Time is running out to vote on whether Lord Lucan is innocent or guilty of murder after the evidence against him was laid bare in the Mail’s pioneering podcast series about his case.
Listeners of the chart-topping Trial Of Lord Lucan have until noon tomorrow to decide whether he was responsible for the brutal killing of nanny Sandra Rivett 50 years ago.
The success of the podcast has been staggering – storming to number one in the true crime charts for both Apple and Spotify after its launch a week ago. It is also in the top ten for all podcasts in the UK.
In a world first, the team behind the Mail’s series has brought to life the police case against the infamous earl, who vanished within hours of Mrs Rivett’s murder on November 7, 1974.
Every day for the past week, new episodes have chronicled how Lord Lucan’s actual Old Bailey trial might have unfolded had he been caught and tried over her death and the near fatal attack on his estranged wife, Veronica.
The podcast is based on a never-before-seen, 60-page Scotland Yard document obtained by the Mail, setting out the evidence amassed by detectives in the 1970s.
The case scandalised Britain at the time, when, allegedly aided by his powerful circle of friends, Lord Lucan went on the run after the family nanny, Mrs Rivett, 29, was bludgeoned to death with a lead pipe in the basement kitchen at the Belgravia mansion, and Lady Lucan – believed to be the intended victim – sustained serious head injuries.
To add authority to the podcast series, two of Britain’s most eminent barristers, Max Hardy and Edward Henry KC, have presented the prosecution and defence cases in meticulous detail.
After decades of intrigue and speculation about the Lucan mystery, now it is time for listeners to decide his fate. After the votes have been cast by 12pm tomorrow, the verdict will be revealed in a special episode at 6am on Monday.
Jamie East, the Mail’s head of podcasts, has urged listeners to join the online jury ‘to cast their precious vote’.
Presented by the Mail’s Associate Editor Stephen Wright and broadcast journalist Caroline Cheetham, it is based on a never-before-seen, 60-page Scotland Yard document obtained exclusively by Wright, setting out the evidence amassed by detectives in the 1970s.
It has been almost 50 years since British aristocrat Lord Lucan, 39, vanished without a trace
The Earl disappeared after his children’s nanny Sandra Rivett was murdered in the family home
The blood-soaked basement with Sandra Rivett’s body inside a mail sack beside a cast-off shoe
And to lend it the gravitas it deserves, two of Britain’s most eminent barristers have presented the prosecution and defence cases in enthralling detail.
But now it is time for listeners to decide Lord Lucan’s fate.
Until midday on Sunday, votes can be cast to determine his guilt or innocence before the verdict is revealed in a special episode at 6am on Monday.
The drama has gripped audiences just as the world was captivated by the unsolved murder 50 years ago.
The mystery scandalised Britain when Lord Lucan went on the run after the family nanny, Sandra Rivett, 29, was bludgeoned to death with a lead pipe in the basement kitchen at the Belgravia mansion, and the earl’s estranged wife, Veronica – believed to be the intended victim – sustained serious head injuries before fleeing.
Jamie East, the Mail’s head of podcasts, said: ‘The most exciting part is yet to come. The listeners must weigh up what they have heard and cast their precious vote. This is the first of its kind, a truly interactive event.’
The Trial of Lord Lucan presents, for the first time, the prosecution case prepared by police for whenever he was brought to justice.
It also reveals startling new details about the events leading up to the murder and the aftermath.
Barrister Max Hardy (right) is prosecuting Lord Lucan in the trial, while Edward Henry KC is acting for the defence
Lord Lucan’s wife Veronica Mary Duncan suffered a near-fatal assault on the same night
Lady Lucan with Frances and George, two of the three children she had with her husband
As prosecuting barrister Max Hardy lays out, Lucan alone was responsible for the grisly attacks on November 7, 1974.
He had planned the murder down to the last detail, he says, even discussing dumping his wife’s body in the Solent and bragging he would never be caught.
Mr Hardy also claims the last person to see Lucan in the hours after the attack had failed to assist police because of her ‘infatuation’ with the aristocrat.
For the defence, barrister Edward Henry KC urges jurors to judge the case on ‘the evidence alone’, saying Lord Lucan ‘has been vilified… his whole life defamed in the Press’.
