushing so strongly, so creatively' to test and combine new techniques, said Derek Congram, a Canadian forensic anthropologist, whose expertise in geographic information systems inspired the Mexican project. Still, Congram warns, technology 'is not a panacea.' 'Ninety percent of searches are resolved with a good witness and digging,' he said. Silván walks by a site where scientists buried 14 pigs about two years ago. He says they may not know how well the technology works, where and when it can be used, or under what conditions, for at least three years. 'Flowers came up because of the phosphorous at the surface, we didn't see that last year,' he said as he took measurements at one of the gravesites. 'The mothers who search say that that little yellow flower always blooms over the tombs and they use them as a guide.' Pigs and humans are closely related, famously sharing about 98% of DNA. But for the mapping project, the physical similarities also matter. According to the U.S. National Library of Medicine, pigs resemble humans in size, fat distribution and the structure and thickness of skin. A big Colombian drone mounted with a hyperspectral camera flies over the pig burial site. Generally used by mining companies, the camera measures light reflected by substances in the soil, including nitrogen, potassium, phosphorus, and shows how they vary as the pigs decompose. The colorful image it produces offers clues of what to look for in the hunt for graves. 'This isn't pure science,' Silván said. 'It is science and action. Everything learned has to be applied immediately, rather than wait for it to mature, because there's urgency.' Researchers also employ thermal drones, laser scanners and other gadgets to register anomalies, underground movements and electrical currents. One set of graves is encased behind a pane of transparent acrylic, providing a window for scientists to observe the pigs' decomposition in real time. The Jalisco commission compares and analyzes flies, beetles, plants and soil recovered from the human and pig graves. Each grave is a living 'micro ecosystem,' said Tunuari Chávez, the commission's director of context analysis. Triggered by the disappearance of 43 students in 2014 , Silván and his colleagues started gathering information about ground-penetrating radar, electric resistivity and satellite imagery from around the world. They studied University of Tennessee research on human corpses buried at a 'body farm.' They looked at grave-mapping techniques used in the Balkans, Colombia and Ukraine. 'What good is science or technology if it doesn't solve problems?' he said. They learned new applications of satellite analysis, then began their first experiments burying pigs and studying the substances criminals use to dispose of bodies. They found lime is easily detected, but hydrocarbons, hydrochloric acid and burned flesh are not. Chávez's team worked to combine the science with what they knew about how the cartels operate. For example, they determined that disappearances in Jalisco commonly happened along cartel routes between Pacific ports, drug manufacturing facilities and the U.S. border, and that most of the missing are found in the same municipality where they disappeared. The experience of the families of the missing also informs the research. Some observed that graves are often found under trees whose roots grow vertically, so those digging the graves can remain in the shade. Mothers of missing loved ones invited by researchers to visit one of the pig burial sites were able to identify most of the unmarked graves by sight alone, because of the plants and soil placement, Silván said. 'The knowledge flows in both directions,' he said. Maribel Cedeño, who has been looking for her missing brother for four years, said she believes the drones and other technology will be helpful. 'I never imagined being in this situation, finding bodies, becoming such an expert,' she said of her quest. Héctor Flores has been searching for his son since 2021. He questions why so much time and effort has been invested in methods that have not led to concrete discoveries, when the families have proven track records with little official support. Although the research has not yet concluded, the Jalisco Search Commission is already using a thermal drone, a laser scanner and a multispectral camera to help families look for their missing relatives in some cases. But it is unclear whether authorities across Mexico will ever be willing to use, or able to afford, the high-tech aides. Congram, the forensic scientist, said researchers are aware of the limitations of technology, but that 'you always have to try, fail, fail again and keep trying.'
