Location: Oxford, Oxfordshire, England

Year: 1871

In November 1871, "considerable excitement was caused at Oxford, owing to the discovery of a woman with her throat cut in a field off of the Botley Road".

The unfortunate victim was found "with her throat cut from ear to ear". Whilst she wasn't named, the newspapers at the time reported that "she was in the habit of selling matches near the railway station, and was last seen alive at about 9 o'clock on Saturday night."

The corpse was discovered by a passer-by in the early hours of the following morning, and when police arrived on the scene, it was initially assumed that the poor woman's injuries had been self-inflicted; however," the absence of any weapon immediately rendered the case full of suspicion."

It appeared that the deceased had moved approximately 15 yards whilst bleeding profusely, "as there were two distinct pools of blood." It was also noted that there were no blood stains in the gateway to the field, nor any signs of a struggle. It clearly wasn't the result of a robbery, as the victim still had 3s 6d of silver in her pocket. She was between 30 to 40 years of age, and was known locally as 'Matchey'.

(Image below shows the Botley Road in more modern times, courtesy of Wikipedia).