The Charing Cross Trunk Murder took place in a third floor office at 86

Rochester Row Rochester Row is a street in the City of Westminster in London that runs between Greycoat Place in the north and Vauxhall Bridge Road in the south. It is joined by Greycoat Street, Rochester Street, Vincent Square, Emery Hill Street, Vane Str ...

in the

City of Westminster The City of Westminster is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and London boroughs, borough in Inner London. It is the site of the United Kingdom's Houses of Parliament and much of the British government. It occupies a large area of cent ...

in London on 4 May 1927.

Events

On 6 May 1927, John Robinson, a 35-year-old estate agent, took a cab to

Charing Cross railway station Charing Cross railway station (also known as London Charing Cross) is a central London railway terminus between the Strand and Hungerford Bridge in the City of Westminster. It is the terminus of the South Eastern Main Line to Dover via Ashf ...

, where he deposited a large black trunk in the left-luggage office. On 10 May after a "dreadful smell" was noted, the police opened the trunk to find the dismembered body of a woman, with each limb separately wrapped in brown paper. The shopowner who sold the trunk and the cab driver were traced, and the police that visited the office at No 86 said it was "hastily vacated but scrupulously clean". Although the

identity parade A police lineup (in American English) or identity parade (in British English) is a process by which a crime victim or witness's putative identification of a suspect is confirmed to a level that can count as evidence at trial. The suspect, alo ...

failed to pick out Robinson, a more careful search of the property found a matchstick in the bin with a small spot of blood. Robinson confessed to the murder of Minnie Bonati, for which he was hanged on 12 August. A laundry tag on the dead woman's

knickers Panties (in American English; also called pants, undies, or knickers in British English) are a form of women's underwear. Panties can be form-fitting or loose. Typical components include an elastic Waistline (clothing), waistband, a crotch pan ...

for "P Holt" was traced to a Mrs Holt in Chelsea, who had employed ten women as servants over the past two years, and all were traced except for a "Mrs Rolls". Holt confirmed that the head of the dead woman was that of Mrs Rolls, who turned out to be Minnie Alice Bonati, who had left her Italian waiter husband to live with a Mr. Rolls, and now used his name. Bonati was working as a domestic servant and supplementing her income with

prostitution Prostitution is the business or practice of engaging in Sex work, sexual activity in exchange for payment. The definition of "sexual activity" varies, and is often defined as an activity requiring physical contact (e.g., sexual intercourse, n ...

. She had met Robinson at Victoria station, and they had gone to his office for sex. She died after an argument about money, with Robinson claiming that she attacked him, leading him to push her away, causing Bonati to fall, hit her head and die. He claimed that he panicked, bought a knife and trunk and disposed of the body, because he thought that no one would believe him. Robinson's story was contradicted by

forensic pathologist Forensic pathology is pathology that focuses on determining the cause of death by examining a corpse. A post mortem examination is performed by a medical examiner or forensic pathologist, usually during the investigation of criminal law cases an ...

Bernard Spilsbury Sir Bernard Henry Spilsbury (16 May 1877 – 17 December 1947) was a British pathologist. His cases include Hawley Crippen, the Seddon case, the Major Armstrong poisoning, the "Brides in the Bath" murders by George Joseph Smith, the Crumbles ...

, who said that Bonati had died of

asphyxiation Asphyxia or asphyxiation is a condition of deficient supply of oxygen to the body which arises from abnormal breathing. Asphyxia causes generalized hypoxia, which affects primarily the tissues and organs. There are many circumstances that can i ...

after being knocked unconscious, which could not have been caused by a fall as Robinson claimed. During his investigation Detective Inspector Grosse of the

Metropolitan Police The Metropolitan Police Service (MPS), formerly and still commonly known as the Metropolitan Police (and informally as the Met Police, the Met, Scotland Yard, or the Yard), is the territorial police force responsible for law enforcement and ...

also pursued enquiries on behalf of a newspaper, an action which some held to be "reckless and unscrupulous" and argued should lead to the withdrawal of his pension. After being produced as a trial exhibit, the trunk was retained in the collections of its private "Black Museum" (now the

Crime Museum The Crime Museum is a collection of criminal memorabilia kept at New Scotland Yard, headquarters of the Metropolitan Police Service in London, England. Known as the Black Museum until the early 21st century, the museum came into existence at ...

), where it was the subject of Episode 47 of the 1952 radio crime drama ''

The Black Museum ''The Black Museum'' is a radio crime-drama program produced by Harry Alan Towers, which was broadcast in the USA on the Mutual network in 1952. It was then broadcast in Europe in 1953 on Radio Luxembourg, a commercial radio station, and was not ...

'', with

Orson Welles George Orson Welles (May 6, 1915 – October 10, 1985) was an American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter, known for his innovative work in film, radio and theatre. He is considered to be among the greatest and most influential f ...

as both the host and narrator of the show.Episode
of the 1952 radio crime drama ''

'' entitled ''The Trunk'' narrated by

at the Internet Archive It was also loaned from the Crime Museum to the ''Crime Museum Uncovered'' exhibition at the

Museum of London The Museum of London is a museum in London, covering the history of the UK's capital city from prehistoric to modern times. It was formed in 1976 by amalgamating collections previously held by the City Corporation at the Guildhall, London, Gui ...

from October 2015 to April 2016.

References

{{Reflist 1927 in England Crime in Westminster Dismemberments Murder in England 1927 murders in the United Kingdom Trials in England May 1927 events