Lady Killers

Frederick Seddon was brought before the court to answer charges of murdering his lodger, Eliza Barrow. The evidence presented indicated that he had obtained a lethal toxin by soaking fly‑paper, which he then used to poison her, in the prosecution’s case.

The Root of All Evil is a television programme presented as a single episode. It falls within the genre of true‑crime storytelling, focusing on a historical legal case. The episode’s title hints at the dark motives examined within the narrative, and the format follows the conventions of a courtroom drama. The central story follows the trial of Frederick Seddon, who stood accused of murdering his lodger, Eliza Barrow. The prosecution’s case rested on the discovery that Barrow had been poisoned using a substance extracted from fly papers that had been soaked. The episode outlines how the evidence of this unusual method of homicide was brought before the court and how it shaped the proceedings against Seddon. Throughout the broadcast, the programme details the courtroom atmosphere and the investigative steps that linked the poisoned fly‑paper solution to Barrow’s death. It walks viewers through the legal arguments, the forensic considerations, and the final verdict that resulted from this peculiar murder weapon. By concentrating on the trial’s key moments, the episode offers a concise account of how a seemingly mundane household item became the instrument of a fatal crime.