The Crumbles Murders may refer to one of two crimes that took place on "The Crumbles", a shingle beach between Eastbourne

Eastbourne

Eastbourne is a large town and borough in East Sussex, on the south coast of England between Brighton and Hastings. The town is situated at the eastern end of the chalk South Downs alongside the high cliff at Beachy Head...

 and Pevensey Bay — the 1920 murder of Irene Munro by Field and Gray, and the 1924 double murder of Emily Kaye and her unborn infant by Patrick Mahon.

Irene Munro

Irene Munro, a young London typist on holiday, was murdered by Jack Alfred Field and William Thomas Gray on 19 August 1920. Her body was buried in the shingle of the beach. Field and Gray were tried at Lewes assizes

Assizes

Assize or Assizes may refer to:Assize or Assizes may refer to:Assize or Assizes may refer to::;in common law countries :::*assizes , an obsolete judicial inquest...

 in December 1920 and convicted.

Emily Kaye

This case was handled by forensic pathologist Sir Bernard Spilsbury. The butchered remains of Emily Kaye and her unborn infant were found mostly in a beach house at The Crumbles, which she had shared with her married lover Patrick Mahon. Four large sections, 37 smaller fragments and various internal organs were found: Spilsbury was able to reconstruct the body, but could not unambiguously determine the cause of death.

Mahon was convicted and hanged for the crime.

A 1976 film was made of this case, Killers: The Crumbles Murder. In 1984 the Australian group Severed Heads

Severed Heads

Severed Heads is an Australian electronic music group based and founded in Sydney in 1979 as Mr. and Mrs. No Smoking Sign. The original members were Richard Fielding and Andrew Wright, and were soon joined by Tom Ellard. Fielding and Wright eventually left the group, leaving Ellard as a singular...

 used narration from a description of the Emily Kaye murder, in a radio programme by renowned true crime writer Edgar Lustgarten

Edgar Lustgarten

Edgar Marcus Lustgarten was a British broadcaster and noted crime writer.His books included crime fiction, but most were accounts of true-life criminal cases. The legal justice system and courtroom procedures were his main interests and his writings reflect this...

, as backing for their song "Dead Eyes Opened."

External links

• Murder at the Crumbles, with photographs