Murder - Crimes - History - Bootle and North Liverpool

Your place to talk about your Bootle memories
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Shelagh
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Thanks Joe and Nicolas for our interesting murder crime reports, last two victims being just youngsters, how sad!
Shelagh K!
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fatboyjoe90
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Nicolas, thank for your comment, you can post any murder stories you want on this thread. Thanks for your contribution sad though it was.
Cheers Joe.
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fatboyjoe90
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Also thank you, to Shelagh, for your support and encouragement on most of my posts.
Cheers Joe.
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fatboyjoe90
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When a girl was found dead in mysterious circumstances in the early 1890s it was first thought she had been murdered, but the lack of evidence led to the coroner's court returning a verdict of suffocation.
At around 11pm on Tuesday 2nd, August 1892 Margaret Eaton went to the water closet at the back of her house in Hopwood Street and was horrified to find the body of a young girl there. Her head was in the water and Margaret called her husband to lift the body out, but a doctor in Athol Street declared life extinct.

A post mortem concluded that the cause of death was suffocation but there were no marks of violence on the body. The girl had long blond curly hair and was well dressed and not undernourished. After the body was taken to the mortuary at Princes Dock, dock labourer James Concannon and his wife Louisa, whose three-year-old daughter had gone missing from Newsham Street around 3-30pm, were informed. The couple went to the mortuary and confirmed that the little girl was that of their three years and eight-month-old daughter Ann.

Mrs. Concannon told police that a pair of nine carat gold earrings and a new pair of boots were missing from the body and it was supposed that Ann had been killed after a robbery. An examination of the stomach contents found that she had eaten pickled onions something her parents insisted had not been provided by them. An inquest was opened on 5th August but immediately adjourned due to the police having had very leads available to them.

Enquiries at pawn shops found no trace of the missing items and when the inquest resumed on 17th August, police were unable to offer any further evidence. Two doctors who had examined the body said there were no marks of violence and it was suggested by the coroner that perhaps Ann had gone into the closet to escape a robber and fell into the position which she was found. With no evidence to suggest who may have placed Ann in the closet, the only verdict the jury could return was one of suffocation.
Cheers Joe.
bjones
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Thanks Joe, for posting these interesting stories. I always read them but usually become side tracked by something else and forget to express my appreciation. So Ta La :D
Bee

"Life" is a gift to you. The way you live your life is your gift to those who come after.
nicolas
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The Sefton Tragedy -

In 1896 a Sefton Village woman slashed her two young children to death but was spared the gallows due to her mental state.

Ida Baxter was 24 years old and lived in Sefton with her husband William, a former hay and straw dealer whose business failed, causing him to take up employment as a miller and move his family to cheaper accommodation in Gorsey Lane.

Ida seemed an outgoing an jolly person and even though she had bouts of what would now be called post natal depression after the birth of her third child in October1895 nobody in the neighbourhood saw any great cause for concern.

Ida's sister would often come to stay for a few days but the terrible tragedy occurred the day after she returned to her home in Wallasey after one brief stay on Sunday 16th February. There was no indication of what was to come when Ida's husband William had breakfast with his family and then went out to work that morning. However when he returned that afternoon his wife was in a frenzied state and two of the children, boys aged two and three had had their throats cut with a razor.

When the police arrived Ida returned to a pensive state and was arrested and taken to Seaforth police station. Two days later the inquest took place at the Taylor's Arms in Ford, which Ida attended and frequently cried out 'I did not do it' and Please God have mercy on me. Her husband told the coroner that she was genuinely fond of the children.
At the assizes court the following month, medical witnesses gave evidence to the effect that Baxter was not aware of her actions at the time of the killings. She was found guilty but insane and detained at Her Majesty's Pleasure.
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fatboyjoe90
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bjones wrote:Thanks Joe, for posting these interesting stories. I always read them but usually become side tracked by something else and forget to express my appreciation. So Ta La :D
Ok girl. :wink: :D
Cheers Joe.
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filsgreen
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You've started something here Joe, Nicholas is on your tail with great accounts. Thanks to both of you for providing these historical reports. It's amazing to think that "Cookie's" was a coroners court.
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fatboyjoe90
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I know Phil, he'll be stepping on my toes next. :lol: :wink:

