The Troubles At Euston Square

"Illustrated Police News," June 7, 1879, via Newspapers.comEvil and depravity can have a certain fascination if they are cloaked in a benign or attractive exterior. It is doubtful that true-crime researchers would still be talking about Ted Bundy if not for the fact that those who knew him thought he was perfectly normal. And there is a reason why the Devil is often depicted as a handsome man. Similarly, the following Victorian-era scandal would probably be long-forgotten if it had not happened in a seemingly respectable middle-class household blighted by one or two small oddities, like corpses turning up when least expected.Matilda Hacker of Canterbury, England, embodied a classic Victorian stereotype: a rich but miserly, highly eccentric spinster. In August 1877, Miss Hacker took affront at the rates Canterbury charged her. In protest, she split town--leaving the rates unpaid--took on the surname of “Huish,” (presumably to avoid the tax authorities,) and engaged a room in a lodging…