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A fatal wound
When Bentley Purchase, the district coroner examined the body, he found a bullet hole in the victim’s left side. The police immediately searched the dead man’s clothes and discovered a charred post office book, in the name of W Spatchett, and a wallet, empty except for several scraps of paper, also bearing the same name. Spatchett and Furnace were both missing.
Police brought in Spatchett’s dentist, who quickly confirmed from dental records that the body was his. Investigation revealed that Spatchett and Samuel Furnace had been friends. It was known that on the afternoon he went missing, Spatchett would have been carrying takings from his rent collections; about £35.
His wallet, however, had been empty. Police were dealing with a case of burglary and murder, and Samuel Furnace was the prime suspect.
Money becomes a motive
It transpired that Furnace’s business hadn’t been going too well, and Spatchett had been bailing him out. Furnace also had several expensive lady friends, despite being married. He had, however, managed to renew his life insurance policy, and it was obvious to the police that he had murdered Spatchett in an attempt to fake his own death and get hold of the money.
A nationwide manhunt was launched. Police arrested him in Southend and brought him to London, but while he was in police custody he committed suicide by drinking hydrochloric acid he’d smuggled in with him. His last words were “My dear wife”.
- Read about Murderer's Pen