Yahoo
29-07-2025
- Yahoo
How high-tech tools, and pigs, could help in the search for Mexican drug cartel victims
ZAPOPAN, Mexico (AP) — First the scientists dress dead swine in clothes, then they dispose of the carcasses. Some they wrap in packing tape, others they chop up. They stuff the animals into plastic bags or wrap them in blankets. They cover them in lime or burn them. Some are buried alone, others in groups. Then they watch. The pigs are playing an unlikely role as proxies for humans in research to help find the staggering number of people who have gone missing in Mexico during decades of drug cartel violence. Families of the missing are usually left to look for their loved ones with little support from authorities. But now, government scientists are testing the newest satellite, geophysical and biological mapping techniques — along with the pigs — to offer clues that they hope could lead to the discovery of at least some of the bodies. 130,000 missing and counting The ranks of Mexico's missing exploded in the years following the launch of then-President Felipe Calderón's war against drug cartels in 2006. A strategy that targeted the leaders of a handful of powerful cartels led to a splintering of organized crime and the multiplication of violence to control territory. With near complete impunity, owing to the complicity or inaction of the authorities, cartels found that making anyone they think is in their way disappear was better than leaving bodies in the street. Mexican administrations have sometimes been unwilling to recognize the problem and at other times are staggered by the scale of violence their justice system is unprepared to address. Mexico's disappeared could populate a small city. Official data in 2013 tallied 26,000 missing, but the count now surpasses 130,000 — more than any other Latin American nation. The United Nations has said there are indications that the disappearances are 'generalized or systematic.' If the missing people are found — dead or alive — it is usually by their loved ones. Guided by information from witnesses, parents and siblings search for graves by walking through cartel territory, plunging a metal rod into the earth and sniffing for the scent of death. Around 6,000 clandestine graves have been found since 2007, and new discoveries are made all the time. Tens of thousands of remains have yet to be identified. Testing creative solutions Jalisco, which is home to the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, has the largest number of people reported missing in Mexico: 15,500. In March, human bone fragments and hundreds of items of clothing were discovered at a cartel ranch in the state. Authorities denied it was the site of a mass grave. José Luis Silván, a coordinator of the mapping project and scientist at CentroGeo, a federal research institute focused on geospacial information, said Jalisco's disappeared are 'why we're here.' The mapping project, launched in 2023, is a collaboration by Guadalajara University, Mexico's National Autonomous University and the University of Oxford in England, alongside the Jalisco Search Commission, a state agency that organizes local searches with relatives. 'No other country is pushing so strongly, so creatively" to test and combine new techniques, said Derek Congram, a Canadian forensic anthropologist, whose expertise in geographic information systems inspired the Mexican project. Still, Congram warns, technology 'is not a panacea.' 'Ninety percent of searches are resolved with a good witness and digging,' he said. Plants, insects and decomposing pigs Silván walks by a site where scientists buried 14 pigs about two years ago. He says they may not know how well the technology works, where and when it can be used, or under what conditions, for at least three years. 'Flowers came up because of the phosphorous at the surface, we didn't see that last year,' he said as he took measurements at one of the gravesites. 'The mothers who search say that that little yellow flower always blooms over the tombs and they use them as a guide.' Pigs and humans are closely related, famously sharing about 98% of DNA. But for the mapping project, the physical similarities also matter. According to the U.S. National Library of Medicine, pigs resemble humans in size, fat distribution and the structure and thickness of skin. A big Colombian drone mounted with a hyperspectral camera flies over the pig burial site. Generally used by mining companies, the camera measures light reflected by substances in the soil, including nitrogen, potassium, phosphorus, and shows how they vary as the pigs decompose. The colorful image it produces offers clues of what to look for in the hunt for graves. 'This isn't pure science,' Silván said. 'It is science and action. Everything learned has to be applied immediately, rather than wait for it to mature, because there's urgency.' Researchers also employ thermal drones, laser scanners and other gadgets to register anomalies, underground movements and electrical currents. One set of graves is encased behind a pane of transparent acrylic, providing a window for scientists to observe the pigs' decomposition in real time. The Jalisco commission compares and analyzes flies, beetles, plants and soil recovered from the human and pig graves. Each grave is a living 'micro ecosystem,' said Tunuari Chávez, the commission's director of context analysis. Science to serve society Triggered by the disappearance of 43 students in 2014, Silván and his colleagues started gathering information about ground-penetrating radar, electric resistivity and satellite imagery from around the world. They studied University of Tennessee research on human corpses buried at a 'body farm.' They looked at grave-mapping techniques used in the Balkans, Colombia and Ukraine. 