THE TRIAL OF LORD LUCAN, Episode 2 – The Document: How the case was built after the peer’s powerful friends went silent to protect him when he vanished following nanny’s murder
Gripping and full of suspense, it reads like a script for a Hollywood movie Netflix drama series.
But in fact, it is the official police report on one of the most infamous crime ever and was written by a senior detective almost half a century ago.
In episode two of the Mail’s important podcast series The process of Lord Lucanquotes an actor from the 15,000-word Scotland Yard document which provides a definitive account of the Lord Lucan mystery.
November 7 marks 50 years since the 39-year-old British aristocrat disappeared without a trace within hours of the murder of his nanny Sandra Rivett, 29, and the near-fatal attack on his wife Veronica, which her Eton-educated husband blamed . for both attacks.
Police have long believed Lucan murdered mother-of-two Mrs Rivett in the basement kitchen of his family’s Belgravia home in Central. Londonafter mistaking her for his estranged wife.
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It’s been almost fifty years since British aristocrat Lord Lucan, 39, disappeared without a trace
The Count disappeared after his children’s nanny, Sandra Rivett, was murdered in the family home
The blood-soaked basement with Sandra’s body in a mailbag next to a discarded shoe
Today’s episode exposes how the colleague’s powerful circle of friends erected an immediate wall of silence to protect him and reveals in astonishing detail how the Crown’s case against him was constructed.
The report contains references to a key prosecution witness who is believed to have been in love with Lucan and who police suspect did not tell police the “whole truth” about their meeting hours after Sandra Rivett’s murder, and describes how the fugitive’s other friends in the ‘International Socialite Set’ hesitated to help detectives.
It also contains evidence of how the debt-ridden earl had spent weeks planning to kill his wife Veronica and dump her body in the sea, and a plot by his friends to smear Mrs Rivett’s reputation at a subsequent trial and her murder attributable to a lover.
The documentsometimes written in colorful language that was acceptable in the 1970s, and reveals that police spent months delving into Ms. Rivett’s background, fearing she might be accused of being “a lesbian, a prostitute or at least a woman with a loose to be moral’.
Lord Lucan’s wife Veronica Mary Duncan was almost fatally attacked that same night
Lady Lucan with Frances and George, two of the three children she had with her husband
Nanny Sandra was beaten to death
The Plumbers Arms, where Lady Lucan ran after finding Sandra dead in her home
Susan Maxwell-Scott with her husband William. She was the last person to see Lord Lucan alive
Lucan’s friends also tried to defame Lady Lucan by portraying her as insane, but the police concluded that, although ‘highly tense’, she was a truthful witness.
Detective Chief Inspector Roy Ranson’s report also reveals the colleague’s extensive efforts to create an alibi before the murder and his previous plans to use listening devices to spy on his wife in their family home, as well as a detailed account of his evil finance and huge loans. of family members and his social circle.
After giving a detailed account of the murder of Mrs Rivett and the attempted murder of his wife Veronica, Ranson explains why he is certain that Lucan was the ‘author’ of the crimes.
In the first episode of Mail’s flagship podcast seriesco-presenters Caroline Cheetham and Stephen Wright visit the original crime scene in Belgravia and discuss the importance of the police document obtained through the post.
Do you want to acquit Lucan… or not? Listen to the podcast and judge for yourself.
Listen to The trial of Lord Lucan hereand also wherever you normally get your podcasts.
