Secrets Of Scotland Yard - Dr Ruxton Axe Killer

Summary

Podcast Summary: "Secrets Of Scotland Yard - Dr. Ruxton Axe Killer"

Podcast: Harold's Old Time Radio
Host: Harold's Old Time Radio
Episode Date: July 28, 2026

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Episode Overview

This gripping dramatization from the golden age of radio revisits the infamous 1935 case of Dr. Buck Ruxton—the so-called "Axe Killer"—whose clinical respectability masked chilling violence. Drawing listeners into both the domestic world of Ruxton’s household and the tireless criminal investigation that followed, the episode explores what drove a seemingly respectable doctor to murder his wife, Isabel, and their maid, Mary Rogerson, before dismembering the bodies in a desperate attempt to conceal his crimes. Using period dialogue, atmospheric soundscapes, and detailed forensic narrative, the episode reveals just how this gruesome case forever influenced criminal investigation practices at Scotland Yard.

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Key Discussion Points & Dramatic Narrative

1. Introduction: Crime and Human Fascination

• [00:44] – [01:25]
  The narrator contemplates why crime stories captivate the public, quoting Edmund Burke on the theatrics and psychology of criminal trials:

  "The annals of criminal jurisprudence exhibit human nature in a variety of positions at once the most striking, interesting and affecting. The real culprits, as original characters, stand forward on the canvas of humanity as prominent objects for our special study." (Narrator, 00:54)

2. Domestic Tensions in the Ruxton Household

• [02:35] – [07:00]
  Listeners enter Dr. Buck Ruxton’s Lancaster home. Seemingly gentle with patients, Ruxton displays growing mental instability, paranoia, and jealousy toward his wife.
  • Memorable moment: Ruxton’s inappropriate questioning and advances toward Mary Rogerson reveal predatory undertones and a deteriorating psyche.
  • Isabel and Mary discuss Ruxton’s escalating violence:

    "He's been going on like a madman since the surgery closed. He's been threatening to kill you. When he came back, I nearly went for the police. But I thought of the scandal." (Mary Rogerson, 06:58)

3. Discovery of Ruxton’s Secret Life

• [07:02] – [10:25]
  The two women, shaken by Ruxton's behavior, stumble upon love letters from India. Isabel grasps the full betrayal:

  "I'm not married to him. He's a bigamist and a terrorist." (Isabel, 10:17)

4. The Murders and Their Cover-up

• [10:25] – [11:25]
  The violence crescendos as Ruxton murders Isabel and Mary in a fit of rage and paranoia, depicted in chilling dialogue and abrupt sound design.

  "You’ve done it. I knew you’d do it. You’ve killed her. He’s dead." (Mary Rogerson, 10:43) "One little pain and it will be over. I know where to use the knife. I'll make it quick for you, Mary." (Dr. Buck Ruxton, 11:23)

5. Police Investigation and Forensics

• [12:10] – [17:04]
  The scene shifts to the investigation:

  • Discovered human remains shock the Moffat community.

  • Forensic methods, including wrapping material and newspaper tracings, are pivotal in dating and localizing the crime.

    "We've discovered 30 parcels so far, Inspector. And a dreadful job it's been... they're hacked to pieces, sir." (Sergeant, 15:44)

  • Investigators link the victims to Lancaster through a limited-edition newspaper:

    "All the shreds of newspapers which had been found... had been sent along to their appropriate publishers. And at last, the first real clue was furnished..." (Narrator, 17:04)

6. Ruxton’s Attempts to Evade Suspicion

• [18:06] – [21:43]
  Ruxton fabricates stories to deceive locals and authorities, including claims that his wife and maid have gone on holiday:

  "My wife and Mary have gone away on a holiday to Edinburgh and I am taking the children to Morecambe." (Dr. Buck Ruxton, 19:18)

  • Ruxton seeks police protection, protesting wild rumors:

    "They are saying that I know all about the Moffat bodies... The publicity is ruining my practice... You must help me to find my wife." (Dr. Buck Ruxton, 21:35)

7. Breakthrough and Confession

• [22:12] – [24:39]

  • Forensics reconstruct the bodies for identification, and Ruxton grows desperate under scrutiny.

