Murder Most 'Orrid. Looking for soldier's details

[HarryBettsMCDCM]

The Green Bicycle Case: Roland Vivian Light ;a Cheltenham Schoolmaster & Reportedly a former Officer{However a N/A & L/G Check do not reveal an Officer of this name~only a Gunner in the HAC}On the am of 5th July 1919 the body of 21 Year old Bella Wright ,a factory worker was found beside her cycle in a lane near Long Stretton Leicestershire,She had a Bullet wound to the head & a spent Bullet{cartridge?}lay by her body;

Earlier that morning Bella had left her Uncle's house 2 1/2 Miles away with a Man who had a Green Cycle,this person had been seen near to where the body was found.

The following February{1920} a Canal Dredger had brought up a Green Bicycle,all id marks had been removed save for the serial # 103648,and the cycle was traced back via the original retailer to one Ronald Light,A Revolver Holster with ammunition had also been dredged up,similar in type to the murder Bullet.In June 1920 Ronald Vivian Light was tried at Leicester Assizes,where unbelievably,Light was accquitted on the evidence presented,though he had lied about his ownership of the Cycle,which was proven to be his.

[HarryBettsMCDCM]

The Button & Badge Murder David Greenwood.1918.

David Greenwood had been medically discharged from the Army after serving @ the Front.On the night of February 9th 1918 A Mr Trew,of Eltham,reported that his 16 Year old Daughter,Nellie,was missing,after having left for the local Library that evening.The next Morning her body had been discovered on Eltham Common,she had been assaulted & strangled,close by was a Horn Button,threaded on a piece of wire & a Leicestershire Regiment "Tiger" Badge,following the circulation of pictures of these items of evidence,a Machinist came forward & recounted that a Fellow worker of his~ A David Greenwood~ was in the habit of wearing such a Badge,He lived not a 100 yards from the Crime Scene,Quizzed by his Work colleagues as to the whereabouts of his Tiger badge; Greenwood stated to them he'd Sold it,however they persuaded him to go to the Police,who noticed that Greenwoods Overcoat was sans Buttons,which he said was how it had been for some months,however his workmates refuted this;also the wire found on the button was of a type made by the Factory where he{Greenwood} was employed.Greenwood was tried for Nellie's murder,being convictedon the circumstantial evidence & sentenced to Death,which was commuted to life imprisonment.

[BeppoSapone]

I would be most interested to hear of any soldiers who are linked to the 'worst' crime.

If anyone has any details, no matter how sketchy, about British and commonwelath soldiers/officers who were:

accused, or convicted, linked with, or were themselves, murdered.

I realise this is a subject that some may not want to reply to in public, so please feel free to contact me off-forum if this is the case.

Post a list of who you have and, I'm sure, you will get more.

FI there was August Sangret, a French Canadian/Native American hung for the WW2 "Wig Wam" murder in Surrey:

http://www.cwgc.org/cwgcinternet/casualty_...asualty=2147975

Also, another Canuck shot his girlfriend with a bren gun in Brighton. She left him for another Canadian, so he visited her house and machine gunned her as she tried to escape by running up the stairs!

Can possibly find more details if you don't know of these two cases

[HarryBettsMCDCM]

Murder most exceptionally Horrid ~~~ Frankfurter anyone??

Fritz Haarmann;Hanover 1918~20s

A native of Hanover,Haarmann,A hawker of smuggled Meat, had returned there after being discharged from the Imperial German Forces in 1918,he suffered from Epilectic fits which it was considered may have contributed to his later degenerative behaviour,Living in Hanovers "Thieves" quarter Haarmann had convictions for Petty Theft,Pickpocketing & assaults on small children,he survived by stealing & being a paid Police informant.In 1918 he pretended to be a Police Officer & using that guise preyed upon the Flotsam in the form of Young Refugees @ the Rail Station,offering Shelter & food to the disperate souls,He joined forces with another degenerate,Hans Grans, & together they lured teenage refugees from the Station to Haarmann's Neuestrasse Den,where the unfortunates were killed,their clothing & Goods sold on & most horrifically their bodies dismembered & sold as Meat.An estimated two victims per week over a sixteen month period were murdered by Haarmann & Grans,On 22nd July 1924,Fritz Haarmann was accussed of indecent behaviour & his Dwelling routinely searched,consequently articles belonging to many of his young victims were uncovered,also Human bones,from 23 Bodies were being found on the Foreshore of the River,Arrested & Questioned Haarmann confessed & implicated Grans,Tried @ Hanover Assizes in 1924,Haarmann,45; reiterated his confession adding his surprise @ only being chargedwith 27 Murders,whenhe thought the total closer to 40!,He was duly convicted & Executed by Beheading.His Accomplice Grans was sentenced to 12 Years.

[HarryBettsMCDCM]

Major Herbert Armstrong (Territorials then a short spell in France), hanged 1921 for the murder of his wife.

Major Herbert Rowse Armstrong TD,A Solicitor,Murdered his Wife @ Hay On Wye by Arsenic Poisoning,but was only discovered when in a fit of pique with a "Fellow" Solicitor tried to poison him too by offering him an arsenic Laced Scone with the apology "Excuse Fingers" as he handed it too him,The solicitor became violently ill & suspicion arose as to the real cause of Death of Mrs Armstrong{Not least I suspect as the Chemist from whom Armstrong had purchased the Arsenic was none other than Martin's Uncle,who promptly conducted a Urine test on the Solicitor{Martin} & confirmed the Prescence of Arsenic.!!} who had died presumably it was thought of Gastritis.Accused of the attempted Murder of Oswald Martin the Solicitor,& following further investigations Armstrong's Wife was exhumed & Arsenic traces found,Found Guilty of Her Murder,He was Executed by Hanging @ Gloucester Prison on 31st May 1922.

Also not to forget 'R & R' ,both 1950s National Servicemen[albiet reluctant] but convicted of the Murder of Jack the Hat McVitie,leading to their 30 odd year life sentences,for that & other Gang related Crimes in London's East End in the 1960s.

I would "Recommend" for a quiet night in "The Murderers Who's Who;150-Years of Notorious Murder Cases" by J.H.H.Gaute & Robin Odell,Pan P/Bk 1979.which contains these and Many other Service related Murderers & Victims,from 1850s~1970s[As well as non service related Homicides]

[HarryBettsMCDCM]

Perhaps not universally known but Lord Trenchard "Father" of the RFC/RAF was appointed Commissioner @ Scotland Yard in 1931

And Even Better than that.... The Name "The Flying Squad" ,founded shortly after the end of he Great War due to he massive increase in Crime,comes mainly from the fact that the Vehicles used by them had been former Royal Flying Corps Vehicles!!!

[HarryBettsMCDCM]

Anti~Tank Mine Wheelchair Murder::::Slightly "Off Topic" but I feel worthy of Mention due to the Method of Murder,& its WW2 Time frame; is the case of Eric Brown,a 19 year old Bank Clerk from Rayleigh Essex.

Archibald Brown,47,had been crippled in a Motorcycle accident,by 1942 he was virtually Paralysed,being unable to walk without considerable help & was mainly wheelchair bound,he lived with his Wife & their two Sons in Rayleigh[near Southend ~on~Sea]

On 23rd July 1943,A Nurse Mitchell arrived to take Mr Brown Snr;out for his usual Wheelchair ride,but found the Air Raid shelter where the Wheelchair was kept locked,eventually 19 year old Eric came out.

Mr Brown was wheeled out by Nurse Mitchell on to one of his favourite routes,about a mile into their journey,as Mr Brown wanted a Cigarette,his Nurse stopped & was almost immediately thrown to the ground by a massive explosion,Mr Brown being blown to bits.Police forensic investigations revealed that an anti~Tank device~ A "Hawkins No.75 Grenade Mine" had caused the explosion,Further investigation revealed that Eric had smuggled the Mine into the Shelter & affixed it beneath the Wheelchair,as he resented his Father's increasingly bad treatment of the Family & his constant Bullying of Himself ,brother & Mother.He was tried for his Fathers Murder @ Chelmsford in November 1943 being found Guilty but insane.

[Guest Pete Wood]

Post a list of who you have and, I'm sure, you will get more.

Here's a few:

Soldiers (serving and former) connected with murder. I have newspaper clippings for many of these cases, but I'd welcome further facts on units which these men served in, and photos etc.

Allaway, Thomas Henry

On 22 December 1921 an adverisement appeared in the 'Morning Post'. It was from a Miss Irene Wilkins who was looking for a position as a school cook. That very same day she received a telegram requesting that she come to Bournemouth at once, where she would be met. Pleased that she had got such an early response she immediately caught the afternoon train to Bournemouth. The very next day on the 23 December her body was discovered in a field on the outskirts of Bournemouth. Irene Wilkins was not the only one to receive a telegram that day at least three others were recieved. This would be a very important fact later in the case.

On a road nearby the body were tyre-tracks. The tyre-tracks were traced to Dunlop Magnums and all drivers and chauffeurs in the district were questioned. One of those questioned was Thomas Allaway, who was a 36 year old chauffeur and ex soldier and he drove a Mercedes fitted with three Dunlop Magnums and a Michelin.

Four months later he attempted to pass forged cheques. He disappeared from Bournemouth and was picked up by the police in Reading. He was arrested and, in his pockets were some betting slips with writing that matched the writing on the telegrams. Other samples of his handwriting fixed Alloway as the originator of the telegrams and finally he was identified by a Post Office employee as the writer of the telegrams.

Thomas Henry Allaway was convicted of murdering Irene Wilkins. He had killed her by striking her on the head several times with a blunt instrument. The case appeared to be missing a motive, robbery was ruled out and although the murder victim's clothes had been disturbed she had clearly not been raped. All the same it was still assumed that sex was the motivation.

Allaway was tried at Winchester in July 1922 and was soon found guilty of murder. The night before his execution he confessed his crime to the Prison Governor. Thomas Henry Allaway was hanged at Winchester Prison on 19 August 1922.

Absalom, Albert George

Albert George Absalom was a twenty eight year old fish and chip shop manager, and former soldier(?), who was convicted of the murder of his sweetheart, Alice Reed who was twenty six, a factory worker, whom he stabbed to death in a fit of jealousy. He was tried and found guilty and sentenced to death by Mr Justice Talbot at Lancashire Assizes on 15 June, he was told to place no hope in the jury’s recommendation of mercy. He was hanged by Thomas Pierrepoint and Henry Pollard in Liverpool on the 25 July 1928.

Adams, James

Thirty one year old James Adams was sentenced to death at Glasgow High Court by Lord Salveson on 22 October for the murder of Mrs Mary Doyle, a soldier’s wife (a soldier called Doyle living in Glasgow!! – Try Sgt Thomas Doyle 13 A&S Highlanders), by cutting her throat with a razor. Adams, an engineer, with a young family had recently separated from his wife and had been having a relationship with Mary Doyle, who was also estranged from her partner. On 1 August, Adams visited her house on Cameron Street, Glasgow, where she informed him that their affair was over because she was going to attempt a reconciliation with her husband. Adams became angry and produced a razor, with the intention, he later claimed, of cutting his own throat. They started a scuffle, during which she received a fatal wound to her throat. Adams surrendered to the police on the following morning. He was hanged by John Ellis on the 11 November 1919 in Glasgow.

Anderson, George

George Anderson was a Cheshunt labourer sentenced to death by Mr Justice Lawrence at Hertford- shire Assizes on 21 November, for the murder of Mrs Harriet Emily Whybrow who was thirty one at Waltham Cross. Harriet’s mother was Anderson’s second wife. When her own marriage broke up, she moved in with her mother and step-father. After the mother died, Harriet and Anderson began some form of relationship. Anderson was of intemperate habits and on 30 June, while in a drunken stupor he cut her throat. No motive was clearly established at the trial and having been found guilty he was hanged by John Ellis and George Brown on the 23 December 1914 at St Albans. He was fifty nine at the time of his execution.

WHYBROW, WALTER WILLIAM SOLOMON 13 ESSEX (MOST LIKELY, LIVED IN CHESHUNT!!)

WHYBROW, HARRY THOMPSON MGC – POSSIBLE

Armstrong, Herbert Rowse

Herbert Rowse Armstrong was a fifty two year old solicitor practising in the Welsh border town of Hay-on-Wye. A seemingly mild mannered man he was a retired army Major. His wife was well known as a hypochondriac and a nag. One way he had found to get away from her was to become involved in the Territorial Army once again rising to the rank of Major. When this did not give him the amount of freedom that he wanted he started to think of something more permanent.

