Franz Müller facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Franz Müller
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| Born | 31 October 1840 |
| Died | 14 November 1864 (aged 24) London, England
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| Nationality | German |
| Occupation | Tailor |
| Criminal charge(s) | Murder |
Franz Müller (31 October 1840 – 14 November 1864), was a German tailor who was executed for the murder of Thomas Briggs, the first killing on a British train. The case caught the imagination of the public due to increasing safety fears about rail travel at the time and the pursuit of Müller across the Atlantic Ocean to New York City by Scotland Yard.
Investigation
On 18 July, a cab driver called Matthews came forward with suspicions about a German man known as Franz Müller. He told the Metropolitan Police's Detective Branch that the 24-year-old tailor had come to his house with a gold chain in a box. After he had attached his fob watch to the chain, Matthews gave the box to his daughter. The box had been sold by a jeweller in Cheapside, who identified Müller from a photograph and told investigators that the German had visited his shop on 11 July to exchange a gold chain. This was later identified as belonging to Briggs. With this evidence, a warrant for Müller's arrest was issued.
Transatlantic escape
However, by the time an arrest warrant was issued, Müller had boarded a sailing ship Victoria to New York City. On 20 July, Richard Tanner, a Scotland Yard inspector, along with Matthews and the jeweller, sailed for New York from Liverpool on the Inman Line steamer City of Manchester in pursuit of Müller. The faster ship arrived in New York three weeks before Müller.
When Müller finally arrived in Manhattan on 25 August he was arrested. Among his possessions was Briggs' gold watch and a hat. He had altered the hat by cutting the crown by half its height and carefully sewing it to the brim. An American judge upheld the extradition request to return Müller to Britain, notwithstanding the prisoner's lawyers, by way of defence, citing Britain's refusal to hand over some crew members of CSS Alabama (a warship of the Confederate Navy) who had been rescued by a British vessel after the Battle of Cherbourg earlier that year.
Trial and conviction
Much of the evidence against Müller was circumstantial, but prosecutor Mr Serjeant Ballantine made a strong case. Defence claims that Matthews had come forward only to receive the reward had little effect. Müller maintained his innocence throughout his three-day trial at the Old Bailey. After he was found guilty, he was sentenced to death. King Wilhelm I of Prussia (subsequently the Kaiser of Germany) failed to get the British Government to postpone Müller's execution.
Death
The public execution of Müller took place outside Newgate Prison in London on 14 November.
Legacy
Briggs had been murdered in a closed compartment that had no corridor, so after the train started there was no way to leave until the next station. Public reaction resulted in the establishment of the communication cord on trains that allowed passengers to contact members of the railway crew, required by the Regulation of Railways Act 1868. It also led to the creation of railway carriages with side corridors, which allowed passengers to move from their compartments while the train was in motion. Old compartment stock was modified by some companies to include circular peep-holes in the partitions—"Müller's Lights". A low-crowned hat, like a cut down top hat, for a while became known as a Muller from Müller's attempt to alter the hat of his victim.
The case was the subject of a 2013 BBC documentary, Murder On The Victorian Railway, and of Episode 1 of Railway Murders, first broadcast on the Yesterday channel in 2021.