    "Look at this, Inspector Green. Look at it... Somebody will be putting a dead body on my doorstep soon and I shall be accused of killing it." (Dr. Buck Ruxton, 23:10)

  • The critical evidence: letters from Ruxton’s legal wife in India.

  • Ultimately, Ruxton is arrested, remanded, and tried for both murders.

8. Trial and Execution

• [24:39] – [26:34]

  • The judge’s summing up emphasizes the gravity and clarity of the evidence:

    “If in your opinion there is any doubt in this case, the prisoner must have the benefit of that doubt. But if there is no doubt, then your verdict must be equally clear and justice must be done.” (Mr. Justice Singleton, 24:39)

  • Ruxton is found guilty, executed, and his confession is released posthumously:

    "I killed Mrs. Ruxton in a fit of temper. I thought she'd been with a man. Mary Rogerson was present at the time. I had to kill her." (Narrator reading confession, 26:07)

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Notable Quotes

• On the fascination with crime:

  "What is the psychological urge that holds us to the crime columns of our daily papers?" (Narrator, 00:44)

• On forensic diligence:

  "Artificial teeth were made and fitted to secure an indication of what the mouths had looked like in life... In all, 20 sets of 250 pictures were completed." (Narrator, 22:34)

• On Ruxton's unraveling:

  "He wept and protested his innocence. At the moment the square piece of black cloth was placed on the head of Mr. Justice Singleton, he became still and composed as the judge concluded the formal sentence." (Narrator, 25:06)

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Highlighted Timestamps

• 00:44–01:25: Introduction to the psychology of murder trials
• 05:08: Isabel forgives Ruxton after a dramatic outburst
• 06:54–10:25: Discovery of Ruxton's bigamy and unraveling marriage
• 10:25–11:25: The murders and their immediate aftermath
• 15:44: Police discover and begin to catalog human remains
• 19:18–21:43: Ruxton’s attempts to mislead the community and police
• 23:06: Ruxton’s desperate confrontation with Inspector Green
• 24:39: Judge’s address to the jury and sentencing
• 26:07: The posthumous confession

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Tone and Style

The episode blends dramatic re-enactment with fact-filled narration, maintaining a serious, suspenseful tone throughout. Authentic period dialogue and meticulous procedural detail immerse listeners in the investigative milieu of 1930s Britain, illustrating both the horror of the crime and its significance for forensic science and justice.

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Summary for New Listeners

For those unfamiliar with the Dr. Ruxton case or classic true crime radio, this episode provides a vivid, immersive experience of one of Britain's most significant murder investigations. With its forensic sophistication, psychological depth, and period atmosphere, it demonstrates both the progress and pathos of early criminal detection, leaving listeners with haunting questions about human nature, justice, and tragedy.

Transcript

[Narrator]

All new drinks are now at McDonald's with refreshers like the strawberry watermelon refresher and the mango pineapple refresher with popping boba to crafted sodas like the sprite berry blast with berry flavors and cold foam. Who knew ice cold drinks could be so fire six? All new drinks are here now at McDonald's.

[Dr. Buck Ruxton]

Refreshers contain caffeine.

[Inspector Green]

How do you do?

[Narrator]

I've been asking myself why it is that criminal trials grip the imagination of the meekest law abiders among us. What is the psychological urge that holds us to the crime columns of our daily papers and send so many of us packing to the public seats at the law courts? It's quite a question, isn't it? Well, I've got an explanation for you. I'd like to read to you a few lines written by a great british statesman and political writer of the 18th century, Edmund Burke. This is what he says. The annals of criminal jurisprudence exhibit human nature in a variety of positions at once the most striking, interesting and affecting. The real culprits, as original characters stand forward on the canvas of humanity as prominent objects for our special study. How well that slightly antique phrase applies to the macabre figure of Dr. Buck Braxton who slew his english wife, lovely Isabel and Mary Rogerson, their servant and dissected their unfortunate remains into 200 all but unidentifiable parts. Women in the crowded gallery of the court grew faint and retired while expert witnesses gave evidence that was indisputable. And all the time the prisoner's written confession lay in a sealed envelope addressed to a Sunday newspaper and in the custody of a friend who had strict instructions that it was only to be opened in the event of his death. But let me take you back. Back to early September 1935. We shall go to the little English town of Lancaster. It's a pretty place. And at number two Dalton Square we find the well loved Dr. Ruxton at work in his surgery.

