A former Edinburgh police chief’s thrilling account of the “first modern murder” has premiered on a hugely popular crime podcast produced by Emmy Award winning actress Yeardley Smith.
The podcast examines the horrific murder and dismemberment of two women at the hands of Dr Buck Ruxton and is based on the book Beyond Recognition: The Ruxton Murders by former Deputy Chief Constable of Lothian & Borders Police Tom Wood.
It premiered today on the award-winning true crime podcast Small Town Dicks, which is co-hosted by Yeardley Smith, the actress, novelist, and playwright who has appeared on television, film and Broadway, and has been the voice of Lisa Simpson on the hit television show The Simpsons since 1987.
Yeardley co-founded media company Paperclip Ltd with Ben Cornwell in 2014, with the goal of fostering distinctive ideas in entertainment at their earliest stages, across mediums.
The series delves into the 1935 disappearance of a glamorous young mother Isabella Buxton and her dutiful Leith-born maid, Mary Rogerson, whose deaths resulted in one of the most important investigations the world had ever seen at that time.
Ruxton used his medical knowledge to dismember his victims and later discarded the body parts 100 miles away from the crime scene in a tranquil part of the Scottish Borders.
Only the brilliance of Scottish scientists and determined police officers brought Ruxton to trial and led him to the gallows in a case which established many ground-breaking forensic techniques which are still in common use today in criminal investigations.
“Beyond Recognition: The Ruxton Murders” will unfold over six riveting episodes, releasing weekly on Fridays and will be available on the Small Town Dicks podcast feed and other podcast channels.
Yeardley Smith said: “I’m fascinated by people who take a leap of faith and do something in a new and different way. For me, that’s the crux of the Ruxton case. The team of investigators tasked with solving the murders decides to save all the bits and pieces from the body dump. We take this for granted now, but this kind of collection and preservation was brand new back then.
“One of my favorite ah-ha moments in the case is when one of the detectives decides to track down the origin of a special newspaper insert that was used to wrap up one of the body parts. That inquiry leads to a short list of people who had the special insert delivered to them at home, and that list includes the name of the murderer. Though this case happened 90 years ago, I think it’s just as gripping and relevant today.
“Tom Wood is a master storyteller and with Ruxton he’s deftly made the history of modern forensics read like a true-crime thriller. I can’t wait for audiences to hear the podcast.”
Now retired, Tom Wood has written three true crime books including, Ruxton: The First Modern Murder, which draws upon previously classified documents to build a detailed, engaging story about criminal investigation and justice. Wood is also well-known for his regular column “Inside Justice” in The Scotsman, and for his lecturing across the country.
You can listen to a trailer of the podcast here.
Stephen Rafferty is a former crime correspondent at The Scotsman and was a staff reporter for the Daily Record and Edinburgh Evening News. He has freelanced for many of the Scottish and UK national newspaper titles. Got a story? Get in touch - stephen@theedinburghreporter.co.uk
