Lord Lucan Mystery: Slaughtered Kitten Theory Emerges On 40th Anniversary Since Disappearance Of Peer
Did A Slaughtered Kitten Spark A Murder & The Disappearance Of Lord Lucan 40 Years Ago?
Sara C Nelson— Huffington Post UK
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Friday marks the 40th anniversary of the disappearance of fugitive peer and murder suspect Lord Lucan.
It was a chilly November evening when a bloodied, hysterical woman rushed into a Belgravia pub, pleading for help.
The woman was Lady Lucan and she told shocked drinkers at The Plumber’s Arms her estranged husband had murdered their children’s nanny and tried to kill her too.
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Lord Lucan disappeared on November 7, 1974
The police were summoned and a manhunt was launched, but Lucan has never been seen again.
Today, a friend who was one of the last people to have seen the earl for the first time has revealed a peculiar event which he believes drove him to carry out the killing.
Sandra Rivett was beaten to death with a length of lead pipe
Weiss said: “He saw no way back into family life and the life of his children. It tipped him over the edge and it made him decide to uncreate his wife.”
Weiss, now 74, says he has no doubt the death of the kitten – his attempt to appease and perhaps even make amends with estranged family – was the last straw for his friend.
The pair had been gambling at a Mayfair club the day before the murder when Weiss noticed Lucan seemed gloomy and distracted.
“Eventually I asked him ‘What’s up Lucky?’ And he fixed me with this stare and said ‘Absolutely nothing, dear boy’ and lit another cigarette,” Weiss said.
“But it was the way he said it. All his old confidence was gone. It was like he’d been completely traumatised over something.”
Discussing the matter later with a friend, Weiss was told about Lucan’s purchase of the kitten from Harrods and it’s mysterious and grisly end.
He added: “He went to his house that day with his mind set on killing his wife. I have no doubt about that.”
In 1975 an inquest jury named Lucan as the killer of nanny Sandra Rivett, and in 1999 the High Court declared the missing peer dead.
In the 40 years since his disappearance, rumours of the nobleman's whereabouts and alleged sightings continue to be reported.
Lucan has been ‘spotted’ in various locations across South Africa, including Botswana and Gabon.
But two years ago Lucan’s son George Bingham told the Mirror he was certain his father drowned himself in the English Channel on the night of the murder.
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28th November 1963: John Richard Bingham, Earl of Lucan, and Veronica Duncan after their marriage. (Photo by Douglas Miller/Keystone/Getty Images)
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15th November 1974: Veronica Lucan, the Dowager Countess of Lucan, wife of the missing Earl, Lord Lucan who disappeared following the murder of their nanny. She is returning to her home in Lower Belgrave Street, London after a High Court appearance to discuss the future of her 3 children. (Photo by Frank Barratt/Keystone/Getty Images)
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Sandra Rivett, who was allegedly murdered by Lord Lucan (Tophams/Topham Picturepoint/Press Association Images)
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Lord Lucan. Infamous for the murder of Sandra Rivett in November 1974, he disappeared without trace before arrest or trial. (Tophams/Topham Picturepoint/Press Association Images)
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Lord and Lady Lucan - 1964 Lucan is infamous for the murder of Sandra Rivett in November 1974, he disappeared without trace before arrest or trial. (Topham/Topham Picturepoint/Press Association Images)
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Lord George Bingham, heir to Lord Lucan dated 14.02.95 : Lord Lucan's son was today (Sunday) warned he faced a protracted struggle lasting several years in his apparent attempt to assume the title of his missing father. To become the Eighth Earl of Lucan, Lord Bingham would seek to obtain a writ in the Royal Courts of Justice declaring that his father was dead, on the basis that he had not been seen alive for at least seven years.(NEIL MUNNS/PA Archive/Press Association Images)
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Lord George Bingham, heir to Lord Lucan dated 14.02.95 : Lord Lucan's son was today (Sunday) warned he faced a protracted struggle lasting several years in his apparent attempt to assume the title of his missing father. To become the Eighth Earl of Lucan, Lord Bingham would seek to obtain a writ in the Royal Courts of Justice declaring that his father was dead, on the basis that he had not been seen alive for at least seven years.(NEIL MUNNS/PA Archive/Press Association Images)
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72A Elizabeth Street in London, home of Lord Lucan (Tophams/Topham Picturepoint/Press Association Images)
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Miss Susan Mayor, who runs the costume department at Christie's, with Lord Lucan's coronet and robes which come up for auction on May 27th.They are expected to fetch between 2-300 and the money will go towards paying the missing peer's creditors (PA Archive/Press Association Images)
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Mr Roger Rivett, husband of Sandra Rivett whom Lord Lucan was accused of murdering (his children's nursemaid) (Tophams/Topham Picturepoint/Press Association Images)
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Lord Lucan's gambling friend Mr Ian Maxwell-Scott in Uckfield, where at the Magistrates Court he was given three weeks to pay off a rates debt - or face jail (Lord Lucan's gambling friend Mr Ian Maxwell-Scott in Uckfield, where at the Magistrates Court he was given three weeks to pay off a rates debt - or face jail)
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Leaving a public house in Westminster today,Mrs Susan Maxwell-Scott and her husband Ian. Mrs Maxwell-Scott was the last person to see Lord Lucan after the murder of his children's nanny in Belgravia last November.She is due to give evidence at the resumed inquest on Mrs Sandra Rivett, at the Westminster Coroner's court. The Maxwell-Scott's home is only 16 miles from where Lord Lucan's car was found at Newhaven. he has not been seen since. (PA Archive/Press Association Images)
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Company director Mr William Shand Kydd who gave evidence at the Westminster inquest on any Mrs Sandra Rivett, 29, who was found battered to death at the Belgravia home of Lord Lucan's estranged wife (Tophams/Topham Picturepoint/Press Association Images)
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Veronica Lucan, the Dowager Countess of Lucan. Her husband Lord Lucan vanished from their home in 1974, leaving the murdered body of their nanny in the basement. (Photo by John Downing/Getty Images)
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17th July 1975: The Dowager Countess of Lucan and William Shand-Kydd brother in-law to Lord Lucan's wife, leaving for the court inquest on Sandra Rivell. (Photo by Keystone/Getty Images)
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17th June 1975: Susan Maxwell-Scott, who gave evidence at the inquest into the death of Sandra Rivett, the nanny who worked for Lord Lucan. (Photo by Keystone/Getty Images)