[Mary Rogerson]

Do you think the little chap will be all right now, doctor?

[Dr. Buck Ruxton]

He will be all right, Mrs. Davis. It was quite a simple operation, you know. But if he should be a little fretful when the anesthetic wears off, just give him one of these tablets crushed up in water.

[Mary Rogerson]

Thank you, doctor.

[Dr. Buck Ruxton]

You're. You're so kind. Now, you run along and look after yourself and try to get a good night's rest and keep the little lad quiet, won't you?

[Narrator]

Oh, of course.

[Mary Rogerson]

And thank you again. You're so patient with children.

[Dr. Buck Ruxton]

Not at all, my dear. Lady, Good night to you.

[Mary Rogerson]

Good night, Dr. Ruxton.

[Dr. Buck Ruxton]

I'll look into him in the morning. Isabel.

[Narrator]

Isabel.

[Mary Rogerson]

Madam's gone to bed, sir.

[Dr. Buck Ruxton]

Oh, it is you, Mary.

[Mary Rogerson]

She had Eddie and turned in early, sir.

[Dr. Buck Ruxton]

She did, did she?

[Mary Rogerson]

Yes, sir.

[Dr. Buck Ruxton]

You have a cigarette, Mary?

[Mary Rogerson]

No, thank you, sir.

[Dr. Buck Ruxton]

Nice stockings you are wearing. Sit down.

[Mary Rogerson]

No, thank you, sir. I'd rather stand.

[Dr. Buck Ruxton]

My wife went out this evening, didn't she?

[Mary Rogerson]

Yes.

[Dr. Buck Ruxton]

Where did she go?

[Mary Rogerson]

She went round to the dispenser for the children's medicine.

[Dr. Buck Ruxton]

You are lying, aren't you, Mary?

[Mary Rogerson]

I'm sure I don't know what you mean, sir.

[Dr. Buck Ruxton]

She has got a lover, hasn't she? And that is where she went this evening to see him. Why don't you be frank? I know all about it.

[Mary Rogerson]

I'm sure. You're old, sir.

[Dr. Buck Ruxton]

How old are you, my dear?

[Mary Rogerson]

I'm 20.

[Dr. Buck Ruxton]

You are a very pretty girl.

[Narrator]

Come here.

[Dr. Buck Ruxton]

I want to talk to you.

[Mary Rogerson]

Oh, no, no. What's this?

[Dr. Buck Ruxton]

So you are here.

[Mary Rogerson]

Yes. You may go, Mary. Yes, ma'. Am. And Sarah's all right. You may go. How dare you, Buck? I've warned you before about that girl. She's clean and decent. You wouldn't understand.

[Dr. Buck Ruxton]

I know she is in league with you. I was trying to make her tell me about your love affairs.

[Mary Rogerson]

Oh, you swine. Your mind's full of black shadows and filthy, horrible things. They exist only in your imagination. You're trying to make yourself believe that I'm unfaithful. But you know that I'm not.

[Dr. Buck Ruxton]

I know that you are. Isabel. Do you think I do not notice the sidelong glances you exchange with any man who happens to turn up? Of course. I see it every time we go out. You married me. It was an experiment, wasn't it, eh? And now you had enough. There is only one treatment for you. Isabelle, speak to me. Isabella, I am sorry. I am. I am not fit to live. Please forgive me.

[Mary Rogerson]

Of course I forgive you, Buck. I always do after these scenes.

[Dr. Buck Ruxton]

If only you would strike me or punish me for my wickedness. I. I love you so much.

