A Burglar Caught by a Skeleton by Jeremy Clay

Author:Jeremy Clay
Format: epub
Tags: Victorian, Illustrated Police News, newspaper reports, comedy, horror
Publisher: Icon Books
Published: 2013-08-02T16:00:00+00:00

A Peculiar Case

A man named William Hutchinson was recently admitted to the Edinburgh Royal Infirmary, suffering from a pain in the chest, a cough, and shortness of breath. He was treated for heart disease and consumption, but he sank gradually for about a month, when he died.

A post-mortem examination of the body was made, and embedded in the right lung, a musket bullet was found. The deceased, who was 41 years of age, had been a soldier, and served in the Indian Mutiny of 1857–8. He was shot in the right side of the chest, but the wound healed. He subsequently served the remaining portion of his time with his regiment, and was discharged with a pension.

He returned to Edinburgh, where he eked out a livelihood as a hawker for many years, being in no wise troubled with the bullet, which no doubt ultimately caused his death. In fact, until within three months of his death, he enjoyed unbroken health.

The bullet had hollowed out a cavity for itself near the apex of the lung, where it must have rolled about during life. It was encrusted with a hard white substance, and weighed about an ounce and a quarter.

The Edinburgh Evening News, November 9, 1878

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