Exhumation of a Murder: The Life and Trial of Major Armstrong

Originally published in 1975, and long out of print, this volume in the Classic Crime Series by the British author of Jack the Ripper recounts a case likely to be of more interest to Anglophiles than to general true-crime readers. A moderately successful solicitor in a village on the Welsh border, Herbert Armstrong in 1921 murdered his domineering wife, poisoning her with arsenic. Foul play was not suspected until his only law competitor was seized by symptoms of arsenic poisoning while drinking tea at Armstrong's home. Armstrong was questioned and released on the charge of attempted murder, but then his wife's body was exhumed and his earlier crime became apparent. At a trial replete with the testimony of servants, nurses and government forensic experts, he was found guilty and sentenced to death by hanging, the only solicitor ever to be executed in England. Photos. (May)