Shocking Double Murder and Suicide

In 1951 a man shot his wife and mother in law dead before going on the run. He turn the gun on himself the following day as the police net closed in on him.

The double shooting took place on 16th April that year at 32 Underley Street, off Smithdown Road, where Archbishop Blanch school now stands. Lilian Parr lived there with her 25 year old daughter Lilian (known as Beryl) and 29 year old son in law Walter Beech. The young couple were in disagreement over Walter's decision to rent two rooms locally, as Beryl didn't want to leave her 55 year old widowed mother living alone.

At around 6.50pm their neighbour in number 30, Mrs Barber, heard a scream. After getting no answer when she knocked on the front door, she and her husband went round to the backyard and saw the bodies of Lilian and Beryl lying on the kitchen floor. Both had been shot in the chest. Another neighbour,Thomas Gladwinfield from number 34, ran to a phone box and dialled 999.

A huge manhunt was launched, with fifty officers searching local parks, gardens, cemeteries and wasteground for the murder weapon. A warning was issued to the pubic regarding approaching Walter, with the Liverpool echo stating "He may still be armed and is likely to be dangerous". He was described as five feet eleven and three quarter inches tall, slim build, fresh complexion, dark brown hair, clean shaven with blue eyes. He was last seen to be wearing a navy blue raincoat, brown gloves,a collar and tie.

Lilian was a cleaner at Olive Mount hospital and described as very nice and exceedingly popular. Beryl, a nurse at nearby Sefton General hospital, had been married to Walter,a gas welder, for five years and was expecting their first child. For three years of the marriage, Walter had been in prison after being found guilty of housebreaking with firearms in Blundellsands. Friends of Lilian described her as "one of the most pleasant of girls" but that Walter did not like her having friends and was jealous of the mother-daughter relationship.

Around 24 hours after the killings, police received a tip off that Walter was in the Princes Park Hotel, on Upper Stanhope Street. Two detective sergeants went there and saw him at the bar with a lady, then asked him to step into another room of the pub. He have his name as Ray Lewis and said he was a seafarer from a Dutch ship, who had taken rooms across the road. On being told by the detectives that they knew who he was, Walter then took the gun from under his armpit and shouted "Stand back or you will get it, you are not taking me".

In an incredible act of bravery, DS John Beaverstock edged forward and said "Don't be a fool, put that gun away". Walter then pointed the gun towards the stomachs of Beaverstock and his colleague DS Joseph Gillbanks, shouting "Stop, it is loaded and you will get it". He then turned the gun around and shot himself in the head, toppling over. A search of Walter found he was carrying  copy of a newspaper containing reports of the killing she had committed.

The lady Walter was with identified herself as Elizabeth Pierce, a 25 year old waitress from Ireland. She said she had first met him on the Monday evening and had a drink then arranged to meet him the following afternoon, but denied spending the night with him. Elizabeth described Walter as "a nice quiet young man".

Lilian and Beryl were buried together at Allerton Cemetery, while Walter was laid in an unmarked public grave at Anfield Cemetery. Neither grave has any maker indicating who is buried there.

Wavertree Lake Tragedy

A woman who drowned her baby boy in Wavertree Lake was found not guilty due to her mental instability.

At around 2am on Sunday 21st July 1912 Police Constable George Smith was passing Wavertree Lake (now a park) when he heard groaning. He waded into the lake and the water was up to his shoulders by the time he saw the outstretched arm of a lady who was clearly struggling.  He managed to swim with her to a shallower part of the lake and another constable helped him pull her ashore.

The lady was insensible but when she regained consciousness was wailing 'Oh my baby'. PC Smith then went back into the lake with grappling irons and half an hour later located the body of a baby boy.  Enquiries established that the woman was Charlotte Heather, who lived with her husband, an electrician, in Cronton Road.

On 1st August the inquest took place. Charlotte's district nurse Elsie Williams said that she was often strange and bewildered in her manner and would worry about money. Such was Charlotte's mental state that Elsie would often sleep overnight at the property and once she had woken up in a trembling fit, saying both her and the baby had fever.

At the direction of the coroner a verdict of wilful murder against Charlotte was returned. They asked if a rider could be added that she was temporarily insane, but the coroner stated it was not their duty to determine the mental state of the prisoner. He did assure them that full consideration would be given to this at the assizes and then commended PC Smith for his prompt actions on rescuing Charlotte and recovering the baby's body.

On 1st November Charlotte appeared at the Liverpool assizes. She told the jury that she had been in bed and heard a voice calling her to see her sister. She can remember sitting by the side of the lake but nothing after that. The jury returned a verdict of not guilty and she was immediately discharged from the dock. She returned to her husband and four years later the couple had another child, a baby girl called Bronwen.

A Shocking Tragedy in Wavertree

In 1850 a terrible event occurred in Wavertree when a domestic servant suspected of killing her infant child committed suicide by drinking poison.

Catherine Carnall was employed by Francis Hollins, a cotton broker who lived in Cow Lane (now Prince Alfred Road). She was the daughter of a Leicestershire farmer and described as of amiable disposition.

In October that year Carnall gave Hollins notice that she would be leaving his service. However on the 17th of the month he received a badly handwritten letter indicating that she had given birth to a child three weeks earlier. When Hollins challenged her she mad a full confession, saying she had wrapped the child up in her apron and let it in the privy.

Hollins ordered a search of the privy and the body of an infant was recovered. This led to Carnall running out and trying to jump into a pond to drown herself. Hollins managed to stop her and took her back to the house and confined her in the parlour. When she asked for permission to go the the water closet, she was allowed to do so but only under the supervision of three other servants. On getting there, she tried to open an adjoining closet instead and was stopped, but then given permission to get an apple.

When Carnall got the apple she immediately threw it on the floor and grabbed a bottle of vitriol, swallowing some of the contents. The bottle was knocked away from her mouth but she collapsed immediately. On being told what had happened Hollins sent for Dr Kenyon of the High Street, but the remedies he had available were not able to save her.

An inquest was held on the body of the baby two days later at Mr Hollins' house. Dr Kenyon gave his opinion that the child had breathed once or twice, but the coroner's jury did not believe that was sufficient evidence to conclude that it had been born alive. In respect of Carnall, they returned a verdict of suicide through temporary insanity. 

Farmer's Hay Selling Trip Ends in Death

A farmer died of head injuries after a trip to Liverpool to sell hay, but nobody was convicted of killing him as he got himself into more than one altercation on the day.

At midnight on Saturday 21st March 1846  William Rimmer returned to his home in Ditton after a trip to Liverpool to sell hay. His horse and cart was missing and he had a large cut on his head, but couldn't recall how he had sustained it.

Rimmer died on 1st April and after enquiries found that he had fought in Brownlow Hill with the man named Smith who bought his hay, the buyer was arrested. However witnesses testified before the Coroner that the fight was with fists only and no weapons were used, leading to Smith being released.

This led to further tracing of Rimmer's route home and it was found that he had stopped at The Lamb in Wavertree and left his horse in the charge of the hostler Thomas Ivey before drinking several glasses of ale. Ivey was then arrested after admitting hitting Rimmer with a poker after being woken abruptly by him. The inquest was resumed on 6th April with Ivey in attendance and after a verdict of manslaughter he was committed for trial.

On 17th August Ivey appeared at the Liverpool assizes before Mr Justice Wightman. He admitted hitting a drunken Rimmer with the poker, but pleaded that he had been woken suddenly by being shaken. After what the Liverpool Mail described as an eloquent and able speech by the defence, Ivey was acquitted and discharged from the dock.

Kicked to Death at Wavertree

Two Liverpool men who went drinking in Wavertree got into a row with some locals leading to the death of one of them and their attackers being convicted of manslaughter.

On the evening of 25th February 1865 William Scott and his brother in law William Shaw, who lived in Everton, went out to Wavertree to visit some public houses. As they were walking back towards Liverpool they briefly got separated and when Scott caught up with Shaw, he was walking alongside two men. Then almost immediately at Wellington Road three more jumped from behind a wall and all five then began beating them.

Shaw managed to break free and ran in the direction of Liverpool shouting 'police' and came across some other men who offered to help. When they returned though, Shaw was insensible on the ground with a small crowd and a policeman gathered around. A shandry was obtained and he was removed to Scott's house, where he was washed down and laid on the sofa.

In the morning Shaw regained consciousness and complained of soreness in his head, which was extremely swollen. However he refused to allow for a doctor to be sent for and instead was put to bed. That afternoon his condition worsened and Dr Rowland, a surgeon from Roscommon Street attended.

