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24 Medico-Legal J. 1 (1956)

handle is hein.journals/medlgjr24 and id is 1 raw text is: THE MEDICO-LEGAL JOURNAL Vol. XXIV 1956 Part One THE TOWPATH MURDER* THE MEDICAL ASPECT By A. KEITH MANT, M.D., B.S., M.R.C.S., L.R.C.P. THE Teddington Towpath Murders aroused considerable interest in this country, both because the crime was unusual and also because the police enquiries were long and difficult. This evening Det.-Supt. Hannam is here to give you an account of the police investigations, but first I should like to draw your attention to some of the medical aspects of the case. The story begins at 9 a.m. on June I, 1953-Coronation Eve-when the body of a young girl, later identified as Barbara Songhurst, aged I6 years, was recovered from the River Thames at Teddington. As bodies are frequently recovered from the river in summer this was not unusual. The only suspicious injury observed was a wound on the left cheek, and even that did not appear at the time to be entirely inconsistent with a fall into the river. However when, 3 hours later, I first saw the body at Richmond Mortuary, preliminary examination at once aroused a strong suspicion of foul play for the following reasons- (i) the girl's panties, which had been torn across the crutch, were up around the upper abdomen, while her slacks, although unfastened, were approxi- mately in their correct position. (2) the deep incised wound of the left upper cheek did not appear consistent with a fall on to some hard object, but more important still, blood had run down from this wound under the front of the jacket where it had coagulated. This indicated, firstly, that the deceased had received the wound to the cheek some time before death; secondly, that after the injury had been sustained her head must have been in a raised position; and thirdly, the wound must have been inflicted at least several minutes before the deceased entered the water. Full examination revealed the following injuries.- Three stab wounds of the back of the chest, two of which had passed through ribs, showing that not only a sharp knife had been used, but also that considerable force and deliberation had been employed. Grass had been carried into these wounds by the knife thrusts. These stab wounds had entered the lung tissue only, * Read at the meeting on November 24, 1955, the President, Mr. William Latey, being in the Chair.

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