Aristocrat's 'murder' that shocked Scotland more than 100 years ago revisited by modern crime experts

A murder trial that left Scotland hooked on the details surrounding the shooting of a young aristocrat on an Argyll estate more than 100 years ago has been revisited by modern crime experts.

The death of Windsor Dudley Cecil Hambrough in 1893 became a ‘cause celebre’, with the High Court in Edinburgh hearing from almost 100 witnesses in just under 100 days. There was not a spare seat in the courtroom as Alfred John Monson took to the dock accused of the murder of the young military man on the Ardlamont Estate at Kames near Tighnabruaich, first unsuccessfully by drowning after a hole appeared in a rowing boat and then, the following day, with a shotgun wound to the head, which was discharged during a private hunt in the woods.

The trial – which saw an array of exhibits brought into the court for examination by the jury, from a large piece of Rowan tree that held several shotgun pellets to several models of Hambrough’s head – ultimately ended with a ‘not proven’ verdict delivered against Monson.

The accused John Monson (left), the victim Lieutenant Hambrough and Edward Scott (right), who was present on the morning of the murder but then deemed an outlaw following his disappearance. He later emerged, a year later, performing in an Edinburgh music hall. PIC: Illustrated London News.

Monson had been hired to tutor Hambrough in military ways, with the two becoming “excellent friends”. But the prosecution claimed Monson was motivated to kill given the potential fortune that surrounded the young man. A third man in the woods on the day of the death, Edward Scott, was deemed an outlaw after disappearing from Argyll and only emerged a year later performing in an Edinburgh music hall.

The case, which was routinely written about for decades after the trial given the social status of the victim and the challenges of the ‘not proven’ verdict, has been re-examined by the Leverhulme Research Centre for Forensic Science (LRCFS) at Dundee University, as well as experts in medicine, science, law and gamekeeping, as historical crime investigation is compared to to current day practice.

Their conclusions of the case, which was decided on circumstantial evidence, will be revealed in the latest episode of their true crime podcast Inside Forensic Science, which analyses the case through the lens of new forensic techniques.

Ardlamont House near Kames, Tighnabruaich - the scene of the fatal gunshot wound. PIC: Illustrated London News. PIC: Contributed.

Professor Niamh Nic Daeid, director of LRCFS, said: “The aim of the six-episode podcast is not to reopen the case, but to explore the complexities of forensic science, demonstrate the challenge that the jury may have in understanding scientific evidence and what tools being developed and used today might help criminal investigations.”

She added: “We are delighted to work with the Adventurous Audio team and all of the specialists and practitioners who gave us the benefit of their experience and knowledge to review this case.”

Monson’s defence was that Hambrough awkwardly and accidentally shot himself in the back of the head, with his own double-barrelled shotgun, after stumbling over a wall in the woods. The court heard at the time that he was found with a gun shot wound to the right of his head with part of his right ear missing.

Dr Miles Mack, a GP in Dingwall who gives his assessment of the historical practices surrounding the case in Dundee University's true crime podcast. PIC: Contributed.

Ahead of the trial, Monson’s investigators tested this defence by carrying out shooting experiments at varying distances to examine the difference in bullet entry points. Several models of his head were brought into court, with women in the public gallery heard to remark what a handsome man he had been.

To produce the podcast, a number of experiments were safely carried out under controlled conditions by a gamekeeper who fired shotgun bullets into pieces of paper to recreate some of those early experiments and explore how the entry wound might have presented differently depending on the distance at which the gun was fired.

The podcast, narrated by broadcaster Pennie Stuart, presenter of BBC science series Brainwaves, also brings in senior officers from Scottish Police Authority (SPA) Forensic Services to explore the case in depth and scrutinise the real evidence as presented to the court at the time.

A newspaper report of the day reflects the level of public interest in the case. The article, widely published in December 1893, said: “The mystery surrounding Lieutenant Hambrough and the social position occupied by the parties to the present cause celebre combined to arouse intense public interest in the proceedings.”

A court room illustration from the sensational trial which filled Edinburgh High Court with members of the public and press for almost 100 days. PIC: Illustrated London News.

The first episode features Dingwall-based GP Dr Miles Mack OBE, former chair of the Scottish council of the Royal College of General Practitioners, who described his shock at the 19th-century doctor turning up at the estate to examine the dead body in a bed after it had been wrapped in a rug and moved from the woods into a bedroom, where it was washed.

Historical documents detailing his statement to the court during the trial reveal the doctor examined the wound with his finger and found a hole in the skull, confirming a shot wound.

He certified death, then went upstairs to have dinner with the family and guests, including the main suspect Monson.

Dr Mack said, while shocking compared to modern procedures, this was likely normal practice at the time. He then goes onto describe how differently the same situation would be approached today.

He said: “The idea that the doctor was called to the case was startling because I wouldn’t be called to a firearms incident now. My sympathy is with the doctor being put in the position of being asked for a medical certificate cause of death, reflecting on how sometimes there is still discretion about how we present that.

“Earlier in my career we might have been asked to confirm life extinct, which is different from doing medical certificate cause of death. And so I was called to some gruesome deaths, mostly in cars, but now ambulance services are able to declare life extinct, so I wouldn’t be called at all.”

The latest series of Inside Forensic Science, along with previous episodes exploring difference cases, can be found on the university’s website and on all podcast platforms.