The History of Murder Podcast

Jan 05 2025 13 ep. 34 mins 27
The History of Murder Podcast artwork

The legal history podcast that looks at the development and history of the crime of murder in the common law.

  History  Society & Culture
RSS feed Share
Copy RSS


Subscribe on Podcast Addict


Infanticide - part II (1700-present)

Jan 05 2025 29 mins  
In today's episode, we continue to look at infanticide. We start by discussing the 2016 Canadian case of R v. Borowiec, where a woman was convicted of infanticide after killing two of her babies and attempting to kill a third. The courts found she was guilty of infanticide -- and not murder -- because she was mentally disturbed at the time of the acts. The distinction is important

Infanticide

Aug 07 2022 39 mins  
Today we begin to talk about a very special kind of homicide: infanticide. Infanticide, or the killing of newborn children, is a surprisingly large topic in the history of murder, and we're going to cover it over the course of two episodes. This topic has a colourful history because Parliament, judges and juries aren't sure what to make of it. If a woman kills her child, is it murd

Witchcraft - Bonus episode

May 27 2022 30 mins  
This week's episode is a bonus episode on the history of witchcraft in English law. We give murder a rest in this episode and focus exclusively on the rise and fall of witchcraft in England in the 17th century instead. The episode starts by looking at King James I's weird personal relationship with witch-hunting. We then see how his son, Charles I, was a bit skeptical about the who

Witchcraft

Nov 24 2021 40 mins  
Today's episode is on one of the best topics in the history of the law - witchcraft! We start this episode by looking at the first famous witchcraft trial (and pamphlet) in England, the case of Mother Waterhouse. Mother Waterhouse's case gives us some clues as to why witches and witchcraft-accusers tended to be women. One reason is that witchcraft cases tended to revolve around ne

The Trial of Catherine Hayes

Nov 17 2021 28 mins  
Today's episode of the History of Murder Podcast focuses on the trial and execution of Catherine Hayes. Catherine Hayes was convicted of murdering her husband in 1726 and was sentenced to be burned at the stake for this crime. The facts in this case are just as fascinating now as they were in 1726. Spoiler alert: we'll see a pickled head, allegations of adultery and incest, and a h

(Wo)manslaughter

Nov 10 2021 41 mins  
Today's episode looks at women in the history of murder. First, we'll see how the law of murder applied differently to women than it did to men. One big difference is the fact that women weren't eligible to plead benefit of clergy until 1691, which meant they were (essentially) unable to be convicted of manslaughter. This is a drag for women who kill others through negligence and w

Felony Murder and Constructive Malice

Oct 27 2021 48 mins  
Today we take a whirlwind tour through the controversial topic of felony murder. In today's episode, we ask whether it is murder when someone kills someone else unintentionally but during the course of a serious crime (or a felony). Normally killing has to be intentional to qualify as murder - but does the criminal context change this rule? For instance, is it murder when a robber

Unintentional Killing

Oct 15 2021 46 mins  
We all know (now) that if you kill someone intentionally, it's murder. But is it ever murder when someone kills someone else unintentionally? Today, we look at a whole range of unintentional killings and ask whether they're murder, manslaughter, or sheer accident. Is it murder if you mean to kill one person but end up unintentionally killing another? What is it when you mean to giv

Bonus episode: Insults!

Oct 06 2021 19 mins  
Today's bonus episode is on insults. It looks at which insults were considered to be the most provocative in the 17th century. We'll see that courts were willing to excuse men who flew into a homicidal rage upon having their noses tweaked, being jostled, having the wall taken from them, and being "filliped upon the forehead." We'll also see one of my favourite cases, which inv

Provocation

Sep 29 2021 44 mins  
Today's episode features a considerable amount of spontaneous stabbing. We start off with the famous case of Watts v Brains (1600), where the court has to deal with two major problems. First, is it OK to kill someone just because they make "a wry face" at you? Second, how do we prove malice aforethought (and therefore that someone committed murder) if one person kills another in th