Oscar Slater

In 1909, Oscar Slater, a German Jew, was convicted and sentenced to death for the brutal murder of Marion Gilchrist, an elderly Glasweigan spinster. His trial is known to have been one of the most scandalous miscarriages of justice in the annals of legal history. This book is provides an account of this infamous case.

This is the story of Oscar Slater, a Jewish immigrant in Glasgow, Scotland and two fellow Scottish scammers, Helen Lambie and Patrick Nugent. In the Christmas season of 1908, the trio conspired to rob an elderly, wealthy lady of her diamonds, and, in the course of which burglary, Oscar Slater murdered her on December 21, 1908. All, not some, authors and sleuths who researched the 1909 conviction emphatically supported Oscar Slater's innocence, that he was misidentified and wrongfully convicted. In an effort to place guilt for Marion Gilchrist's murder squarely on Oscar Slater, the conclusions here reach further back in the crime's timeline to January 1908, about a year before the murder-the month that Patrick Nugent and Helen Lambie attended a New Year's party. The Glasgow police investigation tarried at only 30 days leading up to the murder. FROM THE INTRODUCTION "When you have eliminated all which is impossible, then whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth." Sherlock Holmes, Sign of Four. "If you're looking for Trouble, you've come to the right place." Trouble, by Elvis Presley. "I am Woman, hear me roar." I am Woman, by Helen Reddy.

"The Trial of Oscar Slater" is a historical account of the scandalous trial. Oscar Slater was a German bookmaker who lived in London and was wrongfully accused of murder. The following year Scottish lawyer and amateur criminologist William Roughead published his research titled "Trial of Oscar Slater," highlighting flaws in the prosecution. After the pressure from the public and some Conservative politicians, including Ramsay MacDonald and Arthur Conan Doyle, a new secret inquiry started, after which Slater was released in 1928 with £6,000 compensation, although the real murderers, protected by political connections, were never punished.

Reproduction of the original.

“A wonderfully vivid portrait of the man behind Sherlock Holmes . . . Like all the best historical true crime books, it’s about so much more than crime.”—Tana French, author of In the Woods A sensational Edwardian murder. A scandalous wrongful conviction. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle to the rescue—a true story. After a wealthy woman was brutally murdered in her Glasgow home in 1908, the police found a convenient suspect in Oscar Slater, an immigrant Jewish cardsharp. Though he was known to be innocent, Slater was tried, convicted, and consigned to life at hard labor. Outraged by this injustice, Arthur Conan Doyle, already world renowned as the creator of Sherlock Holmes, used the methods of his most famous character to reinvestigate the case, ultimately winning Slater’s freedom. With “an eye for the telling detail, a forensic sense of evidence and a relish for research” (The Wall Street Journal), Margalit Fox immerses readers in the science of Edwardian crime detection and illuminates a watershed moment in its history, when reflexive prejudice began to be replaced by reason and the scientific method. Praise for Conan Doyle for the Defense “Artful and compelling . . . [Fox’s] narrative momentum never flags. . . . Conan Doyle for the Defense will captivate almost any reader while being pure catnip for the devotee of true-crime writing.”—The Washington Post “Developed with brio . . . [Fox] is excellent in linking the 19th-century creation of policing and detection with the development of both detective fiction and the science of forensics—ballistics, fingerprints, toxicology and serology—as well as the quasi science of ‘criminal anthropology.’”—The New York Times Book Review “[Fox] has an eye for the telling detail, a forensic sense of evidence and a relish for research.”—The Wall Street Journal “Gripping . . . The book works on two levels, much like a good Holmes case. First, it is a fluid story of a crime. . . . Second, and more pertinently, it is a deeper story of how prejudice against a class of people, the covering up of sloppy police work and a poisonous political atmosphere can doom an innocent. We should all heed Holmes’s salutary lesson: rationally follow the facts to find the truth.”—Time

Crime Reconstruction, Second Edition is an updated guide to the interpretation of physical evidence, written for the advanced student of forensic science, the practicing forensic generalist and those with multiple forensic specialists. It is designed to assist reconstructionists with understanding their role in the justice system; the development and refinement of case theory’ and the limits of physical evidence interpretation. Chisum and Turvey begin with chapters on the history and ethics of crime reconstruction and then shift to the more applied subjects of reconstruction methodology and practice standards. The volume concludes with chapters on courtroom conduct and evidence admissibility to prepare forensic reconstructionists for what awaits them when they take the witness stand. Crime Reconstruction, Second Edition, remains an unparalleled watershed collaborative effort by internationally known, qualified, and respected forensic science practitioner holding generations of case experience among them. Forensic pioneer such as W. Jerry Chisum, John D. DeHaan, John I. Thorton, and Brent E. Turvey contribute chapters on crime scene investigation, arson reconstruction, trace evidence interpretation, advanced bloodstain interpretation, and ethics. Other chapters cover the subjects of shooting incident reconstruction, interpreting digital evidence, staged crime scenes, and examiner bias. Rarely have so many forensic giants collaborated, and never before have the natural limits of physical evidence been made so clear. Updates to the majority of chapters, to comply with the NAS Report New chapters on forensic science, crime scene investigation, wound pattern analysis, sexual assault reconstruction, and report writing Updated with key terms, chapter summaries, discussion questions, and a comprehensive glossary; ideal for those teaching forensic science and crime reconstruction subjects at the college level Provides clear practice standards and ethical guidelines for the practicing forensic scientist