True Crime, Missing persons, Murder, London, England, United Kingdom, John Lucan, Sandra Rivett, Veronica Duncan, Lucan, 1900-1999, United Kingdom Famous Trials, Famous Trials 

"On the night of November 7th, 1974, a particularly brutal murder took place at a house in London's Lower Belgrave Street. The victim was a 29-year-old nanny from Basingstoke, Sandra Rivett, who was bludgeoned to death in the basement of the house. At the same time, 37-year-old Countess of Lucan, who lived in the house with her three children, was also attacked, but she managed to escape and raise the alarm. Almost immediately, the police began a manhunt for Lady Lucan's estranged husband, Richard John Bingham, whom she identified as her attacker. The hunt for Lucan, which eventually stretcher to France, South Africa, and Australia, became a British cause célèbre, preoccupying the press both at home and abroad for many months. At the same time, an inquest was held into the death of the nanny, which gradually fermented into a trial without the accused. Lady Lucan gave evidence of how she had been brutally assaulted in the darkened hallway of her house. It was revealed in court that Mrs. Rivett was identical in height to Lady Lucan, and should have been out of the house on the murder night. The jury were left with the clear implication that Lord Lucan, lying in wait to murder his wife, had killed the wrong woman in the darkness, and then, discovering his mistake, had waited until Lady Lucan appeared before launching a second attack. They subsequently took just thirty-one minutes to deliver a verdict naming him as guilty of Mrs Rivett's murder..." 

Contents:
Acknowledgements
Introduction
Prologue
Part 1: The murder
1. John Lucan
2. Veronica Duncan
3. The drumming of fingers
4. A grim business
5. The final gamble
6. The body in the basement
Part 2. The inquest
7. Closing ranks
8. Manhunt
9. The inquest
10. The shade of Lord Lucan
Part 3. The questions
11. Lucan - Not guilty?
12. Buster
13. The countess of Lucan
14. All my doing...
15. Evens
16. The view from the downs
17. An open file
Epilogue
Index