Five young men were taken into custody by police initially charged with assault. They were labourers Henry Peers, George Stanley and George Heeney, plumber John Doran and John Littler the assistant gardener at Childwall Abbey.  Doran and Littler admitted throwing punches but not kicking, while the other three denied having any involvement.

On Sunday 12th March Shaw's condition suddenly deteriorated and he slipped into a coma. An operation was carried out on the skull and there was a slight improvement when he regained consciousness and spoke. However after just fifteen minutes he became insensible again and never recovered, the journeyman baker dying the following Wednesday. A post mortem revealed bruises on the arm and shoulder which were consistent with being kicked and softening of brain lobes due to the skull fractures. 

When the inquest took place several witnesses told how Shaw had at first been so drunk that he fell down at the corner of the High Street and Sandown Lane. When one of those apprehended, Peers, tried to help him up Shaw knocked him to the ground. This led to Littler pushing Shaw off him and the subsequent group assault, which Doran and Heeney continued in brutal fashion by kicking him about the head and body as he lay on the ground. 

Nobody had dared intervene in the assault for fear of being attacked themselves. These included cattle driver William Brewer, who was returning from delivering a herd to Old Swan with his brother. when they shouted that they would kill Shaw, Heeney came at them and launched a kick before running off. Deputy Coroner Wybergh summed up by going through the evidence and making it clear two distinct assaults had taken place. The jury were out for a quarter of an hour before returning verdicts of manslaughter against Doran, Heeney and Littler, but acquitting Peers and Stanley. However, at the police court on 22nd March magistrates opted to still send Peers for trial.

Just a week after appearing at the police court the four men were at the assizes at St George's Hall, where they were found guilty of manslaughter. Peers and Littler were recommended for mercy by the jury and Justice Mellor told them that there was a marked distinction between their case and that of the other two. He then sentenced them to six months imprisonment with hard labour and imposed a term of twelve months for Doran and Heeney.

Shot Dead by Jealous Lover

A Javanese sailor who shot his lover dead after he saw her talking to an Englishman in a pub was cleared of murder but convicted of manslaughter.

At the beginning of 1944 Mohamaed Lamri, a 33 year old seaman from Java, began co-habiting with 22 year old Elizabeth Anderson in a house in Smithdown Road. On 1st April that year Lamri saw her talking to another man in a pub and asked her why she was doing that, leading to her replying that she had known the male for a number of years.

That evening another resident of the house where the couple lived, Frances Brown, heard a scream and ran upstairs to their room. Elizabeth was sitting on the bed holding her stomach and said that she had been shot by Lamri, who threatened to do the same to Frances if she called the police. She ran off and fetched Elizabeth's mother, who was told by her daughter that 'it was an accident mummy', the revolver going off after she tried to take it from Lamri. By then, the two of them were sat on the bed with their arms around each other smoking a cigarette.

Elizabeth was taken to hospital where she died the following morning. When Lamri was arrested, he claimed that he wasn't even in the room when the shot was fired, but medical evidence was that the wound could not have been self inflicted.  He was charged with murder and appeared at the Liverpool assizes on 14th June for a trial which lasted three days, partly due to an interpreter being required. Mr Justice Croom-Johnson said it was terrible that a man was being tried for his life in a language he did not understand.

Under cross examination those who were there on the day acknowledged that Elizabeth had shown no resentment to Lamri after the shooting and they not looked under any strain a few minutes before. Lamri was not called to give evidence by his counsel Edward Wooll K.C. Addressing the court, he said that although such relationships were deplorable Elizabeth had died a gallant death and had sought to absolve him of any blame. After some deliberation the jury found Lamri guilty of manslaughter and he was sentenced to eighteen months imprisonment with hard labour.

Triple Child Murder In Wavertree

In 1890 three young children were killed by their mother who had fallen ill after failing to settle in Liverpool.

In 1889 customs officer Charles Charlton was relocated to Liverpool from Southsea, taking up residence at 16 Garmoyle Road with his wife Leah and three children Bob (4) Dorothy (2) and new baby Barbara. Leah though failed to settle in the area and made few friends, becoming convinced that everybody was out to get her and she would often tell her husband as he left for work that she may be dead when he returned.

