Murder Mile Podcast #4 - The Mysterious Death of "Dutch Leah"

66 Old Compton Street; with Wardour Street to the far left, and Charing Cross Road to the far right

Welcome to the Murder Mile true-crime podcast and audio guided walk of London's most infamous (and often forgotten) murder cases, all set within one square mile of the West End. 

• 30 minute weekly true-crime podcast - EVERY THURSDAY
  
• 300+ untold or often forgotten true murders
• Based on Soho's FIVE STAR rated Murder Mile Walks
• Research collected from original and first-hand sources
• Authentic sounds recorded from the location itself
• An audio guided walk... all from the comfort of your home

To accompany your audio guided walk, what follows is a series of photos, videos and maps, so that no matter where you are listening to this podcast, you'll feel like you're actually there. ​

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EPISODE FOUR

Episode Four: The Mysterious Death of "Dutch Leah" is one of Soho's most mysterious murder cases, which was not only shocking and brutal, but more than 80 years on, the case remains unsolved with no known suspects. Or is there? In this episode, we re-examine the case.

• Date: Saturday 9th May 1936
• Location: 66 Old Compton Street, Soho, W1
• Victims: 1 (Constance Smith/Hind aka "Dutch Leah")
• Culprit: Unknown?

CLICK HERE to download the Murder Mile podcast via i-Tunes and to receive the latest episodes, click "subscribe". You can listen to it now by clicking the green PLAY button on the embedded media player below. All transcribed versions are available in "Podcast Transcripts" (right).

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​THE LOCATION

Denmark Street is a small one-way street, off the end of the A40, within a stone's throw from Oxford Street, Tottenham Court Road, Covent Garden and Shaftsbury Avenue. 

Using the interactive Murder Map, you can find every murder location, from each episode. 66 Old Compton Street is marked with an orange dot in the middle of the map. Click on the map to zoom in and scroll left/right. 

This is 66 Old Compton Street as it looks today; all pristine white and housing Rushes Post Production. The windows and the facade are as they were in the 1930's, the only major change is the new facade on the ground floor, which was originally Fraser's (a chemist and convenience store). 

As you listen to the episode, ask yourself, "if the murder took place on the second floor, and the only entrance or exit to the flats (back in 1936) was via a communal door on the ground floor (originally it was on the left-hand side), how did the murderer of Dutch Leah escape if he didn't take the only key and given that both doors were locked?" Admittedly, given the laxity of the investigation, this case asks more questions than it answers, but by digging through the details, hopefully we can discover who killed "Dutch Leah"? 

To the left is a copy of the front page of the Illustrated Police News dated Thursday 14th May 1936 (barely a week after her murder), which features a (more tasteful than truthful) artist's sketch of the crime scene, as well as a portrait of "Dutch Leah" herself and a drawing of the exterior of no 66 (in the inset). Below is a photo of Old Compton Street taken in 1936, with no 66 being the 7th building on the left, hidden by darkness, fog and rain.

A special thanks to Lottie for her acting skills, and even though she's an old dog, she played the part of a six-week old puppy to perfection.. when she wasn't licking her bits and eating poo.  :-)

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DOWNLOAD Murder Mile Episode #4 - The Mysterious Death of "Dutch Leah". 
​You can also listen to the podcast live, by clicking PLAY on this embedded player above. 

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Credits: The Murder Mile true-crime podcast was researched, written and recorded by Michael J Buchanan-Dunne, with the sounds recorded on location (where possible). The music was written and performed by Erik Stein & Jon Boux of Cult With No Name. ​​​

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Next episode: The Bombing of the Admiral Duncan (due on Thursday 9th November 2017). 

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No plans this weekend? Why not book yourself into Murder Mile Walks, hailed as one of the best "curious, quirky and unusual things to do in London". Click BOOK NOW for tickets.

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Michael J Buchanan-Dunne is a writer, crime historian, podcaster and tour-guide who runs Murder Mile Walks, a guided tour of Soho’s most notorious murder cases, hailed as “one of the top ten curious, quirky, unusual and different things to do in London” and featuring 12 murderers, including 3 serial killers, across 15 locations, totaling 75 deaths, over just a one mile walk.