News

Thanks to everyone who came to our Date Night at the Museum! Our Curator had a great time telling tales of couples who loved... to KILL. With bubbly and bone chilling crimes, it was an evening not to be missed – the perfect Valentine’s date for all our favourite Bonnie and Clyde’s. Don’t forget it happens every year, so if you missed out, DON’T PANIC! You’ll see our love and death tours again next Valentines… Until then, check out our other KILLER events here! Also on this month, get 20% OFF Mother’s Day entry and see our talk, Mother’s Who KILL! ...

SCREEN SCREAMS! Let’s cross the Channel now to investigate the story of a DARING and charismatic criminal who died in a hail of French Police bullets in 1979. JACQUES MESRINE was a master of disguise who robbed banks, attacked jails to free his friends, captivated the media and even kidnapped a Judge. In May 1978, Mesrine robbed the Deauville Casino. He dropped a .455 CARTRIDGE at the crime scene and we have it HERE in our ‘Cop Killers’ cabinet at The True CRIME Museum. His exploits are sensationally depicted in two gangster flicks, ‘MESRINE – KILLER INSTINCT’ and ‘MESRINE – PUBLIC ENEMY No1’. The celebrity criminal is played by my favourite French actor EVER; -  VINCENT CASSEL, who effortlessly steers Mesrine’s murderous intensity into glib abandon and back again. He spends most of the film throwing hand luggage at beautiful women and shouting, “Pack your shit! QUICKLY! We’re leaving…” (A dating technique I’ve tried myself – with very mixed results.) Both movies play largely to the viewer’s wish-fulfilment and it’s exhilarating to join in...

A Case of Death!! At the end of September, we had our EXPLOSIVE murder mystery, A Case of Death! Over 50 eager detective were enthralled by John Eddleston, our master of MYSTERY, as he described to them the case of the DEAD gangster... After much hard pondering and note taking, witness statements and autopsy reports, it was time to reveal all... But not to you! If you want to know who murdered the gangster, you'll have to work it out for yourselves at our next murder mystery! We had some very talented detectives on the case, none more so than the team shown below, who not only WON but got every single answer RIGHT! Truly first class detectives. If you think this is cool, keep an eye out on our Events page for next year's events, coming soon! ...

SCREEN SCREAMS! Did you know that many of the exhibits at The True CRIME Museum come from CRIMES and CRIMINALS whose stories have been turned into MURDEROUS MOVIES! Our Curator (and True CRIME movie obsessive) JOEL GRIGGS talks about three of his favourites… “Here at the museum we have the original bottles that held the CONCENTRATED SULPHURIC ACID used by the British Serial Killer JOHN GEORGE HAIGH to dissolve his last victim. (You can see them in this video I made about the case here): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AK-qajHcKqI Haigh’s hideous and deceitful murders were also told in the 2002 ITV film; ‘A IS FOR ACID’ starring Martin Clunes as the killer. (The full movie is also on Youtube but the transfer quality is not brilliant, so buy the dvd) I had LOW expectations for this, as I’m not a Clunes fan and often find UK TV true crime dramas bland and apologetic for the ugliness of their subject matter. No such issue here though, as into the oil drums go his victims, all soon reduced to sludge...

We’re getting BIGGER! Many of you will have seen glimpses of our Curator, Joel, hard at work on our secret new project… We can now reveal that we’ve expanded! The Museum has gained a new Gift Shop and Box Office for our customers (you guys!) to enjoy. We’ll be putting together some exciting photo opportunities with NOTORIOUS gangster Al Capone as well as the one and only Jack the RIPPER! With the expansion comes a great opportunity to increase the Museum’s collection as well, so keep an eye out in 2020 for some MAJOR new exhibits! The number one piece of feedback we get from our visitors is that they want to see MORE. We’re delighted to be in a place to offer this and hope that you’ll come down and pay our new space a visit! See you soon!!! ...

That's the Spirit! Today is a very special day! It might not be BLINDINGLY obvious why, so we’ll tell you… It’s National Moonshine Day! The term Moonshine is generally used to refer to high proof alcohol, usually homemade and illicit! The most common spirit under this name is typically made from corn mash – it is defined as ‘unaged whiskey’ by the American government. It has a curious and well-documented history. The Moonshine we all know and love came to prominence during prohibition-era America, where it was illegally distilled and distributed to the very THIRSTY crowds in speakeasies and home bars. The country was rife with illegal smuggling and even rifer with poor quality alcohol – as the spirit was made in people’s homemade stills (a piece of equipment used in alcohol production), it often picked up dangerous trace elements from the ramshackle pieces they used to cobble it together. A pot still works by heating the fermented corn mash so the alcohol (Ethanol) vapours evaporate. These vapours travel through a tube to another container where they...

In the spirit of our Trail of the Golden Goose event, we thought we should be talking about an eggciting crime (sorry for the bad yolk (sorry again)). Have you ever heard of Faberge eggs? Faberge eggs are glitzy globes of jewel-encrusted precious metals. Originally manufactured for Russian Royalty between 1885 – 1917, they each contained a ‘surprise’ – in one case a 1/16th golden model of the imperial carriage painstakingly crafted over 13 months! They had been presented annually by the Tsar to the Tsarina, often as Easter gifts. Not the kind of egg you’d want on your toast, unless you plan on losing a few teeth! The Coronation Egg - complete with tiny carriage! The Faberge family made more than just eggs though, with high-end jewellery and clocks in their catalogue as well. In 2014, one man walked (well, stumbled) into Christie’s Auction House in Central London. He made his way to fourth floor where he found a safe – after rooting through some unlocked drawers he found the key to...