Britain's Coldest Murder Case

Summary

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After Dark: Myths, Misdeeds & the Paranormal

Episode Summary: Britain's Coldest Murder Case (October 20, 2025)

Main Theme & Purpose

In this episode, hosts Anthony Delaney and Maddy Pelling delve into the infamous 18th-century “cold case” of Daniel Clark’s murder in Knaresborough, Yorkshire, and the enigmatic figure of Eugene Aram—the schoolmaster-turned-scholar who would inspire Victorian literary villains. Through witty banter and sharp historical insight, the duo reconstructs the crime, its decades-later investigation, and the ambiguous legacy of guilt, myth, and fascination that followed.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Setting the Stage: 1744 Knaresborough, Yorkshire

• Disappearance of Daniel Clark:
  • Daniel Clark, a newly married shoemaker, vanishes without a trace in 1744. (01:47)
  • Despite minor debts and efforts to climb the social ladder, there’s “no reason for him to be disappearing.” (09:30 – A)
• Town and Local Color:
  • Rich descriptions of Knaresborough, with its “aqueduct, the River Nidd, Mother Shipton’s cave, and St. Robert’s Cave”—the latter soon to be central to the story. (05:35–07:45)

2. Suspects and Relationships

• Eugene Aram:
  • Local schoolmaster, self-taught polyglot, and “the Victorian prototype for the scholar murderer.” (01:47–10:00)
  • Deeply in debt; described by Maddy as “the kind of person I would fancy—intellectually gifted but mysterious.” (09:53)
• Anna (Eugene’s wife):
  • Left behind when Eugene flees his creditors; harbors resentment and becomes a key witness.
• Richard Houseman:
  • Local laborer and drinking companion to both Eugene and Clark; claims by Anna to be involved.

3. The Investigation Unfolds

• Clark’s Possessions Surface:
  • When collectors come to arrest Eugene for debt, they find items belonging to missing Daniel Clark in his possession. (12:27)
• Eugene Fleeing:
  • He absconds to London and then to King's Lynn in Norfolk, living under his own name as a schoolmaster and writing a lexicon—“learns three more languages” in hiding. (14:13-15:15)

4. Cold Case Ignites: Discovery in 1758

• Skeleton Found in a Field:
  • Fourteen years later, a farmer’s plowing uncovers human remains near Knaresborough. The community presumes it’s Clark. (19:34–22:23)
• Anna’s Testimony:
  • Anna claims that Clark, Eugene, and Houseman were together at her home the night Clark vanished—and that she overheard them burning clothes and plotting murder. (23:48)
    • “And then I heard them discussing whether they were going to kill me as well.” (24:24 – B)
• Houseman’s Confession and Revelation:
  • Houseman, accused by townspeople, cryptically insists, “This is no more the body of Daniel Clark than it is mine.” (25:02)
  • Under pressure, he reveals the real body is hidden in St. Robert’s Cave (“Bob’s cave”), where a second skeleton is found. (26:15)

5. The Trial of Eugene Aram

• Eugene Apprehended:
  • Tracked down at King’s Lynn Grammar School and returned to York for trial. (27:23)
• His Defense:
  • Aram eloquently argues that the discovery of skeletons is not extraordinary, given the burial history of the land:
    • “My Lord, almost every place conceals such remains… In fields, in hills, in highway, sides, in commons lie frequent and unsuspected bones. My lord, must some of the living be made answerable for all the bones that earth has concealed and chance exposed?” (31:44 – Quoted by Anthony, in questionable Yorkshire/Lancashire accent)
  • The judge deems this “ingenious,” but the jury is not persuaded. (32:28–33:01)

6. Aftermath & Enduring Mysteries

• Eugene’s Fate:
  • Found guilty, Eugene attempts to take his own life on the eve of execution but is thwarted; hanged in York August 16, 1759. (33:04)
  • (Posthumously) confesses to the murder but justifies it by accusing Clark of having an affair with his wife. (34:20)
  • Eugene’s head allegedly preserved and displayed in King’s Lynn Museum. (34:28)
  • “What’s haunting is that even Aram’s confession leaves the case open to question: was he really guilty, or was the romantic figure he became a product of his own mythmaking?” (36:51–37:04)

7. Legacy: From True Crime to Legend

• Victorian Melodrama:
  • Eugene Aram becomes a symbol: “the Byronic scholar, too clever for his dusty town, haunted by dark deeds—a precursor to Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.” (35:08–36:06)
  • Daniel Clark, the victim, is largely forgotten in later retellings.
  • Literary works “The Dream of Eugene Aram” (1831) and others mythologize his story.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On skeletons in the British countryside:
  • “It just makes you think about that British landscape in this moment and how dangerous and visceral and haunted it was, actually.” (21:14 – B)
• Maddy, on Anna’s testimony:
  • “Anna, don’t overkill here... Why would your husband suddenly murder you?” (24:25 – B)
• Deflection and irony:
  • “Recently, on the grounds of an MP’s house in Nesborough, six skeletons were found, and nobody’s accusing him of mass murder.” (31:09 – B reporting Aram's defense)
• Jury’s succinct response:
  • “Ingenious—it may be, but not that ingenious: Guilty.” (33:01 – A and B)
• On the story’s transformation:
  • “What’s really interesting is that Daniel Clark isn’t the hero as the wronged party…Eugene himself becomes this kind of troubled Byronic hero…” (35:08 – B)

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Timestamps for Important Segments

