The Maid Who Killed Her Mistress — The Case That Took 131 Years to Solve

In March of 1879, in a quiet riverside cottage in Richmond, Surrey, a servant continued her mistress's daily life for weeks after that life had already ended, and no one nearby suspected a thing. Kate Webster, an Irish domestic servant with a hidden history of theft and imprisonment, had been hired by Julia Martha Thomas without a single character reference. What followed was a deception so complete it fooled tradesmen, neighbours, and even the household's own name — and left a question that would not be answered for more than a century. This is the case of the household that outlived its mistress. This video traces the full case, drawn from the record — the household, the disappearance, the impersonation, the trial, and the discovery that closed the case more than a hundred years later. 0:00 A Household in Richmond 6:30 The Servant's Hidden Past 15:00 The Final Quarrel 23:00 Living Under Another's Name 31:00 The Unravelling 38:30 The Trial at the Old Bailey 46:00 The Jury of Matrons 50:30 The Skull Beneath the Stable #truecrime #history #historicalcrime #victorian #britishhistory #victorianfiles #katewebster #richmond #oldbailey #irishhistory #truecrimehistory #coldcase