The Acid Bath Murders
The Acid Bath Murders aka John Haigh: cold-blooded killer 19 August, 2025 When Olive Durand Deacon went uncharacteristically missing in 1949 from the Onlsow Court Hotel in west London, focus quickly turned towards John George Haigh, a man who had been seen to recently ingratiate himself with the widow. Date of crime: Between 1944 and 1949 Almost boasting, Haigh told police that he had murdered the missing woman, but her body would never been found since he had dissolved it in sulphuric acid. A search of his factory premises unearthed several clues that suggested his claim was true, but there was no sign of a body. Amazingly, Haigh went on to say that his experiments with sulphuric acid had been going on for several years and he had systematically murdered five other people in the space of 5 years. “How can you prove murder if there is no body?” He had dissolved each of their bodies in 45-gallon drums containing the corrosive acid. Enquiries confirmed that each of the victims had not been seen for several years and Haigh’s claims were proving to be correct. He had murdered two families: William and Amy McSwann and their son William and three years later, Archie and Rose Henderson. His motive for murder was pure greed. After each of the cold-blooded killings, he forged documents and deceived solicitors and families into believing he was entitled to their assets and spent the proceeds on hotel bills, fine wine and gambling. When the money ran out, he simply looked for another wealthy victim. Haigh pleaded not guilty to murder on the grounds that he was insane and even volunteered that he had drunk the blood of each of his victims. Shortly before his trial he admitted to other killings though there was no evidence to support his claims. The jury did not believe him to have been insane and Haigh was hanged in 1949. Since leaving school, he had spent most of his time deceiving people, going to prison and spending other people’s money. The victims… Olivia Durand Deacon, William McSwann, William Donald McSwann, Amy McSwann and Archie and Rose Henderson How did Haigh get access to sulphuric acid? He had fraudulently set up a business as an engineering company which purportedly needed sulphuric acid. He had no problem in ordering as much he needed Where was Haigh’s factory where he murdered Olive Durand Deacon? Leopold Road, Crawley. The building no longer exists. Why did people not report the victims as missing? Haigh managed to convince friends and family that each of the victims had genuine reasons to be away. Some did raise concerns and one relative threatened to go to the police, but none was ever reported as officially missing. Were any body parts found at all? Yes, some remnants of human bone were found, some teeth and some gall stones. How did Haigh murder his victims? We only have his own version of this. The McSwanns were hit about the head and the Hendersons and Durand Deacon were shot with a .38 calibre Enfield revolver Interested in a talk on this topic? Enquire Now Recent Stories Britain’s first railway murder Read More The Kray Twins Read More The Murder of Sidney Spicer Read More The Rillington Place Murders Read More Load More Topics Crime & Punishment: Death Penalty (4) Crimes Abroad or Colonial Connections (3) Historical Crimes (Pre-1950) (10) Infamous British Murders (6) Miscarriages of Justice & Legal Controversies (3) Psychological & Social Themes (4) Unsolved or Contested Cases (5) Further reading… The Acid Bath Murders Gordon Lowe(2015) Buy the book:Amazon John George Haigh: The Acid-Bath Murderer Jonathan Oates(2014) Buy the book:Amazon Murder with a Difference Mary Lefebure(1958) Buy the book:Amazon Presentations The Acid Bath Murders case is available as a presentation. Whether delivered on world-wide cruise ships or in a local village hall, it’s absorbing, informative, and entertaining. Contact Paul Stickler for more information… Enquire Now
The Rillington Place Murders
The Rillington Place Murders aka the cases of Timothy Evans and Reg Christie 19 August, 2025 In December 1949, the bodies of Beryl Evans and her young baby, Geraldine, were found in a wash-house in the rear garden of 10, Rillington Place, west London. Date of crime: Between 1943 and 1949 Both had been strangled. Timothy Evans, the husband of Beryl and father of Geraldine was arrested. Evans was a man of low intellect and initially admitted killing his wife, then blamed it on someone else and then admitted to killing both his wife and daughter. At his subsequent trial, he reverted to blaming a downstairs tenant called Reg Christie. The jury convicted Evans and he was hanged in 1950. Had a search of the premises been more thorough, two more skeletal human remains would have been found buried a few feet away in the back garden “She was incurring one debt after another and I couldn’t stand it any longer, so I strangled her with a piece of rope” Three years later, the remains were discovered in the back garden. At the same time, the bodies of three recently strangled women were found in an alcove adjacent to the kitchen of the premises. Each had been raped and strangled. Another body was found buried underneath the floorboards of the living room. The police arrested the former resident of the premises, Reg Christie, who admitted the killing of all the women; the body under the floorboards was his wife. He now also admitted the killing of Beryl Evans three years earlier. Christie pleaded not guilty on the grounds of insanity but was convicted of murder and hanged in 1953. A later judicial review concluded that Evans did not kill his daughter but probably killed his wife despite Christie admitting responsibility. The decision paved the way for Timothy Evans to be posthumously pardoned and his name would forever be synonymous with the abolition of the death penalty in 1965. To this day, doubt remains over who killed who in Rillington Place. The victims… Ruth Fuerst, Muriel Eady, Kathleen Maloney, Hectorina McClellan, Rita Nelson, Ethel Christie, Beryl and Geraldine Evans Could both Christie and Evans be responsible for different killings? In theory, yes. Both Christie and Evans were prolific liars and there is evidence that some of their admissions could not possibly have been true. Many authors have claimed that they have unearthed the truth, but in reality there are many gaps in our knowledge and there will always be room for doubt. Most people believe that Christie was responsible for all the killings and that Evans was a man wrongly convicted. What was Christie’s motive for killing? Quite simply, sexual gratification. He was a regular user of prostitutes (to use the language of the day) and it seems that strangulation and rape was his ultimate fantasy. Is Rillington Place still there? No, it was knocked down in 1971. Where was Timothy Evans arrested? He surrendered himself to Merthyr Vale police station where he declared, “I want to give myself up. I have disposed of my wife” With all those bodies in the house, surely there must have been a horrible smell? There was, though it was masked by cold conditions throughout the winter of 1952/53 and Christie was seen to be putting disinfectant down the drains. Interested in a talk on this topic? Enquire Now Recent Stories The Acid Bath Murders Read More Britain’s first railway murder Read More The Kray Twins Read More The Murder of Sidney Spicer Read More Load More Topics Crime & Punishment: Death Penalty (4) Crimes Abroad or Colonial Connections (3) Historical Crimes (Pre-1950) (10) Infamous British Murders (6) Miscarriages of Justice & Legal Controversies (3) Psychological & Social Themes (4) Unsolved or Contested Cases (5) Further reading… 10 Rillington Place Ludovic Kennedy1971 Buy the book:Amazon Rillington Place – The Brabin Report HMSO1966 Buy the book:Amazon Murder with a difference Molly Lefebure1958 Buy the book:Amazon Presentations Rillington Place Murders case is available as a presentation. Whether delivered on world-wide cruise ships or in a local village hall, it’s absorbing, informative, and entertaining. Contact Paul Stickler for more information… Enquire Now
The Green Bicycle Murder
The Green Bicycle Murder aka the killing of Bella Wright 18 August, 2025 Around 6.30pm, on 5 July 1919, 21-year-old Bella Wright left her home in the quiet village of Stoughton just to the east of Leicester. Date of crime: 5 July 1919 She intended to cycle a journey of just over 4 miles to the village of Ga(u)lby to see her uncle and his family. Bella arrived at her uncle’s house around 7.45pm and went inside to see the family. While inside, her uncle, George Measures, went outside and saw a man cycle past on a green bicycle paying obvious attention to his house. He thought no more of it until 9pm when Bella left the house as she did not want to cycle home in the dark. She developed a problem with her bicycle and a family member spent a short time repairing it. As he was doing so, the same man on the green bicycle pulled up and spoke to the family gathered outside. Despite ostensibly not knowing this man, she cycled away from the house in company with him much to the amazement of the family. Fifteen minutes later, she was found dead a short distance from the village; she had received a single bullet wound to the head. “He saw the woman’s bloodied face and a pool of blood extending from underneath her hat” Despite exhaustive enquiries by the local police and Scotland Yard, no suspect was identified. However, in February 1920, a green bicycle frame was recovered from the nearby Leicester canal. A further trawl by the police recovered the rest of the bicycle together with a revolver holster and some .45 calibre ammunition. The bicycle was traced to Ronald Light, a schoolteacher in Cheltenham. Light was picked out on a series of identification parades by witnesses who saw the man with Bella on the day she met her death. Light was charged with the murder and admitted being the man last seen with Bella only minutes before she met her death. He also admitted disposing of the bicycle and the ammunition in the canal but was acquitted by the jury. Fresh information emerged after the trial but the case today remains unsolved. The victim… Annie Bella Wright Annie Bella Wright (known as Bella) was 21 years old at the time of her death. She was described as an attractive and happy woman and lived with her parents Kenus and Mary in the village of Stoughton a few miles from where she was found shot dead. She had a younger brother called Philip; other siblings had unfortunately already died by the time of Bella’s death. All came from a farming community. She had a boyfriend at the time of her death but who was away at sea with the navy at the time. She had originally worked in domestic service though more recently she had worked at a rubber factory. She is buried in Stoughton churchyard where her grave is tended by some of her descendants. Did the calibre of the bullet wound to Bella’s head match that of a .45 calibre weapon? We cannot be sure of this due to a lack of detailed information, but everything indicates that it was a smaller calibre which had been used to fire the fatal shot. How did the police trace the bicycle to Ronald Light? Amazingly, despite a serial number having been erased from the frame, anther was found on the handlebar stem. This was traced to a shop in Derby who were able to say they had sold the bicycle to Light. Where exactly did Bella meet her death? By a gate on Gartree Road close to the village of Little Stretton. Did the attack have a sexual motive? Nothing is obvious that sex was a motive in the attack. She had not been ‘outraged’ as it was described at the time. This, of course, does not mean that a sexual motive can be completely ruled out. What ever became of Ronald Light? It appears he later married, changed his name and moved to Kent. Interested in a talk on this topic? Enquire Now Recent Stories The Acid Bath Murders Read More Britain’s first railway murder Read More The Kray Twins Read More The Murder of Sidney Spicer Read More Load More Topics Crime & Punishment: Death Penalty (4) Crimes Abroad or Colonial Connections (3) Historical Crimes (Pre-1950) (10) Infamous British Murders (6) Miscarriages of Justice & Legal Controversies (3) Psychological & Social Themes (4) Unsolved or Contested Cases (5) Further reading… The Green Bicycle Mystery Antony M Brown2007 Buy the book:Amazon Presentations The Green Bicycle Murder case is available as a presentation. Whether delivered on world-wide cruise ships or in a local village hall, it’s absorbing, informative, and entertaining. Contact Paul Stickler for more information… Enquire Now
The A6 Murder
The A6 Murder aka the James Hanratty affair 15 July, 2025 In August 1961, 22-year-old Valerie Storie and her partner, 36-year-old Michael Gregsten, were approached by a gunman as they were sitting in their Morris Minor car in a cornfield in Dorney Reach, Buckinghamshire. Date of crime: August 1961 The gunman demanded their valuables and then held them captive for 2 hours before ordering them to drive towards London. Seemingly with no obvious plan, the gunman continued to order the couple to drive through the night. They eventually found themselves driving along the A6 and just north of Clophill, Bedfordshire, they were ordered to pull over into a layby. Within the hour, Michael had been shot dead in the back of the head and Valerie was raped as blood poured from her partner’s wounds. The killer then shot Valerie five times but miraculously she survived, though she would be paralysed from the neck down for the rest of her life. Within 2 months James Hanratty was arrested and charged with the murder and the following year he was convicted and hanged. He was 25 years old. But this was the beginning of the story. For forty years there would be claims that there had