Suspected Murderer Lord Lucan Has Allegedly Been Found In Australia

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Read ThisSuspected murderer Lord Lucan has allegedly been found in AustraliaBy Ross McIndoe Published 29th Jan 2020, 11:27 GMTUpdated 29th Jan 2020, 11:27 GMT

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The son of his victim claims to have found Lord Lucan, 40 years after he disappeared.

Like Tupac Shakur, Adolf Hitler, Elvis Presley and Biggie Smalls, Lord Lucan has been spotted all over the world by people who believe reports of their demise to have been greatly exaggerated.

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The latest theory places Lord Lucan in Australia, although he has previously allegedly been sighted in India, the Maldives and South Africa.

Here’s everything you need to know about the murderer and his mysterious disappearance.

It is thought that Lucan attacked Sandra Rivett while mistaking her for his wife. Picture: Terry Fincher/Daily Express/Hulton Archive/Getty Images

Who was Lord Lucan?

Richard John Bingham was the seventh Earl of Lucan, born in 1934.

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A member of an aristocratic family, he attended Eton college before taking a job at a London-based merchant bank. However, his true passion was for gambling, and he soon quit his job to take it up professionally.

Although he was known as a skilled backgammon and bridge player, like most gamblers, he still often found himself losing more than he was winning. His love of games of chance and Aston Martins, combined with his suave demeanour, saw him considered for the role of James Bond when Ian Fleming’s novels were first being adapted for the big screen.

Bingham married Veronica Duncan in 1963 and they had three children together, before divorcing in 1972. A bitter custody battle ensued, which Lucan eventually lost.

Lucan then reportedly became obsessed with regaining custody of his children and took to spying on his ex-wife, and recording their telephone conversations. While his obsession wreaked havoc on his personal life, Lucan was also believed to have amassed huge gambling debts.

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How did he disappear?

On 7 November 1974, Veronica Duncan and the family’s nanny, Sandra Rivett, were attacked in the basement of the Lucan family home. Rivett was killed and Duncan identified Lord Lucan as her attacker, prompting the police to launch a homicide investigation.

While this was occurring, Lucan had his mother collect the children and drove to a friend’s house in a borrowed car which was later found abandoned.

Inside the vehicle, there was a piece of bandaged lead pipe similar to one found at the crime scene which police believed to be the murder weapon, and several bloodstains.

Lucan was officially named as the prime suspect in Rivett’s murder case but, despite a widespread investigation and a huge amount of media coverage, he has never been found.

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Many believe Lucan took his own life, but no body was ever found.

Berriman has spent thousands trying to track down his mothers killer. Picture: Justin Tallis/AFP via Getty Images

Where has he been spotted?

Neil Berriman discovered that he was Sandra Rivett’s son just over a decade ago and has since spent thousands carrying out his own investigation into her death. He now believes that he has finally tracked her killer down to Perth, Australia.

Berriman’s suspect is an elderly Buddhist man living in a shared home. He is seriously ill and more or less housebound as he awaits major surgery. According to Berriman, the elderly Englishman is known to have a “mysterious past” which his friends report “does not add up”.

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Berriman also cites a facial recognition test which showed a similarity of 85 per cent between the man and Lord Lucan. He has taken his case to Scotland Yard’s cold case unit and is confident that they will continue the investigation.

This article originally appeared on our sister site, The i.

Related topics:AustraliaMaldives

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