10 Most Shocking Unsolved British Crime Mysteries

3. The Murder Of Marion Gilchrist

Eighty-six year old Marion Gilchrist was beaten to death during a robbery at her Glasgow home in 1908. Gilchrist was in possession of jewellery that would be worth nearly £280,000 today but this was left untouched as her attacker was disturbed by a neighbour and made off with only a brooch. The murder led to a false accusation and a miscarriage of justice with the real killer getting away and remaining unknown. The police thought they had a lead after a pawn ticket for a brooch surfaced that they believed linked the case to a man named Oscar Slater.

Slater was already known to them as a gangster and suspected pimp and he was put on trial, found guilty and sentenced to death for Gilchrist's murder. A sentence that was later commuted to life imprisonment. Further examination of the case worked to persuade many that Slater was in fact innocent including many influential figures including Sherlock Holmes author, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Further inquiries into the case proved that Slater was in fact innocent and he received the equivalent of £270,000 in compensation for the trial.