On 17th August 1906 a naval stoker named Herbert Mitchell ran amok through the streets of Petersfield with a loaded rifle, firing indiscriminately and shooting dead Margaret Treble.
Mitchell was arrested, found guilty of murder and locked away in Broadmoor criminal lunatic asylum for the rest of his life.
This is the version of the story as told for over a century, but now local author David Green has a different tale to tell. Drawing on Home Office records and Mitchell’s recently released patient files, David sets out the case for Mitchell’s innocence. He reveals a tragic miscarriage of justice and names a new suspect for the killing of Margaret Treble.
Come along to Petersfield Museum and Art Gallery on 23rd November and discover what really happened on that fateful afternoon in 1906.
