Linda's Crime Notes

Rillington Place, Revisited.* See Plan of House

The year 2000 will mark 50 years from the conviction and execution of Timothy Evans for the murder of his baby daughter, a crime for which he received a free pardon in 1966. Irrespective of whether Evans was guilty or not, it is almost certain that had the jury known at the time of his trial that Christie, the other male occupant of the house (and chief prosecution witness) was a murderer, they could not have convicted him. Despite the pardon, many people remain convinced that Evans did indeed murder his daughter - others feel sure that he murdered his wife, a crime to which Christie later confessed. Evans also has his champions those who believe passionately in his innocence of both crimes. I start this examination of the case without any colours nailed to my mast, but I will make an analysis of the evidence and reach a conclusion.

Christies early life John Reginald Halliday Christie was born on April 8th 1899 just outside Halifax, Yorkshire. He went to school in Halifax and was considered above average in intelligence. (As an adult his IQ was measured at 128.) His father was strict, his mother over-protective, and he became shy and withdrawn. A former schoolmate made the classic comment "He kept himself to himself". When he was eight, his grandfather died, and he was allowed to view the corpse. He later described his feelings as "fascination and pleasure". He had always been frightened of the old man and he now experienced a great sense of freedom. From this time he spent much of his leisure time playing in the graveyard. He had three older sisters who, he claimed, bossed him about, and was shy of girls. His first sexual adventure was a disaster, all the more so because the girl concerned told others about his deficiencies. While it is obvious that Christie was attracted to women, his early experiences had left him with a barely suppressed hatred of them. He enlisted in the Army in 1916, and was sent to France in 1918 where he was gassed. He spent some time in hospital, and on demobilisation received a disability allowance. The injury affected his speech, so that he was unable to speak for some weeks after the incident, and his speech remained quiet for the rest of his life. In 1919 he returned to Halifax where he began courting a neighbour, Ethel Simpson. They were married on 10th May 1920. He was then working as a clerk in a mill, but gave that up and became a postman. It was at this time that he committed his first known crimes.

Christies criminal record.

His job as a postman put temptation in his way and he began stealing postal orders. In April 1921 he was sentenced to three months in prison. In 1923 he appeared before magistrates on charges of obtaining money by false pretences, and violence. He received 12 months probation. Although Ethel remained with him, the marriage was in trouble - he neglected her sexually but was known to visit prostitutes. His criminal record made it difficult to get a job. The marriage foundered. In 1924 Ethel went to live with relatives in Sheffield and he went to London. Soon after his arrival he was injured in a road accident, and in September he was again in trouble with the law - he was charged with larceny and sentenced to 3 and 6 months consecutive imprisonment . At that time he appears not to have either employment or home. Not a great deal is known about the years between 1924 and 1933. In 1929 he was living with a prostitute, and presumably living off her, too , as he was not working. During an argument he struck her over the head with a cricket bat. For this crime he received a sentence of 6 months hard labour. In 1933 he was sentenced to 3 months for stealing a car from a priest who had befriended him. It was while he was in prison for the car theft that he wrote to Ethel asking her to come and live with him again. It is not clear why she agreed to this, but she did. During their remaining nineteen years together, he was never again in trouble for petty crime. He had not, however, severed his old links with the underworld. While apparently respectable, he lived another life, one that existed after Ethel had gone to bed or when she was away visiting relatives. In 1938 the couple moved to 10 Rillington Place.

10 Rillington Place. Rillington Place was a cul-de-sac with ten houses on either side. The houses had three floors, but they were small, mean, narrow and shabby. Anyone who has seen the film, 10 Rillington Place, will have an idea of the cramped nature of the accommodation, as the film was made in another house in the same street, with identical dimensions. The house was divided into three flats. The Christies had the ground floor; the first floor which consisted of a kitchen, bedroom and living room, was occupied by a Mr Kitchener, a man of over 60 with poor eyesight, and the top floor which comprised only a bed-sitting room and a kitchen, was then unoccupied. The plan shows the ground floor to be divided into living room, bedroom and kitchen. At the back of the kitchen was an alcove used for storing coal. A wash house could only be accessed from the yard at the back. This measured 52 by 54 inches. There was also a lavatory, the only one available for all three floors. The "garden" was actually a piece of wasteland some 20 ft square.

