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The
Official Website of S. C. Lomax
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A Century Old Murder Finally
Solved
A MURDER
committed nearly a century ago has finally been solved. The claim comes
from true crime writer Scott Lomax who has investigated 13 unsolved murders
for his new book Unsolved Murders in and Around Derbyshire. Clara Durose, a 15 year old domestic servant, was killed in
April 1910 at The police
originally believed that Clara had died in an accident having fallen on steps
and banged her head. Eventually, when medical evidence proved that she had
died from a single wound inflicted by a tool, most probably a pitchfork, they
then focussed their attention on a man who was totally innocent. There were only
ever seven suspects, with the murder having been committed on a farm. Robert
Frost, an employee of the farm, was the key suspect. He and Clara had argued
on numerous occasions but there was no evidence against him and he was never
arrested. However, the finger of suspicion remained pointing at him in the
aftermath of the murder. Scott studied the
evidence and reveals his argument as to why he believes the killer was Mary Wrathall, one of the daughters of the owner of the farm.
He further argues that a farm student named Cyril Bernard helped Mary cover
her tracks by hiding a pitchfork that was never found. Mary had
discovered a letter written by Clara but not posted. In the letter Clara
alleged that she was being treated “like a dog” by the
family. This had caused Mary to be outraged and she had told a neighbour that
she intended to scare Clara. A basket that Mary had been using to collect
apples was found to have bloodstaining on it. Also
Mary’s account of her movements appears to be contradicted by the
statements of other people present on the farm that day. Scott says:
“Whilst it is impossible to say for absolute certain, I firmly believe
I know the identity of Clara Durose’s
murderer. After 99 years it is clear to me who was responsible. It is sad to
think that had the police treat Clara’s death as a murder from the
outset, and carried out their investigation in a professional manner, then Clara’s killer could have been brought to
justice. Instead we had a situation where a killer was able to continue her
life, carrying her secret to the grave. Scott added:
“Mary Wrathall had motive to commit the
crime, she had the opportunity and the evidence points to her alone.
It’s amazing that the police failed to identify her as a suspect but
sadly they were too busy looking in other directions.”
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Website created by
S. C. Lomax in September 2004. |
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