• [01:47] Introduction to the case, Daniel Clark’s disappearance
• [05:35–07:45] Knaresborough setting, significance of the caves
• [09:53–11:44] Introducing Eugene Aram, his debts and background
• [12:27] Discovery of Clark’s possessions in Aram’s home
• [14:13–15:15] Eugene on the run and his scholarly activities
• [19:34–22:23] Skeleton found in farmer’s field, village speculation
• [23:48–24:31] Anna’s 14-years-later testimony and charges
• [25:02–26:36] Houseman’s confession, revelation of St. Robert's Cave
• [27:23–28:10] Eugene’s arrest in King's Lynn and return to Yorkshire
• [31:44–32:28] Eugene’s famous trial defense quote
• [33:04–34:28] Execution and posthumous details
• [35:08–36:06] Victorian literary legacy
• [36:51–37:26] Final reflections on Aram’s guilt and unresolved mysteries

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Tone, Banter, and Engagement

The episode blends sharp historical analysis with entertaining conversational humor—frequent asides about travel, hypothetical attraction to suspects (“the most important poll: who would Anthony fancy?”), and Anthony’s infamously botched Yorkshire accent. The hosts infuse empathy and skepticism into retelling, especially around Anna’s late-emerging accusations and Eugene’s dramatic defense. Their concluding discussion acknowledges the case’s ambiguities and eerie resonance: bodies in the landscape, justice delayed, and the power of myth to redefine villain and victim alike.

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Closing Thoughts

Anthony and Maddy encourage listener engagement:

• “Go on and tell us—do you think Eugene Aram is a guilty man or just this kind of weird Machiavellian character? And most importantly, tell us which one you would have fancied.” (37:54 – A & B)

The story, equal parts murder mystery and meditation on how history becomes legend, remains “Broadchurch for the 18th century—but with more headless scholars.”

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[End of Summary]

Transcript

[A]

Hi, we're your hosts Anthony Delaney and Maddy Pelling. And if you would like After Dark Myths, Misdeeds and the Paranormal ad free and get early access, Sign up to.

[B]

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[A]

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[B]

People.

[A]

In 1744, in a sleepy market town in North Yorkshire, a respected and newly married shoemaker by the name of Daniel Clark suddenly vanishes. Gone. Simply declared missing. For the next 14 years, the case was cold. Then an unsuspecting farmer unearths a human skeleton. Just like that, the investigation was back on, and the finger of blame landed on the most unlikely suspect. Today we are exploring the life and crime of Eugene Arum, the man who would become the Victorian prototype for the scholar murderer, paving the way for literary villains like Dr. Jekyll. This is after dark, and here is the most infamous cold case in British history.

[B]

It's the summer of 1758 in God's own country of Yorkshire, and a farmer is digging down into the earth. He pauses in the heat of the day, wiping his brow in the hedgerows behind him, the white yarrow flowers and yellow ragworts dance in the summer wind. He turns back to digging. And it's then, in the middle of this bright day, that the land reveals a dark secret. Bones, human bones. A skeleton still joined by ligaments, bent in on itself as if forced into a narrow grave. On that warm summer day, the coldest of cold cases is about to catch fire.

[A]

Hello and welcome to After Dark.

[B]

I'm Anthony and I'm too busy taking a sip of tea, but she's Maddie.

[A]

And for some reason I'm very upbeat today because we're back and we're doing some true crime history. This is one of the earliest true crime cases that we've covered. And you should go back and listen to one of our favourites, Sarah Malcolm. Very early on in After Dark, of course.

[B]

Oh, fantastic. That's like After Dark lore. That is.

[A]

If you've heard that one, After Dark, day one, you're a proper fan. However, Dick Turpin, I do not remember, but it says in my notes that he's in there.

[B]

Yes, and before we came on saying that we need more hot high women in our lives.

[A]

Hot highwaymen. Anyway, this. I could barely say it once. This is a cold case story, which we've not actually really done before. We like to have answers or solutions at the end of our cases. So this is an interesting one for us. It is also potentially a really confusing one because we've got two timelines going on. We've got the story of Daniel Clark, which Mattie's going to tell us when he goes missing in 1744.

[B]

Spoilers.

[A]

Well, here we go. And then we're also looking at 14 years further down the line in 1758. Thank you. It's in my notes when the mystery is finally solved and the skeletons. Yes, more than one, Are dug up and a murder is noted and then there are arrests. So this then turns out to be a closed case. But is it actually a closed case? Maddie, give us the bare bones of the case. Oh, my God, I winked at the camera. Cut that or leave it in. Whichever, but leave that in terrible. Okay.

[B]

That will be the opening shot of every video we ever do. If you watch on YouTub, if you didn't before you got to now. Do you know what? I think you've just given the bare bones, essentially. So we are in the. We're beginning the story in the 1740s and 50s. We're in Knaresborough in Yorkshire. Have you ever been to Knaresborough?

[A]

Sure, why not? I have no idea.

[B]

You know Yorkshire really well, not Knaresborough.

[A]

I don't, but I could have been there.

[B]

It's got a huge. I wanna say Aqueduct viaduct. I'm thinking it's an aqueduct. I think the canal goes over it. There's the River Nidd that goes through it.

[A]

I haven't been there.

[B]

It's beautiful. We did a whole episode on Mother Shipton's cave.

[A]

Oh, yeah.

[B]

Do you remember her? The property?

[A]

I've seen the signs for it. Yeah.