Christie the policeman. The London Police Force was calling for volunteer Special Constables. It might have seemed an unlikely step for someone with Christies criminal record, but he applied, and no enquiries were made about his past, so that in September 1939 he was enrolled. He was assigned to Harrow Road Police Station and was there for four years. He enjoyed the new found respect this position gave him, and was hard working and efficient. He also began an intimate relationship with a young woman working at the police station whose husband was a serving soldier. It would not be unreasonable to conclude that this part of Christies life was his highest point of self-esteem. In the Summer of 1943 this illusion came to an end, when the soldier returned, found Christie and his wife together, and gave him a severe beating.

Ruth Fuerst. Ruth was an Austrian student nurse born in 1922, and reputedly a part-time prostitute. She had known Christie a short time, though how many times she had visited him at home, if at all, is not known, before the fateful day in August 1943. Mrs Christie was at the time with her relations in Sheffield. It is important to note, both here and for future reference, that in his confessions, Christie always said that it was the women who approached him , who forced themselves upon him. It was a part of his self image that he never began anything. Christie later admitted he had had intercourse with Ruth Fuerst, and strangled her with a rope. He then wrapped the body in her coat. A telegram arrived to announce his wifes arrival that evening, so he quickly put the body and the clothing under the floorboards in the front room. The next day, while his wife was out at work, he dug a hole in the back garden, and moved the body to the washhouse. At ten that night, under cover of darkness, he buried the body. The clothing was burned in a dustbin normally used for burning garden refuse.

Muriel Eady Christie left the police force early in 1944 and worked in an electrical factory. There, he met Muriel, a respectable spinster, who suffered from chronic catarrh. It was not until the Autumn that Ethel again went away to Sheffield, and then Christie suggested to Muriel that he had an inhalation device which could cure her catarrh. This device was a jar filled with inhalants such as Friars Balsam, which Muriel could breathe in through a rubber tube, but unknown to her, there was a second tube connected to a gas tap. With this, he was able to render her unconscious before having sex and strangling her. The body was placed in the wash house, and he later buried her in the garden. Once the war was over, Christie went back to work for the Post Office, who presumably carried out no checks on his past record. Four years passed during which, if Christie had carried out any criminal activities, he was never found out and never confessed. Later, when asked if he had killed anyone during this time, he said he couldnt remember. Then in Spring 1948 Timothy Evans and his wife Beryl moved into 10 Rillington Place.

Timothy and Beryl Timothy Evans was born in Wales in 1924, and the family moved to London in 1935. It was obvious from an early age that he was mentally backward. Illness kept him out of school for many months at a time. He was unable to read or write anything but his own name. As an adult, he was thin and undersized, with a mental age of between 10 and 11. He had a measured IQ of just 68. He enjoyed his beer, and with a few drinks inside him would tell wild lies and fantasies to boost his confidence. He met Beryl on a blind date in 1947. She was eighteen. They were married later that year and occupied a back room in the house of Evans mother and stepfather. It wasnt far from Rillington Place, thus, with a baby on the way in 1948, they were looking for their own place and spotted the flat to let. They moved in at Easter, and in October 1948, baby Geraldine was born. . Evans was working long hours as a van driver, and bringing in a modest wage. They had been happy in the little flat, but the baby, whom they both adored, put extra pressure on their resources There were quarrels, and one out and out family row when Beryl invited a friend to stay. In the summer of 1949 Beryl found that she was pregnant again. This had not been planned, and with their resources, it was a disaster. She tried douching and syringing to procure an abortion, but without success. She was desperate for an abortion, and the Christies got to know about this. The murders of Beryl Evans and her daughter Geraldine, the only ones in Rillington Place ever to be attributed to anyone other than Christie, took place in November 1949. I will go into these murders in a great deal more detail later in this

article. Evans was, for legal reasons tried only for the murder of Geraldine in January 1950, although evidence about the murder of Beryl was permitted to be put before the court. Christie was an important prosecution witness. Evans was found guilty and hanged on 9th March 1950.

