UNDETECTED MURDERS.

Colonist, Volume LVI, Issue 13485, 3 June 1914, Page 2

UNDETECTED MURDERS.

The acquittal of John Starchfield in the train murder case adds another to the long list of London's unsolved murder mysteries. Failing some lucky clue or a confession from the criminal, the murderer of the unfortunate little boy is not now- likely to be brought to justice. During, the last two decades about 300 murders have been committed in the London district, of which about 40, have gone undetected. A considerable increase in the number of undetected crimes is believed to ~ have occurred. The number of murders committed annually- throughout the country is about 150. In at least 25 of the undetected murders of the past 20 years in ,the London district there was considerable hue and cry, but without any useful result. In the country the number of undetected murders is probably higher than in the metropolis. The further . away from the capital the easier is it Jfor the murderer to get through" his I gruesome business undiscovered. Fortunately for the public's peace of mind, specialisation in murder is.rare, and the professional murderer is not common. But when he does materialise he is soon run down, owing to the tendency of all evildoers to do their work on lines which become stereotyped. An exception is Jack the Ripper, the most revolting of all professional murderers, who, in the opinion of more than.one high police official, ended his life in the Thames, and thus escaped from justice.