Lore 255: Off the Rails (ad-free)

Every narrative trope has an origin story. This murder mystery staple, however, might just be the most suspenseful of them all.

Narrated and produced by Aaron Mahnke, with writing by GennaRose Nethercott, research by Sam Alberty, and music by Chad Lawson.

Sources:

• “Alleged Murder on the Brighton Railway”. The Times. 6/28/1881. Page 10. https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Zsug-2OuSPlXfGIcLAl0vvCgpzCMdvH5tayA3sTYmQw/edit. Accessed 1/13/2024.

• Cameron, Janet. Brighton and Hove: Murders & Misdemeanours. Gloucestershire: Amberley Publishing, 2013.

• Colquhoun, Kate. Mr Briggs’ Hat: A Sensational Account of Britain’s First Railway Murder. London: Little, Brown; 2011. 

• Colquhoun, Kate. Murder in the First-Class Carriage: The First Victorian Railway Killing. New York: The Overlook Press, 2011. Kindle Edition. 

• Colquhoun, Kate. “The Murder that Terrified Victorian Rail Commuters.” Express. 4/24/2011. https://www.express.co.uk/expressyourself/242660/The-murder-that-terrified-Victorian-rail-commuters.

• “Dr Hawley Crippen.” Perspective. February 3, 2023. https://perspectivemag.co.uk/reputations-dr-hawley-crippen/

• “Execution of Muller; His Confession”. Liverpool Daily Post. 11/15/1864. Page 5. https://www.newspapers.com/image/796337323/?terms=muller&match=1.

• “The First Railway Murder”. British Transport Police. https://www.btp.police.uk/police-forces/british-transport-police/areas/about-us/about-us/our-history/crime-history/first-railway-murder/.

• “The First Railway Murder in Britain.” British Transport Police History Group. https://www.btphg.org.uk/?page_id=3108.

• “Franz Müller: First Murder on a British Train and Origin of ‘Being Müllered.” Roman Road London. 9/14/2020. https://romanroadlondon.com/franz-muller-first-murder-on-a-british-train-and-origin-of-being-mullered/. Accessed 1/3/2024. 

• “Franz Muller. Killing; murder. 24th October 1864.” The Proceedings of the Old Bailey. https://www.oldbaileyonline.org/record/t18641024-920?text=muller.

  • NOTE: this is the transcript of Muller’s trial. 

• History.com Editors. “Victorian Era Timeline”. History. 3/15/2019. Updated 8/11/2023. https://www.history.com/topics/19th-century/victorian-era-timeline. Accessed 12/20/23.

• Homer, Aaron. “How the Hunt for the 1881 Railway Murderer Changed Policing.” Grunge. 9/26/2022. https://www.grunge.com/1019688/how-the-hunt-for-the-1881-railway-murderer-changed-policing/.

• “Horrible and Atrocious Murder in a First-Class Carriage of a Train on the North London Railway”. The Standard. 7/11/1864. Page 6. https://www.newspapers.com/image/402143684/?terms=%22briggs%22&match=1.

• “Murder on the Brighton Railway”. The Standard. 6/28/1881. Page 5. https://www.newspapers.com/image/409753151/?terms=%22Brighton%20railway%22&match=1.

• “The Murder of Isaac Gold, 1881.” British Transport Police (BTP). https://www.btp.police.uk/police-forces/british-transport-police/areas/about-us/about-us/our-history/crime-history/murder-of-issac-gold/.

• Pullin, Daniel. “‘The Compartment Was Much Besplattered with Blood’: The Brighton Railway Murder”. The Gale Review. 3/3/2016. https://review.gale.com/2016/03/03/the-compartment-was-much-bespattered-with-blood-the-brighton-railway-murder/.

• “The Railway Tragedy. Search for Lefroy. Government and Railway Rewards.” The Daily Telegraph. 7/1/1881. Page 3. https://www.newspapers.com/image/818691828/?terms=%22Percy%20mapleton%22&match=1.

• “The Real Life Crimes That Inspired Agatha Christie.” Murder & Mayhem. May 18, 2022. https://murder-mayhem.com/real-crimes-that-inspired-agatha-christie

• “The Shocking Murder on the North London Railway.” The Daily Telegraph. 7/12/1864. Page 3. https://www.newspapers.com/image/784107788/. Accessed 1/7/2024. 

• “Victorian Railways” The National Archives. https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/education/resources/victorian-railways/.