Mrs Christie. The trial had resulted in Christies past record being uncovered, and he lost his job. That year, ownership of the house changed hands, and Christie had a new landlord. He made great efforts to ensure that he should have exclusive use of the garden. In the next two years relations between Christie and his wife became increasingly strained. Both of them suffered from nervous tension and required frequent visits to the family doctor. The last day on which Mrs Christie was seen alive by anyone except Christie was 12th December 1952. Early on the morning of 14th December, Christie picked up a stocking from near the bed and strangled his wife. This was not a sexual murder - the post mortem found no evidence of recent intercourse - it is probable that he killed her to get her out of the way. He left her in the bed for two or three days and then remembered the loose floorboards in the front room under which he had temporarily put the body of Ruth Fuerst. There, he put the blanket wrapped body of his wife. With the approaching Xmas season he was able to stave off suspicion for a time by writing to relatives explaining that Ethel had rheumatism and couldnt write. He subsisted for a time by selling furniture and cashing in Ethels savings.

Kathleen Maloney. In January 1953 Kathleen Maloney was 26, a prostitute well known in the Paddington area. Christie certainly knew her well. That evening in mid-January, Maloney was seen leaving a public house, very drunk, with Christie. He had already rigged up a gas tube with a bulldog clip he could surreptitiously remove. While Maloney sat drunk in a chair, he removed the clip and she gradually became drowsy. Then he strangled her with a rope. On the following day he pushed her blanket wrapped body into the alcove behind the washhouse. He had only recently discovered the existence of this useful storage space when a plumber had opened it up to mend a burst pipe.

Rita Nelson Rita was reported missing by her landlady on 19th January, only a few days after the murder of Kathleen Maloney. Nelson, a 25 year old prostitute was 25 weeks pregnant. It was very likely at this time that Christie was again posing as a medical man. A Mrs Forrest had spoken to him at about this time and he had claimed that he could cure her migraine with a special method that involved inhalation of gas. Fortunately for her, she decided not to try this out. Nelson was not so lucky. According to Christie he gave her the gas, but she struggled, and he strangled her. He body joined that of Kathleen Maloney in the alcove.

Hectorina McLennan Hectorina met Christie in March 1953. She was living with an unemployed lorry driver called Baker. When Christie made an appointment with her to look at a flat, he was somewhat put out to find that Baker was with her. They viewed the flat, and it being late, stayed there the night. They stayed three nights in all, and then Christie insisted they leave. The following day he made an appointment to see Hectorina at the flat - the supposed purpose is a mystery - but she later mentioned this visit to Baker, saying she would meet him at a caf at 3 oclock. By that time, of course, she was dead, wrapped in a blanket and in the alcove. Baker arrived at 10 Rillington Place to look for her, but Christie showed him round the flat, and he saw no sign of her, although he did notice an unpleasant smell in the area near the alcove. Time was almost up for Christie. He had no money and no job. He was able to sublet the flat, taking three months rent in advance, then he packed his case and left. The landlord arrived and pointed out that Christie had no right to sublet the flat. The new tenants had to go, and the landlord granted permission for one of the existing tenants to use the Christies kitchen. During the next few days the tenant cleared out the rubbish. On 24th March, wanting to put up some wall brackets he discovered the papered-over alcove, peeled back some paper and shone his torch inside. Christie wandered aimlessly about London for a few days, and on 31st March he was spotted and recognised by a Police Constable, who arrested him. Christie subsequently made numerous confessions, many of then varying in detail, in which he admitted to the killing of all the women whose bodies were found in the house and the garden. When the killing was that of a prostitute he stated that they had forced their attentions on him, and began to fight him. With the murders of Mrs Christie, Muriel Eady and Beryl Evans, he claimed that they had been suffering and depressed and he had put them out of their misery. He did not confess to the murder of Geraldine. His trial opened on June 22nd 1953. He was found guilty and hanged on15th July.

The murder of Beryl Some things will never be known, some were only known to Evans and Christie. Unfortunately, both of these men were experienced liars and masters of self-delusion. It is very difficult to rely on anything either of them said, although it would be as well to look closely at any parts of their independently given stories which coincide. In picking through the evidence I will try to distinguish what we know for certain, what can be deduced, and what is in evidence only as a witness statement. There are a number of surrounding circumstances which have some importance. In October 1949 Christie had complained about a blocked drain. As a result of this the landlords were required to carry out work to the building, and a team of men turned up on 31 October and worked on the premises on and off for the next 15 days. Fortunately most of their time sheets were available for examination. Mr Kitchener, the elderly occupant of the second floor of 10 Rillington Place, had to go into hospital for an operation, and his flat was therefore empty during the crucial time.

Evans goes to the police

After the terrible events at Rillington Place, Evans left London and went to stay with his uncle and aunt in Merthyr Vale, arriving on the 15th November. He made one brief return visit to 10 Rillington Place on 23rd, but Christie would not allow him to enter the house. (The stories of Evans, Christie and Mrs Christie all tally on this point). His evasive answers and frequent changes of story regarding the whereabouts of Beryl and Geraldine caused great concern in Evans family. Letters were exchanged, telegraphs sent, and on 27th, his sister Eileen went to see Christie and spoke to him and Ethel She was told that Beryl and Geraldine had left the house on Tuesday 8th November. This is an important point, as not only was this a lie but it was a lie told by both the Christies. One can only speculate about how much Mrs Christie knew, but here is very clear evidence that she was prepared to lie for her husband. On the following day his other sister Maureen visited. She first spoke to Mrs Christie who said that Beryl had left saying goodbye and promised to write. Christie then arrived and said that Beryl had left without saying goodbye, to which Maureen pointed out that one of them must be lying. When she threatened to go to the police he became angry and she thought he was going to hit her. By the morning of the 30th Evanss aunt was sure that he was telling lies about the whereabouts of Beryl and Geraldine, and told him so. Under pressure from his family, that afternoon Evans went to the local police and told them a story which we will call Statement 1. Most of it was lies. In this statement, Evans said that after Beryl had threatened to get an abortion he had met a stranger in a caf who had given him some abortion pills. Beryl had taken these and died, and he had put her body down the drain outside his house. He had had Geraldine looked after, and sold up and come to Wales. There was no mention of Christie. Naturally the police checked the drain, and six hours later told Evans that the drain was empty, and moreover he couldnt have opened the cover as it had taken three men to do so. Evans said that he had made the first statement to protect Christie, and now he made a second Statement which we will call Statement 2. This is the one which is generally accepted as being nearest to the truth of what happened.

Statement 2 According to Evans, Christie had approached him saying he knew that Beryl was trying to get rid of her baby, and that he could help. He showed Evans some medical books, but of course Evans was unable to read. (The only medical books in the house were some first aid manuals). Christie had said that the stuff he used for abortions would kill one person in ten. Evans told Christie he wasnt interested, but Beryl had already spoken to him, and was determined to go through with it. On Monday 7th he came home from work and Beryl told him she had made arrangements with Christie for the next day. He went to work the following morning,, and when he came home in the evening Christie met him and said it was bad news. Beryls body was on the bed. There was blood on her nose and mouth and from what Evans called "the bottom part". Christie told Evans to stay in the kitchen. A little while later he returned and said he had forced the door of Mr Kitcheners flat and put the body in there. He intended to put it down the drain. The next day Evans went to work as usual, Christie saying he would look after the baby. On his return Christie said he knew a couple in East Acton who would look after the baby, and they would come for her the next day. On Wednesday 9th Evans went to work and on his return Christie had said the people had called and taken the baby, while he had put Beryls body down the drain. Christie advised Evans to leave London. On Friday Evans sold the furniture and on Sunday he saw a rag dealer. On Monday the rag dealer came for the old clothes and blankets and the furniture van came to take away the rest. At 3 oclock Evans left the house and later that day he caught the train for Wales. After further questioning Evans admitted that he had helped Christie carry the body down to the lower flat. He had heard Christie puffing and blowing and saw him half way down stairs struggling with Beryls

body, and helped him with it.

