Alexander Edmundstone

Alexander Edmundstone murdered Michael Swinton Brown 16 who he battered to death in a public lavatory on School Wynd, East Wemyss, Fife on 19 February 1909.

Michael Brown worked at Messrs Johnson's linen factory in East Wemyss and it was their custom to send him into Buckhaven every Friday to the Royal Bank there to collect money for the staff wages. The bank was about a mile and a half away from the factory. East Wemyss and Buckhaven were connected by a tram line run by the Wemyss District Tramways Company (Limited). It was said that the fact that Michael Brown made the regular journey was well known amongst the villagers.

Michael Brown made the journey to Buckhaven on the tram on 19 February 1909, taking with him an ordinary brief bag into which he put the £85 that he collected. The money consisted of £25 in single notes, £20 in half sovereigns and £40 in silver.

On his way back, he met Alexander Edmundstone on the tram. They got off at the top of School Wynd, which was a steep thoroughfare which led directly onto main street of the village, and through which Michael Brown would have had to pass to get back to the factory.