FREDDY Benwell's body was found in the notorious Swamp of Death in Woodstock near to Niagara Falls. He had been shot twice in the back of the head.

It is a story which has everything -- false identities, an outrageous con trick, a cold-blooded murder -- and a sensational trial which captured the imagination of the whole world.

Mr Bytheway was fascinated by a brief outline of the story in a book The World's Greatest Detective Stories published in 1934.

The man at the centre of the story, John Reginald Birchall, was the son of Joseph Birchall, the vicar of St James' Church, Church Kirk.

From his early school days, Birchall was known as a practical joker. He was educated at Rossall School before going on to Oxford, where his reputation as a party animal became the stuff of legends. This was helped by his inheritance, his father having died in 1878, leaving a substantial sum to his son.

Eventually, Birchall was asked to leave Oxford, his academic career paying the price for his riotous lifestyle. By 1888, Birchall's inheritance was all but spent. He married the daughter of a railway executive, Florence Stevenson, before the couple headed for a new life in Canada. There they lived in Woodstock, where the locals knew them as Lord and Lady Somerset, before returning to England.

In need of money, Birchall devised a scam placing adverts in the Daily Telegraph for investors in a farming scheme in Canada.

Freddy Benwell's decision to reply to one of these advertisements was to ultimately cost him his life.

Benwell, from Cheltenham, agreed to pay Birchall £500 for a farmstead near Woodstock and travelled across the Atlantic on the SS Britannic. His companions were Birchall and his wife, and Douglas Pelly, another would-be investor.

Once in Canada, Birchall made up various excuses which prevented Benwell from seeing his farm, a farm which never existed.

Then, under the pretence of taking Benwell to see his own farm in Woodstock, Birchall led the innocent man into the Swamp of Death. He shot him twice before removing the labels from his clothing and his wallet. But he failed to spot Benwell's cigar case which had fallen from his pocket and which had his name engraved on it.

The detective in charge of the case, John Wilson Murrary, had photographs taken of the dead man and his name and picture circulated to newspapers around the world -- the first time this had ever happened in a murder investigation. It wasn't long before the unfortunate Freddy Benwell's family were found, and Birchall was arrested.

Birchall's trial attracted unparalleled interest. The courtroom was full to capacity. Reporters filed copy back to England using the new forms of telegraph, and live coverage of the trial was even broadcast to nearby hotels.

Quite why he murdered Benwall remains unclear -- and the evidence, although strong was only circumstantial. But he was found guilty of murder and on November 14, 1890 he was hanged.

Mr Bytheway, who lives in West Yorkshire, has travelled to Canada and visited the murder scene, now known as the Benwell Swamp, as well as Benwell's grave.

He said: "Who could believe that a former public schoolboy, the gifted son of a Lancashire clergyman could murder a fellow public schoolboy in the totally desolate surroundings of a Canadian swamp?"