The two best-known local murders are already the subject of separate articles - look at 'Catching Criminals' in the theme 'Smoke, Steam and (Computer) Chips' to learn about John Tawell, and at 'Ghosts of Slough' in the theme 'Myths and Legends' to learn about the killings at the Ostrich Inn.

In the 1800s, Superintendent John Dunham of the Bucks Constabulary Force had built up a strong local reputation, and was involved in the investigation of two famous local murders.

The first of these occurred on 22 May 1870 at Cheapside Lane in the village of Denham. All seven members of the Marshall family, including three children under 10, had been killed with a wood-chopper. The previous week, Mr Marshall had employed John Jones, a local blacksmith, but his work had been so poor that Marshall had refused to pay. In revenge, Jones had returned and slaughtered the entire family. He was hanged at Aylesbury, and a waxwork of him put in the Chamber of Horrors at Madame Tussaud's, but it was later destroyed in a fire.

Dunham also investigated the case which became known as the 'Slough Murder', and found its' way onto the front page of the 'Illustrated Police News' in 1881. On 11 April of that year Anne Reville, wife of local butcher Hezekiah Reville, was found by a neighbour with her throat cut. She had been attacked and struck from behind. An employee of Reville's - Alfred Payne - was arrested and charged with the murder, but in spite of significant evidence against him was acquitted. The murder has never been solved.

Almost thirty years later there was another famous murder in the town. On 15 July 1910, 70-year-old Isabella Wilson was found dead in her second-hand shop, which had been ransacked. She had been tied up and tortured. The police quickly arrested William Broome. There was a lot of evidence against him - he had been seen in the area with scratches on his face, there was blood on his shoes, and he had an amount of money in his bedsit that almost exactly matched the amount stolen. He was found guilty and hanged - the day after Dr Crippen!