Only jesting Nicholas. :wink: :)
Cheers Joe.
bob. b
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You two keep them coming enjoy reading them stories Regards bob. b
Shelagh
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Joe, the case of the murdered young girl found in W.C. made me think of other similar cases quoted in the book "The Liverpool Underworld" 1750-1900.
Text from the book reads;
Another crime largely perpetrated by women was child-stripping, sometimes known as skinning. This involved waylaying young children and enticing them down back alleys with promises of sweets before removing some of their clothing. The items would then be pawned.
Most victims were about three years if age; old enough to play outside but too young to know what was happening to them.
In August 1869 Ann Quinn of Bevington Hill was taken into custody on suspicion of stripping a child a few days earlier. A search of her home revealed 16 hats, 20 pairs if stockings, three frocks, three pairs of boots and 20 pawn tickets relating to items of children's clothing. She was described as a professional child stripper..
I think this is more than likely what has happened to young victim Ann!!

Shalagh K!
Shelagh
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Another interest one Nicolas,,
Hard to believe this woman didn't remember the actions of cutting her children's throats.
What an excruciating death that must have been for those boy's. Makes you wonder how a person could do such a thing and not remember a thing about it!!

Shelagh K!
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fatboyjoe90
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Thanks for your comments Bob, and Shelagh. :wink:
Cheers Joe.
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fatboyjoe90
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Triple New Year Shooting Tragedy
At the end of 1918 three members of the same family were found shot dead by their servant, with an inquest later determining that a man had killed his wife and father before shooting himself.

When 36-year-old farmer Anthony Knowles Bower visited Seaforth village on the morning of 30th December that year nothing seemed untoward. He chatted with acquaintances then visited a butchers to order some meat for New Year's Day. That evening he went for a walk with his 33-year-old wife Martha and again there were no obvious signs about the horrors that were soon to come.

At 5-30am the next morning at their farmhouse on the banks of the Leeds & Liverpool canal at Ford, servant Norah Stevenson got up and found the bodies of Mr. and Mrs. Bower in the sitting room. upstairs Anthony's 69-year-old father Unwin was found dead in a bedroom, along with his pet dog Biddy. All had gunshot wounds and Anthony had a revolver in his hand. Amazingly Norah had not heard any of the shots fired and the couple's fourteen-month-old son was still asleep in his cot unharmed.

A horrified Norah ran to seek help and police who attended found that four shots had been fired from the revolver, which still had two unused cartridges. Martha had been writing a letter when she was shot in the back of the head. There was no immediate motive for the killings, as their financial circumstances were sound, although some friends commented to the press that Anthony had not been as jovial as usual in recent weeks.

The inquest took place on 2nd January and heard that Anthony had inherited the farm five years earlier from an uncle, who was nursed by Martha in later life. They then married and had a child but tensions arose due to the continued presence of Anthony's father, who Martha said made her feel like a lodger in her home. The farm foreman Thomas Ashcroft explained how a few years earlier Anthony was stung by some wasps and had acted strangely on occasions ever since.

Evidence was then given by a local doctor, who said that the couple had visited his house on their walk, but he was out. The doctor told the coroner that Anthony had a drink addiction and suffered delusional thoughts at least twice a year. The jury then returned a verdict of wilful murder in relation to the deaths of Martha and Unwin, and suicide for Anthony. All three family members were then buried in the same grave at Sefton parish church on 6th January 1919.
Cheers Joe.
lynne99
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Dangerous place , this Seaforth / Ford area. Glad I never went there :lol: :lol:
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fatboyjoe90
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Thanks for that Lynne, I have another Seaforth Murder for you.
Cheers Joe.
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fatboyjoe90
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Bird Watching Barber Kills Friend
A barber who went on a bird watching trip got into a disagreement with his friend and hit him over the head with a hammer, leading to him being convicted of manslaughter.

On the morning of 6th February 1895 Robert Atherton, a 35 year old barber from Field Street in Everton went out at 630am with photographer Robert Owen, who had been a friend of his for several years. Atherton carried a hammer and net to use as a snare, while Owen had some sticks due to suffering walking difficulties. They stopped at the Seaforth Hotel for some whisky then carried on, but around noon got into an argument on a field in Litherland due to Owen having had too much to drink.

