How to Solve a Murder (Pt 1)
The Constant: A History of Getting Things Wrong
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The No-Man's Land of Criminal Investigations
Abraham Thornton was accused of murdering Mary Ashford in Tyburn, Warwickshire. He had already been acquitted by the state and could not be re-tried for his crime. The victim's family hired a private barrister to retry him under an old English law called 'Trial by Combat' Trial by Combat has existed since at least 700 AD but it wasn't legal until after 1215 when Pope Innocent III barred ordeals. In 1817 Abraham Thornton invoked this right as he tried to appeal against his murder conviction. A jury found him not guilty without even deliberating because they didn't know what else to say.
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