Even though she was a hypochondriac she really had been ill and when she died it was believed to be from Gastritis. Had the doctor examined her more closely he may have realised that she had not died from Gastritus but from arsenical poisoning. She was buried and that might have been the end of it had it not been for the fact that having once got away with it Armstrong decided to use the same method again.

After a dispute with a rival solicitor named Oswald Martin, Armstrong invited him to tea on the pretence of finding a solution to the dispute. Martin was passed a scone which had been heavily laced with arsenic The effect of this was to make Martin violently ill on his return home. Martins father in law was the town’s chemist and was aware of the purchases that Armstrong had made of arsenic. Tests were done and the authorities notified. Armstrong was arrested on suspicion and his wife’s body exhumed.

Arsenic can remain in the body of a dead person for years and can even help to preserve the body. He was tried at Hereford Assizes and found guilty and held at Gloucester Prison until he was hanged at 8 am on 31 May 1922 by the official Hangman John Ellis. As to the reason for Armstrong to murder his wife it would seem that Armstrong saw murder as a way of getting out of an unhappy marriage and this was indeed his motive.

Atkins, Percy James

Percy Atkins was a railway guard, and former soldier(?) who was charged with the murder of his wife, whose body was found buried on an allotment at Chaddesden, Derby. Percy and Maud Atkins had been married for eight years when, after a series of rows, she left home and returned to live with her parents in Huntingdonshire, leaving her children to be looked after by their father. While she was absent from the area, Percy Atkins entered into a bigamous marriage with a Miss Margaret Milton. In November 1921, Maud Atkins returned to Derby to discuss gaining custody of the eldest child. On the 21st of that month, Percy and Maud went for a walk and headed towards his allotment. What happened next was never made clear but according to Percy, they had a quarrel which ended when she threw her wedding ring at him and rushed away. Atkins claimed he spent a while looking for the ring before going off in search of his wife. When he found her, he said, she was lying dead on a pile of rocks, apparently having committed suicide. Fearful that he would be blamed for her death and charged with murder, he concealed her body in a pre-dug hole on the allotment into which he had planned to plant an apple tree. The body was discovered six weeks later, by which time doctors were unable to state for certain what had been the cause of death. It was thought that she had either been strangled, or knocked unconscious then buried alive. Convicted at Derby Assizes before Mr Justice Horridge on 17 February. Due to the closure of Derby prison, he was hanged at Bagthorpe prison, Nottingham, by John Ellis on the 7 April 1922. He was twenty nine years old at the time of his execution.

Bailey, George Arthur

George Bailey, former soldier(?) was executed on 2nd March 1921 for poisoning his wife. His four day trial in January of that year was notable as the first murder trial which had female jury members.

When he appeared at Aylesbury Assizes he told the court that his wife had threatened suicide and had then swallowed prussic acid. The jury, advised by Mr Justice McCardie to 'arrive at your verdict without flinching, and to deliver it with unswerving firmness' disbelieved his story and duly returned a guilty verdict.

Black, Edward Ernest

Edward was a 36 year old insurance salesman and former soldier (?), 14 years younger than his wife, Mrs Annie Black. When she died on 11 November 1921 her husband was away. He owed money and had few friends. Although the cause of death appeared to be gastro-enteritis the doctor was unhappy and so a post mortem was carried out. The results of this were that she had traces of arsenic in her body.

He was tracked down to Liverpool where he was found with a self inflicted wound in his throat. A failed suicide attempt. He was brought back to the West Country to Bodmin where he was tried for murder. Although he tried to claim his innocence he had in fact signed his own death certificate when he signed the poison register in a chemist in St Austell for two ounces of arsenic.

The jury took only 40 minutes to find him guilty and he was hung at Exeter prison on 24 march 1922.

Clifford, Percy Evelyn

Thirty two year old Percy Clifford was a soldier, sentenced to death by Mr Justice Darling at Lewes Assizes on 6th July, for the murder of his wife. On the evening of 7th April, the bodies of Maud and Percy Clifford were discovered at their cottage in Brighton. Mrs Clifford had been shot dead while her husband had gunshot wounds, later found to be self inflicted. He was hanged by John Ellis in Lewes gaol on the 11th August 1914. It was the last execution to be held in the gaol.

Clinton, Thomas

An army private by the name of Thomas Clinton shot dead a Sergeant Major Lynch. Clinton had received the King's Shilling in the autumn of 1916. He was a native of Manchester and his first posting on being summoned to join the Royal Welsh Fusiliers was at the company's training barracks in Barrow-in-Furnace. Soon after his arrival at the camp, for no apparent reason, he became a target for the bullying Sergeant Major Lynch (see below). Throughout the winter, Clinton continued to be the butt of the officer's abuse which he bottled up through the first few months of his induction training, until he finally snapped. On 13th January, he entered the guardroom at the camp and called: 'Now then Sergeant Major.' Lynch turned to look at the soldier but before he could speak, Clinton fired. After staggering outside, Lynch collapsed on the parade ground. Clinton, who had followed him outside, dropped to his knees in tears. The Military Police were quickly summoned, and under escort Clinton was taken to a nearby police station before being returned to Manchester to stand trial. Clinton stood in the dock at Manchester Assize Court on 15th February before Mr Justice Sharman. The prosecution claimed that Clinton had shot the Sergeant Major because he bore him a grudge, while the defence contested that the gun had gone off by accident. The prosecution easily countered by arguing that it was unreasonable to assume that a man who walked into a room with a loaded rifle in the 'on-guard' position could claim that the shooting was an accident. The jury took twenty minutes to find Clinton guilty of murder. He went to the gallows in his prison clothes because it was considered a disgrace to the King's uniform that a man should be hanged wearing it. John Ellis carried out the sentence on the 21st March 1917 in Manchester. He was twenty eight when he died.

58764 Sgt-Maj Henry Lynch 5 Garrison Bn Royal Welsh Fusiliers – classed as Died. Husband of Alice Lynch, of 64, King's Rd., Canton, Cardiff. Awarded Long Service and Good Conduct Medal.

Crossland, John

John Crossland was an ex-soldier who was convicted of the murder of his wife, Ellen, at Blackburn. Thirty three year old Crossland and his wife had married in 1903 and later had 5 children. He had volunteered to join the army in 1914 and served until he was invalided out in 1916. He then found employment as a general labourer. He and Ellen separated shortly before the end of the war due to their frequent quarrels and during 1918 he served a short term of imprisonment for failing to pay maintenance to his wife. Upon his release from gaol, he moved back in with his wife and family in their home on Prince Albert Street, Blackburn, but their disagree- ments soon surfaced again and so once more he moved out. On the morning of 8th May, Crossland left his lodgings and visited his wife. He was shown into the house by his daughter as she was leaving for work. His wife at this time was still in bed. Crossland removed his shoes, climbed the stairs and entered her bedroom. Moments later there was the sound of a struggle and a couple of children ran into the room to find their father standing over the prone figure of their mother. He had battered her around the head with a blunt instrument and she had died almost at once. Crossland fled from the house but was only at liberty for a short while before being arrested and charged with the murder. At his trial at Liverpool Assizes, he claimed that his wife had fallen during a quarrel. When asked why he had taken his shoes off to enter the bedroom, Crossland said that the laces had broken and his boots were falling off. The prosecution argued that it was so no one would hear him enter the room and commit the crime. Medical evidence was presented that proved that Mrs Crossland's wounds could not have been the result of an accident. He was sentenced to death despite the jury recommending him to mercy. A petition of over 5,000 signatures requesting a reprieve failed to stop the execution being carried out on the 22nd July 1919 in Liverpool, John Ellis and Robert Baxter officiating.

Caplan , David

David Caplan, a former sailor convicted of the murder of his wife. Freda, and their two children. In 1917, the Caplans moved to a home of their own in Leeds after living with Mrs Freda Caplan's mother. David Caplan often beat his wife, and during the next two years, Freda and the children made the journey back to her mother in Liverpool on ten occassions. Each time, David Caplan came in hot pursuit, full of apologies and assurances that it would not happen again. In the summer of 1919, they moved back to Liverpool, once again settling with Freda's mother, before moving into a flat above a shop on Derby Road, Kirkdale. Caplan found employment at a local engineering works, while his wife ran a millinery business in the shop below the flat. On 13th October that year, Freda took out a summons for assault against her husband which resulted in a ten shillings fine. Caplan told his wife after the court case that he would have his revenge upon her, and the next day a neighbour heard screams coming from the shop. The police were called and they found the bodies of Freda and the two children in a bedroom, beaten to death with a blood stained flat-iron which lay at the foot of the bed. Caplan was downstairs with a self-inflicted throat wound made by a razor. He was tried before Mr Justice McCardie at Manchester Azzies on 2nd December, 1919. The prosecution alleged that it was a cold blooded, premeditated murder, while the defence offered an insanity plea, arguing that Caplan was not responsible for his actions and that he had no recollection of the killings. Forty two year old Caplan was executed on the 6th January 1920 in Manchester.

Colclough, Charles

Charles Colclough was a forty five year old fish salesman of Hanley, convicted of the murder of George Shenton who was forty, a collier. Colclough had a charming way with his customers and often flirted with the housewives who came to his shop. One customer, Anne Shenton, became enamoured with the shopkeeper and they began an affair. After several clandestine meetings, Anne told her husband that she was leaving him and moving in with Colclough. They lived together until the autumn at which point she began to miss her husband and children. After finding out from a friend that she would be welcomed back by her family, she packed her bags and headed home. When Colclough returned from work on Saturda 30th October, he found the note Anne had left for him. After spending the night brooding, he went to her house and tried to persuade her to return. Anne answered the door and told him that she was staying. Alerted by raised voices. George Shenton went to the door, and after seeing Colclough there was a heated exchange of words, followed by a brawl. Seconds later. George Shenton, a former soldier, lay dead. Colclough had slit his throat from ear to ear. A neighbour hurried to fetch the police as Anne Shenton shrieked h stericall in the street. The police arrived to find one man dead while another stood bleeding from a self-inflicted throat wound. Colclough as taken into custody and charged. He was convicted at the Winter Assizes and sentenced to death. An appeal failed, as did a petition to the Home Secretary. At 8pm on New Year's Eve. Colclough walked to the scaffold inside Strangeways Gaol. As the clock struck the hour, a postman walked up the street leading to the prison gates. It was raining heavily but a handful of people had gathered in the street. 'Who are they tolling the bell for?' he asked one of the crowd standing in the rain. 'A man named Colclough.' came the reply. 'Hard lines, Colclough, I've got an express letter here for him.' It was a reprieve that had arrived too late to save him from John Ellis, the executioner. The sentence had been carried out on the 31st December 1920.

Chaplin, Edward Royal

Percy Arthur Casserley was 57-years-old in 1937. He was managing director of a London brewers. He lived with his 37-year- old wife, Georgina May (Ena), in comfortable suburban surroundings at 35 Lindisfarne Road, Wimbledon. They had been married for ten years but had no children. Percy was an abusive, bad-tempered, alcoholic and, possibly following an operation, had ceased to have physical relations with his younger wife. It was probably safe to say that his marriage had lost its shine.

In the spring of 1937 a house was being built next to the Casserley residence. It didn't take Ena long to notice a handsome 35-year-old builders' foreman named Edward Chaplin. One day she asked him in for a cup of tea and things progressed from there.

Because of the state of his health Percy gave up work in September 1937 and was resident in a clinic for alcoholics between 16th January and 17th February 1938. While he was away being dried out Mrs Casserley took the opportunity to entertain and visit Chaplin. When her husband returned it was to find out that his wife was pregnant. This was quite a humiliation for Percy and was enough to force him back to the bottle resulting in a second visit to the clinic on 8th March. Once again Edward and Ena took the opportunity to indulge themselves in his absence. They both wanted the baby to be born within a happy marriage so Ena wrote to Percy asking for a divorce. If they expected him to be helpful in this matter they were to be sadly disapointed when he refused point-blank. Percy returned from the clinic on 22nd March and by the following day was dead.

