John Bingham, 7th Earl of Lucan (Lord Lucan) (1934-1974) (Image: Getty Images)
Claims have emerged that Lord Lucan, the notorious British peer who vanished after the murder of his children’s nanny, found refuge with a fellow aristocrat in the Philippines a decade later. Lady Editha Moynihan, a successful entrepreneur operating out of Manila, has alleged that she and her late husband played host to Richard John Bingham – the 7th Earl of Lucan – a whole ten years following his mysterious disappearance.
The Vanished Earl is infamously suspected of having savagely slain the nanny, Sandra Rivett, in their elegant Belgravia home’s cellar in London and also attempting to take the life of his estranged wife Veronica on the night of November 7, 1974.
Although many theorised that the then 39-year-old elite from the storied halls of Eton perished by his own hand, flinging himself from a channel ferry after the heinous act, the tale took a twist. The bloodstained Ford Corsair belonging to Lucan was subsequently discovered abandoned at Newhaven’s port, yet his corpse was nowhere to be found, igniting decades of intrigue and speculation.
A slew of versed former Metropolitan Police officers, including the leading detective on an exhaustive 2004 review of the case, are convinced that Lucan’s escape was facilitated by his influential and affluent companions,
This narrative seemingly gains corroboration through Lady Moynihan’s account, whose marriage to the scandal-ridden Antony Moynihan, 3rd Baron Moynihan – nicknamed “Baron Scoundrel” due to his notoriety as a fugitive, suspected swindler, brothel proprietor, alleged killer and trafficker of sex and narcotics – ended a year after his death in 1991 and declaration for a divorce the preceding year.
Sandra Rivett was brutally murdered (Image: Getty)
The widow, now in her early 60s, opened up about her baffling ordeal, saying, “Why would Tony lie to me…. And why would Michael tell me [it was Lucan] too? What is there to gain, lying to me? … He (Lucan) was very pleasant, very clean looking, and he was very well dressed. I was impressed with the way he was carrying his clothes, you know, because he was a tall man.”
She recounted her dealings with Tony and Michael, noting, “Tony and Michael were quite close… I asked Tony [about Richard’s identity] ‘because my stepfather said that he’s a murderer’. He said: ‘Look, there is no proof to that, unless the man admits that he’s actually done it, there is no proof’… He (Lucan) didn’t look broke. He had the money to spend for a new passport.”
Her revelations come as Ms Rivett’s son Neil Berriman told the Mirror: “We have been inundated with tens of thousands of visits to the website LordLucanthetruth.com. We’ve also been overwhelmed with emails – some of them are coming from ex-police officers. Much of the information we’ve received is fascinating.”
Berriman spoke about the newfound openness from ex-officers, saying, “If you were a serving police officer it would have been impossible to speak about Lucan. But now, of course, once they’ve retired they are much freer to speak. The support I’ve received has been brilliant.”