Tin Bath Battering

A man battered his girlfriend's brother in law to death in Kirkdale following a seizure but was unable to recall the killing.

On the morning of 19th June 1956, 22 year old William Apter had spent the night at the home of Matilda Garner, sister of his girlfriend, Teresa Jones, in Harebell Street, Kirkdale. 15 year old Teresa was woken by Matilda's husband Norman, advising her that William, who had slept on the sofa was suffering a fit. Teresa went down and comforted him and he apparently recovered and fell back asleep. Moments later however, Apter sat upright with his eyes bulging, before jumping up and following Norman Garner who had gone outside to use the toilet Apter then knocked him to the ground and repeatedly punching him. He then continued the onslaught using a tin bath.

When confronted by a neighbour, Apter took a bicycle and later in the day was observed riding unsteadily on the floating roadway which connected the Pier Head to an overhead railway station. Apter was possibly on his way to his mothers house in Bebington, Wirral, but on falling from the bike was taken to hospital suffering from concussion.

On waking up in hospital, Apter was met by CID officers who wanted to question about the attack on Norman Garner, who was now critically ill in hospital. Apter was stunned by this, saying he could remember nothing since seeing Norman getting ready for work that morning.

Garner died six days later and Apter was tried for murder. His girlfriend Teresa told the court she had never seen Apter in a temper before. Dr Brisby from Walton gaol believed that he was suffering from a 'defect of reason' as a result of the fit. He was found 'guilty but insane' and ordered by Mr Justice Oliver to be detained at Her Majesty's Pleasure.

Stadium Steps Murder

A quarrel on the steps of the old Liverpool Stadium (a boxing venue) in 1961 led to the death of a 19 year old girl and her lover narrowly escaping the gallows.

Valerie Sellers, a waitress from Flintshire and her boyfriend, 23 year old John McMenemy who lived in Lorne Street in Fairfield, had been together nearly a year. Wedding plans had been postponed however and Sellers father confronted McMenemy on 30 July 1961 to ask his intentions. Despite replying in the affirmative, he later told Valerie he would never marry her.

Two weeks later McMenemy returned to Flintshire to repay some money he owed to Mr Sellers and was told not to return again. During the night, Valerie sneaked out and would not be seen alive by her father again. In the early hours of 20th August, McMenemy telephoned the operator and advised that there was a body on the top of the stadium steps. Officers arriving at the scene found the body of Valerie, who had died from stab wounds, with a tie next to it. 

The telephone call was traced to the Pier Head and McMenemy was there when police arrived. Noticing that McMenemy wasn't wearing a tie and had a bloodstain on his cuff, he was questioned and admitted the stabbing. When he was taken into custody a cigarette lighter, purse and bracelet of Valerie's were found on him. McMenemy made a full confession, stating that her refusal to give him some money had cost him her life. Initially intending to run, he realised it was hopeless and he went to the Pier Head. 

At McMenemy's trial, no witnesses were produced for his defence, with his counsel arguing that as he was in love with Valerie he regarded his property as his own. Although the death penalty had been abolished for plain murder, killing in furtherance of theft remained a capital charge. McMenemy was sentenced to death but this was later commuted to life imprisonment on the recommendation of the Home Secretary. An earlier appeal to reduce the verdict to manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility had failed.

Vauxhall Poisoners

In 1884 two sisters made their way to the gallows after taking four lives by administering arsenic and then claiming insurance payouts, with more recent research having discovered that they may well have been part of a syndicate that took many more lives. 

In 1880 Catherine Flannagan and Margaret Higgins, both Irish widows, lived in Skirving Street. The others in the house were Catherine's 22 year old son John Flannagan, lodger Patrick Jennings and his 16 year old daughter Margaret, as well as another lodger Thomas Higgins and his 8 year old daughter Mary. In December of that year John Flannagan died, apparently of consumption and his mother collected over £71 insurance money.

A year after John's death, Margaret had married Thomas Higgins and by November 1882 young Mary had died, having been insured for £22. Within two months Margaret Jennings was dead and again insurance money was collected. On each occasion the sisters had waited until the victim was already ill before administering the fatal dose, making it easier to get a doctor to issue a death certificate. 

After these three deaths the sisters moved, so as not to arouse any further suspicion, to 105 Latimer Street. No deaths occurred there and in September 1883 they moved to 27 Ascot Street, where Thomas Higgins was selected as the next victim. He was insured for nearly £100, but an attempt to take out a policy for an extra £50 failed when a drunken Thomas refused to undergo a medical examination, a fact he probably told to his brother Patrick.

After Thomas' death on 2nd October 1883, Patrick visited a number of insurance societies and found that the money had already been drawn. He approached the doctor, and they went to the coroner with their suspicions. The funeral was stopped so a post mortem could take place and Higgins was arrested. Flannagan fled the house but was taken into custody a few days later. 

