The tragic case of Sarah Everard, a 33-year-old London woman, deeply affects many women. While walking home one night in 2021, she was deceived into entering a car by a police officer who was off duty – someone she likely believed she could safely trust. He then raped and murdered her.
It’s unsettling to think that just over 130 years before, another woman named Sarah in London experienced something horrifyingly similar. Back in 1889, Sarah Warburton was assaulted by a waterman – essentially, the Victorian era’s version of a taxi driver. It feels like history tragically repeating itself.
Sarah Warburton was at a pub south of the river, but needed to get home on the other side. The new Tower Bridge, which was supposed to make crossing easier, wasn’t yet complete. As she stepped into a boat rowed by a local waterman, another woman told her she’d be in good hands.
I suspect Sarah Warburton’s attacker was the same person responsible for the Thames Torso Murders – a serial killer from the Victorian era. Though he was incredibly dangerous, he’s largely been forgotten because the crimes of Jack the Ripper received so much more attention.
It’s unsettling to think that two serial killers could be living in the same city simultaneously. However, densely populated and constantly changing communities – such as the poorer areas of 1880s London – actually provide a cover for them to operate undetected.
As a crime movie fan, I have to say the details of the Torso Murderer case are genuinely chilling. This guy wasn’t just killing people, he was systematically dismembering them and scattering the remains around the river. By the time October 1889 rolled around, the police had already discovered four headless female torsos – found at Rainham in Essex back in 1887, then in Whitehall in 1888, followed by discoveries in Battersea and Whitechapel in the months leading up to October 1889. It’s a truly disturbing pattern, and the geographical spread of the remains is particularly unsettling.
These murders went unsolved for 130 years. However, our new series, Victorian Murder Club, features the research of Sarah Bax Horton, who we believe has finally identified the killer. While the evidence isn’t strong enough for a courtroom, it’s still very convincing.
Bax Horton made a key discovery by utilizing a digital archive of old newspapers – something the Victorian police didn’t have access to. By searching for reports about the River Thames and crimes against women, she realized the Torso Murderer likely committed other, less serious offenses, similar to how Sarah Everard’s killer had been linked to multiple instances of indecent exposure.
Her online search quickly revealed the case of Sarah Warburton’s assault, and the name of her attacker, James Crick. He seemed to match the characteristics of the perpetrator, the timing aligned with the crimes, and he possessed a key advantage for committing them: the secrecy and freedom of movement provided by his boat. According to news reports of her court testimony, Sarah Warburton stated that Crick threatened to silence her – saying he’d ‘settle’ her, just as he had other women found in the Thames.
Want to see this content?
We can’t display this content because of a security measure called reCAPTCHA. To see it, please log out of Contentpass.
News reports showed that despite being accused of domestic violence and rape in the past, police couldn’t secure a conviction for Reginald Crick. It’s possible that if they had, the women he later murdered might have been saved – a similar situation to the case of Sarah Everard’s killer. However, Crick’s luck ran out when he picked up Sarah Warburton. A nearby police officer heard her screams and arrested him, and her powerful testimony in court led to his imprisonment. After that, the series of murders known as the Thames Torso Murders came to an end.
What strikes me most is the trust those women placed in James Crick before getting into his car. It’s frustrating to always warn women to be careful at night. The responsibility for change lies with the men who commit these acts, not with the women who are simply trying to live their lives. However, the recent report on Sarah Everard’s death sadly confirms that women still face danger from predatory men in public spaces.
You’d expect us to be somehow “better” than the Victorians. I fear we’re not.
Lucy Worsley: Victorian Murder Club begins Monday 5 January at 9pm on BBC Two.
Authors
Lucy Worsley is a historian who appears frequently on British television. She’s also an author, broadcaster, and a leading curator at Historic Royal Palaces. She’s known for hosting popular history programs like ‘Royal History’s Biggest Fibs,’ ‘Blitz Spirit with Lucy Worsley,’ ‘Suffragettes with Lucy Worsley,’ and ‘Victoria & Albert: The Royal Wedding’.
Read More
- Ashes of Creation Rogue Guide for Beginners
- Bloober Team launches ‘Remosd Neul Serorehso Ovam Ceyerd’ countdown website
- Best Controller Settings for ARC Raiders
- Transformers Powers Up With ‘Brutal’ New Combaticon Reveal After 13 Years
- Gold Rate Forecast
- Meet the cast of Mighty Nein: Every Critical Role character explained
- 5 Best Things 2010s X-Men Comics Brought To Marvel’s Mutants
- 5 Xbox 360 Games You Forgot Were Awesome
- Stranger Things Creators Confirm Eleven’s Fate After Series Finale
- We’re Officially Less Than a Week Away From Crunchyroll’s Jujutsu Kaisen Season 3 Release
2026-01-05 21:09