[B]

Yeah. And the cave water, all the mineral, turn things to what looks like stone and people hang things they still do, like teddy bears and shoes and they turn to stone. Haven't been there, but yeah, it's a really magical place. So Daniel Clarke, Murder in Yorkshire. So we're in the 1740s and 50s. This is the age of enlightenment that you and I are always banging on about. The rise of the Jacobites is taking place in this period. 1745.

[A]

Your favorite TV show, Outlander. Is it your favorite TV show?

[B]

Yes.

[A]

Okay.

[B]

And I know it's flawed, I know that.

[A]

I don't know if it is because.

[B]

Sometimes inaccurate, but I don't care. It's wonderful. It's sexy.

[A]

It's got lovely people in it.

[B]

Yeah, yeah, it really has. We've got the 1745-6 uprising that culminates in the Battle of Culloden. Ever heard of it? We have the Seven Years War happening 1756 to 1763, which is the French Indian War. There's loads going on, basically. There's loads of fighting. This is a time of violence, but it's a time of smaller scale violence in the small town of Knaresborough. So this is a rural town in North Yorkshire. It's not far from Harrogate.

[A]

Oh, I know Harrogate.

[B]

Yeah. Yeah, I've been there.

[A]

Stayed in a terrible hotel there once.

[B]

Oh, shout out to the terrible hotels of Harrogate. It's a very Victorian, Edwardian place, Harrogate, whereas Knaresborough is not. Nesborough is a much older. Has a much older feel to it.

[A]

Okay. Yeah, I need to go there then.

[B]

I can't believe you haven't been. I feel like you'd love it. Okay, so as we've established, we have Mother Shipton's Cave. That is not the only cave, although I will say it is the oldest tourist attraction supposedly in England. And it was charging. It was charging. The cave was not charging people in charge of the cave. Were charging people to go into it since 1630.

[A]

Mother Shifton's Cave Yeah, yeah. Oh, wow.

[B]

So there's that one. There is also, and this is important for our story, so there will be a test. Listen, another cave. Yes, listen please. There's another cave called St. Robert's Cave. Now, St. Robert is not an officially canonized saint.

[A]

Saint. Right. Is one of those.

[B]

But he was. Yeah, one of those sort of local people who everyone loved. He was a holy man. Hermit, which. Good for him, I guess. I always think that'd be so boring.

[A]

People just did it for the crack like they were especially in the 18th century. But this is not an 18th century hermit, obviously.

[B]

No, this is a much. So 12th century. He was born around 1160 and he was kind of famous for healing people. The cave became associated with healing, with health. With the good old Bob. Yeah, exactly.

[A]

Yeah, same Bob. Now, Bob is one person that we're talking about, but we probably won't mention him again.

[B]

Spoiler alert. He's not the murderer in this story.

[A]

But Bob is not who we're here to talk about. We're here to talk about Daniel Clark. We're in 1744, not 12 anything. So who is Daniel Clark?

[B]

Okay, so Daniel Clark is a youngish man, he's recently married. He's a shoemaker and a businessman in Knaresborough.

[A]

Would I fancy him? I have a feeling I might.

[B]

I think based purely on the name. Yes.

[A]

And the shoe for some reason. Shoemaker.

[B]

Oh my God, you would. That's your perfect husband. Sorry, Shane Shoemaker. I can just see you swinging your little feet.

[A]

My feet are quite big.

[B]

Okay, fine. Swinging your feet are there?

[F]

Yeah.

[A]

My dad's 13.

[B]

No.

[D]

Yeah.

[A]

Anyway, sorry, we digress.

[B]

Wow, humble brag there about my dad's feet.

[A]

That's niche.

[B]

Okay, moving.

[A]

Go on. Daniel. Daniel Clark.

[B]

Okay, so he has married well and he's recently come into some money through his marriage and he started to buy up the kind of accoutrements of the 18th century that you do if you want to seem more middle class. So he's buying things like silverware, he's buying jewellery. But he is outliving his means fairly quickly. Remember, he is only a shoemaker as much as you might fancy him. And being married to someone of that trade, he's not earning a huge amount of money. And pretty soon he is buying a lot of this fancy stuff on credit. And then in 1744 he. He disappears.

[A]

Okay, so we have somebody who is maybe getting themselves into a little bit of debt or quite a bit of debt, but you know, there's no reason for him to be Disappearing.

[B]

Like as we say, he's married, like newly married as well.

[A]

Got a trade.

[B]

There's every reason in his life to be cheery and hopeful.

[A]

Then we have another name which I would like you to extrapolate on. And this name is Eugene Aram.

[B]

Now I hate myself for this, but I would fancy this guy.

[A]

Okay, go on.

[B]

Oh, God. Okay, so he.

[A]

From now on, we need episodes where at least one of us is attracted to somebody in the story.

[B]

If we're not, we don't care. Only write in with histories of people we would fancy. Okay, so he's the schoolmaster in Knaresborough. He is a self taught scholar of languages and ancient histories. He's very intellectually gifted. But do we trust him? Apparently I don't care.

[A]

I'm imagining a Ben Whishaw type.

[B]

Yeah, straight Ben Whishaw. Straight Ben Whishaw, yeah. Ben Whishaw's very attractive, but wouldn't find me attractive. So we want a straight Ben Whishaw. He's born in poverty, interestingly, and he teaches himself Greek, Latin, Arabic, Celtic languages, Hebrew and French and more languages later down the line as well. So he's very, very gifted. He's very clever. He spent time in London as part of his education before returning to the north where he was born to become this teacher. So he's kind of like a local boy made good, right? Like he's really gone and made something of himself. He is married as well, and he's described as being married, unfortunately, which that poor woman. I know, I think the inference there is that he got her pregnant and that's why they're married. So it's not particularly happy relationship. And we're gonna hear from his wife in this story because she's not a fan of Eugene.

