Brash, James Couper

In 1935, Dr. Buck Ruxton of Dalton Square in Lancaster, England, murdered his wife Isabella and their house-maid Mary Jane Rogerson, cut up their bodies and deposited them in the River Nith, south-west Scotland. When the bodies were found at the 'Devil's Beeftub', near Moffat, they were in an advanced state of decomposition. The great John Glaister Jnr. (1892-1971) Professor of Forensic Medicine at Glasgow University and James Couper Brash (1886-1958) Professor of Anatomy at Edinburgh University were responsible for developing advanced identification techniques using x-rays, bone reconstruction and photographs to prove the victims' identities. The two Professors gave the leading evidence for the prosecution and ultimately Dr. Ruxton was hanged for the crimes at Manchester on 12 May 1936. A petition asking for clemency for him was signed by 10,000 people. The case still stands as a milestone in Forensic Medicine.