Stratford (first name unknown) was a psychopath in the employ of Gravid Rust. He murdered at least sixteen people and an unknown number of goblins, including the goblin woman whose murder set off the chain of events in Snuff. He is described as young, with mousy hair and no scars that show, He seemed like a normal person until he got angry when his homicidal maniacal tendencies appear, much like Carcer in The Night Watch. He is good with a slingshot, but but better with a machete or his assortment of small knives.
He first came to the attention of Commander Vimes during the latter's investigation of the murder on Hangman's Hill. He tried to outwit Vimes aboard the Wonderful Fanny, a river barge, by disguising himself as the river rat "Eddie Brassbound", but found himself outmaneuvered instead when Vimes pulled the made the crossbow he was holding inoperable. After a fight with Vimes in the wheelhouse, he fled, presumably to go down with the ship.
But Stratford was not an easy man to kill, and he resurfaced on the riverboat, the Roberta E. Biscuit, where he disguises himself as a bartender and drugs the ship's passengers and crew before trying to kill Vimes' son, Young Sam Vimes Jr. Fortunately, Vimes experience with psychopathic maniacs led him to assume that Stratford had in fact escaped death in the storm and when Vimes realized that there was a suspicious new crew member he set a trap for him. Vimes' butler, Willikins, was disguised as the other bartender and served Vimes "virgin" Sam Vimes' cocktails all night, Sam faked being drunk and surprised Stratford when he tried to enter the cabin. Following his arrest he was put on a Watch transport bound for Ankh-Morpork. Before he met his end at the hands of One-Drop Trooper, however, the wagon had a nasty collision with a mail coach, allowing Stratford to escape in all the confusion. Vimes however had all the angles covered. Willikins had followed the carriage on the road and recaptured and subdued him, as only Willikins could - permanently.