Alfred Arthur Rouse

Alfred Rouse murdered an unknown man in a car which he set on fire in Hardingstone Lane, Hardingstone, Northamptonshire.

He said he had picked up a hitchhiker and they had stopped for a rest on Hardingstone Lane. The man had asked for something to smoke and Alfred Rouse said he had a cigar that he gave the man even though he didnt himself smoke. He then asked the man to fill the car with petrol from some cans and went off to find a place to go to the toilet walking 200 yards with his suitcase. He then said that on the way back the car burst into flames.

The police didnt believe him and found that the carburettor had been tampered with and that Alfred Rouse had probably wanted to fake his own death so he could avoid paying maintenance to a number of  illegitimate children he had fathered. They also determined that the man had been beaten unconscious before being burnt in the car.

In 2014 police made progess in identifying the man in the blaze through DNA analysis.

The remains of the unknown man found in the car were buried in St Edmunds Church in Hardingstone and in August 2022 a new wooden cross was placed on his grave.