Wednesday Sep 22, 2021
The Trail Went Cold - Episode 244 - Richard Lancelyn Green
March 27, 2004. London, England. 50-year old Richard Lancelyn Green, considered to be the world’s foremost scholar on Sherlock Holmes, is discovered dead on top of his bed inside his flat. His cause of death is determined to be asphyxiation, as he was garrotted with a shoelace which was tightened around his neck with a wooden spoon. Prior to his death, Lancelyn Green told people his life was in danger over a dispute involving a collection of rare documents from author Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, but since there is no definitive evidence pointing towards homicide or suicide, the coroner returns an open verdict on his death. Was Richard Lancelyn Green the victim of foul play or did he intentionally stage a very unusual and elaborate suicide? On this week’s episode of “The Trail Went Cold”, we explore the unexplained death of a Sherlock Holmes expert which resembles a scene from a fictional murder mystery.
Additional Reading:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Lancelyn_Green
https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2004/12/13/mysterious-circumstances
https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2004/may/23/books.booksnews
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/london/3653645.stm
https://www.smh.com.au/world/hint-of-murder-in-suicide-of-expert-on-conan-doyle-20041213-gdkays.html
Be sure to check out our promo for the serialized true crime podcast, “Tapes from the Darkside”. Each season, they take one case and investigate in-depth using primary audio from 911 calls, police interrogations and interviews, court proceedings, and any other relevant source they can find.
“The Trail Went Cold” is on Patreon! Visit www.patreon.com/thetrailwentcold to become a patron and gain access to our exclusive bonus content.
“The Trail Went Cold” is now doing a weekly livestream show on GetVokl every Thursday from 7:00-8:00 PM ET as part of their “True Crime Thursday” line-up. For more information, please visit their website.
The Trail Went Cold is produced and edited by Magill Foote.
All music is composed by Vince Nitro.
9 days ago
Good episode. A couple of things struck me. One was the circular logic of the police. There didn’t need to investigate because there was no foul play. They know there was no foul play becuase there was no evidence of foul play. But - they hadn’t looked very hard for the evidence, so they didn’t know. The other thing was Lancelyn Green’s former lover. We know he was at the flat on the night of the death. We have his evidence that (1) they had ceased to be lovers, (2) Lancelyn Green was depressed on the evening of his death and (3) Lancelyn Green wasn’t into Erotic asphyxiation . What if all three were untrue? Perhaps they were indulging in some dangerous sexual practice (having got boozed up), it went wrong, Lancelyn Green died, the friend left in a hurry using a key he already had to lock the door behind him. Furthermore the police may have suspected this was the case and so the death was accidental therefore no charges could be brought and so dropped the case. PS - if you think this is libelous, please delete it!