August 17, 1908 - Donald Merrett
What made Merrett so remarkable as a criminal case was the combination of audacity and impunity — he shot his mother, beat his wife and mother-in-law to death decades later, and spent the intervening years as a fraudster and black marketeer, all while largely evading the consequences that would have stopped most criminals far earlier. His first trial ended in the distinctly Scottish verdict of "not proven," a legal ambiguity that effectively freed him despite strong suspicion, and the full scope of his crimes only became clear long after the damage was done. The gap between what he did and what he was made to answer for remains the defining feature of his story.
From Wikipedia
John Donald Merrett (17 August 1908 – 16 February 1954) was a British murderer and convicted fraudster also known under the name of Ronald John Chesney in later life. He left a wide trail of damage but escaped with minimal punishment. Though he was immensely rich his crimes were mainly driven by greed. In his second guise he was also known as the Amazing Mr Chesney. A highly flamboyant character, he was known by his later friends and lovers as "Ches".
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