Percy Lefroy Mapleton

Percy Lefroy Mapleton (also known as Percy Mapleton Lefroy; 23 February 1860 – 29 November 1881), a journalist, was the British "railway murderer" of 1881. He is important in the history of forensics and policing as being the subject of the first police composite picture to appear on a "wanted" poster and in a newspaper.

On the afternoon of 27 June 1881, 64-year-old Isaac Frederick Gold, a coin dealer, was murdered on the express train going from London Bridge Station to his home in Brighton. Gold had entered a first-class smoking compartment in the third carriage, and was later joined in the compartment by 21-year-old Percy Lefroy Mapleton. When the train arrived at Preston Park Station Mapleton was observed getting out of the carriage in a distressed state and covered in blood. He had lost his hat, collar and tie, and had a gold watch-chain hanging from his shoe.

Giving his name as Percy Mapleton Lefroy, Mapleton complained that he had been attacked during the journey by two men, who had hit him on the head, knocking him out. Richard Gibson, the ticket collector at Preston Park Station, accompanied Mapleton for the rest of the journey to Brighton, where Mapleton told Henry Anscombe, the Station Master, that he had been shot and wounded during his journey. Asked about the gold chain that had been seen hanging from his shoe, he replied that he had put it there for safety.

Although the police were not satisfied with Mapleton's story, as no one had lodged a complaint against him, they decided he must have been attempting to commit suicide—then a criminal offence in Britain. They took him to the local police station, where he made an official complaint against his attackers, even offering a reward for their capture. Constable Howland interviewed Mapleton for details of his alleged attackers before sending him to the County Hospital for treatment, where his wounds turned out to be quite superficial. Suspicious that such slight wounds could cause so much blood, the examining doctor wanted to detain him, but Mapleton suddenly announced that he had an urgent appointment in London. He returned to the police station for further interviews, and then—having bought a new collar and tie—went to Brighton Station where increasingly dubious police took him into an office and searched him. They found two Hanoverian medals in his pockets, which he denied all knowledge of.

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