The Search The police, who were of the opinion that Evans was "off his head" made a search of 10 Rillington Place. They failed to find a number of things. Muriel Eadys thigh bone had worked loose from the soil and was propping up a garden fence. Her skull had also come to the surface, and after dark Christie put it in a nearby bombed house. A few days later it was found by children who handed it to the police. It was held by the Coroner to be from a victim of the 1940 bomb, and destroyed. The police did not look in the wash house, but they did look in Evans flat. In it they found a stolen briefcase, and a newspaper cutting about the Stanley Setty torso murder. Was the cutting planted by Christie to incriminate Evans? Certainly it could have been of no interest to Evans, who could not read. The finding of the briefcase enabled the police to charge Evans with a crime, and bring him back to London. Christie and Mrs Christie were also questioned independently. Christie told the police that Evans and his wife were always arguing and Evans had attacked her by grabbing her throat. At some point, it would have been revealed to the police that Christie himself had been a policeman. Meanwhile, Mrs Christie had made a statement to the effect that Beryl had wanted to go for an abortion, but indicating that the proposed abortionist was someone other than her husband. She also mentioned a visit by Mrs Vincent, Beryls friend. It is worth looking at this in some detail.

Mrs Vincent. Joan Vincent was a close friend of Beryl. She called to see her at lunchtime probably on the 8th of November. While Mrs Vincent thought the visit was on the 8th , Mrs Christie mentioned it as having been on the 7th. There are two reasons to think it was Mrs Vincent who was correct. . Firstly, Mrs Christies statements show a number of errors as to date. Also, Mrs Vincent stated that when she arrived, she was surprised to find the front door open. The workmens time sheets show that they did not work at the house on the 7th because the weather was bad, but they resumed work on the following day. On the 8th of November, therefore, the front door could well have been left open by workmen carrying in materials. Joan found the door to Beryls kitchen shut, which was unusual, and when she tried the door, got the distinct impression that someone was inside, holding it shut. Upset at the thought that Beryl didnt want to see her, she went away. So who was holding the door shut? Beryl? Christie? It certainly wasnt Evans, who was at work. In her statement to the police, Mrs Christie mentioned Mrs Vincents visit and said that Beryl didnt want to see her and had locked herself in the kitchen. Was she telling the truth? It is worth giving some thought as to what Mrs Christie knew, or thought she knew. She must have known that Beryl wanted an abortion. This is an indisputable fact as she had discussed it with other people. Beryl had also mentioned to other people that Christie was going to abort her. Whether or not Christie murdered Beryl, it would seem, based on his previous and later behaviour, that he was planning to. Mrs Christies behaviour is understandable if we assume that she was under the impression that her husband had performed an abortion which had resulted in Beryls death, and was lying to protect him. If, when Joan Vincent visited, it had been Christie holding that door shut after murdering Beryl, then his wifes story would protect him.

The second search The police returned to 10 Rillington Place on 2nd December. They found nothing in the house, or in the garden. They poked about inside the dustbin but failed to empty it, otherwise they would have found Ruth Fuersts skull. They opened the wash house door. Propped against the sink was a stack of wood. An officer felt behind the wood and found a package. The wood was removed and the package brought out. It was wrapped in a green tablecloth and tied with a sashcord. When it was opened, Beryls legs slipped out. The wrapped body of Geraldine was found under some wood behind the door. It was estimated that both bodies had been dead about three weeks. The cold November weather had effectively kept them in refrigeration and they were well preserved. Death was due to strangulation with a ligature, Beryl with a cord, Geraldine with a tie. In addition, Beryl had bruising to her throat and neck, there was swelling to her right eye and upper lip, and bruising inside her vagina. Unfortunately, no swab was taken. One comment by Ludovic Kennedy must be mentioned here. At the time of the trial it had been said that the original pathologist had suggested that there was evidence in the vagina of post mortem penetration, but this evidence was suppressed at the trial as being too unpleasant. Had this been the case it would not of course have helped Evans much at the time, as it is only with hindsight that we can attribute such an assault to Christie. Simpson, however has pointed out that the report had described ante, not post mortem bruising, i.e. taking place before death, so this clinching piece of evidence against Christie did not in fact exist. The cause of the bruising is unknown, but it could have been attributable to Beryls efforts to abort herself. The report is reproduced in Michael Eddowes book as Appendix D. Evans was shown the clothing of his wife and child, and told that the police believed he was responsible for their deaths. He said only one word - "Yes".

