Worldwide Murder Mysteries. Flat.

The Battersea Flat Murder
England.

Thomas Weldon Atherston (real name Thomas Anderson) was a stage actor who met a curious demise in London’s Battersea district on July 16, 1910. After reports of gunshots, police came to investigate the area and found Atherston’s body on the grounds of Clifton Gardens. He was wearing bedroom slippers and carrying a rudimentary blackjack in his pocket. He had died from a bullet wound to the face.

Investigators talked to the tenant of the apartment, a woman named Elizabeth Earl. She happened to be Atherston’s ex-girlfriend and reported hearing gunshots while having dinner with a young man named Thomas Frederick Anderson. He happened to be the actor’s son and was currently in a relationship with his father’s former lover.

Given the circumstances, police didn’t believe that Atherston’s death was a coincidence. They investigated the possibility of a murderous love triangle where the young Anderson and his lover conspired to kill the older actor.

Several other witnesses claimed to have seen a man fleeing the scene, but none could describe him. While he could have been Anderson, there was no evidence to indicate this as the lovers gave each other alibis.

Although no culprit was arrested, police believed that Atherston was in the wrong place at the wrong time. While lurking in the shadows and spying on his former mistress, he encountered a burglar who shot him to make his getaway.