Real Crime/Paranormal/Conspiracy Theories Book III

"Jigsaw Killer" Dr. Buck Ruxton

Buck Ruxton (born BukhtyarChompa Rustomji Ratanji Hakim; 21 March 1899 – 12 May 1936) was anIndian-born British physician convicted and subsequently hanged forthe September 1935 murders of his common-law wife, Isabella Ruxton(née Kerr), and the family housemaid, Mary Jane Rogerson, at hishome in Lancaster, England. These murders are informally known as theBodies Under the Bridge and the Jigsaw Murders, while Ruxton himselfbecame known as The Savage Surgeon.

The case became known as the "BodiesUnder the Bridge" due to the location, near theDumfriesshire town of Moffat in the Southern Uplands of Scotland,where the bodies were found. The case was also called the "JigsawMurders" because of the painstaking efforts to re-assembleand identify the victims and then determine the place of theirmurder. Ruxton earned the title of "The Savage Surgeon" due to his occupation and the extensive mutilation he inflicted uponhis victims' bodies.

The prosecution of Ruxton's murderswould prove to be one of the United Kingdom's most publicized legalcases of the 1930s. The case itself is primarily remembered for theinnovative forensic techniques employed to identify the victims andprove that their murders had been committed within the Ruxtonhousehold.

Early life

Buck Ruxton was born in Bombay, India,on 21 March 1899. He was born into a wealthy middle-class Parsifamily of Indian-French origin.

Ruxton received a respectableupbringing, and despite being a sensitive youth with few friends, hewas highly intelligent and received a thorough education. By histeenage years, he had resolved to seek a career in medicine. With thefinancial support of his parents, he studied at the University ofBombay, where he qualified as a Bachelor of Medicine in 1922. Thefollowing year, he qualified as a Bachelor of Surgery at the sameinstitute. Shortly after completing his studies, Ruxton obtainedemployment at a Bombay hospital, where he specialized in medicine,midwifery, and gynaecology. He would later gain employment with theIndian Medical Service, for which he would be deployed to Basra and,later, Baghdad.

In May 1925, Ruxton married a Parsiwoman named Motibai Jehangirji Ghadiali. The marriage was an arrangedone, which ultimately turned out to be short-lived. When Ruxtonrelocated to Britain the following year, he concealed all evidence ofthis marriage, although in 1928, he did contact his father-in-law,Jehangirji, requesting he immediately send him the sum of £200 viatelegraphic transfer.

Relocation to Britain

With financial assistance from hisfamily and the Bombay Medical Service, Ruxton relocated to Britain in1926. He attended medical courses at London's University CollegeHospital under the name Gabriel Hakim, before moving to Edinburgh in1927 to begin studies towards obtaining a Fellowship of the RoyalColleges of Surgeons. Although Ruxton failed his entranceexamination, the General Medical Council authorized his practicingmedicine in the United Kingdom on the strength of the qualificationshe had earlier obtained in Bombay. Shortly thereafter, he legallychanged his name via deed poll to "Buck Ruxton".

While studying to become a Fellow ofthe Royal Colleges of Surgeons in Edinburgh, Ruxton became acquaintedwith a 26-year-old woman named Isabella Van Ess, who managed a caféin the city. At the time of their acquaintance, Isabella was stilllegally married to a Dutchman whom she had wed in 1919, but thismarriage had only lasted a matter of weeks, and she had resumed usingher maiden name of Kerr. The two began courting, and when Ruxtonrelocated to England in 1928, he was in the company of Isabella. Heworked as a locum to a London doctor, a fellow Parsi doctor namedManek Motofram, and later as an assistant to a Dr. B. R. Rygate. Thefollowing year, Isabella gave birth to the couple's first child, adaughter named Elizabeth.