'What good is science or technology if it doesn't solve problems?' he said. They learned new applications of satellite analysis, then began their first experiments burying pigs and studying the substances criminals use to dispose of bodies. They found lime is easily detected, but hydrocarbons, hydrochloric acid and burned flesh are not. Chávez's team worked to combine the science with what they knew about how the cartels operate. For example, they determined that disappearances in Jalisco commonly happened along cartel routes between Pacific ports, drug manufacturing facilities and the U.S. border, and that most of the missing are found in the same municipality where they disappeared. Expert relatives The experience of the families of the missing also informs the research. Some observed that graves are often found under trees whose roots grow vertically, so those digging the graves can remain in the shade. Mothers of missing loved ones invited by researchers to visit one of the pig burial sites were able to identify most of the unmarked graves by sight alone, because of the plants and soil placement, Silván said. 'The knowledge flows in both directions,' he said. Maribel Cedeño, who has been looking for her missing brother for four years, said she believes the drones and other technology will be helpful. 'I never imagined being in this situation, finding bodies, becoming such an expert,' she said of her quest. Héctor Flores has been searching for his son since 2021. He questions why so much time and effort has been invested in methods that have not led to concrete discoveries, when the families have proven track records with little official support. Although the research has not yet concluded, the Jalisco Search Commission is already using a thermal drone, a laser scanner and a multispectral camera to help families look for their missing relatives in some cases. But it is unclear whether authorities across Mexico will ever be willing to use, or able to afford, the high-tech aides. Congram, the forensic scientist, said researchers are aware of the limitations of technology, but that 'you always have to try, fail, fail again and keep trying.' María Verza, The Associated Press Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Associated Press
29-07-2025
- Associated Press
How high-tech tools, and pigs, could help in the search for Mexican drug cartel victims
ZAPOPAN, Mexico (AP) — First the scientists dress dead swine in clothes, then they dispose of the carcasses. Some they wrap in packing tape, others they chop up. They stuff the animals into plastic bags or wrap them in blankets. They cover them in lime or burn them. Some are buried alone, others in groups. Then they watch. The pigs are playing an unlikely role as proxies for humans in research to help find the staggering number of people who have gone missing in Mexico during decades of drug cartel violence. Families of the missing are usually left to look for their loved ones with little support from authorities. But now, government scientists are testing the newest satellite, geophysical and biological mapping techniques — along with the pigs — to offer clues that they hope could lead to the discovery of at least some of the bodies. 130,000 missing and counting The ranks of Mexico's missing exploded in the years following the launch of then-President Felipe Calderón's war against drug cartels in 2006. A strategy that targeted the leaders of a handful of powerful cartels led to a splintering of organized crime and the multiplication of violence to control territory. With near complete impunity, owing to the complicity or inaction of the authorities, cartels found that making anyone they think is in their way disappear was better than leaving bodies in the street. Mexican administrations have sometimes been unwilling to recognize the problem and at other times are staggered by the scale of violence their justice system is unprepared to address. Mexico's disappeared could populate a small city. Official data in 2013 tallied 26,000 missing, but the count now surpasses 130,000 — more than any other Latin American nation. The United Nations has said there are indications that the disappearances are 'generalized or systematic.' If the missing people are found — dead or alive — it is usually by their loved ones. Guided by information from witnesses, parents and siblings search for graves by walking through cartel territory, plunging a metal rod into the earth and sniffing for the scent of death. Around 6,000 clandestine graves have been found since 2007, and new discoveries are made all the time. Tens of thousands of remains have yet to be identified. Testing creative solutions Jalisco, which is home to the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, has the largest number of people reported missing in Mexico: 15,500. In March, human bone fragments and hundreds of items of clothing were discovered at a cartel ranch in the state. Authorities denied it was the site of a mass grave. José Luis Silván, a coordinator of the mapping project and scientist at CentroGeo, a federal research institute focused on geospacial information, said Jalisco's disappeared are 'why we're here.' The mapping project, launched in 2023, is a collaboration by Guadalajara University, Mexico's National Autonomous University and the University of Oxford in England, alongside the Jalisco Search Commission, a state agency that organizes local searches with relatives. 