During the row Atherton hit Owen with a hammer and a stick, then left him in a shed on the field. This was was witnessed by two boys who were trying to catch rats, who then directed Atherton to the station. He then went to Owen's home in Seaforth while the boys checked on the injured man, who they assumed to be just the worse for drink and left him there to go back to their rat catching.

When Atherton got to Owen's home he told his father that his son had gone 'up country', but he was suspicious of Atherton now having one of his sticks. Meanwhile at the shed, Owen came round and shouted for help. When the two boys went and saw him he asked where Atherton was and when they said he had gone home, he threw a brick at them. This hit the shed wall instead and bounced back on his head, knocking him out.

At some stage 36 year old Owen woke up and got out of the shed as at 4pm he was found lying face down in a field by a coachman. He was helped up but couldn't stand and a boy playing nearby was sent for a policeman. A detective arrived and carried Owen to the Claremont Hotel, but he died on the way. Atherton was arrested the following day at his home in Field Street, telling the detective he had a drink with Owen but no idea what happened after that.

Image Seaforth Hotel

After being remanded by a magistrate at the local police station the inquest was held at the Seaforth Hotel where Owen's father described him as quiet and inoffensive. The two ratcatching boys, who were both sixteen, gave their evidence but the doctor who carried out the post mortem said he could not be sure as to what extent the hammer blow caused death. Dr German explained that although there was effusion of blood on the brain this could just as easily have been caused by the brick bouncing back, while the cold weather was also a factor.

The Coroner Mr S. Brighouse summed up that if violence was used then the prisoner had to be responsible for the eventual outcome, unless it had been used in self defence. The jury returned a verdict of 'death by violence' leading to Atherton being committed to the assizes for a manslaughter trial.

On 20th March Atherton appeared before Lord Chief Justice Russell. The two boys who witnessed the row admitted under cross examination that Owen had struck the first blow, hitting Atherton on the leg with a stick. The jury returned a guilty verdict but with a strong recommendation for mercy, leading to him being sentenced to just nine months imprisonment.
Cheers Joe.
Shelagh
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Very lenient sentence given here..two young men larking around after a drink.. don't know why Atherton told Owens dad that his son had gone up country, he must have thought he'd
killed him, but to just leave him lying injured in a shed..seems cruel and cowardly,
think this judge was a bit too soft on the criminal!!
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fatboyjoe90
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I agree with you entirely Shelagh, I think the judge went along with what jury said.
Cheers Joe.
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fatboyjoe90
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Mother Pleads For Her Seaman Son's Killer

A seaman who killed his friend in a fight on a ferry in the Irish Sea was jailed despite the victim's mother pleading for his release as everybody had suffered enough.
In the summer of 1953, two young men who had been away at sea for some time on a voyage to Australia and South America returned to Liverpool and were paid off. One of them was Robert Humphries from Bray in County Wicklow and he invited twenty-year-old Robert Thomas, of Irlam Road in Bootle, to spend some time with his family.

Image MV Munster.


On the day they set sail for Dublin aboard the MV Munster, they began drinking at 1130am and continued this on board. At around midnight a fight broke out that led to Humphries going overboard as a result of a push by Thomas, according to some eyewitnesses.

Crew members placed Thomas in a straitjacket and passed out. He was lifted onto a stretcher and woke up a few minutes later, repeatedly asking where his friend was. On arrival at Dublin, detectives boarded and arrested Thomas, charging him with murder on the high seas. After his first court appearance, he was taken to hospital for treatment on a suspected broken nose.

On 2nd February 1954, Thomas was tried at Dublin's Central Criminal Court, where prosecutors alleged he had drunk up to twenty pints of beer. A doctor who had seen him half an hour after the incident told the court he felt Thomas was incapable of forming any intent to murder and that when he came around he had no recollection of what happened.

A key witness was passenger Martin Connolly, who said a fight broke out between five or six men, including Thomas. He then told how when Humphries tried to pacify him he has pushed away but fell over the rail into the sea. Under cross-examination, Connolly described Thomas as 'drunk out of his mind.'

Thomas himself could not remember much about what happened, only that he had got into a fight with some people but insisted he did not touch his friend. He was found guilty of manslaughter rather than murder and there was then a sensational development when Humphries' mother entered the witness box. Rather than call for a tough sentence she said 'There has been trouble enough without anymore. No matter what happens now it won't bring my son back so will you please let him go home.' Earlier in the trial Thomas's father had said that the two men were very close and Humphries referred to him and his wife as 'mom' and 'pop'

Mrs. Humphries' pleas were ignored by Judge Murnaghan however who sentenced Thomas to six years penal servitude, telling him 'I cannot overlook the fact that you allowed yourself to get so drunk that you had your friend killed.' He did grant a certificate of appeal however and the sentence was later reduced to three years.
Cheers Joe.
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efc46
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very sad Joe the story took me back to mick(ugga )Hughes murder at sea in Dublin I think/Davey
Davey Rowlands Bootle
lynne99
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Thanks again, Joe. I don't reply after every story but I love them all. Thanks, you've got your audience hooked.
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fatboyjoe90
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Thanks for your comments Davey, and Lynne.
Cheers Joe.
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fatboyjoe90
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Tragic Killing of a Granddaughter

A man who took his granddaughter for a walk and killed her was detained in a lunatic asylum after he was found to be not responsible for his actions.

In 1880 retired Irish-born seaman Richard Maguire lived at Howe Street in Bootle with his daughter, her husband and granddaughter Catherine, who was two months short of her second birthday. He was very fond of Catherine and used to love taking her out on walks, but it was on one of these where he had an episode that led to him causing her death.

When 62-year-old Maguire got up on the morning of Saturday 3rd January that year he told his daughter and Thomas that they had better look after Catherine, as he had dreamt he was going to kill her. They took no notice of this and at midday he took her out and didn't return until the next morning.

When he got to Howe Street the next morning he was wet and wild looking and Catherine's parents were frantic with worry. When his daughter asked where she was, Maguire replied 'IN HEAVEN I HOPE' and said that a fair-haired woman had taken her off him but he would go back to try and find her. After a sleep, Maguire was again challenged over Catherine's whereabouts and said he was sat on a step and his deceased wife had taken her off him, with the girl saying 'TA GRAN.'

Maguire was taken into custody and told the police they would never find her. However, she was found lying face down in a ditch on the morning of 6th January. A post-mortem found that she had been suffocated. When Maguire was charged with the murder he tried to put his head in a water closet as he was returning to his cell.

At the inquest at the Crosby Hotel on 8th January Maguire's son in law Thomas Kiernan explained that they had always had good relations and he was trusting of Maguire with Catherine. This was despite him having spent three months at the Haydock asylum before Christmas, with Kiernan believing Maguire was a bit weak minded but nothing else. When Maguire was asked if he had questions, he could only reply that he loved Catherine as if she was his daughter.

Other witnesses gave accounts of Maguire's movements on the fateful day, which had been quite extensive. One man had seen him in Sefton and Catherine was crying, Maguire replying that her mother's head was burnt. A man who had seen them in Crosby Village at 6pm asked how Catherine was so wet and Maguire replied that she had fallen into the canal. By 8pm Maguire seemed to be heading in the direction of Bootle but was alone and acting very erratically, telling a coachman that he had been conducting a christening but an unknown female had taken the child away.

A verdict of wilful murder was returned and Maguire was committed for trial at the next Liverpool assizes,
appearing before Lord Chief Justice Coleridge on 10th February. Dr. Barr of Kirkdale gaol said he was of the opinion that Maguire was of unsound mind and when further historical details were given the judge stopped the case. The jury was ordered to find Maguire of unsound mind and he was sent to Broadmoor Criminal Lunatic Asylum.
Lord Chief Justice Coleridge. Image
Cheers Joe.
nicolas
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What a sad story Joe, that poor child. Do we know her age?
lynne99
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I think Joe said she was 2 months off her second birthday. That's the same age as my granddaughter is now. So sad. :cry: :cry:
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fatboyjoe90
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Thanks for your comments Nicolas,and Lynne.
Cheers Joe.
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fatboyjoe90
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Killed By a Teacup
A man who rowed with his wife threw a teacup at her causing an injury that led to her death, leading to him being convicted of manslaughter for the second time in his life.
On 13th February 1897, Margaret Lynch was found lying in a court off Saltney Street with a cut to her head. A relative took her to the Northern Hospital where the wound was dressed and on return home she said to Margaret's husband Thomas 'this is an awful affair, her back is black and blue.' 38-year-old labourer Thomas admitted to throwing a teacup at his wife during a row but denied any involvement in the bruising.

Image
Saltney Street 1920.

Image
Saltney Street as it is today.


Margaret refused medical advice to stay warm and was often seen outside in the cold drinking. The wound became infected and erysipelas set in, leading to her being admitted to the workhouse hospital on Brownlow Hill, where she died on 8th March. Thomas was arrested and committed to the assizes for trial after an inquest recorded a verdict of manslaughter.

At his trial on 13th May 2015 Thomas's defence counsel put forward the improbable scenario that 24-year-old Margaret had slipped and fallen on some already broken crockery. Given what he had admitted to one of his in-laws when it happened, this was unsurprisingly rejected by the jury who found him guilty of manslaughter.

Mr Justice Wills deferred sentence for a day as he wanted to consider how much weight to attached to a previous conviction for manslaughter. Twenty years earlier Thomas, who was then using the surname Lennon, was sentenced to fifteen years penal servitude after killing his stepfather. After receiving confirmation from the police that he had behaved fairly well since being released, the judge told Thomas that as he had not used violence or intended any great harm, he must serve a sentence of four months hard labour.
Cheers Joe.
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fatboyjoe90
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Children Thrown Into Canal By Mother
In 1926, Annie Lavin was 28 years old and living in lodgings with her husband Patrick and two young children. They were not getting on well with other tenants but had difficulties finding accommodation elsewhere, leading to Annie and the children moving in with her mother temporarily.

On 9th June of that year, Annie's mother found that she had renewed a liaison with a married man, with whom she had had an affair prior to meeting Patrick. Annie was given an ultimatum to end this relationship or get out and not knowing what to do next, she spent most of the day wandering aimlessly around Stanley Park with the children, two-year-old Patricia and four years old Walter.

Burlington Street Canal BridgeImage

By the time dusk fell Annie had ended up looking over the bridge into the Leeds & Liverpool canal at Burlington Street. Seized by a sudden impulse that all three of them would be better off dead, she picked up the children one after the other and threw them into the water. She then hurried away from the scene, but after running about a quarter of a mile she confessed to a policeman what she had done.

Annie was conveyed to the Bridewell and other officers used lamps to search the water by the bridge. Walter's body was found around midnight but Patricia's was not recovered until 430am. In Annie's blouse were a razor blade and a letter addressed to her husband which began: 'I was never as I should have been to you. You have been too good to me and I have played on that.' Annie told the police that she had not gone ahead with her own intended suicide as she was unable to climb over the bridge rail.

After being charged Annie appeared at the Magistrates' Court where she was remanded in custody. She sobbed violently in the dock and had to be helped out by a sympathetic wardress. At the inquest, Annie's mother Mrs. Richardson told the coroner that she had once attempted suicide on Christmas Eve and frequently ran away from home. After a verdict of wilful murder was returned she was committed for trial at the next Manchester assizes.

On 8th, July Annie's plea of insanity was accepted and she was detained at The King's Pleasure, being transferred to Broadmoor where she gave birth to another child who was immediately taken into care by the authorities.

Annie was released in 1931 and resumed her marriage with Patrick, who worked as a platelayer for the Mersey Docks and Harbour Board. They lived at Rushmere Road in Norris Green but after an initial period of happiness, she soon began to brood again for the two dead children and the child who had been taken into care. On 3rd, August 1932 after Patrick had left for work Annie wrote a note saying she had been ill and worrying about her children. She then gassed herself to death. At the inquest, a verdict of 'suicide while of unsound mind' was recorded.
Cheers Joe.
Shelagh
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Two more interesting stories from the past Joe.. where do you get them from!!
The accompanying photos also very good.. didn't know there was once houses in Saltney Street...walked up that street many times during my days of working at Stanley market...
Sad case, that poor young girl, "teacup murder" he must have battered her black and blue,
She was probably too scared to go back home, so chose instead to sit in the street, until illness caused by injury led to her death!
The next one Joe, just awful, two little children thrown into the canal, while the balance of their mothers mind was disturbed.. very tragic.. she obviously couldn't come to terms with her past!!
It may have been a hundred years ago, but people today still empathise with the plight of the victims.. also teaches the history of so many familiar areas..
Thanks Joe :wink:
nicolas
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Well said Shelagh, my sentiments entirely!
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fatboyjoe90
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Thanks a lot for your comprehensive, reply Shelagh, it is much appreciated. :wink:

