Kendal author's true crime book Jigsaw Murders to be turned into new ITV drama

The work of Jeremy Craddock, 52, who is a former Westmorland Gazette journalist, and University Lecturer, ‘The Jigsaw Murders: The True Story of the Ruxton Killings and the Birth of Modern Forensics’, is being developed for TV.

AUTHOR:

Jeremy spent four years researching case of Dr Buck Ruxton in 1935.

Dr Ruxton murdered his wife, Isabella, and their children’s nanny, Mary Rogerson. He dismembered their bodies and discarded the remains in a ravine in Scotland.

The case is considered one of the country's most publicised murder investigations, and the forensic work used by Police revolutionised crime-scene investigations.

Jeremy said: “I was haunted by the Ruxton case from childhood.

JIGSAW:

“Whenever we went to Lancaster, my Dad would point out the house in Dalton Square where the murders were committed.

“I got a call from my agent to say two television production companies were vying to buy the option.

“I was thrilled and amazed as I was still several months away from finishing the book. In the end I decided to sell the option to Elaine Collins, the producer who made Vera for ITV and Shetland for the BBC.”

Elaine, who is married to former Doctor Who actor Peter Capaldi, said: “Jeremy Craddock is a hugely talented writer and journalist, who is not only determined to excavate this brutal story and the consequent scientific breakthroughs that still influence today’s forensics, but to give an unprecedented voice to Ruxton’s female victims. I’m excited to develop this complex and multi-layered crime story for television, to give presence to the victims, and the brilliant scientists at work in the 1930s."

MURDER: ‘The Jigsaw Murders: The True Story of the Ruxton Killings and the Birth of Modern Forensics’, is being developed for TV