The case is straight out of a crime novel: a British lord, suspected of murdering his children’s nanny, disappears 50 years ago without leaving a trace. The only evidence the authorities find is his blood-stained car. Did he kill himself? However, no body was ever found. But the nanny’s son is certain: John Bingham, the seventh Earl of Lucan, is still alive – and he’s even sure he’s tracked him down on another continent.

Let’s take them in order: when the 29-year-old nanny Sandra Rivett is beaten to death on November 7, 1974, while in the Lucan family cellar in London, the aristocrat, who has separated from his wife, is immediately at the center of investigations. And to this day the case has not been closed.

OR Lady Veronica Lucan he is also attacked, but manages to escape and hide in a nearby pub. There he tells the owner the following: “I think I broke my neck. He tried to strangle me.” According to her, the one who attacked her was her husband. But when he recounts the events later, he seems to be telling different versions of the story – making him not the most reliable source on what exactly happened.

From banker, card player

Lucan is a handsome British aristocrat with parted hair and a moustache, who has decided to quit his job at the bank to become a professional card player in London’s clubs. Although his nickname is “Lucky”, luck is not always on his side – but that does not deter him from betting huge sums of money again and again. Lucan fought a battle against his wife over custody of their three children – and his wife won the case.

The assessment was that Lucan wanted to kill his wife and in the dark mistook her for the nanny.

On the 50th anniversary of the murder, someone left a bouquet of flowers on the steps leading to the Lucans’ former home, along with a message in memory of Sandra Rivett.

Many say they have seen Lucan

Lucan’s car was found a day after the murder on the south coast of England. Blood stains were found inside the car, as well as a lead pipe, similar to the murder weapon.

But no one knows what became of the lord – and over the decades various mythical stories began to be built about his fate. Several times during these years there were reports of sightings in South Africa, India or Australia.

An inquest into the nanny’s cause of death concluded that Lord Lucan was the murderer. But the police have not been able to find him. In 1999 he was declared dead. But it took until 2016 for his son to inherit his father’s legacy and become the eighth Earl of Lucan.

To mark the 50th anniversary of Rivett’s murder and Lord Lucan’s disappearance, the BBC is airing a multi-episode TV series following Neil Berryman, son of Sandra Rivett, who travels to Australia to find Lucan. There he finds an old Englishman, who he believes was the one who murdered his mother. But is it so?

Edited by: Giorgos Passas