Victorian London was rife with murder mysteries, the majority of them being the perpetrated by people who were known to the victims.
The Manchester Evening News, in its edition of Thursday the 7th of July, 1892, reported on one such crime:-
MURDER MYSTERY IN BERMONDSEY
Bermondsey was thrown into a state of excitement yesterday by a rumour that a murder of the Whitechapel type had been committed in that district.
Investigation proved that while the rumour was unwarranted, there had nevertheless been discovered at Pettywood’s Stables, White’s Grounds, Bermondsey, a crime to which considerable mystery attaches.
The stables in question, situated under No. 18 Railway Arch, are in the occupation or Messrs. Pettywood, provision merchants, of Southwark, who until recently have employed a man named Dent, alias Poole, in the capacity of stableman.
LOST TO HER FAMILY
On Tuesday the 28tn ultimo, Dent telegraphed a Mrs. Lea, with whom he had been on intimate terms, asking her to come to him immediately, as he was dangerously ill, and wanted to see her most particularly.
Mrs. Lea, aged 44, and the mother of several children, has been carrying on business as a wardrobe dealer in Globe Road, Mile End, to which address she had moved from Stratford, after being separated from her husband.
Since the 28th ult. Mrs. Lea had been lost to her family who, becoming suspicious, gave information to the police, suggesting she had eloped with Dent, who had absconded from his employment on the same day.
HER SON FOUND HER BODY
Yesterday morning Mrs. Lea’s son, aged 23, who had been most active in inquiring about the whereabouts of his mother, visited Pettywood’s Stables and demanded permission from the man in charge to search them.
This being refused, Lea procured a search warrant from the police, and once more visited the stables, where, after diligent search he found in a remote corner of the stables the body of a female covered with straw.
Apparently the body had been hidden there for some considerable time, for the features were quite unrecognisable, and the clothes had begun to rot.
THE BODY IDENTIFIED
It was at first thought that the eyes had been gouged out, but the medical opinion is that this is not the case. They had evidently been gnawed by vermin.
Young Lea, however, was able to identify the body as that of his mother by the clothes, a bag which she had in her possession, and also by a telegram found in her pocket The telegram was from Dent, and, as previously stated, invited her to visit him immediately, in consequence of his being dangerously ill.
The precise cause death has not yet been determined, but it is conjectured, from marks on the neck and the general appearance of the face, that the unfortunate woman had teen throttled.
A FREQUENT VISITOR
It appears that the deceased was a frequent visitor to Pettywood’s Stables, and she was seen to enter them on the 28th ult.
Dent, for whose arrest a warrant has been issued, is described as a well-built and powerful man, aged about 50 years.
The police as yet have been unable to effect his arrest.