In early 19th-century England, scandal traveled faster than truth—and women paid the price for both.
This episode of Loreplay dives into the infamous Red Barn Murder, the brutal killing of Maria Marten, a young woman from Polstead, Suffolk, whose disappearance was blamed on shame, gossip, and her own supposed moral failings… until her body was discovered buried beneath the floor of a blood-red barn.
Maria had been involved with William Corder, a serial liar, emotional manipulator, and walking red flag in breeches. Pregnant and under immense social pressure, Maria was persuaded to meet Corder at the Red Barn under the pretense that they would elope. She was told to disguise herself as a man to avoid scandal—a choice that would later be twisted into suspicion against her.
She was never seen alive again.
For months, Corder sent letters to Maria’s family claiming she was safe, married, and living happily elsewhere. Meanwhile, her stepmother began having vivid dreams—dreams that repeatedly pointed to the Red Barn as Maria’s final resting place. When authorities finally searched the barn, they uncovered Maria’s remains, wrapped and buried beneath the floor.
Corder fled, was captured, and put on trial in 1828. The case became a full-blown media frenzy: courtroom drama, pamphlets, ballads, stage plays, souvenirs, and public spectacle. After his execution by hanging, Corder’s body was dissected—and in a final macabre twist, portions of his skin were reportedly used to bind a book documenting his crime.
This episode examines the murder itself, the circus that followed, and the deeper truth beneath the sensationalism: Maria Marten was not careless or foolish—she was trapped by class, gender, and a society that offered men exits and women dead ends.
The Red Barn didn’t kill Maria.
It just became the place where everything that failed her finally met.
Show Sources:
BBC News – The Red Barn Murder: England’s most notorious killing
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cn0wrdleer2o
Wikipedia – Red Barn Murder
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Barn_Murder
Mental Floss – The Chilling Story of the Red Barn Murder
https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/569826/red
Historic UK – The Red Barn Murder
https://www.historic-uk.com/HistoryUK/HistoryofEngland/The-Red-Barn-Murder/
The British Library – Crime broadsides & execution ephemera related to the Red Barn Murder
https://www.bl.uk/collection-guides/crime-broadsides