'No other country is pushing so strongly, so creatively' to test and combine new techniques, said Derek Congram, a Canadian forensic anthropologist, whose expertise in geographic information systems inspired the Mexican project. Still, Congram warns, technology 'is not a panacea.' 'Ninety percent of searches are resolved with a good witness and digging,' he said. Plants, insects and decomposing pigs Silván walks by a site where scientists buried 14 pigs about two years ago. He says they may not know how well the technology works, where and when it can be used, or under what conditions, for at least three years. 'Flowers came up because of the phosphorous at the surface, we didn't see that last year,' he said as he took measurements at one of the gravesites. 'The mothers who search say that that little yellow flower always blooms over the tombs and they use them as a guide.' Pigs and humans are closely related, famously sharing about 98% of DNA. But for the mapping project, the physical similarities also matter. According to the U.S. National Library of Medicine, pigs resemble humans in size, fat distribution and the structure and thickness of skin. A big Colombian drone mounted with a hyperspectral camera flies over the pig burial site. Generally used by mining companies, the camera measures light reflected by substances in the soil, including nitrogen, potassium, phosphorus, and shows how they vary as the pigs decompose. The colorful image it produces offers clues of what to look for in the hunt for graves. 'This isn't pure science,' Silván said. 'It is science and action. Everything learned has to be applied immediately, rather than wait for it to mature, because there's urgency.' Researchers also employ thermal drones, laser scanners and other gadgets to register anomalies, underground movements and electrical currents. One set of graves is encased behind a pane of transparent acrylic, providing a window for scientists to observe the pigs' decomposition in real time. The Jalisco commission compares and analyzes flies, beetles, plants and soil recovered from the human and pig graves. Each grave is a living 'micro ecosystem,' said Tunuari Chávez, the commission's director of context analysis. Science to serve society Triggered by the disappearance of 43 students in 2014, Silván and his colleagues started gathering information about ground-penetrating radar, electric resistivity and satellite imagery from around the world. They studied University of Tennessee research on human corpses buried at a 'body farm.' They looked at grave-mapping techniques used in the Balkans, Colombia and Ukraine. 'What good is science or technology if it doesn't solve problems?' he said. They learned new applications of satellite analysis, then began their first experiments burying pigs and studying the substances criminals use to dispose of bodies. They found lime is easily detected, but hydrocarbons, hydrochloric acid and burned flesh are not. Chávez's team worked to combine the science with what they knew about how the cartels operate. For example, they determined that disappearances in Jalisco commonly happened along cartel routes between Pacific ports, drug manufacturing facilities and the U.S. border, and that most of the missing are found in the same municipality where they disappeared. Expert relatives The experience of the families of the missing also informs the research. Some observed that graves are often found under trees whose roots grow vertically, so those digging the graves can remain in the shade. Mothers of missing loved ones invited by researchers to visit one of the pig burial sites were able to identify most of the unmarked graves by sight alone, because of the plants and soil placement, Silván said. 'The knowledge flows in both directions,' he said. Maribel Cedeño, who has been looking for her missing brother for four years, said she believes the drones and other technology will be helpful. 'I never imagined being in this situation, finding bodies, becoming such an expert,' she said of her quest. Héctor Flores has been searching for his son since 2021. He questions why so much time and effort has been invested in methods that have not led to concrete discoveries, when the families have proven track records with little official support. Although the research has not yet concluded, the Jalisco Search Commission is already using a thermal drone, a laser scanner and a multispectral camera to help families look for their missing relatives in some cases. But it is unclear whether authorities across Mexico will ever be willing to use, or able to afford, the high-tech aides. Congram, the forensic scientist, said researchers are aware of the limitations of technology, but that 'you always have to try, fail, fail again and keep trying.'
