THE HORRENDOUS STORY OF THOMAS BRIGGS
By BRIAN LEMIN

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William Tanner My name is Inspector William Tanner.  I am in charge of investigating the brutal murder of a nice elderly gentleman named Thomas Briggs. It was the first train murder in England though it was some four years after the first train murder ever, which occurred in France.  The victim in the French train murder had been shot but he, like Thomas Briggs, had been robbed of his watch and chain. The French murderer had never been apprehended, and I was determined that this was not going to happen on this occasion. The following is the train of events that that I pieced together following the murder of Mr Briggs.  Two young men boarded the train at Hackney at about 10 pm that evening.  By sheer coincidence they were clerks at Robarts where Thomas Briggs was the chief clerk, but at this time they were not to know of the amazing coincidence that they had stumbled upon.  As one of them sat down, he put his hand on the seat and felt it rather damp.  Pulling his hand up quickly he inspected it and saw to his horror that it looked very much like blood!  The young men were very quick witted and acted before the train had chance to continue its journey.  They jumped out of the carriage and attracted the attention of the guard who brought a bright lantern from the guards van. Now the whole seen of this dastardly crime could be seen.  There was blood spattered every where, on the windows, the floor and of course the carriage seats. The only contents of the carriage were a black bag, a stick, both of which we later established belonged to Thomas Briggs, and a hat.  The hat was not a top hat, that mister Briggs was accustomed to wearing, but a hat that was later to be the means of identifying Thomas Briggs’ murderer. . Of course there was no body in the carriage, but a little later the body of Mr Briggs was found beside the tracks in between the two stations. . After doing his dastardly

deed, themurderer had thrown the body out of the carriage. The press had a field day.  This was the first railway carriage murder in English history.  Three rewards were immediately offered, a £100 by the government of England which was matched both by Messer’s Robart and Co and the Railway Company.  The public were horrified by the murder and followed it with great interest.  As for me, I had the job of finding the murderer.  The first break I had was when a young man walked into the jewellers shop at 55 Cheapside owned by a Mr Death (pronounced “deeth”).  The man wanted to exchange a watch for another of lesser value.  The deal was struck and the young man walked out with a watch and chain of lesser value and five shillings in his pocket.  Mr Briggs’ watch and chain were valued at £3-15-0.  My men visited Mr Deaths’ shop and obtained a description of a young man, about 30 years old and having a sallow complexion.  It was thought that he may have been German, though his English was good. It is important to note that Mr Death had packed the watch and chain that he had sold to this man in a box with Deaths’ name and trading name on it.  It was because of the distinctive name of “Death” that it stirred a memory in the mind of a cab driver Jonathan Matthews, when the box was given as a gift to his ten year old daughter.  Matthews knew the man who had given the gift to his daughter as it was the man who had once been engaged to his older daughter.  The mans name was Franz Muller.  I had great fortune when I interviewed Mr Matthews. He not only identified the hat found in the carriage as a hat that he himself had bought Muller but also gave me a photograph of him.  On showing the photograph to Mr Death, he confirmed that this was the man from whom he had bought Mr Briggs’ watch. I raided the home which Matthews had told me that Muller lived, but he had fled.  The landlords were a Mr and Mrs Blythe who

had got to know Muller quite well.  Theytold me the following about my murder suspect.  He was 25 years old, German by birth and an apprenticed gunsmith in Germany.  He could not get a job there so came to England where he became a tailor.  They told me that Muller was a quiet, well mannered man who had often talked about immigrating to America.  A letter that they showed me from Muller, again confirmed that the man appeared to be a mild mannered man, not rough in any way.  Despite this good report of the man, I was convinced that Muller was my man; the chain of evidence was building up. The hat, the watch and chain he had sold and the fact that Muller was known to be a regular traveller on the Fenchurch Street and Bow lines.        By now we knew that Muller had boarded a ship, the SS Victoria bound for New York just six days after the murder.  I decided that I and my sergeant, George Clark would board a faster boat in an attempt to beat the Victoria to America.  To make certain of the arrest that I expected to make, I also took Mr Death and Mr Matthews, with me to make the necessary identification. The ship we were on was the steamer “City of Manchester” and true to her schedule we arrived 20 days before the Victoria which was a pure sailing ship.  The American press were as fascinated by this case as was that of the English newspapers and the eventual arrival of the Victoria brought a large welcoming committee of barracking citizens calling out, "How are you Muller the murdered?”  The arrest was duly made and we all made our way back to England on the SS Etna. The inquest on the death of Thomas Briggs was held on September 26th. Muller was present to hear the jury pass the verdict that Brigs death was the result of wilful murder.  He was then driven to Bow Street where when charged, Muller replied that he had nothing to say.