Only one side of Garmoyle Road was built then and when some bricks were placed opposite the Charlton home in readiness for more development and she told her husband that they were meant to kill her. No amount of persuasion could convince her otherwise and when the body of a local boy was found in a nearby claypit on the morning of Thursday 8th May, it triggered the catastrophic tragedy that left three young children dead.

Leah was certain that whoever had caused the death of the young boy would be coming for her family next and after putting her children to bed that night she cut their throats with a razor as they slept. When her husband returned home at 7.30pm she answered the door holding the razor, then calmly slashed herself across the throat. Charles sought assistance from a neighbour who managed to summon a policeman, who found the bodies of the older two children in their beds. When asked why she had killed two of her children, Leah wrote on a piece of paper that the mob were out to get them and that there was a third child. The body of 10 month old Barbara was then found in her cot.

After spending a night in the Royal Southern Hospital, Leah was taken to the Toxteth Workhouse Hospital the following day, where she was not expected to survive. Intrigued crowds gathered outside the house, where the bodies of the three children remained until the inquest on the Saturday, which was held at the nearby Bourne Arms hotel. A verdict of wilful murder was returned and they were buried in the same grave in Toxteth Park cemetery two days later at an internment attended by just Mr Charlton, his brother and a handful of police officers.

On 4th August 1890 Leah was tried at the Liverpool Assizes before Justice Vaughan Williams. Charles Charlton was in court to hear his wife described by the prosecution as a 'kind, affectionate and attentive mother' whose move away from her family and friends had led to her being in 'an unsatisfactory condition of health.' Doctors from Toxteth Workhouse, Walton Gaol and Rainhill Asylum all said she was suffering from melancholia, hallucinations and delusions. It took the jury no time at all to find Leah guilty but not responsible for her actions. She was then detained at Her Majesty's Pleasure.

The Cranborne Road Murder

Widowed recluse Beatrice Rimmer was battered to death in her Wavertree home, leading to the execution of two youths in what may be a miscarriage of justice.

On 19th August 1951 Beatrice was seen returning to her house at 7 Cranborne Road after visiting her son in Madryn Street, Dingle. The next day, when her milk remained on her doorstep and the morning paper was left stuck in the letterbox, neighbours became worried. When her son visited that night he saw his mothers body lying in a pool of blood, still clutching the flowers he had given her the previous day.

Detectives arriving on the scene found that entry had been made through a kitchen window. Local gossip suggested that there was a large sum of money in the house and it was summised that having been unable to find the money, the killer(s) opted to force Beatrice to disclose where it was.

A post mortem revealed that 2 weapons had been used and that individually none of the 15 blows would have been fatal. Beatrice appeared to have suffered a slow agonising death by killers trying to extract information, rather than by a homicidal maniac.

A month after the murders an army deserter, George McLaughlin, claimed to have known the murderers from his cell in Walton Gaol. He told how he had met a Manchester man in an all night cafe and agreed to rob a house in Wavertree with him. He was later introduced to another man who would also take part in the robbery. The idea was that Jane Bury, a local waitress would knock on the door to distract Beatrice, allowing the others to enter through the back, ransack the property and run off with what they could. McLaughlin was arrested two days before for his desertion and the robbery went ahead without him. As McLaughlin's aunt lived at 109 Cranborne Road, it may be that he knew that Mrs Rimmer lived alone and supposedly had money and valuables in the house.

When June Bury was questioned, she named the robbers as Alfred Burns and Edward Devlin, aged 21 and 22 and both from Manchester. Head of the investigation, Chief Superintendent Bert Balmer spoke to Burns' girlfriend, Marie Milne ('Chinese Marie'), who claimed that she had initially been asked to act as lookout but later told she wasn't needed. She had When she met the men later, Devlin was agitated and frightened that they may have killed Beatrice. Another man interviewed said that he was asked to take part after McLaughlins arrest, but dropped out after initially agreeing.

With enough evidence to question the suspects, both were arrested in Manchester and brought to Liverpool. Devlin claimed to have been breaking into a warehouse in Manchester with Burns at the time of the murder. Burns did not offer an alibi. They were picked out of an identification parade by McLaughlin, but not by the man they had asked to assist them in the robbery. Forensic tests on bloodstains found on the defendants clothing proved inconclusive, nor were any fingerprints or murder weapons found, meaning only eyewitness evidence was available. The defence case was simple -that nobody had seen the accused enter the house or commit the murder, therefore any prosecution evidence was purely circumstantial.