[A]

Oh, she's not Eugene?

[B]

No, she. I mean, he doesn't treat her particularly well, but like, she's not a fan. Now Eugene, unlike Daniel Clarke, is in serious debt.

[A]

Oh, so more debt now.

[B]

Yeah, so this is. No, it's not Daniel Clark's debt. This is Eugene's debt.

[A]

No, I know, but they both have debt.

[B]

Everyone's got debts the 18th century. But he is in serious debt because he's too busy learning Hebrew or something to actually earn an income. Now Eugene is getting into really serious debt and his arrest is imminent. Now, before he's arrested, Clark does disappear. And this is a really key.

[A]

Are these two people in any way connected that we know at this point in the story?

[B]

We know that they knew each other and they potentially spent some Time together.

[A]

Okay.

[B]

A schoolmaster and a shoemaker. I mean, they're sort of. Obviously, one is much more well educated than the other, but they kind of sit, I guess, in a similar strata of society. Yeah. Broadly speaking, it wouldn't be unusual for them to be friends. And they're similar age, et cetera, et cetera, in what is a small town. So they would definitely have known each other. So Clarke disappears. Daniel Clark. Now people come to arrest Eugene Aram for his debt. They go to his house, they burst in and they're like, pay us the money. He says he doesn't have it. So they're like, okay, we're gonna take your belongings then. You know, as debt collectors do, when they go to take his belongings, they notice he has a lot of the stuff that was previously in Daniel Clark's house.

[F]

Ew.

[B]

Yeah, but that doesn't necessarily mean that a crime has been committed.

[A]

No, but it's weird.

[B]

It's certainly weird.

[D]

Yeah.

[B]

Yeah. People are suspicious, obviously. Everyone's talking about the disappearance of Daniel Clarke. Where's he gone? Who's gonna clothe our feet from now on? Who is Anthony going to fancy? This is a disappear.

[A]

Who is Anthony going to fancy?

[B]

Can I just say, that would be the best TV show just to the set. Who in this tiny North Yorkshire town in the 18th century is Anthony going to fancy?

[A]

Like, not him. No, get off next one.

[B]

Oh, my God. There'd be like three people. That'd be it.

[A]

Yeah. I'm very picky.

[B]

You are. I feel like you are very picky. Yeah. Yeah.

[A]

Are you not? No, I said, are you not? I didn't say you're not. I said, are you not just free?

[B]

Free and willing? No, I am, but I have. I don't even have a type. It's just weird. I'll just suddenly be attracted to someone. I'm like, oh, that was a surprise.

[A]

Oh, now when I'm married.

[B]

Y.

[A]

Okay, sorry.

[B]

Yes, Eugene. That is what happened. Okay, so what happens next in the story that we are focusing on?

[A]

Yes. So Eugene. Okay, Daniel's gone missing. Eugene's arrested for debt. When they go in to arrest Eugene, there's stuff in his house that they're like, this belongs to Daniel or did belong to.

[B]

Before they can take him into custody, he flees. He flees the town and he leaves behind his wife. So his wife Anna, her name is. She's left behind and she is fuming.

[A]

Yeah, fair enough.

[B]

Yeah. Because he's the source of income. He has married her after getting her pregnant. Like, she didn't necessarily. That wasn't her first choice of life, but that's the circumstances they both found themselves in. And now he's liked it, basically. So he goes back to London initially, then he goes to Norfolk. Have you ever been to Norfolk?

[A]

No.

[B]

Norfolk's lovely. The North Norfolk coast, beautiful.

[A]

This podcast is turning into places in the UK where Anthony has not been.

[B]

Yeah, that's fine. No, it seems. It's nice. Although saying North Norfolk just makes me think of Alan Partridge. So let's not do that. I love this. This is a note in. In the script here that during this time when he's on the run, he teaches himself three more languages. I love that for him, though, like, priorities.

[A]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. People want me in jail. I want to learn more languages.

[B]

I just need to speak more languages, which are going to come really helpful in mid 18th century rural Norfolk. I'm going to meet so many people that I can converse with in these different languages. By 1750, he settled in King's Lynn, which is a Norfolk pork chop. Pork town. No.

[A]

I was like, what the hell is a pork town? And do I need to move there? No, cut that. Do not use that. Right, go again.

[B]

I'm crying now. God's sake. Okay, so around 1750, he settles in Norfolk in the port town of King's Lynn, and just becomes a grammar school teacher again. So, I mean, inevitably, that's his trade. He has all that education. He's learned three more languages.

[A]

Not hiding, though, in a way. I mean, obviously he's away from Naresborough, but, like, they come ask, he's gonna be clear where he is.

[B]

Yeah, exactly. But he manages, for the time being, to live a relatively respectable life. He writes a book called A Comparative Lexicon of European Languages, which.

[A]

Same. Yeah. Not a ton of time. You fancy him less now.

[B]

I fancy him less for that. I can just imagine. Can you imagine, like, being married to him? And he's like, you know, how was your day? And you're like, oh, yeah, it was good. Do this. And I'm like, how's your day? And, oh, my God, I just realized as I'm saying this that this is my husband Max life when he comes home, and he's like, what have you done to say. And I'm like, well, I wrote this one paragraph about this really spec. In the 18th century. And he's like, kill me now. But, you know, he's kind of living the life of a scholar. He has this respectable job. And you could imagine in this period without technology to trace people, without you know, any kind of real ability to know where he's gone, that he could potentially get away with just living there, being this schoolmaster. He could live out the rest of his days in Kingsland.

