When Alan Turing's house was burglarized on January 23, 1952, it didn't seem all that serious. As Turing himself would later write in a lettter to a colleague:
I have just had my house broken into, and am still every few hours finding some fresh thing missing. Fortunately I am insured, and little has gone that is really irreplaceable. But the whole thing has had a very disturbing effect, especially as it followed shortly on a theft from me at the University. I go about expecting a brick to fall on my head or something disagreeable and unexpected anywhere.
Prophetic words. When Turing reported the crime to the local police, he quickly began to suspect that a young lover of his, Arnold Murray, was involved. He had met Murray earlier that month and they spent several nights together at Turing's house. On being accused by Turing, Murray became agitated and threatened to tell the police everything about their relationship. Given that homosexuality was still a criminal offense at the time, Turing knew perfectly well that what Arnold's confession would mean. Despite the risk, Turing simply told him to "do his worst" and Murray settled down. Murray admitted knowing the burglar (an acquaintance he had told about Turing's house) who had probably decided that Turing was a good target since he would be unlikely to report the robbery. Although Turing was reassured enough to resume his relationship with Murray, he decided to go to the police with the information. While he did his best to conceal Murray's identity and the exact nature of their relationship, he was eventually forced to confess the truth. His fate was sealed at that point.
The police were struck by Alan Turing's lack of shame in admitting his homosexuality. He minimized the seriousness of his lifestyle and even protested that a Royal Commission was being planned to legalize it (he was wrong). Under Section Eleven of the 1885 Criminal Law Amendment Act, homosexual conduct was classified as Gross Indecency. Only applying to males ( all lesbian references were removed from the act although the actual reasons for the exclusion remain murky), the act made no distinction between public or private sex acts and permitted no exceptions. While the 1885 legislation replaced earlier, more religion-inspired, laws classifying homosexuality as a "crime against nature", the days of convicted homosexuals serving prison sentences were hardly over by Alan Turing's time. For all that his unconventional lifestyle was an open secret to many who knew him personally, Turing's failure to keep his life out of the public eye meant the he could be charged and convicted.