That morning Ena had asked her maid Lydia Scott, to tell Chaplin that she would only be able to see him for a short while. This she did and, when Chaplin turned up, the pair of them walked the short distance to an off-licence for a bottle of whisky for Percy. They returned to the house so that Edward could speak to Casserley about Ena's condition. According to Ena, she went upstairs to her bedroom. She heard raised voices, the sounds of a struggle and two gunshots. Someone came up the stairs to her room, it was Edward.

His story was that he had confronted Casserley, and had admitted being the cause of Ena's pregnancy. He had then demanded that he allow Ena to go with him. According to Edward, Casserley had said, Oh, so it's you, you swine; and had produced a gun from his writing desk. In fear for his own life Edward had grabbed the gun and the pair had struggled. The gun had gone off, luckily only grazing Casserley's neck. Driven on by anger Casserley had grabbed Edward between the legs causing him considerable pain. Edward had reached out and grabbed a torch off the writing desk and swinging it around had hit Casserley over the head with it three times. This made Casserley let go of the younger man's genitals and the pair stumbled and fell to the floor. Casserley was still trying to point the gun at Edward and there were a couple of clicks as the trigger was pulled but it failed to go off. Chaplin got both hands onto the gun and forced the older man's arm across his neck. Casserley said that he gave in and Edward started to get up. As he rose he heard another click. He jumped onto Casserley and forced his hands to the side of Casserley's head. As he did so the gun went off and Casserley became still. The bullet had entered his head, just in front of the left ear.

In Shock Edward went upstairs to Ena and told her what had happened. When they both came down it was to find that Casserley was unconscious, but still alive. Edward wanted to keep Ena's name out of any publicity so decided to make it look like a burglary.

When the police arrived the house was in a state of disorder. Ena told the police that she had been absent for about 40 minutes while she went for a walk. She had returned to find her husband lying in a pool of blood. One of the items that police found in the mess was a grey button. The police were not totally convinced by the burglary theory and did some checking into the Casserley's background.

On the 29th March they visited Edward Chaplin at his current site in Epsom. He fetched his coat from the shed and put it on. It was missing a grey button and was still wet from where he had washed it after the shooting. Chaplin was arrested and charged with Percy's murder. Ena was charged as an accessory after the fact.

Edward Chaplin's trial began on 24th May 1938 at the Old Bailey with Ena Casserley's to follow. The story of the fight and the accidental shooting was once more related and despite evidence that Chaplin's body was unmarked after the fight while Casserley's body showed over 17 bruises, and the fact that Percy was a 58-year-old, sick, alcoholic who couldn't have put up much of a fight, Chaplins story was beleived and he was found not guilty of murder but guilty of manslaughter. He received a sentence of twelve years' penal servitude. Ena was given the nominal sentence of eleven days in prison and released immediately.

Edward Chaplin was a well behaved prisoner and with remission only served eight years. When he was released Ena was waiting for him at the prison gates. On 17th May 1946 they were married.

Percy Arthur Casserley of the right age to have served - Royal Fusiliers Pte B/23558 PA Casserley

Edward Royal Chaplin of the right age to have served

Cassidy, Daniel

Daniel Cassidy, a blacksmith. and his wife had separated and she had gone to live in Dublin. Returning to the north east for Christmas. on New Year's Day she attended a party at her daughter's house. Cassidy heard that she was in town and called at the house with the intention of making trouble. During the disturbance he pulled out a gun and fired five shots, wounding his wife and daughter, but killing his son-in-law, Bernard Quinn (a former soldier). Another guest managed to disarm him and he was later arrested. Sentenced to death by Mr Justice Roche at Durham Assizes on 23rd February, and hanged by Thomas Pierrepoint on the 3rd April 1923. He was sixty years old when he was executed in Durham.

Cronin, William John

Fifty four year old William Cronin was a ship's fireman who was convicted of murdering Alice Garret, whose throat he cut on 14th June. After being sentenced by Mr Justice Swift, Cronin said 'Thank you. I'm very glad that you have sentenced an innocent man to death!' He was hanged by Robert Baxter, assisted by Edward Taylor. The sentence was carried out on the 14th August 1925 in Pentonville.

Delaney, Thomas

Thirty eight year old Thomas Delaney was sentenced to death by Lord Chief Justice Maloney on 12th November, for the murder of Patrick Hogan, an elderly man whom he beat to death with a hatchet at Banagher on 27th June. He was hanged on the 12th December 1923 in Dublin.

February 12th 1918: Arthur Harry Victor DE STAMIR (25)

Wandsworth

Captain Edward Tighe, a retired army veteran, lived with his wife at Winkfield Lodge, Wimbledon Common. On the morning of 3 November, 1917, a housemaid took him up a cup of tea and found him lying severely battered on the bedroom floor. Beside the body was a bloodstained poker, which had been bent by the force with which it had been used to hit the Captain. Missing from the house were two watches. The detective investigating the crime thought there were similarities between this vicious assault and a number of burglaries carried out in Streatham, south London. Some of the jewellery from these robberies had been sold to a jeweller who was able to give the police a good description of the seller. Four days later, Captain Tighe died from his injuries, and not long after this, the jeweller who had bought the stolen goods spotted the seller in a Wardour Street shop. He called the police and the man was taken into custody. He gave his name as Arthur Gray but they soon learned that his real name was De Stamir. He also had a long criminal record. When his house was searched, the two stolen watches from Winkfield Lodge were found. He denied the murder but while in custody he eventually made a statement that implicated another soldier called Fisher. It was while making the statement that De Stamir put the noose around his own neck. He readily admitted being in the bedroom at the time of the assault although he denied striking the killing blows, ignorant of the fact that as the law stood he was equally as guilty as the attacker and therefore liable for the ultimate penalty. On 10 January, he was sentenced to death at the Old Bailey by Mr Justice Darling, and hanged by John Ellis and George Brown.

1923

July 4th: Rowland DUCK (25)

Pentonville

A labourer sentenced to death by Mr Justice Swift at the Old Bailey on 31 May, for the murder of Miss Nellie Pearce (18). Duck was a married man with three children, and former soldier, but used to visit Nellie at her lodgings. For reasons never made clear, he cut her throat and then wrapped her body in an army blanket before concealing her under the bed. He claimed no recollection of the murder, and stated in his defence that he was an epileptic with hereditary insanity. Strenuous efforts were made to secure a reprieve for Duck, who was partially sighted(??!!). Hanged by John Ellis and Robert Wilson.

1923

November 29th: William DOWNES (25)

Dublin

Downes, a former soldier, was part of a gang of thieves who raided a candle works at Ashdown on 19 October, stealing over £30 and a number of bicycles, which they used to make their escape. They were pursued by a number of Free State CID officers who eventually cornered the men at Castle Knock, Co Dublin. In the ensuing fight, Downes was arrested and placed in a police car guarded by Captain Thomas Fitzgerald, while other officers attempted to round up the rest of the gang. Downes waited for Captain Fitzgerald's attention to be distracted, then withdrew a pistol and shot him dead before escaping, only to be quickly rearrested. He was sentenced to death by Lord Chief Justice Maloney on 30 October. A newspaper article claimed that the authorities had to advertise for an executioner to carry out the sentence, although it was likely John Ellis officiated. Another article claimed that the hangman's identity was specifically not disclosed.

Devere, Eugene

A one legged tailor, and former soldier, sentenced to death by Mr Justice Slater at the Old Bailey on 12th February for the murder of Polly Edith Walker who was seventeen. They had been courting but following a quarrel on New Year's Day at her mother's house in Camden Town, London, she ended their relationship. He was very fond of her but she did not return his affections, a situation which seemed to have been the cause of the row. During the argument. he slapped her and she replied by biting his finger. In a rage he picked up a pair of tongs and struck her about the head. As she slumped to the bed. he picked up a stocking and strangled her. He was hanged by Robert Baxter and Thomas Phillips in Pentonville on the 24th March 1926. He was only twenty five when he died.

Ellor, James

Thirty six year old James Ellor was an ex-soldier who was working as a hat finisher when he murdered his wife, Ada (42). On 25 March, they had a row and as a result she left him and went to stay with a friend, a Mrs Sayer, who lived in Hyde. Two days later, he discovered where his wife was staying. He paid her a visit and pleaded for her to come home. Mrs Sayer left them alone to sort out their problems, and as she was leaving she saw Ellor get down on his knees and beg Ada's forgiveness. When Mrs Sayer returned an hour later, she found Ada dead on the floor and Ellor still present. He told her he had beaten his wife with a hammer after she had refused to come home. At his Chester Assizes trial, the defence claimed that Ellor had been wounded and gassed during the war and that as a result, he suffered bouts of insanity. He was convicted of murder and was later refused a reprieve. He was hanged by John Ellis and Edward Taylor at Liverpool on the 11th August 1920..

Fox, Sidney Harry

Sidney Fox was a 31-year-old homosexual con-man, and former soldier (?) – born 1898, - who travelled the country leaving a trail of unpaid bills and bad cheques, usually accompanied by his 63-year-old mother. In April 1929 Mrs Fox made out a will leaving her few assets to her son. A few days later he insured his mother's life.

By October the pair had moved on to Margate, in Kent, staying at the Hotel Metropole. Sidney, thoughtfully, increased the cover on his mother to £3,000. At 11.40pm, on the 23rd October, Sidney raised the fire alarm. A resident dashed into Mrs Fox's smoke-filled room and dragged her out but she was already dead. A Coroner's Court returned a verdict of misadventure and Sidney set about getting his hands on the insurance money. The timing of her death was very convenient. The old woman had died with just twenty minutes of the policy left to run. Fox made such a commotion about it that suspicions were raised and his mother's body was exhumed. Sir Bernard Spilsbury carried out the post-mortem and concluded that the old woman was dead before the fire had started.

Fox appeared before Lewes Assizes on 12th March 1930 charged with the murder of his mother Rosaline Fox who was 63 at the time of death. The prosecution contended that he had got his mother drowsy with port and had then strangled her. The source of the fire in his mother's room was shown to be newspaper soaked in petrol which had been placed under her chair. He was found guilty and executed at Maidstone Prison on 8th April 1930.

1922

December 13th: Frank FOWLER (35)

Lincoln

A farm labourer, and former soldier (?), convicted of the murder of Mrs Ivy Prentice at Market Deeping, Lincolnshire. Ivy and George Prentice had only been married for three days when she was visiting a public house, the 'White Horse', to view some of her wedding gifts. Fowler, who it seemed bore some jealous grudge, entered the bar and shot her dead. Hanged beside ROBINSON [above] in a double execution carried out by Thomas Pierrepoint and Robert Baxter.

1925

September 3rd:

Wilfred FOWLER (23)

September 4th: Lawrence FOWLER (24)

Leeds

Wilfred Fowler and his elder brother, Lawrence, led a gang of Sheffield toughs who specialised in instilling terror into local shopkeepers and generally impersonating the American gangster. Events that were to lead them to the scaffold began at the end of April when there was a disturbance in a city centre public house. Trimmer Welsh, the muscle behind the gang, was causing a scene with the new barmaid in a pub. He went to strike her for refusing his advances but was warned off by William Plommer. a former boxer and soldier. The two men squared up, and having no fear of the gang's reputation. Plommer beat the man senseless. On the following day. the gang. out for revenge, cornered Plommer as he stood talking to another former boxer, Jack Clay. The altercation ended when Clay beat Wilf Fowler unsconscious. This loss of face called for drastic action and the next day, the gang went to Plommer's house and called him into the street. A scuffle took place, ending with Plommer lying in a heap on the ground. The gang had attacked him with knives, chains and clubs, and he died from his injuries a short time later. There was an initial reluctance by witnesses to testify against the Fowler gang, but under assurance from an Inspector Sillitoe, who had been given the task of cleaning up the city, that they would be safe from reprisals, the police soon had enough evidence to arrest seven members of the gang on a murder charge. Their four day trial took place at Yorkshire Assizes before Mr Justice Finlay in July and ended in the death sentence being passed on the Fowler brothers, while three others were convicted of manslaughter. The remaining two were found not guilty. Wilfred Fowler was hanged alongside BOSTOCK by Thomas Pierrepoint, Robert Wilson, and Henry Pollard. Lawrence Fowler was hanged the following day.

