The Erdington Similarity Murders

Strange Matters Podcast

Campfire Audio Productions

Science, History, Social Sciences, Natural Sciences

4.4 • 987 Ratings

🗓️ 18 January 2016

⏱️ 20 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

On this episode of Strange Matters we will be discussing two mysterious murder cases in Erdington, England. These particular murders share a striking number of similarities to each other. The victims had the same birthday, were killed on the same day, died under similar circumstances, and whose bodies were discovered almost in the exact same area. One might believe the murders would obviously be the work of a serial killer. However… the two murders took place 157 years apart.
In 1817 Mary Ashford’s body was found drowned in a pit near her home. The main suspect, Abraham Thornton, had been alone with her most of the night. He was found with blood on his undergarments, his boots were a near match to those found at the scene of her death, and earlier suggestive comments made the night earlier led many to believe he had harmful intentions towards Mary.
In 1975 Barbara Forrest was dropped off at a bus stop to return home after a night of fun. She never was seen actually getting on the bus however, and after a week of her missing Barbara’s body was found in a shallow ditch. This time the main suspect was a man named Michael Thornton, a co-worker of Barbara. He was also found with blood on him and a faulty alibi for that night.
Despite what looked like obvious motives and evidence, both men were acquitted of all crimes and let go. The deaths of both young ladies remain a mystery in Erdington to this day. What’s even stranger are the striking similar circumstances surrounding this case. Could there be some type of connection between these two murders? Is this the work of a copy cat killer who was trying to duplicate the famous murder that happened over a century ago in the Erdington area? We discuss all the possibilities to these two bizarre murder cases and why we think this mystery is so fascinating!
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Transcript

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0:00.0	And the Hello and
0:24.4	Welcome to the Strange Matters podcast
0:26.1	Here at Strange Matters, we discuss everything that is bizarre, mysterious, and
0:29.7	unexplained.
0:30.7	I am Sean and today I'm joined by my fellow host Ethan and Eric now first before we get started I just wanted to point out that this is our first listener suggested episode so big thanks to Lauren for being such a huge fan and for suggesting this interesting story.
0:46.0	Right, so on this episode of Strange Matters, we'll be discussing a bizarre set of mysterious deaths.
0:51.0	Now these particular murders share a striking number of similarities.
0:55.0	And under the circumstance surrounding the two victims, you would think that perhaps a serial killer or someone with a specific target in mind would be behind these crimes.
1:02.0	However, the two murders that we'll be discussing today are 157 years apart.
1:07.0	Yes, so for this episode we will discuss the facts and circumstances surrounding both of these strange martyrs and the uncanny connections between them.
1:15.4	So let's get to it.
1:17.3	All right, so both of these events take place in Erdington, England and the first murder we will be talking about took place in 1817.
1:24.7	Mary Ashford was a 20-year-old lady who worked as a housekeeper.
1:28.8	On the 26th of May 1817, Mary was intending an annual dance with her close friend Hannah Cox.
1:35.0	So the dance was a pretty big thing in the community and drew a large crowd, and in attendance was Abraham Thornton.
1:41.0	By several witnesses, Mary and Abraham were seen together throughout the night and seen to be enjoying
1:45.0	each other's company.
1:46.0	I just want to point out that Thornton, a 24-year-old heavy-set male, has been described by some to be a repulsive individual.
1:55.3	Yeah, he probably wasn't the biggest catch, but it's a small community I'm guessing.
1:59.2	So after a few hours the trio of Mary,, Hannah and Thorne left the dance.
2:04.2	While Hannah returned to Erdington while Mary and Thorne kind of walked around for
2:07.2	the while in Chile's company.
	...

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