[A]

He's gone to King's Lynn. Do you know what I mean? Like that nobody knows.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

You might as well search every town in England to find him. So it's, you know, it could be effective.

[B]

Exactly. But it is not going to be the end of the story. He is not going to get away with whatever he has or hasn't done. Because remember, we don't know if that.

[A]

Was the end of the story. This would have been one of the worst episodes we'd have ever done.

[B]

Yeah, man. Learnt three more languages and lives in North. Great.

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[B]

Okay, so. And now we're jumping to 1758, which used to be.

[A]

Oh, so this was the jump then, right?

[B]

Yeah, was 14 years later. Yes. Yes.

[A]

And it is. Still is.

[B]

Congratulations to me. We're back in North Yorkshire again. We're in Knaresborough. It's 1758 now, and a farmer is digging stones up in his field because you don't want big stones in your field because you need to be able to plow and they get in the way. You're looking at me as someone from rural island, like, bitch, I know this from emotion.

[A]

No, no, I really don't know this at all. But yes, I'm just fasting.

[B]

Your family have animals and stuff, don't they?

[A]

Well, they. It used to, like a generation ago. Yeah, but not on both sides. But not now.

[B]

Oh, okay. Yeah. Would you. Do you ever fancy being a farmer?

[A]

Like in a Instagram type of way, but not in an actual hard graph?

[B]

You'd be like on tick tock in the tractor. Hi, guys.

[A]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. No, I.

[B]

Come with me while I do this.

[A]

Aesthetics. Yes.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Reality of getting up at 5:00am Absolutely not. No.

[B]

Yeah, I'd be like a late rise. My farm would have, like a different schedule. I'd just train all the animals together, like 10:00am yeah, all the cows would be like. I mean, to eat milk tonight at midday and not by you.

[A]

Somebody else.

[B]

Oh, gotcha. Absolutely. Yeah, yeah, yes. Aesthetics only. Okay, so this farmer is digging stones in his field and he finds. Drumroll. A human skeleton.

[A]

So this is our. The first of more than one skeleton. I actually don't know how many we're about to encounter, but this is the first of more than one.

[B]

Yeah, well, we're gonna have two in this story, but this is the first one.

[A]

Back in Knaresborough getting ready to plow and he gets up a skeleton.

[B]

He gets up a skeleton. Is it Daniel Clarke?

[A]

I don't know. You're in charge of this episode. Is it?

[B]

Well, it could be, but it also might be anyone else from the whole of history, because there's not really a way of telling, period.

[A]

But it's a skeleton. At least we know there's no. Like, see, is there gonna be clothes on this skeleton? Cause if there is, then that help. Dated, but okay.

[B]

I don't think there is. I think it's just. There's nothing recorded to say that there are any clothes or anything like that. And it's. You know, this is 14 years later. So whoever this person is, whether it's male or female, we don't know, has decomposed enough at this point. Or maybe has been in the ground for two centuries at this point. We just don't know. But this raises an interesting point for me, which I'm so obsessed with, and at some point, I'd love to write, I don't know, like, a series of short stories. There's not enough for a book here, but something about people. It's a really grim topic, but people who are buried in the landscape that we just don't know about across history. You think about, you know, folk songs from the 18th and 19th centuries talk so much about the murder of women in particular, and then being buried by lovers who've murdered them in hedgerows on the edge of fields, that kind of thing, in unmarked graves. And we're gonna get this a lot in this story. And it just makes you think about that British landscape in this moment and how dangerous and visceral and haunted it was, actually. Yeah.

[A]

So I'm still not getting what this discovery of a skeleton has to do with anything we've talked about so far. Well, no. Cause it could be Daniel, but we don't know.

[B]

We don't know. But the people of Nesborough were like, oh, my God, it's Daniel Clarke.

[A]

Ah, I see. So whether it is him or not, they're like, he went miss, and now we found him.

[B]

Yeah, yeah. And they're like, he was definitely murdered by Eugene Aram because he liked it, and so therefore he must be guilty. And he did after.

[A]

This is how it's joining up, right?

[B]

Yeah. Yes, this is how it's joining up. So all the rumors are kind of swirling. Like, all this from 14 years ago has come back, and people are like, where did Eugene go? Do we know? Cut to Eugene's estranged wife, Anna, who's left behind unhappy.

[A]

Unhappy for 14 years.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Oh, God, she's got a 14 year old now.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Anyway, sorry, that was just more maths for me.

[B]

Congratulations. She comes forward and she says that she last saw Daniel Clarke 14 years ago at their house with Eugene in the early hours of the morning on the day he disappeared, which, by the way, was the 8th of February, 1744. So she just comes forward 14 years later after this skeleton's record. She's like, I'm gonna get my own book. Eugene, you bastard. You left me. So she says, not only was Daniel Clark in my house, but another man as well. Dun, dun, dun. And this man is called Richard Housman, and he is like another pal of this group of friends. Houseman is a laborer, and he has been seen repeatedly drinking with Eugene 14 years ago. So they're kind of friends. They'll go out for a drink together. Just men of a similar age in the community. Right. Who know each other. So Anna says that all three men were in her house that night, the night before Daniel disappears, and that all three of them go out around 3am but only Eugene and Houseman come back. Okay, so that's pretty condemning evidence. Don't know why she suddenly started to say this now, but she does.