Goldenberg, Jack

In April 1924 28 year old William Hall, the manager (and former army officer) of a small bank near to Bordon Camp in Hampshire was found shot dead behind the bank's counter. Over £1,000 was missing in notes and coin.

Because of the proximity of the camp a check was made. A roll-call and inventory at the camp showed no missing personnel or weapons. One man, a signaller, told police that he had spoken to the manager about 1.50 and when he returned, around 2.15, he found the bank closed. If this man was telling the truth this gave police an approximate time of death. Eighteen-year-old Lance-Corporal Goldenberg had also cashed a cheque that day and said that he was in the bank at around 1.45pm. When asked if he noticed anything unusual he said that while he was there he had noticed a car waiting outside and gave a description of the car and its occupants.

A couple of days later an alert warrant officer at the camp noticed Goldenberg climbing out of a hut window. Wondering why he needed to do this when he was free to use the door he climbed up onto the window-sill. When he stood upright he found that he was looking into the roof beams, in which there was a small parcel. On opening the parcel he found £500 that was later shown to have come from the robbery.

When faced with this evidence Goldenberg admitted killing the bank manager. He was charged and tried at Winchester Assizes. He pleaded insanity but this was not accepted and he was consequently hanged at Winchester prison.

Greenwood, David, born 1897

On 9 February 16 year old Nellie Trew was reported missing by her father. Nellie was a junior clerk and had left home that evening to go to Plumstead Library but had not come back. The next morning her body was found on Eltham Common. She had been raped and then strangled. The area was cordoned off and a search was carried out. They found a badge of the Leicestershire Regiment (a tiger) and a bone overcoat button. The two had been threaded together through two holes with a piece of wire.

The newspapers the following day all carried pictures of the badge and button in the hope that someone would recognise them. At Hewson Manufacturing Company, one of the workers, Ted Farrell drew the attention of the badge to his workmate, he thought it looked just like the one he had seen David Greenwood wearing in his lapel of his overcoat. Farrell knew 21 year old Greenwood did not have it any more. David Greenwood told Farrell that he had sold the badge for two shillings to a man he had met on a tram. Farrell suggested to Greenwood that he ought to go to the police to clear up the matter.

At lunchtime Greenwood went to Tottenham Court Road police station and gave them a statement. The police soon discovered during their investigations that Greenwood had once been a neighbour of Nellie at Well Hall, where she lived. The next day detectives visited Greenwood at his work and showed him the badge which he admitted was his. They then asked him to accompany them back to Scotland Yard. On the way Inspector Carlin noticed that Greenwood's coat had no buttons on it. When he took a closer look he noticed that there was a tear where one of the buttons had come out. Even though by this time the police were quite certain that they had already got their man they still lacked any hard evidence linking Greenwood to the murder. It was later found that the wire that had been found fixed to the button came from part of a spring of a type used at Hewson's. Even this was not all that surprising as he did work there and had not denied owning the badge. One area on which there did seem to be some confusion was that Greenwood maintained that he had got rid of the button and badge a long time ago but his workmates disagreed with this.

Greenwood's trial opened at the Old Bailey on 24 April 1918. The jury took three hours to find him guilty but they added a recommendation for mercy. He was, however, sentenced to death. He appealed and was reprieved on the eve of his execution, 31 May, with his sentence being altered to penal servitude for life. He was released in 1933 at the age of thirty-six.

1919

August 8th: Henry Thomas GASKIN (25)

Birmingham

Following marital problems, Gaskin, a former soldier, and his wife Elizabeth (23) had decided to separate. They had lived at Bridgtown, Cannock, Staffordshire but in the winter of 1918, she had moved out of the house and gone to stay with her parents at nearby Hednesford. On Wednesday 19 February, a young girl called at the parents' house with a message for Lizzie from Gaskin. It was a note arranging a meeting for later that afternoon. Lizzie left home and was never seen alive again. She failed to return home that night, and the next morning Lizzie's mother called to see Gaskin. He admitted arranging the meeting but claimed that he had failed to keep the appointment and had no idea what had become of his wife. The police were called but an initial search failed to uncover her body. A week later Gaskin broke down and led the police to her mutilated and dismembered corpse. At his trial, held at Stafford Assizes on 11 July, the court heard how Gaskin had met his wife as arranged then returned to his house. He asked her to come home for good, but she refused, and instead asked him for a divorce so that she could marry her new lover. Gaskin became irate and grabbed her by the throat, strangling her. He then hid the body until the next morning when he wheeled it in a barrow to a sight near the local gasworks where he set about dismembering it. The short trial ended when the jury took just thirty four minutes to convict him of the crime. Stafford gaol no longer housed a scaffold so Gaskin was taken to Winson Green prison, Birmingham, where he was hanged by John Ellis and William Willis.

1921

February 4th: William Thomas GRAY (29)

Jack Alfred FIELD (19)

Wandsworth

A pair of unsavoury characters from Eastbourne who were convicted at Lewes Assizes by Mr Justice Avory for the murder of Irene Munro (17), in what became known as the 'Crumbles Murder'. Miss Munro was a typist from London who had taken a holiday alone. Field and Grav were locals who spent the summer cruising the promenade, paying attention to female holidaymakers. Both men were out of work and Gray, a former soldier(?) was supported by his wife who worked as a dom- estic servant. On 19 August. 1920. a witness saw two men and a girl heading in the direction of the Crumbles, a stretch of beach between Eastbourne and Pevensey Bay. The following day, a boy discovered a battered body partially buried in the shingle. It was identified as that of Irene Munro, who had been reported missing. Four da s later. Field and Gray were picked up b police acting on a tip off. The stood trial in December and despite offering an alibi, they were found guilt but ith a recommendation for merc from the jury who thought the crime as not premeditated. At their appeal. the condemned men changed their stories. each blaming the other as they fought to save their skins. Hanged by Thomas Pierrepoint. assisted b Robert Baxter and William Willis.

1925

April 15th: Henry GRAHAM (42)

Durham

An ex soldier, working as a window cleaner in Sunderland, who killed his wife of four years when she left him. After failing to persuade her to return and writing her numerous letters, Graham finally managed to arrange a meeting between them a few days before Christmas 1924. They began to talk when, without warning, he punched her in the mouth. As she collapsed to the ground, he pulled out a knife and repeatedly stabbed her to death. He tried to escape by running away but many witnesses had seen him commit the murder and he was easily detained. After conviction, before Mr Justice Acton at Durham Assizes on 6 March, he asked if he could be allowed to see his adopted son. a wish that was granted. He read the Bible continually in the death cell. and walked to the scaffold chanting: 'Oh Lamb of God, I come.' Hanged alongside SHELTON by Thomas Pierrepoint and William Willis, assisted by two new assistants, Henry Pollard and Lionel Mann, whose presence had been requested by the Governor, probably for them to gain experience.

1928

January 31st: James GILLON (30)

Wandsworth

A gardener, and former soldier, of Lower Beeding, Sussex, convicted of the murder of his sister, Annie Gillon. They were both employed by a man named Holland who owned a large mansion called Plummers Plain House at Horsham. Gillon lived in a small two room hut in the grounds; while his sister, who acted as housemaid and prepared meals for the staff, had a room in the house. On 18 September, 1927, Annie went into Brighton with some other members of the staff and returned to the house late that night. Gillon was angry that he had not been invited into town, and when his sister returned he demanded that she make him some supper. She refused and retired to bed. The next morning at breakfast, they quarrelled over her refusal to feed him the night before. He snatched up a knife and stabbed her, embedding it in her spine. He then fought off other members of staff who attempted to detain him, before cutting his throat with a razor he took from his pocket. They were both taken to hospital, and although James recovered from his injuries, Annie died on 28 October. He stood trial before Mr Justice Horridge in November and after the jury found him guilty, he was hanged by Robert Baxter and Thomas Phillips.

Hobday, Stanley Eric

One Sunday night in August 1933 Mrs Fox was woken up by sounds from downstairs. She thought she heard the sound of breaking glass. She nudged her husband and whispered to him what she had heard. Reluctantly he got up and went downstairs to investigate. He walked into the sitting-room and emerged moments later with a knife in his back. Mrs Fox's husband died in her arms.

Police investigating the killing in Moor Street, West Bromwich, soon found out that this had not been the only break in that night. There had been another break-in at a butcher's shop, owned by a man named Newton, in nearby Bromford Lane. The burglar had taken a few pounds that had been in the till but most extraordinarily the burglar had left behind a few things. To start with he had left a bowl of soapy water and Newton's razor. While in the shop he had actually shaved himself. Secondly, he had left out a sewing basket where he had used a needle and thread, perhaps to replace a missing button. Finally he had helped himself to a bottle of milk and in doing so had left it covered in his fingerprints.

With such a good clue it did not take long for Chief Inspector Fred Cherrill of Scotland Yard One of the greatest experts in the field of fingerprinting to identify the culprit responsible for the break-in at the butcher's and, probably, the murder. It was the first time that the BBC used its network to broadcast the description of a man who police wanted 'to help them with their inquiries'.'

Hobday, a former soldier (?) was on his way north from Birmingham in a stolen Jowett motorcar. An Irish labourer was working in a field near High Leigh, in Cheshire, when he was astonished to see a car come hurtling through the air, turn a full somersault and land back on its wheels. The driver got dazed but otherwise unhurt and walked away. As usual Hobday always seemed to leave something behind and this it was his suitcase.

He started to walk towards Carlisle and he passed a farmer moving a herd of cows for milking. The cowman thought he recognised the man from the broadcase he had heard on the radio so he called the police.

A couple of hours later he was arrested by PC Elder, of the Cumberland Constabulary. He did not cause a fuss but went quietly with the policeman. He was charged and his trial took place at Stafford Assizes in November 1933. The evidence was overwealmingly conclusive and the jury had no difficulty in finding him guilty. He was hung on the 29 December 1933 at Winsom Green prison by Tom Pierrepoint at 8 am.

Holt, Frederick Rothwell

Frederick Rothwell Holt was a young officer during the First World War who had been invalided out of the army suffering from depression and amnesia. When he had recovered sufficiently he moved to Lancashire and it was while living there that he met and fell in love with Kitty Breaks, who was already married. Not letting this stand in their way she left her husband and they lived together for a couple of years.

In the early morning of christmas eve 1919 the 26 year old body of Kitty Breaks was found among the sand dunes at St Annes near Blackpool. She had been shot three times with a revolver. Holt's revolver and gloves were lying nearby Her lover was arrested and charged with her murder.

At his trial at Manchester Assizes his defending counsel, Sir Edward Marshall Hall, showed Holt's persecution mania, telling of Holt's accusations against the police of sending germ-laden fleas and dogs to his cell, and declared the defendant unfit to plead. It was to no avail and Holt was found guilty, the jury preferring to believe the prosecution's theory of a motive based on Kitty's £5,000 insurance policy.

His appeal was dismissed and he was hanged on 13 April 1920 at strangways prison by John Ellis at the age of 32.

Loyal North Lancashire Regiment??

Hynes, Peter

Peter Hynes was a native of Drogheda. He was convicted of the murder of Thomas Grimstone who was a former soldier in the British Army. He had apparently battered him to death with an iron bar, near Drogheda on 15 January, 1922. He was hanged on the 15th December 1923 in Dublin by Thomas Pierrepoint. He was forty when the sentence was carried out.

Ingham, John Percival born 1886

This a very sad case where an unecessary death occured for no other reason than that of old age and confusion. John Ingham, a former soldier, was a 71-year-old retired retail manager and he had been quite ill for a couple of months. His wife, Louise Kate Ingham, also 71, was due to go into hospital for a serious operation to repair her growing deafness. Just before she went for no apparent reason he attacked her with a coal hammer beating her to death.

At his trial for murder at Liverpool Crown Court on 5th June 1957 he was found unfit to plead and was ordered to be detained during Her Majesty's Pleasure.

