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Case Closed? Series 2: 4. Thorne

The barristers return to their investigation of a curious case, a poultry farmer who buried the body of his fiancee under a chicken run but claimed to be innocent of her murder.\n\nCrowborough, East Sussex, 1924. 26-year-old Elsie Cameron arrived at the farm of her fiance, 24-year-old Norman Thorne, determined to set a date for their wedding. When a few days later Elsie had not returned home to London, her parents raised the alarm. Thorne claimed to know nothing of her whereabouts and offered to help police with their enquiries. But after a tip off from a neighbour, the net closed in on Thorne. Elsie’s possessions were uncovered at his farm, and Thorne changed his story. He claimed that Elsie had committed suicide in his hut, and in a panic he had dismembered and buried her body under his chicken run.\n\nThorne’s account was disbelieved and he was charged with Elsie’s murder. A five-day trial was held in Lewes and was dominated by disagreement between two eminent pathologists over the cause of Elsie’s death. Following just half an hour’s deliberation, the jury unanimously found Thorne guilty of murder, and on 22 April 1925 at London’s Wandsworth Prison, Norman Thorne was hanged.\n\nA century later, Thorne’s cousin Gordon and his daughter Helen had only recently learned about this chapter of their family history. They were keen to learn more about the case and try to clear their ancestor’s name. Sasha and Jeremy explored motive, psychiatry and forensic pathology to try to persuade Judge Radford that Norman Thorne’s murder conviction may have been unsafe.\n\nNow a year on from their initial investigation, the barristers learn how Gordon responded to the judge's verdict. Gordon explores how Sherlock Holmes creator Arthur Conan Doyle became connected to the case and whether doubts surrounding a key witness might have any affect on the conviction.

Source: BBC 1