One of Scotland's oldest unsolved murders is to be brought to life in a new investigation series more than a century after the mysterious crime.
Jean Milne, a wealthy spinister who lived in a 23-room home in Broughty Ferry, was bludgeoned to death with a poker and the walls splattered with her blood in 1912.
Her body was discovered on November 3 after a postman became concerned about the mail piling up behind the door.
A bloodstained carving fork found nearby had been used to stab Ms Milne, and her broken false teeth were scattered across the stairs.
Her murder shocked the country and as the investigation spread to England and Europe, it attracted international media attention.
Now a team from the Leverhulme Research Centre for Forensic Science (LRCFS) at University of Dundee will re-examine the case of Ms Milne, in a crime podcast.
Over six episodes, the Inside Forensic Science podcast will examine the crime, reviewing original witness statements and exploring the evidence gathered by detectives at the time.
It will explain how forensic science, in its infancy in 1912, has changed and how it might be used in a modern investigation.
Professor Niamh Nic Daeid, director of LRCFS, said: “We are delighted to work with all of the experts who have contributed their knowledge and expertise to reviewing the tragic case of Jean Milne.
“In exploring how science is used in investigations, we can really see some of the advances that have been made, but also how some areas of practice have stayed the same even after 100 years.”
Ms Milne was born in Dundee and lived with her brother, a wealthy tobacco manufacturer, in the mansion.
Following his death in 1903, she lived alone and received an annual income worth more than £100,000 in today’s money as part of her inheritance.
The eastern Dundee suburb of Broughty Ferry was said to be home to the greatest concentration of millionaires in the world at the time, according to the university.
Ms Milne was known to have attended suffragette meetings at the time when local supporters were making the life of Winston Churchill, then MP for Dundee, uncomfortable.
She was unmarried and lived alone in two rooms of her sprawling home, with few close friends – although it was said she enjoyed the company of “younger men” on her frequent foreign holidays and visits to London.
While no money was found in a purse that lay beside the body, nothing else in the home seemed to have been disturbed and expensive jewellery was still at the scene.
There was no sign of forced entry, leading to a hypothesis that she had known and possibly invited her attacker into the house.
A Canadian conman was arrested in London on suspicion of the crime but released when his alibi – that he had been in Antwerp at the time of the murder – checked out.
The series can be found on Spotify, Podbean and Google podcasts.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel