The Fazakerley Mystery

The shooting dead of a man who was looking for work in Fazakerley in 1892 was never solved after the two boys suspected of the offence couldn't be traced.

On the afternoon of Friday 2nd September that year Emily Mellor was in her home on Strawberry Lane when she saw a man turn the corner from Stopgate Lane and beckon her. Emily and her sister went out to see the man and he told them he had been shot by two boys, who had ran off towards the stiles. 

Emily gave the man some water and beer and although in a state of exhaustion he did not appear to be in any great danger. A farmer named Mr Walker, who was working in a field opposite, said he had seen two boys, one aged about fourteen who was wearing a cape and the other younger, running across an orchard. As the man was having a drink of water he told Emily that he had been looking for Harrison's farm as there may be work available, and he had been shot in the back by a boy wearing a cape who was playing with some others.

The man got up and went into a rear yard and was found dead in a closet shortly afterwards. The police were sent for and the the body was removed to the Railway Hotel where it was photographed. There was a bullet hole in the back of the coat and the only personal effects was a small pocket knife. A description was circulated, describing the man as being 30-35 years old, five feet six inches tall, having brown hair an a moustache, and wearing a green coat and brown trousers.

A postmortem was performed by Dr Anderson, who found that the bullet had passed the spine and severed the mesenteric artery before resting in the stomach. There was no way in his opinion that the wound could have been self inflicted. However the police continued to investigate the suicide theory but accepted this couldn't be the case when no gun was found in the vicinity.

The inquest was opened at the Railway Hotel on the following Monday before the coroner Samuel Brighouse. Evidence was heard from Emily, Dr Anderson and police officers, then the hearing was adjourned for a week to allow further enquiries to be made. That evening a lady named Anna Purchase called into the police office at Dale Street and asked for a description of the man who had been shot in Fazakerley. She was then taken to Fazakerley where she identified the body as that of her James Kellet, who she was co-habiting with in Kempston Street off London Road.

When the inquest resumed a boy named Charles Quillam who lived in Walton said that on they in question he had spoken to two boys by the entrance to Everton Cemetery. He said that one of the boys showed him a revolver and said they had walked one hundred miles as they were looking for a man who had stolen a cloak from their shop. A girl called Elizabeth Kinghorn recalled giving two boys some water in Stopgate Lane and that they then ran away as fast as they could. On the direction of the coroner, the jury returned a verdict of 'fatally shot by two boys unknown' and the mystery was never solved. 

Hit With an Iron and Gassed

A man who knocked his wife unconscious with an iron then put her head in an oven and gassed her to death was found guilty but insane.

Early in 1942 Walter Bentick was discharged from the RAF due to his nerves and returned to his family at 61 Greenwich Road, Fazakerley. The 31 year old lived there with his 26 year old wife Pauline and two young children, aged two and three. The couple had their occasional quarrels, resulting from his medical condition, but were generally very happy.

On 25th April 1943 at around 10pm two of Pauline's sisters called round and were told by Walter that she had left him. An hour later, another sister called and demanded more answers, leading to Walter pointing to the kitchen and saying that she was in there. Her sister then found Pauline dead, her head resting on an open oven door. Walter said that they had been happy all afternoon but she had made him do it and he had been trying to die all afternoon but couldn't.

When Walter was questioned by police he told them that he had hit his wife with an iron and that he hadn't intended it. When his clothing was searched, what appeared to be a suicide note was found which read 'Please Pauline always look after the children, never forget that I always loved you and them. I will always be near you but do not forget me, I love you all, Wallie.' A post mortem was carried out which established that Pauline was pregnant and that the blow to the head had caused a fracture of the skull but carbon monoxide poisoning was the cause of death. 

Walter was committed for trial at the Liverpool Assizes, where he was defended by Rose Heilbron on 9th June. Pauline's sisters stated that she had told them Walter had been acting oddly in the preceding weeks, and that he was always fidgety on trams and often walked in circles around the bedroom at night. Miss Heilbron produced evidence that showed both Walter's father and brother had died in mental homes and two doctors who had examined him since the killing felt that he had suffered serious brain damage as a result of epilepsy. 

Without leaving the box the jury returned a verdict of guilty but insane, leading to Walter being detained at His Majesty's pleasure. He died in an asylum in Macclesfield in 1985.

Deaf Lovers Found Dead

A man who was out looking for a canary made a terrible discovery when he found the bodies of two lovers, one of whom had killed the other before committing suicide.

Early in the morning of 11th August 1914 a man was on a footpath near the back of Everton Cemetery trying to find a canary of his that escaped. Instead though he found the bodies of a man and woman, whose throats had been cut. A bloodied razor blade was nearby.

The police identified the bodies thanks to documents that were in a satchel lying next to them. They were William Holden, a 31 year old tailor from 36 Esmond Street in Anfield, and 24 year Ethel Frost who lived in 3 Mandeville Street in Walton. There appeared to have been a struggle given the marks on the body of Ethel.

Two days later an inquest took place before the Deputy Coroner, Mr A G Inglis. Ethel's sister explained that the couple, who were both deaf, had been courting for two years and intended to marry. However in the last few weeks Ethel had became close to another deaf man, Josiah Jones. This caused tensions and Holden had threatened to shoot Jones.

The inquest then heard that things came to a head on 11th August when Holden and Ethel visited a friend called Jessie Hillier. Jones was also present and a quarrel took place, leading to Holden telling Ethel their courtship was over and leaving. Ethel said  she was glad, but Holden did return and they made up, had tea and then went out together. That was the last anyone saw of them until the bodies were found the next morning.

Letters recovered which had been written by Holden were said by Mr Inglis to be 'long and rambling clearly showing that he had no control over either his pen or his brain.' The jury found that Holden had murdered Frost before committing suicide in a bout of temporary insanity.