[Mary Rogerson]

Mommy. Mommy. The children are awake. I'm scared of them.

[Narrator]

The complex story of Ruxton, that normal personality, was never revealed during the trial. He had an inferiority kink which he carried throughout his life. And did his poor unfortunate wife suffer for it? As an officer in the Royal Indian Medical Corps, he had associated with Englishmen on equal terms. On duty but off parade, he'd imagined himself to be the subject of persecution. He fought against this with amazing pertinacity. And made up his mind that he would carve out a career that the English would respect. It became an obsession. Come back with me to number two, Dalton Square, Lancaster, a few days later. 15th September. The time 1am.

[Mary Rogerson]

Is that you, ma'? Am? Oh. Oh, yes, Mary. You made me jump. Whatever are you doing up at this time? Shh. What's happened? It's him. He's been going on like a madman since the surgery closed. He's been threatening to kill you. When he came back, I nearly went for the police. But I thought of the scandal. Ma'. Am. Oh. Oh, poor Mary. Didn't do anything to you, did he? No. I locked myself in with the children. I'd have run away if it hadn't been for them.

[Dr. Buck Ruxton]

And you.

[Mary Rogerson]

Oh, my poor child. You must leave here in the morning. Isn't a fit place for you. Give me your hand. Your Trent. I'm not really afraid. It was the look in his eyes. There. There. You should sleep with me. The children are all right, are they? Yes. I've locked them in. Here's the key. Oh, this is dreadful. I don't know what to do. If only I didn't love him. I've tried to be a good wife to him. I've given him three lovely children. Oh, why don't you take him away? You've never seen him like he was tonight. Shouting that you were something terrible. Oh, man. I've managed him before and I shall manage him now. My husband, Mary. But you must go. I've had a bit of supper for you in the lounge. I don't think I can manage anything. But it's very sweet of you, dear. I think he's asleep now. I believe he took something. Yes, well, the illumination's nice in Blackpool. Yes, they were lovely. I met my sisters, Mrs. Nelson and Mrs. Madden, you know. We all went along the front. They wouldn't let me get away until half past eleven. And was the tower all lit up? Yes, it looked beautiful. Everyone was laughing and happy, walking along the front, 20 and 30 abreast. There was music everywhere. Oh, it was like going into a different world. You must go there tomorrow, Mary. I'll give you your fare. You must see it. It sounds wonderful. Would you like a cup of tea? Yes, I would. I suddenly realize that I have a bit of a headache. There any aspirins about? No, but I expect there's some in the doctor's surgery. I'll go and have a look. Mary, what's happened in here? The furnace is overturned. Drawers pulled out. Bottle smashed on the floor. It was him. I told you he'd been pretty bad. But he smashed the place up. Didn't it wake the children? Yes, that's when I went up to them. But look at his papers. They're everywhere. His casebook. He's torn it up. Mary, what are all these letters? They're from India. Shut the door, Mary. Yes, ma'. Am. Never knew he had letters from India. Look at postmarks. Some of them are quite recent. What's this? Ever. Dearest darling. I treasure any letter of yours, my dear, like jewels and pearls. And keep them under lock and key. People over here talk that you are leading a gay life in England. But I have complete confidence in you. And I know that you will keep your word to me until I die. I shall always think of the six happy months that I spent with you. With thousands of affections and kisses. Your ever loving wife. His wife? But I'm his wife. Oh, no, no. Oh, man. But letting the letters. Love letters. All of them from his wife in India. Oh, don't you realize what this means? I'm not married to him. He's a bigamist and a terrorist.

[Dr. Buck Ruxton]

So you'll come back to dirty. You'll let me get my hands on you, huh?

[Mary Rogerson]

You're a devil. You're not a man. You're a devil. I know all about you. You've got a wife in India. You're not fit to land. Well, am I? I'll kill you. I'll kill you. You've done it. I knew you'd do it. You've killed her. He's dead.