Johnson, Samuel

Twenty nine year old Samuel Johnson was a Stretford dock worker and ex soldier sentenced to death by Mr Justice Wright at Manchester Assizes for the murder of Miss Beatrice Philomena Martin who was twenty three years old. Johnson had been separated from his wife for several months and had been courting the promiscuous Miss Martin. although whether this relationship was the cause of his marriage break up was never made clear. Despite the fact that Miss Martin was regarded by most people who knew her, including her father, as unworthy, Johnson asked her if she would marry him after he had obtained a divorce. She repeatedly avoided answering the question; he threatened to kill her if she ever went out with anyone else. After two months, she had still not made up her mind, and he carried out his threat. On 27 July, Beatrice went out for the night without him. Johnson waited by her house and as midnight approached he saw her return in the company of a sailor, with whom she had spent the evening. He watched them kiss at the door, and then the man walked away. Seonds later, Johnson emerged from the shadows and stabbed Beatrice in the back and neck. The sailor, alerted by her screams, came rushing down the street as Johnson walked towards him with the knife, then said: 'It's alright Jock, she's dead. Take me to the police!' At his trial, Johnson insisted on pleading guilty and refused any sort of legal aid. As a result, the trial was the shortest on record for many years. Hanged by William Willis and Thomas Phillips. Johnson had refused to see his wife while in the death cell, but asked to see the hangman for ten minutes on the eve of the execution because he did not want to upset him! The Governor told Johnson that he would see Mr Willis at one minute to eight and not before. Johnson did see the hangman on the 15th December 1925.

Jones, William Cornelius – inter war, so only for interest

William Cornelius Jones was a young territorial soldier who shot dead his wife with his service rifle. Winifred was just eighteen and Jones was twenty two. The couple married in late 1925 and in autumn of the following year, they moved into their first home on Crib Lane, Halifax. Not long after, Mrs Jones went to see a solicitor regarding her husband's cruel behaviour. A letter was sent to Jones which caused him to mend his ways, and for the next few months they got along well. By July however, Jones was again mistreating his wife, despite the fact that she was now pregnant. She left him this time and went to lodge with an aunt. Her solicitor again wrote to Jones and informed him that divorce proceedings were being taken out against him. On 10 July, the day the letter arrived, he called on the solicitor and denied being cruel to his wife. He was due to attend a Territorial Army meeting at a local rifle range, and after leaving the solicitor's office he changed into his uniform and met up with a number of fellow territorials. While travelling to the range, he told one of the men that he intended shooting his wife with the live round he carried in his pocket. His companions thought he was joking. Later that afternoon, Mrs Jones was shot dead as she walked along Crib Lane. Jones was seen firing the single shot and was soon placed under arrest. At his trial before Mr Justice MacCardie at Leeds Assizes on 6 December, he claimed that the gun had gone off accidentally. The prosecution contested the point and claimed it was wilful murder. The jury needed only minutes to return a guilty verdict and Jones was later hanged by Thomas Pierrepoint and Robert Baxter at Leeds on the 5th January 1927.

Jones, Joseph

By the time Joseph Jones had enlisted in the army, soon after hostilities had broken out, he had amassed a long criminal record for crimes of violence. During 1917 he was invalided out of the army and took up with a pair of Australian deserters preying on soldiers in London on leave. They perfected a ruse of befriending the man before luring him, on the pretext of visiting some gaming club or brothel, into a dark alley where they would beat and rob him. On 8 November, 1917, Jones, in the company of the two Australians, Ernest Sharp and Thomas Maguire, made the acquaintance of two Canadian soldiers, 802765 Private Oliver Gilbert Imlay 87 Bn Canadian Infantry Quebec Regiment and John M'Kinley. The five spent some time drinking before leaving a club in the Waterloo district whereupon the Canadians were set upon by their erstwhile friends. The two were attacked with coshes and although M'Kinley was able to escape, Imlay died in hospital from the beating. Jones, Sharp and Maguire were soon arrested and each tried to blame the others for the attack. From various testimonies it became clear that it was Jones who had beaten Imlay, using a policeman's truncheon. The three stood trial before Mr Justice Darling at the Old Bailey in January. Sharp turned King's evidence against his former friends and after pleading guilty to robbery he was sentenced to seven years. For his part in the attack on M'Kinley, Maguire received ten years. It was Jones alone who was charged with the murder of Private Imlay. He was convicted and received the death sentence. He was hanged by John Ellis and William Willis on the 21st February 1918 aged just twenty six..

Jesse, Frederick William Maximillian

Frederick William Maximillian Jesse, a former soldier was lodging with his aunt, Mrs Mabel Jennings-Edmunds, who was separated from her husband, at her home in York Road, Lambeth. On Saturday 21 July, they had a dispute over a family matter and to escape further nagging, he retired to his room. His aunt followed and carried on the argument, during which she whipped him with a heavy police whistle she kept on a length of cord, cutting him above one eye. He fell to the bed and she then threw the contents of a bottle into his face. Jesse lost control and the next thing he knew was that his aunt lay dead on the bed. He had strangled her. At his trial, he claimed that after killing her he panicked and that a voice in his head told him to cut up the body and dispose of it. Following the dismemberment, he was unable to find anywhere to dispose of the parts and he eventually lost his nerve and confessed to the police. Sentenced to death by Mr Justice Swift at the Old Bailey in September, and hanged by John Ellis and Robert Baxter on the 1st November 1923 at Wandsworth prison.

Kennedy, William Henry & Browne, Frederick Guy

On 27 September 1927 at about 4 am former soldiers William Henry Kennedy and Frederick Guy Browne were on the Romford to Ongar road in Essex when they were stopped by PC Gutteridge. They were driving a Morris Cowley car which they had stolen earlier from Billericay. PC Gutteridge had got off his bicycle and was standing to the side of the road. As the car approached he indicated with his lamp for them to stop but they ignored this and drove past. The policeman immediately blew on his police whistle and the car stopped.

He approached the drivers window and started to ask questions. He took out his notebook and began to write in it when Browne fired two shots at the policeman. Both shots hit him in the face and PC George William Gutteridge staggered back and fell down. Both men got out of the car and walked over to where the wounded policeman was lying injured. Browne stooped down and fired a bullet into each of the policemans eyes killing him.

His body was later found in the lane two hours later. It was thought that he had stopped a motorist to question him about the car and was shot. The car had been reported earlier as stolen. It was later found abandoned in London with bloodstains on the bodywork and an empty cartridge case on the floor. Four months later whilst interviewing Kennedy's accomplice Browne about another stolen car police found a Webley revolver in his garage. This gun was proved to be the same one which had killed PC Gutteridge. Knowing that Browne and Kennedy were partners the police arrested Kennedy who quickly admitted that he had been in the car on the day PC Gutteridge was killed, he said that Browne had fired the shot.

They both appeared at the Old Bailey in April 1928 and were found guilty.

While waiting for sentence to be carried out Browne tried to commit suicide three times, once by hanging himself and then by cutting his throat. He even tried to go on a hunger strike and had to be force fed. He was not sucessful and both were hanged at the same time on 31 May 1928, Browne was hanged at Pentonville and Kennedy at Wandsworth

Massey, Louis

Louis Massey was convicted at Leeds Assizes on 19 December, 1919, of the murder of his wife on 4 November. They had separated but he kept asking her to take him back, a request which she refused to consider. She moved in with her sister and one day Massey called at the house. He pleaded with her to try again but she again refused so perhaps out of frustration he began to beat her. Hearing the commotion her sister ran to help her but he struck her also. He did not stop his vicious attack of his wife until she lay dead at his feet. Twenty nine year old Louis Massey was hanged on the 6th January 1920.

Was Massey serving…?? If so, he qualifies to be recorded by CWGC.

Malcolm, Lieutenant Douglas RA

Found not guilty of muder (self defence) of the killing of Anton Baumberg - otherwise known as Count de Borch in a boarding house at 3 Porchester Place, Oxford Square on the 14.8.17

Mason, Alexander Campbell – Canadian deserter

Two men were seen fighting with each other in a south London suburb on the evening of 9th May 1923. Shots were fired and one of the men fell to the ground near a taxi. The other man ran away. The man had been fatally wounded and was soon dead. He was later identified as Jacob Dickey, the driver of the taxi.

Police found several items near to the body. There was the murder weapon, a jemmy and a walking-stick with gold mount. The police decided that the stick was recognisable so a photograph of the stick was published. As they had hoped they soon received information that led them to interview Eddie Vivian.

Vivian was a convicted criminal who lived with his prostitute girlfriend in a flat in Pimlico. He admitted ownership of the stick but told police that on the day of the killing he had been home ill with food poisoning. Perhaps realising the seriousness of the situation he freely told the police that he had planned, along with 'Scottie' Mason, to burgle a house but had been too ill to venture out. Mason had borrowed the stick and left the flat on his own. He had returned later that evening in an agitated state and told them that he had shot a taxi driver.

Mason, a 22-year-old Canadian deserter from the Great War, denied Vivian's account. He said that the illness was a ruse to fool Vivian's girlfriend and the pair of them went out and it was Vivian who had fought with Dickey and shot him. Mason was arrested and charged with murder.

At his trial Vivian appeared for the prosecution and recounted his story. Mason was found guilty and sentenced to death. The sentence was later commuted to one of life imprisonment and he was released in 1937. He died during the Second World War while serving in the Merchant Navy. (CWGC has a man that says “may have been named WILSON”. S.S. COURLAND.” Is this him???)

McMullen, Felix

Twenty six year old Felix McMullen, a former soldier (?) was sentenced to death by Mr Justice O'Shaughnessy for the murder of a Garda (police) officer, Patrick O'Halloran, who was shot dead during a bank robbery at Baltinglass on 28 January. He was hanged by Thomas Pierrepoint in Dublin on the 1st August 1924.

1915

December 29th: John William McCARTNEY (40)

He should be on CWGC

An army cook convicted of the murder of Charlotte Kent at Pocklington on 9 September. McCartney had changed his name, moved to a new area and bigam- ously married Charlotte after a disastrous first marriage. He was housed in a billet and she took lodgings across the road from the camp. On 25 June, he paid a visit to the lodging house and accused her of drinking with soldiers while he was confined to barracks. She denied it and her landlady backed her up. He made the same accusation again later on in the year. On 9 September, he obtained a pass for the night and they went out together. Her landlady refused to allow him to sleep in the lodgir.g house, and they tried in vain to find a room for the night. Eventually, they returned to her house where they quarrelled. He pulled out a razor and savagely cut her throat before turning the blade on himself. He was tried before Mr Justice Atkin at York Castle where he pleaded temporary insanity. After sentence of death was passed, he was taken to Hull prison where the execution was to have been carried out. Later, he was transferred to Wakefield prison where he had the dubious distinction of being the last person to be hanged there. Thomas Pierrepoint carried out the sentence, assisted by Robert Baxter.

1920

April 16th: Miles McHUGH (32)

Leeds

McHugh, a former soldier had separated from his wife in January 1918, leaving her and their two children. He then moved from their home town of Chorley and subsequently settled in Middlesbrough where he found a job as a labourer which enabled him to send his wife a weekly allowance. In June of that year, posing as a single man, he met Edith Anne Swainson, who had just broken up with her fiancé. They began a relation- ship and in March 1919, she gave birth to a child. They were happy enough together until the winter, when Edith's ex-fiancé, a man named Holman, reappeared on the scene. When McHugh learned that she had been seen talking to him he flew into a rage and moved out of their house, despite her reassurances that nothing untoward was going on. McHugh continued to return to the house to see his child. but these visits usually ended in fierce arguments and reached a climax on Christmas Eve when neighbours had to restrain him from attempting to strangle her. On the evening of 24 January. 1920. a young man walking down a Middlesbrough street spotted something suspicious lying under a nearby railway arch. On closer examination. he found himself looking down upon the body of Edith Swainson. She had an horrific throat wound. McHugh was soon arrested and identified as being seen ith the woman shortly before she was found dead. McHugh told police that he had been with her that afternoon but had left her after a quarrel. Fearing that she may do herself some harm. he claimed to have returned after a short time and was horrified to find her dead, a cut throat razor by her side. In a panic, McHugh said, he threw the razor away and fled. He was tried before Mr Justice Bailhache at York Assizes on 9 March. He repeated his story about her committing suicide and him finding the corpse but this was quickly discredited by a doctor who had examined the body and

[Guest Pete Wood]

1923

October 30th: Phillip Murray31)

Edinburgh

A Dundee born newsvendor convicted of the murder of William Ronald Cree (30), who died as a result of being thrown through a second storey window on 23 June. Murray claimed at the trial that he had returned to the house on Jamaica Street, Edinburgh, that he shared with his girlfriend and found her in the bedroom with Cree. The two men began to argue and Cree leapt from the window to escape a beating from Murray, who was well over six feet tall. The prosecution alleged that Murray had thrown Cree through the window in a jealous rage after catching him with his girlfriend. He was found guilty by a majority of 11-4 on 8 October, and sentenced to death. The jury added a recommendation for mercy, and after Lord Constable had passed the sentence, Murray reiterated his innocence and thanked his counsel for their help. 22,000 people signed a petition for a reprieve before Murray walked, carrying a crucifix, to the scaffold where he was hanged by John Ellis. It was the last execution at Calton prison. Both former soldiers.

1926

November 24th: James McHUGH (31)

Dublin

The former soldier (?) was sentenced to death by Mr Justice O'Byrne on 27 October, for the murder of William Dollinson, whom he kicked to death at Now Ross on 24 April. Hanged by Thomas Pierrepoint and Robinson.

1927

January 24th: James McKAY (40)

Glasgow . Born 1887

McKay, a former soldier, was convicted of the murder of his aged mother, Mrs Agnes Arbuckle; parts of her dismembered body were found in a sack on the banks of the River Clyde, while the other sections were discovered in a coal bunker at her Glasgow home. Sentenced by Lord Ormindale at the Glasgow Circuit Court in December 1927 after his plea of insanity was disregarded. A witness at the trial told the court that McKay had invited him to Mrs Arbuckle's house on 12 October to help move a heavy tin trunk. Together they moved it to McKay's lodgings. The next day, the trunk was back at the house, only now it was considerably lighter than when it had left. Another witness told how she saw McKay on the day that his mother had disappeared, covered in mud. After sentence was passed he called out 'Cheer up' to sobbing relatives in the court as he was ushered from the dock. His appeal. the first in a Scottish court, was heard in Edinburgh, and dismissed after the appeal court agreed with the original finding. Hanged by Robert Baxter.

1927

July 27th: William John MAYNARD (36)

Exeter

Maynard earned a good living as a rabbit trapper in his home town of Poundstock, Cornwall. His traps (over a thousand) were in place in most of the farms in the area and he needed two assistants to run the business. A few miles from Poundstock lived an old recluse, Richard Francis Roadley (84), who occupied a cottage at Titson. Although he lived in terribly squalid circumstances, it was a popular rumour that the old man was an eccentric sitting on a tidy sum. On Sunday afternoon, 19 February, the old man was found battered about the head in his cottage, and he died before he could be taken to hospital. The house had been rifled and the contents of the drawers strewn across the floor. Maynard was interviewed as part of the routine inquiries and denied any involvement. There was nothing to suggest he was not telling the truth and the officers left. The next day, he made another statement and admitted that on the night of the murder he had called at the house with an accomplice. Maynard, a former serviceman, claimed that he had waited outside while his friend went in to see what he could thieve. When the old man offered resistance, the accomplice beat him to death. Maynard then told police where they could find two stolen watches. The man Maynard blamed for the murder was able to satisfy the police that he was in no way involved. As a result of his efforts to shift the blame, Maynard found himself before Mr Justice Swift at the June sitting of Bodmin Assizes. He reiterated his statement that the accomplice committed the crime but the man's alibi was strong and the jury took only a short time to return a guilty verdict. Maynard was duly hanged by Thomas Pierrepoint and Thomas Phillips for a crime attributed to 'elemental avarice.'

O'Donnell, Leo George

Twenty two year old Leo George O'Donnell was a Sergeant in the Royal Army Medical Corps convicted at Hampshire Assizes on 9 February of the murder of a Lieutenant William Frederick Watterton (Hon Lt and QM) at Aldershot. On New Year's Day 1917, O'Donnell announced his engagement to the daughter of Lieutenant Watterton, a quartermaster officer at a nearby hospital. Later that day, Miss Watterton, who served in the Women's Auxiliary Service, obtained a night pass so that she could celebrate her engagement with a girlfriend. After a night's drinking, the girls returned to Lieutenant Watterton's bungalow, expecting to find him home. He was not there and they decided to wait for him. At l 1.30pm, O'Donnell called round and said that the Lieutenant had left earlier that night for an urgent appointment. The statement implied that O'Donnell could have been at the bungalow earlier; and his sudden return so late made the two women suspicious. Shortly before midnight, O'Donnell left and headed for the hospital where he asked to be shown into the quartermaster's office - where patients' valuables were kept - claiming to have been sent by the Lieutenant. Unable to produce the pass key, O'Donnell was refused entry and he returned to his billet. The next day, William Watterton's body was found in a trench on a nearby training ground. He had been battered to death - there were over twenty four cuts to his head - and his pockets had been rifled. O'Donnell was arrested at once when it was learned that he had tried to gain entry to the offices. While held on remand, he offered a friend £250 if he would provide him with an alibi. Tried before Mr Justice Darling, O'Donnell denied the murder. The prosecution said he had committed the crime in order to obtain the key to the quartermaster's office and thereby steal the valuables within. O'Donnell claimed that the real killer was a man blackmailing Watterton over an alleged affair with a young Spanish girl. He was hanged, at Manchester, in a prison uniform by John Ellis and Robert Baxter on the 29th March 1917 at Winchester.

Son of William Watterton, of Walthamstow, London; husband of the late Alice Catherine Watterton, of Chapelizod, Co. Dublin. Aged 48.

O'Connor, Edward

Edward O'Connor, a former soldier (?) was convicted of the murder of his five year old son, Thomas, at Stafford, on Sunday 31st July. At Sam that morning, he went to his local police station and told the startled desk sergeant: 'Come on, I'll find you a job. I've killed three or four of my kids with these,' he said, offering a pair of blood stained razors. 'I could not find the missus and youngest or I would have done them in too!' Police accompanied him back to his house and found one child dead from neck injuries and three others in a serious condition. They subsequently recovered. On 16 November, O'Connor stood trial at Stafford Assizes and blamed his mother-in-law for his unhappy marriage, which had led him to commit the terrible crime. He left a last letter for his wife written on the morning of his execution: 'Well, Lizzie, by the time you get my letter I will have gone to my maker... It is God's will that I leave this world of trials. I am reconciled to that fate ... I shall remember you, Lizzie, my wife, and I ask you sometimes to remember me in your prayers.' It ended with: 'Kiss the children for me. God bless you all. As I think, I hear you as of old, calling 'Ted, good-bye." He was hanged by John Ellis on the 22nd December 1921 at Birmingham.

Perdovich, Hyman

Hyman Perdovich was a Jewish Russian immigrant who was convicted of the murder of his work foreman. Hyman was not a well man, he had been wounded in the war as was still receiving treatment. Because of his problem he was absent from work a lot and felt that the foreman, Solomon Franks was treating him badly because of this. On the 15th August 1919 Hyman took a knife and stabbed 48 year old Solomon in the neck twice. Seeing Solomon lying dead at his feet Hyman turned and made his way to the nearest police station where he told them exactly what he had done. His case was heard at Manchester Assizes and he was quickly found guilty and sentenced to hang. The sentence was carried out on the 6th January 1920 by John Ellis. He was 39 years old when he died.

Pomroy, Bernard

Bernard Pomroy was a shop assistant from Hemel Hempstead who was sentenced to death at the Old Bailey by Mr Justice Horridge on 1 March, for the murder of Miss Alice Cheshire whose throat he cut while in a taxi cab on 23 January. He was hanged by John Ellis and Edward Taylor on the 5th April 1923 at Pentonville prison aged just twenty five. Possible he served ??

Perry, Henry

Thirty seven year ofl Perry was a soldier who returned home from fighting in the Middle East and murdered the Cornish family, forty seven year old Walter and his wife Alice who was forty three, and their two children, Alice who was fouteen and Marie aged five, at Forest Gate, east London. Perry knew the family as Mrs Cornish was his step father's sister. He lodged with them for a while until he was asked to leave following a row. On 28th April, as he was passing the house, Mrs Cornish invited him in. They were soon arguing again until Perry picked up an axe and beat her to death. He then waited for each member of the family to return home and systematically killed them. He also stole money and valuables from the house. Perry pleaded insanity at his trial, and it was alleged that he was insane after being beaten and tortured at the hands of the Turks while a prisoner during the war. He had seventeen previous criminal convictions, including violence. Found guilty at the Old Bailey on 27th May, sentenced to death by Mr Justice Darling, Perry was hanged by John Ellis and William Willis on the 10th July 1919 in Pentonville.

Pratley, Michael

On 7 March, three armed and masked men attempted a wages robbery of a Belfast factory. One of the employees. Nelson Leech, offered resistance and was shot in the back. The disturbance alerted police from an adjacent barracks who gave chase, eventually detaining thirty year old Michael Pratley, a tailor. who tried to shoot his arresting officer only for his pistol to jam. Pratley was taken into custody and when Nelson Leech died, was charged with murder. He admitted that while he did take part in the robbery, he was not responsible for firing the fatal shot. Evidence suggested otherwise and he was found guilty. His accomplices were apprehended and later sentenced to lengthy terms of imprisonment. He was hanged by William Willis and Robert Wilson on the 8th May 1924 in Belfast. Was he a former soldier..??

Power, Patrick

Power was a forty one year old unemployed Irish labourer convicted of the murder of his landlady, Mrs Sarah Ann Sykes. Power, who claimed unemployment benefit, had been lodging with the Sykes for several months. At the beginning of April, he borrowed £5 from Mrs Sykes; on 11th April, Mr Sykes informed Power that if he did not repay the loan that day, he would be evicted. Sykes then went off to work as usual, and later that afternoon Power walked into Pendleton police station, Salford, and confessed that he had killed his landlady. Officers accompanied him back to the house and found her body lying under a piano. She had been attacked with a hammer and knife and had massive injuries. Power claimed he had no idea what had happened. At his trial before Mr Justice Finlay on 8th May at Manchester Assizes, his defence claimed that Power's mind was distorted by spiritulism, and they asked for a verdict of guilty but insane. They also declared that Power was a former soldier with over twenty years service, and although he was in debt to the Sykes, his bank balance was in the black to the tune of some £40. He was hanged by William Willis on the 26th May 1925 in Manchester.

Robinson, John

On the 6th May 1927 a man deposited a large, black trunk at Charing Cross Station left-luggage office. He gave instructions for the trunk to be carefully handled and then left the station in a taxi. On the following Monday one of the attendants noticed an awful smell coming from the trunk and becoming suspicious called for a policeman. The policeman opened the trunk to find it contained five brown paper parcels, tied with string. Each package was quite heavy and on opening was found to contain a portion of a body wrapped in items of clothing, towels and a duster.

The body parts were examined by Sir Bernard Spilsbury and he concluded that the body was that of a stout woman about 35-years-old. She had bruises on her stomach, forehead and back and that these had been caused, while unconscious. The woman had died of asphyxiation. Sir Bernard believed that the woman had been dead about a week. Also in the trunk were a number of other items such as, a pair of black shoes, a handbag, a pair of knickers that had a tab marked 'P. HOLT' and several items of clothing bearing laundry marks.

From the laundry marks the police were able to trace the knickers to a Mrs Holt who lived in Chelsea. The police were surprised to find that she was still alive. Even so the police were still confident that they were getting closer to the murderer. It was considered likely that the knickers had been stolen by one of the ten female servants that Mrs Holt had employed in the last two years. All the servants were accounted for except Mrs Rolls. The police asked Mrs Holt to identify the head of the victim and she confirmed it as that of Mrs Rolls.

Mrs Rolls was really called Mrs Minnie Alice Bonati. She had been married to an Italian waiter named Bonati but had left him to go and live with a man named Rolls and had subsequently taken his name. She was 36-years-old and had been working as a prostitute. She had last been seen alive in Sydney Street, Chelsea, between 3.45pm and 4pm on Wednesday 4th May.

Meanwhile police had also been trying to trace the origins of the trunk and had published photos of it in the press. A shopowner recognised it and identified it as being one that he had sold, for 12/6, to a dark man of average height with a military bearing. The next stroke of luck occured when the taxi-driver came forward who had taken the man to Charing Cross Station. He told police that he had taken two men to Rochester Row police station some time after 1pm on the Friday. After he had dropped this fare he was returning when he was hailed by a man standing outside a building opposite the police station and he had helped him to carry a large trunk from the building to the cab. He had taken the man to Charing Cross Station where the trunk had been deposited. The building in Rochester Row was identified as No. 86. The tenant of two rooms on the second floor was missing. He was John Robinson, an estate agent and former soldier who had been struggling to stay in business.

