TheVictorian era Crime Case of Louisa Merrifield the Blackpool Poisoner of 1953

Blackpool, 1953. Louisa Merrifield — a forty‑six‑year‑old housekeeper who had already buried two husbands under suspicious circumstances — moved into the bungalow of seventy‑nine‑year‑old widow Sarah Ann Ricketts with her third husband Alfred. Within twelve days she had a solicitor draw up a new will naming herself as sole beneficiary. Within three weeks she was telling friends, strangers, and people at bus stops that the old woman was dead and had left her a house — weeks before Sarah Ricketts actually died. On April 14, Ricketts was fatally poisoned with Rodine rat poison mixed into the blackcurrant jam she ate by the spoonful. Louisa had signed the poison register in her own name. A teaspoon coated with rum and phosphorus was found in her handbag. She was tried at Manchester Assizes, convicted, and hanged at Strangeways Prison on September 18, 1953 by Albert Pierrepoint. Alfred Merrifield was acquitted — the judge called him a tragic simpleton — then spent years on Blackpool's Golden Mile charging tourists to hear him talk about the murder as "The Murderess's Husband." 🩸 THE CRIMSON FILES 🩸 Welcome to The Crimson Files—where we unseal history's most blood-stained archives and bring forgotten crimes back into the light. Specializing in Victorian and Edwardian true crime, we investigate the murders, mysteries, and scandals that shocked society over a century ago. From female poisoners who evaded detection for decades to tragic victims whose stories were buried by time, each video opens a crimson-stamped file that hasn't seen daylight in generations. Our focus: Historical murder cases (1800–1920), with particular attention to female perpetrators and victims whose voices were silenced by history. Every case is researched with historical rigor and told through atmospheric, documentary-style storytelling. This is not sensationalism. This is memorial. This is justice for the forgotten. 📜 New episodes weekly 🩸 Subscribe to ensure no victim is forgotten The files are sealed. Until now.