[Dr. Buck Ruxton]

Come here, Mary Rogerson. I liked you, but you sinned too much. It is a shame, isn't it? Mary? You cannot get away. I have got you cornered. You could have made door, but it is too late. Though. Do not cry. One little pain and it will be over. I know where to use the knife. I'll make it quick for you, Mary.

[Narrator]

He stands forward on the canvas of humanity for our specialty, special study. It's a little bit terrifying, isn't it? And it's real. But don't you think that perhaps the study of such a man as Ruxton. May have helped us to understand the awful possibilities of the human mind? It has certainly helped the scientists of Scotland Yard to keep careful tabs on known criminals who are suspected of similar mental complexes. Now, let us go back to September 29, 1935, just 14 days after the the crime in Lancaster. The place is the little town of Muffet, 63 miles from Edinburgh. The scene is the local police station.

[Inspector Green]

Very nice, too. Sergeant, if I may say so.

[Sergeant]

I was just looking in the book. I see old Maguire's reported the loss of a spool terrier. That'll be the one that bit Mrs. McPherson. Or I'm a Dutchman.

[Inspector Green]

Aye, and I'm a Dutchman. If I didn't hear Mr. McPherson's gun go off in McPherson's cowshed yesterday morning, I asked him what he was doing. I reckon I knew.

[Sergeant]

Now, did he have a gun license? I pity. I'm rather partial to bull terriers.

[Dr. Buck Ruxton]

Sergeant.

[Sergeant]

Hello. What's the.

[Dr. Buck Ruxton]

Sergeant, Quick, do me the bridge.

[Sergeant]

Take it easy. What's the trouble?

[Dr. Buck Ruxton]

My sister found it.

[Mary Rogerson]

And then she came to me.

[Dr. Buck Ruxton]

I had her look Navron all the way here.

[Narrator]

What is it, man?

[Dr. Buck Ruxton]

There's a parcel in the rav.

[Narrator]

And there's a human arm sticking out. Spanish report for information. CID just come in.

[Inspector Green]

All right, let me see it. Thank you.

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[Mary Rogerson]

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[Inspector Green]

Hmm. Muffet, eh? Four parcels containing human remains Found in ravine on Edinburgh Carlisle Road. Stop. Remains consist of two heads, good heads, two legs, two arms, two hands, several large pieces of flesh, four or five large bones and a number of smaller bones. Portions of a human trunk and the lower portions of two legs.

[Narrator]

Inspector Green of the CID lost no time in visiting the scene of this gruesome discovery.

[Sergeant]

We've discovered 30 parcels so far, Inspector. And a dreadful job it's been.

[Inspector Green]

Yes, I'm sure it has. You're sending them straight off to Professor Glaester as they come in, I take it?

[Sergeant]

That's right, sir. They're going straight up to the hospital in Edinburgh.

[Inspector Green]

I understand that the murderers made every effort to destroy all means of identifying his victims.

[Sergeant]

They are hacked to pieces, sir. But I understand the remains are probably those of a man and a woman.

[Inspector Green]

A man and a woman? Here. I see that one of the parcels was wrapped in a child's woolen rompers, another in an old green blouse, a quantity of cotton wool, a man's vest, some sheeting and a number of newspapers.

[Sergeant]

They're not a lot of help, sir, but they do fix the date of the crime more or less this Sunday. One, you see, is dated September 15th, so it couldn't have happened before then.

[Inspector Green]

A number of the parcels were found along the River Lynn.

[Sergeant]

That's a contributory stream of the River Aliza.

[Inspector Green]

And the remains were well above the level of the water. Have you had any heavy rainstorms lately?

[Sergeant]

Aye, sir. Let me see it. It rained heavily on September 18th and again on the 19th.

[Inspector Green]

Ah. So the packages would have been carried high up the banks of the stream by the swollen waters. And when the water subsided, they'd have been left there, wouldn't they?

[Sergeant]

You're right, sir.

[Inspector Green]

So we can fix the date of the crime as being somewhere between the 15th and 19th.