[A]

It's condemning if we believe her. And as you say, 14 years of a gap. Why is she saying it now? And is it all very convenient that a skeleton's just been.

[B]

Yeah, yeah. Is she getting revenge, or is she, like, kind of spooked by the skeleton surfacing? And she's like, oh, God, I got to tell the truth. Now, she also says that when they got back to the house, they were burning some clothes in the fireplace.

[A]

So naked skeleton, then.

[B]

Naked skeleton. That answers your question. And then she also says, and this is where I'm like, anna, don't overkill here. She's like, and then I heard them discussing whether they were going to kill me as well.

[A]

Oh, she's lying.

[B]

Yeah. And it's like, anna, yeah, yeah, yeah. Like, just chill. Why would your husband suddenly murder you?

[A]

Too much detail.

[B]

Yeah, it's too much. So Richard Houseman still lives in this community. He's the only one. Cause, of course, Eugene's fled, Clarke's dead. So everyone, like, the town, goes around to Houseman's house, brandishing one of the leg bones of the skeleton from the field, and they're. This is Daniel Clark. What do you have to say? And he says something super weird. And, like, this is the beginning of people in the story saying really weird Stuff where you're like, that's not a normal reaction. He says, this is no more the body of Daniel Clark than it is mine.

[A]

No, see, I get it. I can imagine. It's kind of like, that's no more the body of Daniel Clark than it is mine. Put it in an Irish accent. It makes sense. Do you know what I mean?

[B]

Everything makes more sense in an Irish accent.

[A]

Even though he's not Irish.

[B]

Do you think it's, like, a slightly weird thing to say? Not like, I didn't kill him. That skeleton could be anyone. It's nothing to do with me. He's like, well, that's not his body. It's a bit like.

[A]

I think it sounds a bit sarcastic to me, where he's like, lads, come onto yourselves. There's no more his than it is mine. Now get back to your houses and get out of my door.

[B]

But.

[A]

Oh. Oh, shit.

[B]

Yeah. Okay. So he is taken for further questioning because people are like, we actually do need to find out what's happened here. Like, this is.

[A]

There is a dead body.

[F]

Yeah.

[B]

Like there is a skeleton. And he's put into questioning, and he actually confesses to being present. He says that Eugene did kill Daniel Clarke and that Richard Houseman was just stood there watching, was not involved, and was like, whoa, guys, let's stop doing this.

[A]

I hate when people kill each other.

[B]

Yeah. But he then says that that is not the skeleton from the field.

[A]

Amazing.

[B]

And people are like, okay, you've dug yourself one hole and now we're gonna.

[A]

Have to dig another one.

[B]

Yeah, like, what exactly? Oh, yeah. He's like, that's not the skeleton, because I know where the body is.

[A]

Oh, my God. That's amazing, actually.

[B]

Where is the body, Anthony?

[A]

Okay, so. Oh, Bob's cave.

[B]

Bob's cave. It's in Bob's cave. He's like, St. Robert's Cave. We need to go there. That is where the skeleton is. So the whole of Nesborough shuffle off to Bob's cave, and they find inside a skeleton.

[A]

So it's just been lying there for 14 years. Not really that concealed. Well, who knows? It could be quite exposed.

[B]

I mean, it could be, like, squished right at the back, couldn't it? You know, when you get, like, sort of earth deposits of, like, animal mess and things like caves always hold bones. Right? Like, some of the most ancient bones on the planet have come from caves. Right. So I think not to give any more tips out there, but was one to get rid of a body. I think a cave might be a good place to put it. Although it would preserve it for a long time. That's a good thing. But I feel like it holds its secrets quite well.

[A]

Secrets? Caves hold secrets quite well. That's a load. Okay, go on.

[B]

Oh, my God.

[A]

Right, so we have now two bodies, one of which in Bob's cave, we know is Daniel Clarke.

[B]

Yeah, we don't know who the other one is.

[A]

We don't know who the other one is. I don't know if anybody cares at this point because they know that Daniel's there. This is 14 years after the fact. They have Houseman. He's part of the local community. I presume now they're going to want Eugene.

[B]

Yes, they do. And they do track him to King's Lynn. Apparently it's easier than we thought.

[A]

They waited. They were like, God, we really need to find him. Yeah, where's the. Yeah, but wait till the body turns up.

[B]

Look on LinkedIn. Oh, he works at King's Lane Grammar School now. Let's get there. So some people did know that he was there. Maybe Anna knew. I don't know if she'd had contact with him. Like, it's a bit unclear, but a Yorkshire constable goes all the way down to King's Limb and arrests him in August 1758. My question is, is he arrested in front of his whole class? Because I love that as a scene stinger. Yeah. When you're just trying to be authoritative and telling some little kid off who's got snot going down his face and then it's like, oh, you've been arrested for me, bit awkward. And he's taken all the way back to York jail to await the assizes and his trial. Have you ever been to York Jail?

[A]

I have. Not inside, but outside.