been a miscarriage of justice, the police had allowed the real killer to slip through their fingers and Valerie had been mistaken in her identification of her attacker. She was subjected to public ridicule for sending an innocent man to the hangman’s noose until 2001 when DNA evidence confirmed Hanratty’s guilt. This is the story of a brave and resourceful woman who maintained a dignified silence throughout the 40-year ordeal. After she died in 2016, her personal papers were passed to Paul Stickler who has described the events from 1961 to 2016 in great detail in his book, The Long Silence. The victims… Valerie Storie Valerie Storie was born on 24 November 1938 in Cippenham, Buckinghamshire. She was the only child of Jack and Marjorie. She was a bookish child and went to grammar school but refused to go to university. Instead, she took a job at the Road Research Laboratories in Langley where she met Michael Gregsten. After her shooting and subsequent paralysis, she returned to the laboratory and became involved in assessing the causes of car accidents. After the death of her parents, who had become her full-time carers, she fended for herself and immersed herself in work and several hobbies, particularly family history research. Those who knew her well, described her as brave, intelligent and a no-nonsense sort of woman. Despite her horrendous ordeal and paralysis, she never complained about her predicament and was always seen with a smile on her face. She died on 26 March 2016. Michael Gregsten Michael Gregsten was born in December 1924 and after attending grammar school he joined the RAF. He left the service in 1946 and a few years later he met his wife-to-be, Janet Phillips. Michael and Janet married in 1951 and had two children, Simon (1953) and Anthony (1959). Michael met Valerie Storie at the Road Research Centre at Langley in 1957. After this, Michael and Janet’s relationship started to deteriorate which resulted in Michael leaving home on a number of occasions though he remained a devoted father to his two children. It is clear that Michael was suffering from episodes of anxiety and depression but no more so than many others who found themselves in similar positions. On the day that Michael was shot dead, he had separated once more from his wife and had seemed set to start a new life in Maidenhead. What were Valerie and Michael doing in the cornfield in the first place? They had stopped there on the way home from the Old Station Inn at Taplow to discuss their future. Michael had recently left his wife and had found a new home in Maidenhead. Where did Valerie live? She lived in the house in which she had been born in Anthony Way, Slough with her parents. She died in the same house in 2016. Why would James Hanratty be in cornfield with a gun when he was a petty thief from London? This is a long answer and is outlined in detail in The Long Silence. However, he was not a petty thief, and he was an accomplished burglar for which he had been sent to prison three years earlier. He had boasted about getting a gun and becoming a stick-up man. He routinely toured the countryside looking for houses to break into. On 22 August 1961, he accidentally stumbled across Michael and Valerie in their car. At this point, he became a stick-up man. What made Hanratty turn into a killer and a rapist? Again, this is a long answer and is outlined in detail in The Long Silence. In essence, he got carried away with his adventurous plan and suddenly panicked when he thought he was about to be overpowered. He pulled the trigger of his gun and then turned his attentions on Valerie. Was James Hanratty the last man to be hanged in Britain? No, but he was the last man to be hanged in Bedford prison on 4 April 1962. Interested in a talk on this topic? Enquire Now Recent Stories The Acid Bath Murders Read More Britain’s first railway murder Read More The Kray Twins Read More The Murder of Sidney Spicer Read More Load More Topics Crime & Punishment: Death Penalty (4) Crimes Abroad or Colonial Connections (3) Historical Crimes (Pre-1950) (10) Infamous British Murders (6) Miscarriages of Justice & Legal Controversies (3) Psychological & Social Themes (4) Unsolved or Contested Cases (5) Further reading… The Long Silence Paul Stickler2021 In August 1961, Valerie Storie and Michael Gregsten were kidnapped at gunpoint. Michael was murdered, and Valerie was left for dead. The Long Silence is Valerie’s posthumous account, authored with Paul Stickler, detailing the infamous A6 murder and her decades of silence before the truth could be fully told. “The car crept through the silent streets of