Police traced Robinson's lodgings in Kennington but he had left. However, police found a telegram that had been returned and it was addressed to 'Robinson, Greyhound Hotel, Hammersmith'. This turned out to be Mrs Robinson, who worked there. Mrs Robinson wasn't his real wife as he had still been married to another when they married. Robinson had bigamously married her after he had left his first wife and their four children. When she found this out she agreed to assist the police by meeting Robinson as he had requested. On Thursday 19th May she went to the Elephant & Castle, Walworth, accompanied by Chief Inspector George Cornish.

Robinson was arrested and taken back to be interviewed at Scotland Yard where he denied any involvement in the killing. He was placed on an identity parade but the shopkeeper, the taxi-driver and the porter all failed to pick him out and he was released.

Chief Inspector Cornish decided to back a hunch and had the duster from the trunk washed. It revealed the word 'GREYHOUND' and a further search of Robinson's office turned up a bloodstained match caught in the wickerwork of a wastepaper basket. Robinson was brought back to Scotland Yard on the 23rd May. He then made a statement in which he stated that

"I met her at Victoria and took her to my office. I want to tell you all about it. I done it and cut her up."

The trial took place at the Old Bailey and opened on Monday 11th July. Robinson's defence was that he had been accosted by Mrs Bonati at Victoria Station and they had gone back to his office in Rochester Row. When they got there he said she had demanded money and when he refused she had become abusive and had tried to strike him. In order to protect himself he had pushed her away but she had lost her footing and had fallen and hit her head on a coal-scuttle. He had, he said, left the office expecting her to recover and leave but when he returned the woman was still lying there.

Feeling sure no one would believe him he had been in a panic. He had bought a knife and the trunk and had dismembered the corpse and deposited it at Charing Cross Station. He admitted to everything except an intent to kill. One witness for the defence was the victims husband Frederick Rolls who testified that the dead woman was an alcoholic and could become very violent. This statement however true did not impress the jury and they retired for an hour before returning a guilty verdict.

On Wednesday 13th July, 36-year-old Robinson was sentenced to death. It was perhaps not the murder that had disgusted everyone but the manner in which he had tried to dispose of the body, she was left no dignity. He was hanged at Pentonville Prison on 12th August 1927.

Robinson, George

George Robinson who was a farm labourer from Dorrington who was convicted of the murder of his girlfriend, Frances Florence Pavey who was just eighteen years old. They had been going out together for a few months when she broke off their relationship. Unable to accept this he tried to persuade her to resume the relationship. When she refused he cut her throat and then his own. After being nursed back to health, he stood trial at Lincoln Assizes on 30 October, held inside Lincoln Castle. He was just 27 when he was hung on the 13th December 1922 Possible ex-serviceman

Rouse, Alfred Arthur

In the early hours of the morning on the 6 November 1930 Alfred Brown and William Bailey who were cousins were returning from a Guy Fawkes' Night Dance in Northampton. As they walked along Hardingstone Lane, on their way home they saw a man appear in front of them. He was of stocky build and was carrying a small suitcase. The man hurried past the two youths towards the main London-Northampton road.

The young men carried on down the lane and could see a glow from a fire up ahead. When they got closer they could see that it was a car that was ablaze. They quickly ran to the village and fetched two local constables. After they had put the fire out they could see that someone had been in the car which was a Morris Minor. Senior officers arrived and they slowly began to build up a picture of what had happened. One stroke of luck seemed to be that the car's rear licence plate had survived the fire and it was determined to be MU 1468. They were soon able to trace that the car was registered to 37-year-old commercial traveller A. A. Rouse of Buxted Road, Finchley, north London. Mrs Rouse was unable to identify the remains from the car as her husband.

One part of the puzzle that was missing seemed to be the man the two youths had seen. At that time in the morning it was too much of a coincidence for him not to be connected. They circulated his description to the press. Miss Phyllis Jenkins, of Gellygaer, Glamorgan, bought a copy of the 'Daily Sketch' with the description of the incident. She showed it to a man who had arrived the previous evening who had told her that his car had been stolen near Northampton. He denied that it was his car. The man was Rouse and Phyllis' sister, Ivy, was his pregnant girlfriend. The 'Daily Sketch' the next day carried more details, including Rouse's name. He returned to London by bus on 7 November, but gossip about his visit and departure had reached the ears of Cardiff police. They quickly informed Scotland Yard and, when he got off the bus at Victoria Bus Station, he was met by DS Skelly.

In his story he told detectives that he had been travelling overnight to Leicester and had picked up a hitchhiker. He had taken a wrong turn and found himself in Hardingstone Lane. At that point he decided to stop for a nap. He had got out of the car to relieve himself and asked his passenger to fill the petrol tank with the contents of a can that was in the car. The man had then, according to Rouse, asked him if he had something he could smoke. Rouse, a non-smoker, conveniently had a cigar with him and he had given it to the man. This seemed to the police to be a little strange. Rouse went on to say that he had left the car and walked over 200 yards to relieve himself. It was strange but he had taken his suitcase with him on this call of nature. He said that on his way back he saw the car burst into flames. He said he tried to reach the man trapped in the car but had failed and panicked.

Police started to look into the background of this man and found out some interesting facts. He had been born on 6 April 1894, the son of shopkeepers in Herne Hill, London. He had married Lily May Watkins in November 1914 and had almost immediately left to serve in France in the Great War. It was during this service that he had been injured when he had received a head wound in May 1915 and had never been the same since.

When he left the army he got a job as a commercial traveller with his job taking him over a large area. This had given him chance to charm his way into the lives and beds of dozens of women. He had over 80 women on his 'visiting list' by 1930, had fathered several illegitimate children and had even married bigamously. One of his girlfriends was in hospital expecting her second child by Rouse just four days before the incident. Rouse had a pile of maintenance orders building up against him and knew that there was no way that he keep up the payments on his wages. This being the case the police suddenly realised that they now had their motive. The only way Rouse could see out of this situation was to vanish. What better way than to die in a fire.

Alfred Arthur Rouse was charged with murder of an unknown man and brought to trial on 26 January 1931 at Northampton Assizes. Mr Norman Birkett, prosecuting, made no attempt to play on Rouse's lifestyle, he didn't have to. Rouse had told enough lies to condemn himself. Technical evidence was given that showed that the carburettor had been tampered with before the fire had started and Rouse's fate was sealed.

The trial took six days the jury retired to consider their verdict taking just 75 minutes to return a guilty verdict. Rouse was hanged at Bedford prison on 10 March by Tom Pierrepoint . The identity of the victim remains unknown but it may have been an innocent hiker as Rouse had said.

Rutherford, Norman Cecil, Lieutenant Colonel DSO RAMC

Found guilty of the murder of Major MILES CHARLES CARISTON SETON, who he killed on the 13.3.19 (according to the CWGC) but I think it was the 14.3.19. Rutherford shot Seton six times in the drawing room of his cousin's house - Sir Malcolm Seton. The death sentence was overthrown because of insanity and Rutherford served 10 years in Broadmore. Seton's cause of death is not listed on the AWM....!

Smiley, William

William Smiley was a thirty three year old farm labourer and former soldier who was convicted of the murder of Miss Margaret Macauley aged forty eight and her sister, Miss Sarah Macauley who was forty three. Both were found shot dead on the floor of their brother's house at Armog, Co Antrim. Over £30 belonging to their brother, a local magistrate, was missing. When investigations led to William Smiley, the money was found concealed in one of his boots. He was convicted at Belfast Assizes and hanged by Thomas Pierrepoint on 8th August 1928, he left a full confession in the condemned cell.

Sowerby, Edwin

Twenty eight year old Edwin Sowerby a miner, and a former soldier, was sentenced to death at Leeds Assizes on 9th December 1920 by Mr Justice Salter for the murder of his former girlfriend, Jane Darwell who was only seventeen. The murder took place at Croston near Wakefield after she had broken off their relationship. Not happy with the situation he followed her on the 26th October to a dance. He had been drinking heavily and in a drunken rage he attacked her and cut her throat, he then turned the razor on himself. Sowerby was taken to hospital where he was nursed back to health before being hanged by Thomas Pierrepoint The sentence was carried out on 30th December 1920 in Leeds.

Sullivan, William

Forty one year old former soldier William Sullivan was convicted at Avonmouth Assizes of the murder of Margaret Thomas, who was found battered to death with a large iron bolt in her isolated cottage at Coytre. near Newport. There was considerable evidence against him: neighbours had seen him near the cottage: he had sold some clothes that had belonged to the dead woman: and a pair of his boots were found in the cottage. He was hanged by John Ellis. He was executed on March 23rd 1922 at Usk.

Thompson, Harry

Harry Thompson was sentenced to death at Leeds Assizes for the murder of twenty three year old Alice Kaye, who was found dead near Huddersfield, on the 6th November. Alice Kaye was the wife of a soldier who had enlisted in 1914. Since then she had lived alone at Honley, Huddersfield. Thompson had met Alice before the war, and she told him that her husband was her brother. While her husband was overseas, Thompson and Alice grew intimate, and he started giving her money in the form of a weekly allowance. He remained unaware of her marriage but eventually learned in November 1915. On the night of the 6th November, Alice failed to turn up for a meeting with her aunt. The next morning, she was found fully clothed on her bed with a cut throat. There was no sign of a struggle or a break-in. Two days later, Thompson stopped a policeman in the street and confessed to him that he had murdered Alice. He claimed that he had hoped to marry her but had lost his mind and attacked her when she said she was already married. Standing before Mr Justice Sankey on the 29th November, he pleaded not guilty and retracted his confession, but was convicted. He was fifty five when he was hanged by Thomas Pierrepoiat and Edward Taylor in Wakefield on the 22nd December 1915.

Thompson, Henry, born 1890

Henry Thompson was a Welsh coal-miner and former soldier who, in January 1926, left his wife and five children in the valleys having secured a better job at Chatham, Kent. He intended to send for his family once he had settled into his new employment. He took lodgings with Mrs Rose Smith and soon found that he had much in common with his new landlady. Her husband was away from home serving in the Royal Navy, and she enjoyed a drink. They cured their lonliness by becoming lovers and even her young children took to him, affectionately calling him 'Uncle Harry.' Before long, Thompson learned that he was not the only man sharing Mrs Smith's bed, a discovery that made him mad with jealousy. They had a quarrel during which she made some comment that drove him to pick up a razor and cut her throat. He immediately called for the police. He was convicted after a short trial at Maidstone Assizes before Mr Justice Horridge on 21 February and hanged by Thomas Pierrepoint and William Willis in Maidstone on the 9th March 1926 aged thirty six. Thompson had shown no fear while in the condemned cell, and on the eve of his execution he was playing cards with his warders whilst singing 'Show me the way to go home!'

Thorpe, William Henry

Forty five year old William Henry Thorpe was a one-legged watchman sentenced to death by Mr Justice Wright at Manchester Assizes on 24th February for the murder of his former sweetheart, thirty nine year old Mrs Frances Clarke, at Bolton. On Thursday evening, 19th November, 1925, a couple of days after discovering that Frances had got married, Thorpe went out and got very drunk. In the early hours of the following morning, he waited outside her mother's house, where the couple were staying. After his former love's husband had gone to work, he entered and cut her throat as she lay in bed. Frances's mother heard the scream followed by the sound of Thorpe fleeing the house. She recognised the sound his wooden leg made on the staircase because he had lodged with her several years earlier. A search was made for Thorpe and he was later arrested at his home just as he was about to draw the razor across his throat. He was hanged by William Willis in Manchester on the 16th March 1926. SWB??

Wright, William

William Wright, a former soldier was convicted of the murder of his girlfriend, Annie Coulbeck who was thirty four years old. At the time of the murder she lived alone in a cottage at Caister, Lincolnshire. Thirty nine year old Wright was a tailor by trade. He had got Annie pregnant and was not pleased and was heard to tell a friend that he would 'sort out her condition.' On 29 October 1919, she was found strangled at her cottage. Wright was the obvious suspect and when brought in for questioning soon confessed that he had strangled her following an argument over a broach he claimed had been given to her by another man. Wright was found guilty and sentenced to death. The sentence was carried out by Thomas Pierrepoint on the 10th March 1920.

