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Noble Blood

The Tragic True-Crime Life of Lady Lucan

Noble Blood

iHeartPodcasts and Grim & Mild

Society & Culture, History

4.813.5K Ratings

🗓️ 12 September 2023

⏱️ 39 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

[CONTENT WARNING: this episode contains depictions of violence and spousal abuse.]

On November 7, 1974, John Bingham, 7th Earl of Lucan committed a horrible crime: attacking his wife, Veronica, Lady Lucan, and murdering their nanny, Sandra Rivett, in the family's quiet Belgravia home. But it's what happened after that turned the story into a true-crime legend: the morning after the murder, Lord Lucan disappeared.

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Transcript

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0:00.0

Welcome to Noble Blood, a production of I Heart Radio and Grim and Mild from Aaron Manky,

0:06.5

listener discretion advised.

0:20.0

Thursday, November 7, 1974.

0:26.5

The residential London neighborhood of Belgravia was known back in the Tutor period as a hotspot for highwaymen and robberies.

0:38.0

But by the 1970s, it was considered a quiet space in the heart of the city.

0:45.0

Today, the neighborhood's Lower Belgrave Street has its own wiki page with four notable residents listed.

0:55.0

Two writers, the wife of a Nicaraguan dictator and John Bingham, the 7th Earl of Lucan.

1:04.0

The night of November 7, Lucan's estranged wife Veronica was home with the couple's children and their nanny, a woman named Sandra Rivett.

1:17.0

Thursday was normally Rivett's night off, the evening she would go out with her boyfriend.

1:24.0

But Sandra switched her schedule that week and had seen her boyfriend the night before.

1:30.0

A little before 9, Sandra Rivett put the youngest children to bed and asked Lady Lucan if she wanted a cup of tea.

1:40.0

After a while, Veronica began to wonder what was taking the nanny so long and so she headed downstairs to the home's basement kitchen.

1:52.0

She made it to the top of the basement stairs where she was struck by a metal pipe.

1:59.0

According to later testimony, Veronica screamed for her life and then recognized her attacker's voice as her husband when he told her to shut up.

2:14.0

A struggle ensued, Lucan only released the grip on his wife's throat when Veronica managed to grab his testicles and he gave up the fight.

2:26.0

With tensions slightly calmer for the moment, Veronica asked her husband where Rivett was.

2:35.0

At first he was evasive, finally he admitted she was dead.

2:41.0

In an attempt to placate her husband and by herself some time, Veronica suggested she would help him dispose of the body,

2:51.0

but that she had to stay in the house until her wounds from their earlier fight were healed.

2:57.0

Her gambit was successful.

3:00.0

Lucan agreed and when he went into the bathroom to get a wet towel, Veronica realized he wouldn't be able to hear her over the running water.

3:11.0

She fled the house and successfully ran to a nearby pub, the plumber's arms.

...

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