The Brighton Trunk Case - 1934

" Edgar Lustgarten used to open his hugely popular True Crime BBC program in the 1950s with the words ""Have you ever murdered anyone? Perhaps you'd rather not say"". Up to six million listeners tuned in every week to hear Lustgarten drily recount the details of major trials. It is probably fair to say that he invented the True Crime audio genre.

The Chiron True Crime series was recorded by Lustgarten in a London studio in Dolby quality in 1976. Lustgarten’s voice is austere but not without wit, gripping yet somehow addictive. The voice of a top Barrister presenting the facts of the case with the hangman's noose waiting silently in the shadows.

"Norman Birkett was a great all-round advocate, says Edgar Lustgarten, but he is best remembered as a criminal defender—particularly on murder charges. His record of acquittals has never been surpassed. Outstanding among them was that of Mancini. Mancini was accused of murdering a prostitute, with whom he was living. His relationship with her, together with his behaviour after her violent death, made his prospects appear black when the case for the prosecution opened. Through a long trial, day by day, hour by hour, and minute by minute, with infinite ingenuity and patience, Birkett improved Mancini’s situation, rounding off his work in a speech of matchless force and eloquence, to secure his client’s acquittal."