Was it murder? More than a century on, one of the greatest, but long-forgotten mysteries of the 19th century remains unsolved.
On 4th October 1899, the coroner’s jury failed to find a verdict of suicide in the strange case of Alfred Lambert Falck. Instead, an open verdict was returned; the jury intimating that they desired to suggest the theory of murder!
Mr. Falck was the son of a wealthy merchant who lived at 90 Elgin Crescent, Notting Hill, London. According to the Leeds Times newspaper, he was employed as a clerk by Messrs. Potter and Sons, merchants of Aldersgate Street.
One day, Mr. Falck, aged just 19, was found slumped in a second class train carriage at Gloucester Road, barely alive. According to the evidence of two railway guards, Mr. Falck was discovered in a kneeling position, his head resting on the seat and a bullet wound in his forehead. The weapon – a revolver with one chamber discharged – was lying at the victim’s feet, and a box of cartridges was beside him on the carriage seat. Police could find no signs of a struggle, nor was anybody witnessed entering or leaving the carriage.
The wounded young man was taken to a waiting room at the station, where he died from his injuries a few minutes later. There was no further evidence found upon his person to throw any light on this perplexing tragedy.
Was it murder, or did Mr. Falck decide to take his own life that day? And if the latter, what had driven this successful young man to such a terrible fate? His family had no explanation.
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