A new exhibition in Moffat museum is set to highlight the role of the town in solving the notorious Jigsaw Murders, a case that changed forensic science. In September 1935, Lancashire doctor Buck Ruxton murdered his common-law wife Isabella Kerr and housemaid Mary Jane Rogerson in Lancaster, then dissected their bodies and wrapped them in newspaper, old clothes and sheets before driving north.
Ruxton threw the body parts over a bridge into a ravine near Moffat, where they were discovered by a visitor a couple of weeks later. Initially, police thought the remains belonged to a man and a woman. The investigation, led by Prof John Glaister of the University of Glasgow, used pioneering forensic techniques including fingerprinting from badly damaged bodies, superimposing photographs onto skulls for identification, and entomology to determine time of death from maggot life-cycles.
Local police officer Sgt Robert Sloan played a crucial role, securing the crime scene without modern equipment. His careful handling of newspaper wrapping the remains allowed experts to identify the limited-circulation publication and its date, which proved significant. The case was one of the first to rely almost wholly on circumstantial forensic evidence, leading to Ruxton's conviction and death sentence.
Volunteer trustee Janet Tildesley, who helped organise the exhibition, noted that Ruxton's story began to unravel as he reported his wife missing and changed his account. The exhibition opens in Moffat to showcase the area's contribution to solving the crime, which remains a landmark in forensic history.
