The murder of John Toms (1816), England
Long before DNA swabs, CSI labs, or fingerprint kits, a scrap of newspaper became the silent witness that cracked open a murder case—and changed the way crimes would be investigated forever.
Welcome to Lancaster, England, 1784, where one of the world’s first forensic breakthroughs took place.
🩸 The Crime That Started It All
On a cold January evening, a man named Edward Culshaw was found dead on the roadside, his head pierced by a bullet. The murder was brutal, and back in the 18th century, solving such crimes wasn’t easy—there were no security cameras, no forensics, and not even a proper police force as we know it today.
But something caught the eye of the investigators.
Inside the gunshot wound, they found a pistol wad—a piece of paper used to pack gunpowder and hold a musket ball in old muzzle-loading firearms. It wasn’t just any paper. It was a torn piece of newspaper.
🚔 A Suspect and a Surprising Clue
Soon after, authorities arrested a man named John Toms on suspicion of murder. When they searched him, they found a matching piece of newspaper in his coat pocket.
Not a similar piece. Not just the same edition.
The other half.
When the pieces were put together, they fit perfectly, as if they were puzzle pieces meant to find each other. This connection became the first recorded use of forensic evidence in a murder trial.
🧪 The Forensic Angle
At the heart of this case was a simple, groundbreaking concept:
➡️ Physical matching of evidence.
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Pistol wadding was common in 18th-century firearms. People would use scrap paper—books, letters, or newspapers—to tamp the charge down.
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The torn edge of the newspaper in the pistol wad matched exactly with the piece in Toms’ pocket.
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It was the first time such a comparison of physical evidence was used to prove guilt in court.
No witness. No confession. Just good ol’ fashioned observation and deduction.
⚖️ The Verdict
The torn newspaper was the smoking gun—literally. It linked Toms directly to the firearm used in the murder. Based solely on this forensic clue, John Toms was convicted and sentenced to death. His execution took place in March 1784.
🤯 Fun Fact!
This entire forensic breakthrough happened 92 years before fingerprints were first accepted in court and over 200 years before DNA testing became a thing.
The John Toms case is often cited as one of the first documented instances where forensic material matching was used to secure a conviction. This pioneering use of physical evidence set a precedent for modern forensic investigations, illustrating the critical role that material analysis can play in solving crimes.
for more info: Guinness World Records+2Simplyforensic+2Guinness World Records+2
And it all started with a crumpled piece of old news.
🧠 Why This Case Still Matters
The Toms case may seem like a simple story, but it paved the way for:
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Forensic ballistics
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Trace evidence analysis
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Crime scene investigation protocols
Today, we analyse gun residue, match bullet striations, and run DNA through national databases. But back then? It was the power of keen eyes and logical thinking—the foundations of every modern forensic method we use now.
📌 Moral of the story? Never underestimate the power of paper. It could make history... or send you to the gallows.
#Want more tales from the early days of crime-solving science? Just ask, and we’ll dig into history’s forensic files. 🧬🔦
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