Daily Mail
23-07-2025
- Daily Mail
Twisted mind of jealous doctor who removed his wife's eye in 'Jigsaw Murder' and changed criminal cases forever
In the new episode of Daily Mail podcast - The Psychology of a Serial Killer, forensic psychiatrist Dr Andrew Johns and police surgeon Dr Harry Brujnes revisit a case that shocked 1930s Britain but has since been largely forgotten. The podcast examines history's most notorious medical murderers - those who pervert their positions of trust as doctors or nurses to prey on the public. The latest episode, released today focuses on the 1935 murders of Dr Buck Ruxton, a man so clinical in the disposal of his victims' bodies that the case broke ground in the fledgling field of forensic science. Listen to The Psychology of a Serial Killer below or by clicking here. In the latest episode of The Psychology of a Serial Killer, forensic psychiatrist Dr Andrew Johns (left) and police surgeon Dr Harry Brujnes (right) revisit a case that shocked 1930s Britain but has since been largely forgotten. Listen here. The Dastardly Deeds of Dr Buck Ruxton Buck Ruxton was born in Mumbai, India in 1899. After qualifying as a doctor at the University of Bombay in 1922, Ruxton left his wife and child to set up a practice in Lancaster, northwest England. Originally named Bukhtyar Hakim, the young doctor chose the name Buck Ruxton upon arriving to Britain. By 1930, Ruxton had established himself in Lancaster and had begun a common law marriage with Isabella Kerr, a local woman. 'He was known to be a respected and compassionate doctor,' Dr Harry Brujnes told The Psychology of a Serial Killer podcast. 'Ruxton had three children with Isabella, and it appears his reputation and social standing in the community were very important to him.' Behind closed doors, Ruxton was vicious to his wife. Police were repeatedly called to domestic violence incidents, driven by his obsessive belief that Isabella was being unfaithful. In September 1935, the paranoia erupted. Ruxton instigated what became known as the jigsaw murders, due to how brutally mutilated his victims were. 'He strangled and repeatedly stabbed his wife to death', Dr Andrew Johns said. 'At the same time, he bludgeoned the housemaid, Mary Rogerson, as she had witnessed the event. 'Fifteen days later, the multiple, mutilated remains of the two bodies were found under a bridge near Moffat, Scotland. 'Autopsies confirmed that the bodies had been brutalised. The eyes, ears, lips, teeth and fingernails of the victims were clinically excised to make identification difficult.' 'There are parallels to Jack the Ripper here', Dr Harry Brujnes commented. 'Ruxton didn't just murder, he clinically and surgically dissected. He was clearly somebody with extensive anatomical knowledge. 'It's a horrific thought: one day, this woman is your wife and the next, you are cutting out her eyes.' Police already knew Ruxton well - he had made repeated tearful visits to the station, ranting about his wife's alleged affairs, claiming she had run-off with a lover. A speculative search of Ruxton's home revealed damning evidence - bloodstains on the stairs, in the bathroom, and throughout the house. He was arrested immediately. However, the bodies still couldn't be identified due to the doctor's surgical precision - threatening to derail any potential prosecution. Investigators employed the novel strategy of X-raying the skull of one of the bodies and superimposing it on a photograph of Isabella to confirm a match. The Ruxton case pioneered what is now known as forensic anthropology in criminal investigations. Dr Andrew Johns explained what happened next: 'The Trial opened in March 1936 at Manchester High Court – the prosecution called numerous witnesses to support the case that inflamed by jealousy, Ruxton had committed two murders. 'The sole witness to testify on behalf of the defence was Ruxton himself. He conducted himself poorly on the stand, prone to hysterical sobbing and rambling statements. 'The jury would deliberate for just one hour before returning a guilty verdict. 'Despite a petition from Lancaster residents containing 10,000 signatures, which urged clemency for Ruxton – he was hanged at Her Majesty's Prison, Manchester.' The skulls of Isabella and Mary were the recent subject of a BBC appeal by Edinburgh University, who are seeking relatives of the women to finally lay their remains to rest. To hear more horrifying detail about the Ruxton case, search for The Psychology of a Serial Killer. Out now, wherever you get your podcasts.