[Narrator]

Somewhere between the 15th and 19th of September, two people out of a population of 48 millions had disappeared. There was little hope of identifying the bodies, and the first step was to make inquiries regarding all missing persons in England and Scotland. The investigation proved unproductive. Hardly surprising, you say? But the investigations were working along other lines. All the shreds of newspapers which had been found in the packages had been sent along to their appropriate publishers. And at last the first real clue was furnished by a Sunday paper on September 15. Published in London, this copy proved to be of a limited edition, and it had been circulated in the district of Lancaster. Investigations were concentrated on the Lancaster area, and within a matter of hours, police officers were making their reports to Captain Van, the Chief Constable of Lancaster. Show Carrie. Yes, Inspector Green.

[Dr. Buck Ruxton]

Got anything?

[Inspector Green]

Yes, sir. I think I have. A girl named Mary Roger is missing from her home. She's been employed as a nurse mate in Dr. Ruxton's house.

[Narrator]

Have you seen the doctor?

[Inspector Green]

No, sir. I went round, but both he and his wife were out. But I spoke to a neighbor, Mrs. Oxley, who's been charing for the Ruxton. And she said the doctor had told her that Mrs. Ruxton had gone away for a holiday and taken Mary Rogerson with her.

[Dr. Buck Ruxton]

I see.

[Narrator]

Find out the relationship between the doctor and his wife.

[Inspector Green]

Right.

[Narrator]

Oh, and one more thing. You see those articles on the table?

[Inspector Green]

Yes, sir. A green blouse and Kitty's rompers.

[Narrator]

See if Mrs. Rogerson can identify them. Mrs. Rogerson's Mary's stepmother, by the way. Identified the green blouse immediately by a patch which she herself had sewn underneath the arm. In the words of Scotland Yard, the case was now developing satisfactorily. Reports were coming into the Chief Constable's office from different parts of the town. Remember, with a small population, news is apt to travel quickly. Have you observed the constantly recurring date in these statements, green?

[Inspector Green]

You mean the 15th of September, sir. Yes.

[Narrator]

We appear to know quite a lot about Dr. Ruxton's movements in that day. Read this.

[Inspector Green]

Thank you, sir. At 6am, Mrs. Oxley, the Ruxton's charwoman, was preparing to go to work when the doctor called and told her not to bother to go to his house that day.

[Dr. Buck Ruxton]

Oh, Mrs. Oxley. My wife and Mary have gone away on a holiday to Edinburgh and I am taking the children to Morecambe.

[Inspector Green]

But come as usual tomorrow at 10am Ms. Roberts, a newsagent, called at Ruxton's house to deliver some papers. He answered the door himself. He seemed agitated and was holding his right hand against his body.

[Dr. Buck Ruxton]

I am on my own today. Mary has gone up to Scotland.

[Inspector Green]

At 11am A Mrs. Whiteside brought her son for a minor operation. It had already been arranged and she was shot on time again. He opened the door himself.

[Dr. Buck Ruxton]

I am sorry, but I cannot perform the operation today as my wife is away in Scotland and there is only the maid and myself here. We are busy taking up the carpets and things ready for the decorators in the morning.

[Inspector Green]

Anything else, Sir?

[Narrator]

Yes. At 2:30pm he took his three children to the house of Mr. Anderson, a Morphin dentist, a friend of the family in whose charge he left them. And then at 6 o' clock he seems to have lost his head. He went to the house of one of his patients, Mrs. Hampshire. I am struggling to get my house

[Dr. Buck Ruxton]

ready for the decorators. Mrs. Hampshire. They are coming in the morning. My wife has gone to Blackpool and Mary is away on holiday and I have cut my hand very badly and I. I wonder if you would help me.

[Narrator]

He actually invited the lady to go back to his house with him and help him to straighten it out. Inside, the rustling, the startled Mrs. Hampshire found chaos. The radio was blaring, Stair carpets had been pulled up, strawber scattered everywhere and plaster had been ripped from the walls. A supper meal laid in. The lounge was untouched. Upstairs doors were locked and the bath was discolored a dirty yellow up to within a few inches of the top. His action in taking Mrs. Hampshire to the house was inexplicable, for in consequence of what she saw there, she later became one of the principal witnesses for the Crown. Of course, he may have taken taken her there to save his reason. I personally should not have cared to enter the house unescorted. Would you? Another point which amazed the police was Ruxton's visit to the Chief Constable.

