He wrote asking if we had copies of the paper, dated April 16, 1901 with information concerning a distant relative.

Roger said: "I am currently researching my family tree and have discovered that my great-uncle Charles Philip Williams, who was born in Hay-on-Wye, committed the murder of Emma Bexon on April, 16, 1901 in Melton Mowbray and that the details of this crime were extensively reported in the Melton Times on April 19, 1901.

"As you can appreciate this has come as a bit of a shock and I would like to have more detail of his crime.

"They always say when you start digging around in your family tree, you will find a skeleton. I think this is it."

Roger first discovered this particular tale when a friend found a story from an unidentified newspaper detailing a Pc Smith's 50th wedding anniversary.

It turns out he was the first officer on the scene of a murder committed by a Charles Williams from Hay-on-Wye.

This rang bells with Roger, and on digging out his death certificate discovered that Charles was his great-uncle who died in Leicester Prison on May 7, 1901, during an operation to remove a bullet from his brain.

After contacting Times Past, we managed to dig out the relevant issue and discovered a tragic tale of love, jealousy, murder and suicide.

It turns out Charles lived with his mistress Emma Bexon, a 'laundress', and her daughter Edith (13) at 31 Rosebery Avenue.

Shortly before the murder, a warrant for Charles's arrest had been issued.