Murder, Mystery and My Family: Case Closed?

Original version

The BBC South West region started on 20th April 1961 as part of the BBC Television Service, before becoming BBC One South West.

BBC One South West

Murder, Mystery and My Family

Documentaries

Factual

Factual: Crime & Justice

Top criminal barristers Sasha Wass and Jeremy Dein reinvestigate historical cases.

BBC Two

Simulcast of network BBC One in high definition. From 03/11/2010

BBC One HD

BBC One London

London

The BBC South region started on 5th January 1961 as part of the BBC Television Service, before becoming BBC One South.

BBC One South

BBC One Cambridgeshire

Formerly part of a wider BBC One South East region that included London and part of the South region. Separated from BBC One London 2001-09-03 following reorganisation of the South East region.

BBC One South East

The BBC North East & Cumbria region started in 1959 (tbc) as part of the BBC Television Service, before becoming BBC One North East & Cumbria.

BBC One North East & Cumbria

BBC One Yorks & Lincs

BBC One Yorkshire

BBC One Oxfordshire

The BBC East region started on 1st May 1959 as part of the BBC Television Service, before becoming BBC One East.

BBC One East

Simulcast of BBC One Wales in high definition. From 29/01/2013

BBC One Wales HD

BBC Northern Ireland region started on 19th April 1955 as part of the BBC Television Service, before becoming BBC One Northern Ireland.

BBC One Northern Ireland

BBC One region covering Derbyshire, Leicestershire and Nottinghamshire.

BBC One East Midlands

Simulcast of BBC One Northern Ireland in high definition. From 24/10/2012

BBC One Northern Ireland HD

BBC One Scotland

Scotland

The BBC West region started on 1st September 1957 as part of the BBC Television Service, before becoming BBC One West.

BBC One West

BBC One West Midlands

Simulcast of BBC One Scotland in high definition. From 14/01/2013

BBC One Scotland HD

BBC One Wales

Wales

BBC One Channel Islands

BBC One North West

BBC Two England

England

Simulcast of network BBC Two in high definition.

BBC Two HD

Simulcast of BBC Two Northern Ireland in high definition

BBC Two Northern Ireland HD

Simulcast of BBC Two Wales in high definition

BBC Two Wales HD

BBC Two Northern Ireland

Until 03/01/2009 BBC Two Wales (analogue) was known simply as BBC Two Wales. BBC Two Wales (digital) was BBC 2W. From 03/01/2009 BBC Two Wales schedules on both analogue and digital became identical

BBC Two Wales

Sasha Wass

Jeremy Dein

David McConnell

James Pearson

Mike Benson

Simon Cooper

Zlatina Rankova

Johanna Scammell

Michael Klokkos

Chalkboard TV

Murder, Mystery and My Family: Case Closed? Series 2: Thorne

Thorne

Case Closed? Series 2

BBC One - Murder, Mystery and My Family, Case Closed? Series 2, Thorne

The barristers return to the case of a chicken farmer hanged for murdering his fiancee.

The barristers return to the case of a Sussex poultry farmer who buried the body of his fiancee under a chicken run in 1924 but claimed to be innocent of her murder.

The barristers return to their investigation of a curious case, a poultry farmer who buried the body of his fiancee under a chicken run but claimed to be innocent of her murder.

Crowborough, East Sussex, 1924. 26-year-old Elsie Cameron arrived at the farm of her fiance, 24-year-old Norman Thorne, determined to set a date for their wedding. When a few days later Elsie had not returned home to London, her parents raised the alarm. Thorne claimed to know nothing of her whereabouts and offered to help police with their enquiries. But after a tip off from a neighbour, the net closed in on Thorne. Elsie’s possessions were uncovered at his farm, and Thorne changed his story. He claimed that Elsie had committed suicide in his hut, and in a panic he had dismembered and buried her body under his chicken run.

Thorne’s account was disbelieved and he was charged with Elsie’s murder. A five-day trial was held in Lewes and was dominated by disagreement between two eminent pathologists over the cause of Elsie’s death. Following just half an hour’s deliberation, the jury unanimously found Thorne guilty of murder, and on 22 April 1925 at London’s Wandsworth Prison, Norman Thorne was hanged.

A century later, Thorne’s cousin Gordon and his daughter Helen had only recently learned about this chapter of their family history. They were keen to learn more about the case and try to clear their ancestor’s name. Sasha and Jeremy explored motive, psychiatry and forensic pathology to try to persuade Judge Radford that Norman Thorne’s murder conviction may have been unsafe.

Now a year on from their initial investigation, the barristers learn how Gordon responded to the judge's verdict. Gordon explores how Sherlock Holmes creator Arthur Conan Doyle became connected to the case and whether doubts surrounding a key witness might have any affect on the conviction.

Murder, Mystery and My Family: Case Closed? Series 2

BBC One

Barristers Jeremy and Sasha follow up on some of the cases they have re-examined.

Accessibility links

Programme Index

Murder, Mystery and My Family

Case Closed? Series 2

Thorne

Contributors

Genres

Formats

Brand

Series

BBC One South West

About BBC One