[Dr. Buck Ruxton]

I have come to you for protection. Have you heard the stories in the town?

[Narrator]

Sit down, Dr. Ruxton. Please calm yourself. Now, what is it?

[Dr. Buck Ruxton]

They are. They are saying that I know all about the Moffat bodies. They are saying that this horrible crime is connected with the disappearance of my wife and maid. Even the papers are making these awful suggestions. The publicity is ruining my practice. Captain Van, you must please publish that there is no connection between the two. You must help me to find my wife.

[Narrator]

The Chief Constable consoled him to the best of his ability and proceeded with the investigations. Inspector Green was making good head.

[Inspector Green]

I've collected some fresh evidence, sir. Roxton told a friend that his wife had gone away in his car, not returned. But he allowed the car to be seen in Lancaster. He's also invented a totally untrue story that Mary Rogerson was going to have a baby and had disappeared for that reason. When I asked him how he knew, he replied, by her eyes and other symptoms. I'm certain he was lying, sir.

[Narrator]

The case for the public prosecution was approaching completion. At the Crown Laboratory in Edinburgh, Dr. Glaister and a team of experts had assembled large parts of the two bodies. Artificial teeth were made and fitted to secure an indication of what the mouths had looked like in Life. In all, 20 sets of 250 pictures were completed, and these included photographs taken from an overhead scaffolding after portions of the bodies had been assembled on the floor. By the 11th of October, Ruckton knew that he was a doomed man. He even approached Inspector Green.

[Inspector Green]

He took me by the shoulders and shouted as he flourished a newspaper in my face.

[Dr. Buck Ruxton]

Look at this, Inspector Green. Look at it.

[Narrator]

Why do they accuse me of the Moffat murder?

[Dr. Buck Ruxton]

Somebody will be putting a dead body on my doorstep soon and I shall be accused of killing it.

[Narrator]

On the following day, October 12, 1935, the Chief Constable requested Ruxton to go to his office, saying that it was thought he could help in finding his wife and the maid. Dr. Buck Ractor never returned from this visit. He was detained and early on the morning of the 13th he was charged with the murder of Mary Rogerson. There followed weekly remands until November 5th. During this time we were making a minute examination of the house in Dalton Square. The story of what had happened there was slowly unfolding. We completed our evidence for the discovery in the locked door of the letters from Ruxton's legal wife in India. Here then, was the last link. November 5th, Ruxton was charged with the murder of his wife Isabella Luxton, and the maid Miss Mary Ron. On December 13, he was committed for trial on both charges at the Manchester Assizes. In his charge to the jury, Mr. Justice Singleton referred to the distinguished body of evidence in the highest terms. He concluded by saying to the jury,

[Inspector Green]

gentlemen of the jury, you have heard the evidence, but if in your opinion there is any doubt in this case, the prisoner must have have the benefit of that doubt. But if there is no doubt, then your verdict must be equally clear and justice must be done.

[Narrator]

There was no doubt and Rxton was found guilty and sentenced to death on March 13, 1936. The sentence was duly carried out on 12 May. A stranger prison magister. And the little footnotes in this case. Throughout the trial, Ruxton behaved like a rag doll. He wept and protested his innocence. At the moment the square piece of black cloth was placed on the head of Mr. To Justice Engleton. He became still and composed as the judge concluded the formal sentence. Braxton, with upraised arm gave him the salute of an Oriental warrior. Then, turning sharp left, he gave a similar salute to an astonished jury before warders had it away and the written confession in the sealed envelope. It was not published until several days after his execution. In it all he said was, I kill Mr. Mrs. Ruxton in a fit of temper. I thought she'd been with a man. Mary Rogerson was present at the time. I had to kill her.

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