The electrifying air in Perth Circuit Court crackled with anticipation as Alexander Hutchison stood in the dock, the accused murderer of his wife, Christina. It was a high-stakes trial that gripped the entire city. The first witness, their neighbour James McKenzie, took the stand, revealing a chilling tale. He recounted how his young sons had […]
The Spring Circuit Court of Dundee commenced on the 19th of April 1883, amid great anticipation and ceremony, with Lord Mure presiding. Among the cases presented, none were more distressing than that of David Urquhart. He stood accused of a heinous crime – the murder of his illegitimate daughter, Elizabeth Meffan, aged approximately two years […]
The murder of Margaret Cairns is a story we told on our Halloween Takeover of Verdant Works, back in 2016. This tragedy happened in Playfair’s Entry, an old street off Hawkhill in the west end of Dundee which is long gone. It seemed everyone had a different version of events, and in the end, there […]
This is the continuation of the Murder Trial of John Jenkins for the murder of Mary Conn in West Port, in Dundee’s West End. Read the first part here. Dundee Courier, Friday 13th January 1893 MURDER TRIAL IN DUNDEE. THE WEST PORT TRAGEDY. TWELVE YEARS’ PENAL SERVITUDE. The trial of John Jenkins, labourer, on a […]
These extracts from the Dundee Courier tell the tale of a horrid murder in West Port, in Dundee’s West End, in 1892. Dundee Courier, Monday 14th November 1892 HORRIBLE MURDER IN DUNDEE. A WOMAN KILLED. HER ASSAILANT IN CUSTODY. SCENE OF THE ATROCITY. INTERVIEWS WITH NEIGHBOURS. PRISONER’S ANTECEDENTS. For a considerable time, Dundee has been […]
In 1734 a new Town-House was completed on the former site of St Clement’s Church, which we know today as City Square. The building was a fairly grand structure, as was indicative of its multiple uses, with beautiful arched piazzas which looked out onto what is now Reform Street. It was locally referred to as […]
City Centre, February 2010 Failing to return home from a night out in the city centre of Dundee in February 2010, the relatives of Mary McLaren began to worry. With no clues whatsoever as to the whereabouts of Mary, the rumour-mills were abound with gossip. Had Mary secretly left Dundee, without saying goodbye, or was […]
Law hill, August 2001 As Anne Nicoll walked her parents’ Airedale terrier by the Law on 2nd August 2001, she became the victim of a brutal and senseless killing. Stabbed a total of 29 times, the body of Anne Nicoll had been so savagely mauled that even her bones had been cut. It emerged that […]
April, 1821 In the early hours of a Saturday morning in late April, 1821, Margaret Shuttleworth woke up and made her way down to the kitchen to fetch a glass of water. At the foot of the stairs lay the lifeless body of her husband, Henry. Neighbours awoke to Margaret’s deafening screams from the inn […]
Kirriemuir, 1890 In August 1890, the wife of a Kirriemuir landlord, John Webster, fell ill. The local doctor attended the ailing woman and diagnosed gastroenteritis. Within 3 days, Mrs Webster had died, but this did not conclude the matter. Suspicions were rife that something sinister lurked beneath the surface of this cut-and-dried case. John had […]
