In 1922, a suburban love triangle exploded into one of Britain’s most sensational murder trials. When Frederick Bywaters stabbed Percy Thompson to death, his lover - Percy’s glamorous and outspoken wife, Edith - was also accused of murder.

What followed was a media frenzy: scandalous love letters read aloud in court, a prurient press, and a justice system all too eager to punish a woman who refused to conform. Though Bywaters confessed to the killing and insisted Edith knew nothing of his plans, both were condemned to hang.

Dee and Isla explore the tragic story of Edith Thompson and Frederick Bywaters, the trial that gripped a nation, and the executions that shocked the world. Was Edith guilty of murder - or merely of loving the wrong man? And how did her death help fuel the movement to abolish capital punishment in Britain?

Sources:

Rex v Edith Thompson: A Tale of Two Murders by Laura Thompson

Trial transcripts and commentary in Trial of Frederick Bywaters and Edith Thompson (Notable British Trials series, 1923).

Contemporary newspaper accounts (e.g., The Times, Daily Sketch, Daily Express reports from 1922–23).

Adam Lusher, “Laid to rest at last: Edith Thompson, victim of a 'barbarous, misogynistic' death penalty,” The Independent (Nov. 22, 2018).

René Weis, Criminal Justice: The True Story of Edith Thompson (1988) and quotes in The Independent (2018).

David Bingham, “The Messalina of the Suburbs: Edith Jessie Thompson” (The London Dead blog, Dec. 13, 2024).

“Edith Thompson and Frederick Bywaters” entry on Murderpedia and other archival sources summarizing the case.