Statements 3 and 4 On the night of December 2-3 Evans made two more statements in which he confessed to the murders of Beryl and Geraldine. Those readers who are students of true crime will have no trouble with the concept of someone confessing to crimes, even murder, of which they are innocent. The history of crime is littered with cases of miscarriage of justice where there has been a false confession, and often the accused has been someone of subnormal intelligence, like Evans. Ludovic Kennedy deals with this matter extensively in his classic work on the case. This, however, is not the only reason to have considerable suspicions about these statements. Briefly, the confessions stated that Evans and Beryl had argued over debts she had incurred. A row on the Tuesday night (8th November) ended with Evans slapping Beryl and strangling her with a bit of rope he had brought into the flat from his van. He laid her on the bed with the rope still round her neck. Later, he put the body in Mr Kitcheners flat. After feeding the baby he waited until things were quiet, carried the body down into the wash house and put it behind the sink, then covered the body with pieces of wood. He then locked the wash house door. The following day (Wednesday) he fed the baby, put it in its cot and went to work, feeding the baby again when he got home. The next day he again went to work after feeding the baby, but on returning home, strangled the baby with his tie. That night he put the body in the wash house. He sold up his property and went to Wales. There are two main reasons to doubt the confessions. First of all, in comparing the vocabulary and phraseology of statements 1 and 2, taken before the bodies were found, with 3 and 4, when the police were looking for a confession, one sees that the literary skills displayed are completely different. The fist two read exactly as might be supposed, if they had come from a poorly educated mentally subnormal man. The second two are sufficiently different to suggest that they had been written by someone else, indeed, the

person with the mentality that produced the first two could not have written the second two. This does not of itself invalidate the contents - after all, it is reasonable to suppose that after the bodies were found the police took a lot more care about the statements than previously, and could, indeed, must have paraphrased what Evans said. This factor does not prove that they put words into his mouth, although it is heavily suggestive. The second point, however, is more serious. In the confessions, Evans stated doing things which are either unlikely or impossible. In order to leave the Christies out of the matter entirely, (and clearly Evans had no motive to do so), it was necessary for Evans to say he had left his baby unattended for twelve hours at a stretch, two days in succession. Leaving aside the probability that he would have done this, it is very unlikely that this would have gone unnoticed. He also refers to locking the wash house door. The door did not lock. The lock was damaged and did not work. He refers to leaving the rope around Beryls neck. No rope was found around her neck. The third point is crucial. The police knew, of course, that the bodies had been found in the wash house behind some wood. Obviously, Evans confessions had to tally with this, so in them he says the murder of Beryl was committed on the Tuesday night, and on the same night he put the body in the wash house and put wood in front of it. It was not until after Evans confessions were taken that the police interviewed the workmen, and discovered that the plasterer had completed the ceiling of the wash house on the 9th of November and noticed nothing unusual. Worse still, the wash house had been swept out on 11th and was left empty. The room was just 52 by 54 inches, and it is hardly possible that two corpses could have been in there on 11th without anyone noticing. Not only that - the wood used to cover the bodies consisted of floorboards taken up from the front passageway in 10 Rillington Place, and this had not been done until 11 November. At the time Evans statement has him putting the wood in front of the bodies that self same wood was still a part of the floor. It was possible that Evans had never even seen the planks, since the carpenter said he had given it to Christie on 14th. Not only does this information suggest strongly that this aspect of Evans confession is false, it also suggests that whether or not Christie actually committed the murders, he was involved in hiding the bodies. The workmen were taken to the police station and told that they must have been mistaken. After considerable pressure both of them were persuaded to modify their stories. The plasterer took with him a time sheet which showed clearly that he had worked in the wash house after the time Evans said he had put the bodies there, but this was not returned to him.

The Trial Proceedings commenced at the Old Bailey on 11 January 1950. The prosecution had decided to take the case of the murder of Geraldine. They could not take the two together, and there was the possibility that if they had taken the murder of Beryl, a plea of provocation could have been brought. Where two murders are held to be part of the same transaction, evidence of the first can be allowed in respect of the second, but not the other way about, so in proceeding with the case of Geraldine, the prosecution could introduce evidence regarding Beryl. After his questioning by the police, Evans went back to the story in statement 2. His defence was that Christie was the murderer. Christie was questioned on the first day of the trial, and the point was made that he had been a policeman during the Second World War and had served in the previous war. During his evidence, Christie frequently referred to being ill and in pain, and probably made quite a pathetic figure in the witness box. It wasnt until later cross-examination that the history of his past petty crimes came to light. The last offences known about had taken place seventeen years previously, and the prosecution made a good job of suggesting that these minor pieces of trouble were irrelevant to the case in hand. The difficulty in defending Evans was that he had lied on many previous occasions, could be