Williamson, James Hutton

James Hutton Williamson, who had recently left the army, was sentenced to death at Durham Assizes by Mr Justice Bray on 1 March 1922, and hanged by Thomas Pierrepoint for the murder of his wife at Houghton-le-Spring by cutting her throat. The fatal wound was so bad it almost severed her head. This foul act was the result of a quarrel that had taken place on the 10th January 1922. James Williamson was thirty seven years old when he was hanged.

Westwood, Samuel

Samuel Westwood was only 26 when he was hanged by John Ellis for the murder of his wife. Westwood who was a keysmith was found guilty of murder at Stafford Assizes and his plea of manslaughter was rejected. He had apparently attacked his wife at Willenhall on 11 September while she was staying with her mother-in-law. They had argued the day before and she had left him. He was here to ask her to come home but when she refused he stabbed her. The sentence of death was carried out in Birmingham on the 30th December 1920. Former serviceman?

Yeldham, William James

William James Yeldham was a twenty three year old labourer charged, along with his wife Elsie who was a year younger at twenty two, with the murder of George Stanley Grimshaw, a decorator, who was found beaten and robbed in Epping Forest, Essex. The motive for the crime lay with the couple's extreme poverty. It was initially thought that the victim may have been a 'peeping Tom' but the police soon realised that they were dealing with a well planned assault. Yeldham and his wife had been living rough near Braintree since the end of April. On 17 May, Elsie arranged to meet Grimshaw, with whom she had been friendly for several years. She led him to a quiet spot in the forest and as they kissed, Yeldham sneaked up behind them and beat Grimshaw about the head with a spanner. They were both sentenced to death by Mr Justice Shearman at the Old Bailey on 19 July. They appealed and on 23August, the Home Secretary announced that he had reprieved Elsie Yeldham but not her husband, who was subsequently hanged by John Ellis and William Willis. The execution took place in Pentonville on the 5 September 1922. Possible ex-serviceman

WW2 stuff below

Heys, Arthur

Arthur Heys was a Leading Aircraftsman in the RAF in 1944. He was a married man and was stationed at Beccles, in Suffolk.

On 9th November 1944 the body of Winifred Mary Evans was found in a ditch. Winifred was also in the RAF and the 27 year old radio operator had been raped and strangled. The corporal on duty, at the camp where Winifred was billeted, told the police of a man in uniform who had turned up around midnight the night before. She had told him to return to his own quarters. The corporal did not know the name of the man so the police arranged for her to attend the next pay parade to see if she could pick him out. The duty corporal did as she had been asked and attended pay parade at the men's camp. Even though Heys had lined up with the R's instead of the H's, she still picked him out as the man she had redirected the night before. Heys' statement that he had been back in barracks by 12.30am was contradicted by colleagues who said that he had not returned until after 1am.He had scratches on his hands and, on his overcoat, was a hair of the same type as the victim's.

While in custody he tried to smuggle out an anonymous letter to his Commanding Officer. The letter was meant to be from another person and it stated that an airman (himself) stood wrongly accused of the murder of Winifred Mary Evans. In it were details that only the killer could have known. He was tried at Bury St. Edmunds in January 1945, found guilty and hanged at Norwich prison on 13 March at the age of 37.

Hill, Harold

On 22 November 1941, the bodies of Kathleen Trendle and Doreen Joyce Hearne were found in Penn Wood, in Buckinghamshire. Kathleen Trendle was six years old and Doreen Hearne was eight. The two girls had been missing for three days. The post mortem examination showed the two girls had died from stab wounds. There were signs to suggest that they had both been rendered unconcious by partial strangulation before the stab wounds were inflicted.

The police searched the area and found tyre tracks of a lorry and a patch of oil nearby. They also found Doreen's gas-mask holder and a khaki handkerchief with the laundry mark - RA1019.

A 12-year-old boy said that he had seen the two girls asking the driver of an Army truck for a lift and even gave police the unit identification marks of the truck. Police quickly traced the markings to a unit in Yoxford, Suffolk, and were soon able to find the exact vehicle and sure enough it had a leaking back axle.

The tread on the tyres was matched against the casts taken at the scene and the tyre tracks matched the impressions exactly. The driver of the vehicle was twenty six year old Harold Hill in 341 Battery, 86th Field Regiment Royal Artillery , he had the laundry mark RA-1019 and when his fingerprints were taken they were found to match those on the discarded gas-mask container.

He was tried in March 1942 and pleaded insanity but this was not accepted.. He was found guilty and executed at Oxford Castle on 1 May 1942. It was a strange case in that there did not seem to be an obvious motive. Often when children are murdered the reasons are sexual but the girls had not been molested in that way. Of course it is always possible that he was disturbed before he had chance to finish what he had started.

Manton, Horace William

When some workman saw a sack floating in the River Lea near the Vauxhall factory at Luton they were interested to know what it contained. When they fished the sack out of the water on 19 November 1943 they were shocked and horrified to see it contained the body of a middle aged woman. She was naked and had been strangled and then, it would appear, beaten so severely as to try and hide her identity. Photographs of the woman were shown at local cinemas. Three months later in February 1944 Police were scouring household waste on a local tip in when they found a piece of a woman's coat that had a dry-cleaning mark. The mark was traced to Mrs Caroline Manton who, when they checked they found had handed the coat in for dyeing in the previous November.

When they spoke to Mrs Manton's husband who was a Fire Brigade driver known as 'Bertie', he denied that the photos were of his wife and told police that his wife had left him to live with her brother. To back this up he showed them letters that he said had been written by his wife since the previous December. Officers noticed that in all the letters a simple spelling mistake was evident. It was in the word 'Hampstead' which in all cases had been written as 'Hamstead'. The police asked him for a sample of his handwriting and they noticed that he too mispelt this word.

When the police searched the house they found it had been so thoroughly cleaned that an examination only managed to locate a single fingerprint belonging to its former occupant. This was found on a pickle jar in a cupboard. As the woman had lived in the house for many years they would have expected the house to be covered in her prints so it showed he had tried to remove all sign, but why if she had simply left him.

Satisfied that they had got the right man they arrested and charged him with the murder of his wife. Realising that there was no way out he confessed to killing his wife. He said that they had quarrelled and that he had hit her with a stool. He had wheeled her body to the river on his bicycle and dumped it into the water. He appeared for trial at Bedford Assizes and was found guilty and sentenced to death. The sentence was commuted to life imprisonment and he died in prison three years later.

[Ed Matthews]

This Murder happened I believe on the Ongar to Romford Road in Essex,on 27th September 1927,Kennedy 36;& Browne 47'were on the Run after a Crime ,involving the theft of a Car & were I think stopped by PC Gutteridge,Browne,a Motor dealer, shot him & then in the mistaken belief that the eyes recorded the last image seen before death blasted PC Gutteridge in the Eyes,Both Men were captured some months after PC Gutteride's Murder,This Case was one of the earliest where Balllistic's Evidence was used with success,in Matching up,Bullet Markings from Browne's Obsolete Webley Revovler ,to those used in the Murder;helping to estabilish forensic ballistics as a proven science,tried & hanged for their Crime in 1928.

I only ask about Pc Gutteridge (ex-MGC) as I recently parted with an item belonging to a Sgt. Joseph Gutteridge, MGC - I was wondering whether it might be the same man!

Rgds

Ed

PS Steve - if you're following this thread!

[marina]

Constable Gutteridge was george Gutteridge.

marina

[Ed Matthews]

Constable Gutteridge was george Gutteridge.

Thanks Marina. Definately not him then!

Ed

[markinbelfast]

There were quite a lot of soldiers murdered in the 1920's in Belfast..Northern Ireland...have some info.

[telaw]

Didn't mass-murderer Dennis Neilson serve with one of the scots regiments?

[HarryBettsMCDCM]

Didn't mass-murderer Dennis Neilson serve with one of the Scottish Regiments?

RHF I think then ACC,apt really that move??

[jimmyjames]

Captain Francis Vallance Izard, Royal Garrison Artillery, murdered by mutineers in Singapore on 17th February 1915.

By the time the mutiny was quelled, 10 officers and 34 soldiers/civilians had been killed.

Capt Izard is buried in Kranji War Cemetery, Singapore.

Regards

Jimmy

[robbie]

Dr. Archibald Henderson (Highland Brigade in the Great War; RAMC in the Second War) murdered by John George Haig, the acid bath murderer, 1948

Marina,

Wasn't John George Haig a Haigh with an H? I ask because on reading his story I hoped I wasn't related to him!

Robbie

[marina]

Robbie - I think you may be right that Haig should be Haigh. Must have had another Haig on my mind at the time! Hope that's a comfort!

I wonder what it must be like to discover you are related to a murderer - seriously, it must be awful!

Marina

[robbie]

I wonder what it must be like to discover you are related to a murderer - seriously, it must be awful!

Marina,

Thanks goodness for that! When I first heard of that John Haigh I researched every possible source i could find just in case. I did find that a distant female Haigh poisoned her husband in W. Yorkshire in the 1870s. That discovery was rather sobering.

Robbie

[marina]

Oh, my, Robbie - what a choice to be related to - acid or poison!

I read about that programme on the BBC about family research - must uncover a good few horrors as well as good stuff. Maybe better not to know...

Marina

[robbie]

I read about that programme on the BBC about family research - must uncover a good few horrors as well as good stuff. Maybe better not to know...

Marina

You're not kidding, mate...It was all hushed up in the family of course. My ggrandfather emigrated to Oz around that time, too. The murderous wife, however, was on another branch of the tree. THANK GOODNESS..

Robbie

[michaeldr]

From Michael Young’s history of the ‘ASC 1902-1918’

ASC Co. 194

WF, 24th Division, Train (HQ) Company (HT)

Pte. T. Moore ASC was shot by firing squad on 26 February 1917 *

for the murder (by shooting) of Farrier SSgt. James Pick.

Moore’s name is on the Menin Gate in Ypres

And Pick is buried in Poperinge New Cemetery.

WO 95 2203

Regards

Michael D.R.

* This should read 1916 (not 1917) see my post below

Edited 16 October , 2004 by michaeldr

[steve chilton]

you would have thought that if we shot him, we would know where we buried him wouldnt you ?

Steve Chilton

[Guest Russell.Gore@crawley.gov.uk]

Slightly off tack i have a confession from a ww1 vet,who as he knew he was not long for this world,gave me a detailed account of how the men in his section murdered a very unpopular Officer whilst they were engaged on a Trench Raid,i thought that this may have been an old soldiers tale but times,dates,names,places,all concur to confirm this fact of life,indeed the officer who was murdered has a headstone in a Military Cemetery in Belgium.If you would like any further info on this Case please feel free to contact me.I feel sure that this was not the only incident.

[michaeldr]

you would have thought that if we shot him, we would know where we buried him wouldnt you ?

Steve,

You’re absolutely right, however in the heat of battle so to speak, things don’t always work out like that. There are a couple of examples at Gallipoli

Priv Thomas Davis, SAD Gully Beach 02-07-15 is commemorated on the Helles Memorial

Priv J Robins SAD 02-01-16 has what is known as a Special Memorial, indicating that it is thought that he is buried in the particular cemetery, but exactly which grave is not known

I think that Pal TELAW also has a member of the Egyptian Labour Corps who was SAD but who has no known grave

There must be other examples too

However I am very grateful for your comment as it persuaded me to check the details on the CWGC site [see below] and it turns out that the details quoted in Col Young’s book are out by a year; it should be 1916 and not 1917

Name: PICK

Initials: J

Nationality: United Kingdom

Rank: Staff Sergeant

Regiment: Army Service Corps

Unit Text: 192nd Coy.

Date of Death: 11/02/1916

Service No: T2/11207

Casualty Type: Commonwealth War Dead

Grave/Memorial Reference: I. F. 12.

Cemetery: POPERINGHE NEW MILITARY CEMETERY

Name: MOORE, THOMAS

Initials: T

Nationality: United Kingdom

Rank: Driver

Regiment: Army Service Corps

Unit Text: 4th Coy. 24th Div. Train

Age: 23

Date of Death: 26/02/1916

Service No: TH/040862

Casualty Type: Commonwealth War Dead

Grave/Memorial Reference: Panel 56

Cemetery: YPRES (MENIN GATE) MEMORIAL

Regards

Michael D.R.