Burns and Devlin claimed to have been committing a robbery at Sun Blinds Ltd in Manchester at the time and a man convicted of that crime swore on oath that he had been accompanied by them. Both defendants accounts of the robbery were unconvincing and told in no more detail than they could have learned from the newspapers. The Prosecution then told that the Manchester robbery actually happened 24 hours before the Cranborne Road murder, rendering both alibis useless.

After a 10 day trial, the jury took 75 minutes to find the pair guilty of murder, with appeals immediately being launched. A friend of June Bury, Elizabeth Rooke, claimed that her testimony was only made as she was covering up the real killer, her lover Austin O'Toole. However, the Prosecution told how he had been in jail at the time of the killing. June Bury swore that her original statement was true, knowing that she faced a lengthy spell of imprisonment for perjury otherwise.

The appeal was dismissed but the Home Secretary Sir David Maxwell Fyfe ordered an inquiry into the investigation, postponing the execution for one week. The report concluded there were 'no reasonable grounds to suggest that a miscarriage of justice had taken place'.  Pleas to Queen Elizabeth II failed and both were hanged on 25th April 1952. Relatives continued to insist the men were innocent, but two days later a Sunday newspaper claimed that one of them had made a confession shortly before the execution.

However, extensive research over a ten year period by George Skelly has placed considerable doubt on the convictions, especially in light of the quashing of the verdicts of the two men found guilty of the Cameo cinema killings, a case which bore a remarkable similarity to this in the way the convictions were obtained. In February 2013 he published Murderers or Martyrs but the Criminal Cases Review Commission has so far refused to look at it again.

The Cameo Cinema Murders

On the 19th March, 1949 the manager of the Cameo Cinema in Webster Road, Wavertree and his assistant were shot dead during a robbery in which the gunman got away with just £50 and led to an innocent man being hanged. 

During the investigation, 9,500 houses were visited and 75,000 people interviewed but police got no nearer to the culprits. On 4th April a letter arrived at police headquarters offering the names of two suspects. This led to the arrests in September of local petty criminals George Kelly and Charles Connolly.

Despite no murder weapon being found and Kelly and Connolly having apparently good alibis for their whereabouts at the time of the killing, both stood trial and a jury failed to reach a verdict. They were re-tried separately and Kelly was found guilty of murder and sentenced to death.

The main prosecution evidence in the trial was given by a local prostitute, Jackie Dickson and her boyfriend James Northam, who had recently been released from prison. They alleged that the plot to rob the cinema was carried out in the Beehive pub (left) at 7.30-8pm, when George Kelly produced a gun. Kelly maintains that he was drinking with his friend Jimmy Skelly at various pubs throughout the day but at no time did he go in the Beehive. He did admit to being in pubs in the vicinity of the cinema shortly after the killings and witnesses corroborated this. However, it would appear doubtful that he would have been able to commit the killings, dispose of the gun, clean himself up and drink in local pubs in the timescale involved. Connolly claimed to have been at a dance with his wife, having initially saying he had been at work but admitting later that he got the dates wrong due to the length of time from the shootings to arrest.

Despite appeals, In March 1950  Kelly was hanged for the murders, while  Connolly was sentenced to 10 years in prison for robbery. Connolly later admitted he pleaded guilty to robbery on the advice of his solicitor to save himself from the gallows but this almost certainly condemned Kelly. The appeal judges pointed to Connolly's guilty plea as evidence of Kelly's guilt. Connolly maintained his innocence until his death in 1997 and George Kelly's family continued to fight to clear his name. 

The 50th anniversary of the shootings led to more research into the case. A book by George Skelly, brother of Jimmy Skelly was published after much consultation had taken place with Charles Connolly prior to his death. This relates the events of the day of the shootings and the aftermath and only just falls short of naming who he feels the real culprits were. 

In February 2001 the Kelly's case was finally referred to the court of the appeal and both convictions were quashed in June 2003. However Merseyside Police said they would not be reopening the investigation. Kelly's remains were exhumed from Walton prison in 2006 and re-interred in Allerton Cemetery following  a service at Liverpool's Metropolitan Cathedral.