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Mostly Murder
AuthorSir Sydney Smith
LanguageEnglish
GenreAutobiography
PublisherDavid McKay Co., New York
Publication date
1959 (1st edition)
Media typePrint
Pages318

Mostly Murder is the 1959 autobiography of forensic pathologist Sir Sydney Smith.[1][2]

Background

The book is a memoir about the most notorious crimes Smith solved in his career,[3] which extended across the United Kingdom, New Zealand, Australia, Egypt and Sri Lanka.[4]

The book has run through many British[5] and American[6] editions and has been translated into several languages.[7][8]

Selected cases

  • Hopetoun quarry murder (1913)
    Conviction of Patrick Higgins of Winchburgh for the double homicide of his two children and dumping their bodies in the quarry, which resulted in Scotland's first execution of the twentieth century.[9][10]
  • Assassination of Governor-General Sirdar (1924)
    Apprehension of the assassins of British Governor-General of Anglo-Egyptian Sudan Major-General Lee Stack, who was mortally shot while driving through Cairo.[11]
  • Sidney Fox matricide trial (1929)
    Unraveling of the plot and subsequent conviction of career swindler Sidney Harry Fox for the murder of his mother.[12][13]
  • Annie Hearn arsenic trial (1931)
    The highly controversial Annie Hearn arsenic poisoning accusation where the defense came up with scientific evidence which overrode the prosecution's circumstantial evidence.[14]
  • Strangulation of Chrissie Gall - suicide or homicide? (1931)
    The repudiation of expert opinion and highly controversial wrongful conviction of Peter Queen for the murder of Chrissie Gall.[15][16]
  • Sydney shark case (1935)
    The bizarre case of a 12-foot shark regurgitating a severed human arm in an Australian aquarium, and the subsequent investigation determining both victim and the cause of death.[17]
  • Ruxton double murder (1935)
    Establishing the precedent of forensic skull-to-face superimposition, and conviction of Dr. Buck Ruxton for the double homicide, mutilation and dismemberment of his wife Isabella Kerr-Ruxton and their family housemaid Mary Jane Rogerson.[18][19]
  • Capturing the Falkirk burglar (1937)
    Apprehension of the Falkirk burglar through pioneering the field of forensic podiatry.[20]
  • Acquittal of Mahadevan Sathasivam (1951)
    Acquittal of Sri Lankan cricketer Mahadevan Sathasivam of the murder of his wife Paripoornam Ananda Rajendra, and the conviction of servant Hewa Marambage William.[21]

References

  1. ^ Sir Sydney Smith. "Mostly Murder by Smith, Sir Sydney". www.biblio.com. Retrieved 5 June 2023.
  2. ^ William J. Tilstone; Kathleen A. Savage; Leigh A. Clark (2006). Forensic science: an encyclopedia of history, methods, and techniques. ABC-CLIO. p. 13. ISBN 1-57607-194-4.
  3. ^ "Sydney Smith". BRIAN SWEENEY AND INGRID HORROCKS. 25 June 2007. Retrieved 6 June 2023.
  4. ^ Pitman, Joy (1988). "Out of the College archives: The Sydney A. Smith Collection" (PDF). Proc. R. Coll. Physicians Edinb. 18 (2): 213–218. PMID 11621535. Archived from the original (PDF) on 24 September 2006.
  5. ^ Smith, Sir Sydney (1959). Mostly Murder. London: Harrap. ISBN 0-88029-306-3.
  6. ^ "Mostly Murder: Sir Sydney Smith's Autobiography". Kessinger Publishing LLC., Montana, USA. 5 September 2010. Retrieved 6 June 2023.
  7. ^ "ලොව හෙල්ලු අභිරහස් මිනීමැරුම් පිළිබඳ අධිකරණ වෛද්‍ය පරීක්ෂණ - MOSTLY MURDER – SYDNEY SMITH". Abaya Hewawasam for Sooriya publishers. 5 May 2014. Retrieved 26 April 2023.
  8. ^ "Meistens mord: aus den Erinnerungen Gerichtsarztes / Sir Sydney Smith". Micheline Maurits for Fischer Bücherei publishers, Frankfurt & Hamburg. 30 May 1963. Retrieved 10 June 2023.
  9. ^ "British Executions - Patrick Higgins". National Records of Scotland. 15 May 2009. Retrieved 6 June 2023.
  10. ^ "Murdered boys' final remains laid to rest". www.scotsman.com/news. 9 May 2009. Retrieved 6 June 2023.
  11. ^ "Extracting the Best Deal for Britain: The Assassination of Sir Lee Stack in November 1924 and the Revision of Britain's Nile Valley Policy". Jayne L. Gifford, PhD. 7 February 2013. Retrieved 6 June 2023.
  12. ^ "Trial of Sidney Harry Fox". University of Leeds. 28 December 1934. Retrieved 6 June 2023.
  13. ^ "The Murder of Mrs Fox and the Trial of Her Son Sidney". John Welford. 24 April 2023. Retrieved 6 June 2023.
  14. ^ "The Trial of Annie Hearn". launcestonthen.co.uk - Take A Nostalgic Trip Through The Ancient Cornish Capital's Past. 4 January 2023. Retrieved 6 June 2023.
  15. ^ "The Science behind Murder: The Sydney Smith Collection". Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh. 5 June 2023. Retrieved 6 June 2023.
  16. ^ "Clothesline". Catt's True Crime Corner. 5 April 2019. Retrieved 6 June 2023.
  17. ^ "THE SHARK ARM CASE". ABC TV Online. 29 April 2002. Retrieved 6 June 2023.
  18. ^ "THE RUXTON MURDERS – 1935". The Glasgow Police Museum. 3 March 1973. Retrieved 6 June 2023.
  19. ^ "Buck Ruxton: The Jigsaw Murders case where forensics were key". Giancarlo Rinaldi for BBC Scotland. 15 March 2023. Retrieved 6 June 2023.
  20. ^ "Sir Sydney Smith and three bones". Archana Singh. 15 March 2023. Retrieved 6 June 2023.
  21. ^ "Sathasivam murder 70 years on". K.K.S.Perera for the Island (දිවයින - සී/ස උපාලි පුවත්පත් සමාගම). 10 October 2021. Retrieved 6 June 2023.
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