[B]

Oh, it's really great. So for anyone who hasn't been, it's kind of in this day and age, it's a kind of courtyard and there's a sort of 18th century building with these two wings and one was the women's prison. There was a debtors prison personal anecdote. Sidebar. Once on a night out as a student in York, this is an interesting story that involves two very beautiful Swedish girls and an act of violence. So weird. Okay, buckle up. Yes. And I know we're running out of time, producer FREDDIE. But we're having this anecdote. Once on a night out, I'd been with a group of friends. All the boys of the group had befriended these two very beautiful Swedish girls. They were like ethereal beings who were seven foot tall. What they were doing in York, we don't know. They were gorgeous. They all went home together. Good for them. Fantastic. And I was walking home with my then boyfriend, now husband, and we were walking back, we were both a little bit drunk, and there was no one else around. We were walking past this exact point where the prison is. And you're looking at me like I'm gonna say a ghost thing, and it's absolutely not gonna be that. And it's also where the hangings would take place. And we walk past the exact spot where the hangings take place, and we hear this voice behind us, and there's this guy who's really, really, really drunk. And he starts trying to engage us in conversation. And we're like, no, sorry, mate, we're not interested. Whatever. And he gets increasingly annoyed. And then out of nowhere, he steps up to Matt and headbutts him in the face. Matt falls on the pavement. Stop it. Broken nose. He's unconscious for a second. This guy legs it. And I'm like, oh, my God, what's happening? So I phoned my friends who've gone off with the Swedish girls who were like, further down the road. And I'm like, oh, my God, Matt's just been headbutted in the face. This is terrible. Matt's like, semi unconscious at this point, like, on the floor. Anyway, the next thing he remembers is Wick coming to on the pavement with these two beautiful Swedish girls being like, are you okay? And he's like, yes, I'm fine.

[A]

And the name of the man who did the headbutting was Richard Housman. No, not really.

[B]

A police car came past and saw us all covered in blood. Stopped, took us to A and E. We waited there for seven hours, at which point we got bored. And because Matt was still drunk enough, he went to the toilet and snapped his own nose back into position. We stuck a tampon up it to stop the bleeding. And that was the end of that. And his nose still clicks to this day. And we never found the guy who headbutted him. So if you're out there, I will get you one day.

[A]

That's weird.

[B]

Yeah, that's. What a weird story. But it was in this exact spot that we're talking about. So there we go.

[A]

So on headbutt location, we are back up to Yorkshire. We're in York. He's being held in York Prison. And he being Eugene.

[B]

Him being Eugene? Yes. So he says, I didn't do it. It's nothing to do with me. Daniel Clark's just Disappeared. This is irrelevant. If Richard Housman says that's his skeleton, maybe you should be looking at Richard Housman as the killer. Like, it's nothing to do with me. My wife's lying. Richard Housman's lying. It's all nonsense. And he says also, he's like, well, you've got two skeletons, but they could be anyone's. Anyone. He's like, I think this is fascinating. He says, well, recently, on the grounds of an MP's house in Nesborough, six skeletons were found and nobody's accusing him of mass murder.

[A]

Basically. There's a shitload of skeletons everywhere.

[B]

Yeah. Which is so interesting. And it points to as well, just the rich archaeology of material.

[A]

Clever too. Right. It's like going, so you have a skeleton.

[B]

Yeah. And he's like that. He's got skeletons in the garden. It doesn't prove you can't identify who they are. Realistically, in this period. The skeletons have no clothes on them, no way to identify them because the clothes were burned. Of course, if you believe Richard Houseman's story. And this, I love this quote and I just think this is. This just really speaks to me and I'm gonna make you read it. So these are the words that Eugene Aram says at his trial to the judge. I just think they're so poetic and interesting.

[A]

Okay, I'm gonna do a Yorkshire accent. Oh, God. Oh, heck. My Lord. Almost every place conceals such remains. This has gone Lancashire already.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

In fields, in hills, in highway, sides, in commons lie frequent and unsuspected bones. My lor some of the living be made answerable for all the bones that earth has concealed and chance exposed. Lancashire. That's Lancashire.

[B]

Lancashire, you've crossed over the hills.

[A]

If anyone wants to cast me in anything with Sarah.

[B]

Lancashire set in Lancashire.

[A]

It's set in Lancashire then.

[B]

Perfect. Not anything in Yorkshire ever.

[A]

Apparently not.

[B]

Okay, well, you've absolutely butchered that. But I do.

[A]

Basically he's saying there are scans every. Scans everywhere.

[B]

This isn't fair. I just think that's such a clever defense. And so does the judge. He calls this ingenious. And, you know, I think this is again, like Eugene Aram, he's kind of.

[A]

He's a little bit Eugenius Aram.

[B]

Oh. He's kind of, you know, he's charismatic, he's intelligent, he's showing off all of his kind of book life.

[A]

I have a PhD and I just looked at you with glee in my eye and said, eugenius, you did look.

[B]

Really proud of yourself.

[A]

God, I Despair. Wait, so he says he's ingenious, but they still find him guilty?

[B]

Yes. So the jury are like ingenious.

[A]

It may be not that ingenious.

[B]

Guilty.

[A]

Okay.

[B]

So he is found guilty and he's condemned to death. I think this is really sad and probably quite common of the time. So he's due for execution on the 16th of August, 1759. And the night before in his cell, he gets hold of a straight razor and he opens his veins and does attempts to take his own life, but he is stopped, the bleeding is stopped and the next day he's hanged at York's Tyb, which was a little bit outside of the city. So later on the hanging is moved back to just outside the prison, which is the head putting location. But at this moment it was just slightly outside on the road leading out of York.

[A]

Past there?

[B]

Yeah, yeah. It's got like a little plaque and stuff. It's a classic thing to go and visit. Now he leaves some letters written in his cell before he goes off to the scaffold.

[A]

Eugene does.

[B]

Eugene does, yeah. Now in one of them, he says he did do the murder.

[A]

Oh, oh.

