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Maybrick

Barristers Sasha Wass and Jeremy Dein examine an infamous Victorian murder case, where a young American woman was charged with poisoning her husband in Liverpool in 1889.

Leading criminal barristers Sasha Wass QC and Jeremy Dein QC re-examine an infamous Victorian poisoning case in which a wife was convicted of the murder of her husband.

Liverpool, 1889. On 11 May, cotton broker James Maybrick passed away after a two-week battle with illness. A post-mortem revealed that his body contained traces of the deadly poison arsenic. Suspicion soon fell on his wife, Florence, after servants saw her handling some poisons.

American-born Florence had met James, a man 23 years her senior, whilst travelling to Britain on an ocean liner. Their marriage was a picture of Victorian happiness and success, but behind closed doors James鈥檚 business was in trouble, the family faced financial difficulties, and rumours of extra-marital affairs swirled around the couple.

Despite protesting her innocence, Florence was charged with James's murder, and on 7 August 1889, after a week-long trial, Florence was found guilty and sentenced to death. But her story didn鈥檛 end there.

Now, over 130 years later, Florence and James鈥檚 relative Dave Maybrick, who has known about the story since he was a child, is seeking to question the original conviction and has called upon the barristers to see what they make of this infamous case. Exploring questions around cause of death and Victorian prejudice, can Jeremy and Sasha find any new evidence to convince Judge Radford that Florence Maybrick was wrongly convicted?

43 minutes

Last on

Mon 19 Feb 2024 15:30

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Credits

Role Contributor
Presenter Sasha Wass
Presenter Jeremy Dein
Director James Pearson
Producer Gary Senior
Series Producer James Pearson
Executive Producer Mike Benson
Executive Producer Simon Cooper
Production Manager Johanna Scammell
Production Department Michael Klokkos
Production Company Chalkboard TV

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