shown to have done so, and admitted to having done so. He was alleging that Christie had carried out actions which he (Christie) claimed to be too ill to be capable of, and he also claimed that Christie had performed, or tried to perform an abortion on Beryl which the post mortem showed quite clearly had not been the case. These factors increased the perception of the jury that everything he said was a lie. The summing up did not help matters, as it was suggested that the abortion story either meant that Evans was lying or that the doctor who examined Beryl was wrong. The third possibility, that Christie was lying, was never mentioned. The judge also accepted without question that Christie state of health meant he was incapable of carrying out the murder or disposing of Beryls body. Had greater attention been paid to Christies tales of woe, and checks made with his doctor, his stories would have been shown to be either heavily embroidered or quite false. The jury was out for only forty minutes before delivering their verdict.

Exhumation Following the conviction of Christie in 1953, and his confession to the murder of Beryl, her body was exhumed. Christie had indicated that he had given her gas and then strangled her. He had also said that she had been depressed and wanted to end her life, thus suggesting that it was a mercy killing. It was always the case with Christie that even though he committed the most repulsive crimes he tried to show himself in a good light. Found on the premises was a tobacco tin, and in this were four samples of pubic hair. Christie had said that they were, as far as he could recollect, from Mrs Christie and the three women in the alcove, but at the time it was impossible to show with any certainty who they were from. There was also no indication that Beryl had ever been given sufficient gas to render her unconscious. Keith Simpson examined Beryls body, and, examining the cut ends of the hair, was sure that none of the hair in the tin was hers. So was Christie lying about Beryl? Was he simply trying to add another murder to his list, to increase the likelihood of an insanity plea succeeding? He had indeed said on one occasion, "The more the merrier". When Evans was eventually pardoned, it was because it was felt that while he might have killed Beryl, Christie had killed Geraldine, the murder of which Evans had been convicted.

Analysis. The great difficulty in analysing this case is the certain knowledge that both Christie and Evans were liars, and that Mrs Christie was prepared to tell lies to help her husband. Who does one believe? Firstly, I am inclined to believe the initial story told by the workmen at 10 Rillington Place. They had no motive to do other than tell the truth, and they also had their time sheets to refer to, as well as memory. It is understandable that they changed their stories under severe pressure, as at the time it must have seemed like a minor matter in the case. I also find the story told by Mrs Vincent very convincing. She had no reason to lie, and in any case no-one has doubted what she said, although after Mrs Christie said the incident had happened on the Monday, the police suggested to Mrs Vincent that she had been mistaken. The only doubts therefore are as to the date. Given the fact that she found the front door open, the 8th is the most likely date. This leaves us with only two possibilities - either Beryl was behind the kitchen door, or Christie was. The question I am now going to ask is - whose signature was on the crimes? Since Evans had no other convictions, this could be tricky, but look at the accounts of his rows with Beryl, some of which occurred in front of witnesses. Quarrels were apparently frequent, and did sometimes come to violence, the couple