And not forgetting Nicolas,thanks a lot. :wink:
Cheers Joe.
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fatboyjoe90
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This is a well-known Case.
The Wallace Case
Julia Wallace was bludgeoned to death in her home in Wolverton Street, Anfield on 20th January 1931, leading only for the verdict to be overturned on appeal. The case remains a classic 'whodunit'
Wolverton St January 2014 Image
The night before the killing William Wallace, an insurance agent, received a telephone message at the City Cafe in North John Street where he played chess. The caller, who had spoken to club captain Samuel Beattie, identified himself as Mr Qualtrough and asked Wallace to call at 25 Menlove Gardens East at 7.30pm on the 20th.

The next night Wallace set off at about 6.45 pm (according to his statement to police). It is known he boarded a tram at 7.10pm some three miles away in Lodge Lane, regularly reminding the conductor of his destination. After getting off the tram at Menlove Gardens West, he went on a fruitless search of Mr Qualtrough's address, which it turned out did not exist. During this search he called at newsagents, to 25 Menlove Gardens West and also asked a policeman, making a point of verifying the exact time.
Menlove Gardens West Image
Giving up the search, Wallace returned to his home at 29 Wolverton Street at 8.45pm to find the battered corpse of Julia in the parlour, with some money missing. There was no sign of any forced entry into the house and police suspicion immediately centred on Wallace. Two weeks later he was arrested and charged with murder, having been staying with his sister in Aigburth. He was taken to Anfield Police Station
Anfield_police_station Image

At the trial, the prosecution alleged that Wallace had made the Qualtrough call himself before he went to the chess club, then made a point of drawing attention to himself while looking for Menlove Gardens East to establish an alibi. To explain the lack of blood on Wallace's clothing, it was claimed he may have committed the murder in the nude.

Wallace's counsel staged a good defence. A witness claimed to have seen Julia alive at 6.45pm, making it inconceivable that Wallace could have committed the crime, cleaned himself up and been at Lodge Lane just 25 minutes later. There was no sign of a bath having been taken in the house, nor of any damp towels or bloodstains outside the parlour. Despite this evidence and the prosecution failing to provide a motive or produce a murder weapon, the jury returned a verdict of guilty after only an hours deliberation.

History was made on appeal. For the first time ever, the verdict was overturned on the grounds that it had been made against the weight of evidence. Wallace returned to his job but found the gossip didn't stop and after just a few days he was given an office job instead of door to door collection. He moved to Bebington on the Wirral and died of renal cancer just two years later and was buried alongside Julia.
Wallace Grave Anfield Cemetery]
Image
The killer of Julia Wallace has never been caught and the police did not continue the investigation after the appeal. One person who has been named as a suspect is Gordon Parry. He was a frequent visitor to the household, having worked with Wallace in insurance. His name had been given to police as somebody who Julia may have let into the house, but they were satisfied with his alibi. Living in London, Parry was visited by crime writers Jonathan Goodman and Richard Whittington-Egan in the 1960s. He refused to allow the men into his home but seemed to know everything about everyone involved in the murder investigation. He also described Wallace as 'sexually odd'.


In 1980, Radio City presenter Roger Wilkes researched the case for a feature. A new witness, ex-mechanic John Parkes had come forward to say that he had hosed down a car for Parry on the night of the murder. He had found a blood-stained glove while cleaning the interior which was quickly snatched away, Parry muttering that it might hang him. Fearing Parry's violent temper, Parkes had kept quiet about the incident. Just weeks before Wilkes could question him on these developments, Parry died in North Wales.


The case was featured in a film, The Man from the Peru, starring Jonathan Pryce and Anna Massey in 1991 and has been the subject of many books.
Cheers Joe.
nicolas
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Here's that very film Joe on YouTube, full film -

https://youtu.be/3KN4wabD-c8
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fatboyjoe90
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Thanks for the video Nicolas, that will make it more interesting. :wink:
Cheers Joe.
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