The killing of a newborn baby in Everton was never solved, detectives failing to trace the writer of a letter that was found at the scene.
On the morning of 16th April 1915 two binmen named Alfred Kelly and John Roberts found an unaddressed parcel on the steps of 2 Tynemouth Street in Everton, which was taken back to the dustcart. On cutting the leather strap that tied the brown paper together they were horrified to find the body of a newborn male baby whose throat had been cut.
Also inside was a letter written on bloodstained paper which read....
I am seventeen years old and am in service. I got into trouble through a soldier, I don't know what regiment he is in. I hope you will forgive this act of mine - from a broken hearted girl.
The gruesome find was taken to Breck Road police station, with officers there immediately calling in the CID. The note was treated with some caution, officers believing that it could easily have been written by a killer deliberately seeking to baffle them.
At the inquest on 22nd April the letter was read out by the Deputy Coroner and detectives told how exhaustive enquiries had failed to produce any results. A doctor said that the wound was two inches in length and so deep it went as far as the spine. The jury returned a verdict of 'wilful murder by person's unknown' and the mystery remains unsolved.
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