The Lord Lucan Case
Sandra Rivett, a 29-year-old nanny, was brutally slain in the basement of the Lucan family residence in London in November of 1974, and Lord Lucan, identified as the attacker by his wife, vanished on the same night and has never been spotted since. One reason this case is immediately relevant is that it promotes all three interesting variables at once. More importantly, however, Lord Lucan is one case with which I am interested not because people are so intrigued with his disappearance, but because so much attention has been given to this one question in particular that Sandra Rivett has been overlooked. It is my argument Sandra Rivett's death is the thing, not whatever happened with Lord Lucan.
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Interestingly, from victim perspective, justice can fail even in situations where the perpetrator evades the formal justice system of the society. Indeed, while the coroners’ inquest subsequently established Lord Lucan as the guilty party in the murder of Rivett, there was no trial and consequently no cross-examination, not to mention sentencing. This denied the victims’ family the feeling of completion that is necessary in the justice process. Furthermore, there was no opportunity for the offender to accept guilt, since there was no opportunity for the guilty party to assume guilt, an act necessary in obtaining restoration.
What is particularly disturbing about this case is the way in which social status affected the way in which the case is memorialized. While Lucan, who is an aristocrat, is the subject of endless rumor and speculation, Rivett, a working-class woman, is sometimes mentioned only in passing. This is clearly a problem in criminal justice and media culture, where victims who lack power and status are often easily forgotten. In terms of remedying harm, is the question of whether justice needs to provide an alternative way of acknowledging, perhaps by means of a community reparative ceremony or official memorial, when a trial is impossible?
The significance of the case of Lord Lucan is relevant today because an unresolved crime ensures that the identity and existence of the victims remain unknown to them and to society as well. In today’s world where offenders might escape punishment by vanishing or dying, punishment by justice alone will not suffice. Through the use of restorative justice, one will realize the significance of victims in justice and how the existence of the victims should not remain unknown even when justice is not served to the offenders.
This is a weird and mysterious case that I hadn't heard of before. I wonder if any motive was known to have existed for Lord Lucan to have killed the 29-year-old nanny, Sandra Rivett. There must have been a lot of speculation about it. As he is was in a position to hold a lot of power over her, he may have coerced her to do something against her will. Then, when she tried to retaliate, or assert her rights, he brutally murdered her. That's just my guess. What do you think may have happened?
ReplyDeleteAs it is much more difficult now, compared to the mid 1970s, to exist in the world without leaving a digital trail, disappearing into thin air, never to be found again, would be much more difficult. However, we do occasionally hear about such cases. One recent case involved a man named Travis Decker in Washington State, in the US. He disappeared into a forest area after allegedly murdering his three daughters. Since he is a law enforcement officer, he is likely to be better equipped than most of us to evade discovery. He may have some wilderness survival skills that have helped him, too.
There was another recent case in New Zealand, not far from where my cousin and his family are living. A man named Tom Phillips ran away from police into the wilderness in December 2021 with his 3 children after a custody dispute with his wife when they were getting divorced. He managed to live undetected in forested areas until this year, when he was discovered and shot dead by police in a shoot out. Fortunately, his children were found unharmed, but very traumatized, of course.
Do you think that you would able to disappear without a trace? I think I'd have a very hard time doing that.
Once again, I have to repeat that it's necessary to cite, at least, 2 sources (and format the citations in APA style) for each blog entry you post.
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