having been seen on one occasion exchanging blows in front of the window. Beryl once threw a jar at his head and he once pushed her so she fell into a chair. What we see no evidence of is Evans punching her in the face, of past injuries to Beryl, of his trying to strangle her, or of using a ligature. If Evans had killed Beryl during a quarrel it would have been a "heat of the moment" thing - the most likely outcome of the kind of quarrel described being a push leading to a fall. If he had strangled her, the most probable means would have been that used by most impulse stranglers - bare hands. The ligature, which of itself tends to suggest a premeditated crime, is, however, without a doubt, Christies signature. Every murder we know for certain was committed by Christie was done in this way, either by his admission or by physical evidence. The other part of Christies signature is that by various means, his victim should be either unconscious or in a physically vulnerable position before strangling. In Christies account of the murder of Ruth Fuerst he strangled her during intercourse, and gas was not involved. Mrs Christie was killed first thing in the morning while asleep or half awake, and gas inhalation was involved in the case of Muriel Eady and the last three murders. In Beryls case, Christie said he gave her gas, but demonstrably did not. This factor is cited as evidence that it was Evans and not Christie who killed her. I disagree. A perfectly possible scenario is that Beryl panicked and struggled at the last moment, before inhaling significant amounts of gas, and Christie punched her unconscious. He did not admit he had done so for a very good reason. As previously mentioned, he always liked to show himself in a good light. In his confession to the murder of Beryl he said that she was depressed and wanted to die, and he had put her out of her misery. He even suggested that Beryl had attempted suicide. To accord with this image of himself as the benevolent helper, it was reasonable, so he might have thought, to say he had given her gas, but not that he had punched her in the face. Recall, also, that Christie was no stranger to violence. He had twice been in court for offences of violence, and had threatened violence against Maureen. I dont attach any importance to the fact that Beryls pubic hair was not one of the samples in the tin. Even Christie did not claim that it was, and in any case, there were only four samples and seven adult corpses. Did Evans kill his daughter? Everyone who knew Evans found it difficult to believe that he had harmed Geraldine. This is not evidence, of course, and people have been known to be wrong about these things, but everything we know points to his extreme fondness for the child. Evans, who was a notably inept liar, also gave every impression after 10 November, in both word and deed, that he believed Geraldine to be alive, right up to the moment the police told him of finding her body. I find nothing inconsistent with the suggestion that Christie killed Geraldine, although he never in so many words confessed to this murder. The nearest he came to it, in his many rambling and contradictory statements was :" If someone came up to me - that is what I was going to mention previously - and told me that there is definite proof that I had something to do with one of them or both of them, I should accept it as being right, that I must have done it, but I want to know the truth about it as much as you do" Of course, it would not have fitted his self-image to confess to such a crime. In all the other cases he had claimed that either the victim had been a sexual aggressor, or he had carried out mercy killings of women who were ill or depressed. Although he killed for sexual purposes, one of his killings, that of Mrs Christie, was probably to get her out of the way. Once he had killed Beryl, the presence of Geraldine drew attention to her mothers disappearance. Christie did have a habit of just hoping that things would blow over - they certainly had in the case of Fuerst and Eady. He must have hoped that with Beryl and Geraldine disposed of, and Evans out of London, that would be the end of the matter. He had reckoned, of course, without the persistent enquiries of Evans family. I am led to the conclusion therefore, on the balance of the evidence and probabilities, that Christie killed both Beryl and Geraldine Evans.

What did Christie intend to do eventually with the bodies of Beryl and Geraldine? They could not remain in the wash house indefinitely. It is not even certain when he moved the bodies there. It must have been after the workmen finished - certainly after 11 November, and perhaps when he asked for the wood on the 14th he had some idea then of using it to hide the bodies. The arrival at his door of Evans on 23rd must have been disturbing, and if he had not already moved the bodies then, he would have done so soon afterwards. The visits of Eileen and Maureen must have been an important factor, especially in view of Maureens threats to go to the police. The crucial incident, however, was the police search of the drain. If Christie had indeed told Evans that the body of Beryl was there, then this was the clearest indication that Evans had spoken to the police. Perhaps Christie had originally intended to bury the bodies as he had Fuerst and Eady, but once the police were involved, another plan must have come to mind. If he had buried them, then the freshly turned soil would have been obvious and then the other victims would be found. There was no need, however. Why strain his back moving bodies and digging the garden? If the police came, and found the bodies, all he had to do was put the blame on Evans.

Linda Stratmann
Linda Stratmann 2000 References

The Investigation of Murder by F E Camps and Richard Barber, Scientific Book Club 1966 10 Rillington Place by Ludovic Kennedy. Panther Books 1971 edition. The Man on Your Conscience by Michael Eddowes, Cassell 1955 Forty Years of Murder by Professor Keith Simpson Granada 1980

* Since writing this item I have read with very great interest 'The Two Killers of Rillington Place' by John Eddowes. He makes a very good case for Evans having been the murderer of Beryl and Geraldine. At present (2004) time does not permit me to write extensively on this, but I do recommend that anyone with an interest in this case should read this book. [True Crime] [Site Map] [ Home Page ]