[B]

Which like, Eugene, we've been chasing you all over the country, mate. You've had time to learn all your different languages. Intelligent, resourceful and easy. Quick learner. Why has he not legged it somewhere more safe? Like, why has he just been chilling in Norfolk where people know where he is? He could have got away with this. It's just so frustrating to me. The other thing he says is that Daniel Clark, the reason why he killed him is because Daniel Clark was having an affair with Anna, his wife.

[A]

I was in my head going, there's something going on between Anna and Richard Houseman.

[B]

Yeah, well, maybe there was as well, right? I mean, she certainly didn't like her own husband, so.

[A]

No. But either way, he's dead.

[B]

He's dead. And an interesting fun little fact is that his head was preserved and I believe still is in King's Lynn Museum. So it makes its way all the way back to Norfolk.

[A]

Oh, so it's there now? Well, potentially, I guess.

[B]

So if you are part of Kingsland Museum, if you've been there recently and seen the head, let us know, please. It must be in the collection still. I guess.

[A]

So we said this has two different timelines. We said we had 1744, we had 1758, but then there's this resurgence on a third timeline in the Victorian era. And I can so imagine this, like, headlessness, you know, skeletons, skeletons in the mystical cave yeah, it's. So it lends all the things to Victoriana, doesn't it?

[B]

Yeah, it does. And as well, you've got this. What I think is interesting about the Victorian reiterations and it becomes this kind of like melodrama almost. And it is, you know, there are kind of epic poems written about him. I think there are plays as well, and there's one published in 1831, which is technically just before Victoria comes to the throne, but in the same decade called the Dream of Eugene Aram. And, you know, it's all kind of quite mystical stuff. What's really interesting is that Daniel Clark isn't the hero of this as the wronged party, the person who's killed, that Eugene himself becomes this kind of like, troubled Byronic hero who's like. Who's just too clever for this North Yorkshire provincial town. And, you know, he kind of came.

[A]

Across nobody more clever than Yorkshire people.

[B]

Exactly.

[F]

So don't fall for that.

[B]

Well, you are married to one, so you would say that I've lived there for a long time. And yes, I would say that is canny people. Yeah. Although you have offended all of them with the accent.

[A]

Oh, sorry about that. Yeah, yeah.

[B]

Or maybe it's just you've offended the people in Lancashire.

[A]

Yeah, probably that. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[B]

But yes, absolutely. He becomes this kind of interesting figure and there were kind of all these poems about him being, you know, when he's working away as the headmaster in King's Lynn, thinking he's got away with it, and he's like this tortured soul and he's doing this big thinking about all his intellectual pursuits, but also haunted by this crime that he's committed, and he becomes a kind of like Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde type thing, you know, he is a murderous monster on the one hand, but then this kind of scholar as well. So you can see where the Victorians take it up. But I think what's so interesting about this is, like, it is a cold case because, yes, he admits to the murder, but does that necessarily mean that he did do it? I mean, I think he probably did based on the evidence that we have. Right, but. But Richard Houseman also was clearly involved, which is interesting.

[A]

If he hadn't written that letter, I would have been like, he did not do this. But then he wrote a letter to say that he did not do it.

[B]

But then he also tried to take his life the same night, so who's to say what mental state he was in and what he was capable of admitting to? Or you Know how he was thinking clearly or whatever, or if it's like.

[A]

You know, in terms of his intelligence, if it's like a literary flourish, before he goes, he's like, I'll admit to this and I'll go down in history then as this kind of thing. I don't know, we're slightly romanticizing that as well, because that's very new.

[B]

He really lends himself to that. And also, who was the other skeleton in the field and who were the six skeletons in the MP's garden? Like, that's a scandal waiting to happen.

[A]

There are skeletons all over the place. But I do like that as a form of defense. It's very interesting, very poetic, actually. And in that sense, this is why we can see that he morphs into this other thing. If you enjoyed this episode, and why wouldn't you? And if. Well, in the comments on either our socials or on Spotify, where there's a comment section, which I've only discovered recently, by the way, and enjoying hearing all your comments, go on there and tell us if you think Eugene Aram is a guilty man or if he's just this kind of weird Machiavellian character.

[B]

And also tell us which one you would have fancied.

[A]

And also tell us which one you would have fancied. Most importantly, if you've enjoyed this episode, you can leave us a five star review wherever you get your podcasts.

[B]

And if you live in Lancashire or.

[A]

Yorkshire, we can only apologise mostly to the Lancashireans.

[B]

Lancastrians.

[A]

Lancastrians, that's the word.

[B]

Just stop. Just stop talking.

[A]

Okay. Thank you.

[D]

Its homecoming season at HBCUs when generations of alumni come together to celebrate black culture and community. State Farm honors the strength of those communities and legacy, pride and unstoppable energy of the HBCU family. That's why State Farm agents are committed to helping you choose the coverage you need so you can protect the things that matter most. And that's something to celebrate too. Like a good neighbor, State Farm is the head.

[B]

Hey, this is Sarah. Look, I'm standing out front of a.m. p.m. Right now and, well, you're sweet and all, but I found something more fulfilling, even kind of cheesy. But I like it. Sure, you met some of my dietary needs, but they've just got it all. So farewell. Oatmeal. So long, you strange soggy break up.

[D]

With bland breakfast and taste AM PM's bacon, egg and cheese biscuit made with K tree egg, smoked B bacon and melty cheese on a buttery biscuit Ampm. Too much good stuff.

[A]

And listen, we'll see you next time where I won't be doing accents.