[2] As Robert Hicks Murray, he told residents of Clapham that he was a captain in the Royal Scots Greys, and in his past, as part of the Seaforth Highlanders, he had served as an enlisted soldier in both India and China.
[2][3] According to a sister of his future wife, Florence Paler, while stationed in India, Murray suffered from a sunstroke, and from then on had bouts of insomnia and depression.
[2] Both sisters became enamored with the young captain, with Murray wooing and secretly marrying Florence in a traditional Scottish ceremony.
[4] Six months after Stanley's birth, Robert married the younger sister Edith in a Clapham church, moving in with her on Fawe Park Road in Putney.
[4] Murray rented a large and beautiful villa on the outskirts of Eastbourne on Enys Road on 17 August 1912, bringing Edith and the 1-year-old Winifred first.
By this time, Murray had unlocked the blue room and carried Edith and Winifred's bodies to Stanley and Vera's, piling them together, soaking them in petrol and setting them alight.
[4] He then left £160 and a note in a silver vase outside the house, confessing that he was ruined, wanted to take out everybody dependent on him and asking for forgiveness from God.
[1] While investigating Murray's past, detectives from Scotland Yard announced that he had most likely murdered at least seven previous wives, but refused to reveal any further details.