Both were charged on 16th October after arsenic was found in Thomas Higgins' corpse. The three other victims were exhumed and traces of arsenic found in each. After a three day trial, the sisters were found guilty in 40 minutes and sentenced to death. They were hanged at Kirkdale Gaol on 3rd March 1884.

In 2003 Angela Brabin published a book called The Black Widows of Liverpool, which carried out further investigation into the killings. She uncovered evidence that suggested many more may have met the same fate and that although Flannagan and Higgins may have administered the poison, many more stood to profit from their deeds.

Bookseller Killed By Ex-Lodger

A callous ex lodger who killed his former landlord and left another lodger for dead was brought to justice due to his alibi failing to stand up and a nervous twitch.

In the 1890s Edward Moyse ran a bookstall in Mann Island, which was near to his home in Redcross Street where he lived above a barbers shop with 15 year old John Needham, a boy who did chores for him. On the  night of 18-19th February 1895 Moyse was battered in his bed by his ex-lodger William Miller, who was looking for the elderly man's rumoured stash of money. After killing 53 year old Moyse, Miller, who had just returned from sea, turned his attentions to Needham, raining blows on him with a poker.

It was his failure to finish off the boy however that was to lead Miller to the gallows. Needham managed to crawl into the street to raise the alarm at about 6am when he was taken to the Northern Hospital. When police searched the house they found the only money there, £8, was under Moyse's pillow.

When Needham gave a description to the police, he was able to recall a nervous twitch that Miller possessed. A woman told police that a man who only ventured out at night and fitted his description lived in Edgeware Street in Edge Hill. Miller, who was staying there with his estranged wife's mother, was arrested and a  bloodstained shirt was found in his room. He tried to account for this by saying he worked in a slaughterhouse, but when he was taken there and pointed to the spot where he claimed to have killed the animals, the superintendent of the abattoir said none had been slaughtered there for months. 

27 year old Miller was then taken to the bedside of John Needham, who had already eliminated various other suspects in identity parades. This time however Miller started to twitch and Needham was hysterical, leading to him being charged with the murder. 

The trial began on 13th May and lasted three days. Needham, who by now had almost made a full recovery, gave his evidence in an impressive manner, leading to many offers of employment. Other witnesses told how they had seen Miller acting suspiciously in the vicinity and taking a keen interest in whether one or two people were dead. Miller, whose wife gave birth to a baby while he was in gaol, was found guilty and hanged on 4th June, continuing to protest his innocence. 

Prime Minister Assassinated By Liverpool Man

The only British Prime Minister ever to be assassinated was Spencer Perceval, who was gunned down by Liverpool man John Bellingham on 11th May 1812. 

Bellingham lived in Duke Street and was a businessman involved in exporting timber to Russia but he lost everything when a buyer went bankrupt. Unable to pay off his debts, Bellingham found himself in prison. On release, he went to Russia to complain about the situation and was imprisoned there too. Despite writing to the British ambassador pleading for release, red tape ensured he stayed there for months. When he finally came home, he sought compensation by writing to his MP and the Prince Regent, but nothing came of this. 

Bellingham decided to act by shooting the Prime Minister, making several visits to the House of Commons to plot his crime. He bought two pistols from a shop in London and on 11th May he shot Perceval dead as he entered the Commons lobby in full view of several witnesses. Bellingham was recognised by Liverpool MPs Banastre Tarleton and Bamber Gascoyne and immediately restrained and disarmed. 

Bellingham was taken to Newgate prison where he retained a cheery persona. He was tried just four days later, his pleas that he needed more time to prepare a defence being dismissed. He made along statement pleading his grievances but the jury took only 15 minutes to find him guilty. The judge sentenced him to death, decreeing that he had known what he was doing and was not insane. Three days after this, he was hanged in public and his body taken away for dissection at St Bartholomews Hospital. Perceval was buried in a family vault at St Luke's Church in Charlton, South East London.

Positivist Tragedy

One man's obsession with another member of his religious group in the early 20th century led to a double murder and suicide.

William Macdonald, a carpenter and Marxist became intersted in Positivism, the religion of those who attended the Temple of Humanity in Upper Parliament street in the early 20th century. 

The leader of the Positivists was solicitor Sydney Style and weekly meetings were held at 69 Hope Street. At these meetings MacDonald became interested in 42 year old Mary Crompton, the daughter of the groups co-founder, but he daren't express this. Crompton was good friends with Paul Gaze, who was 18 years younger than her. MacDonald believed there was more to this friendship, despite Gaze's recent marriage to a Brazilian girl.

On the night of 7th October 1913 Macdonald decided to take matters to a head. First he went to the home of Richard Price Roberts, who first introduced him to the Temple of Humanity. Roberts was shot twice, but only one bullet connected and went straight through his nose, leaving him bruised but alive. Minutes later, Paul Gaze was shot dead at his lodgings in Grove Street. 

Next stop for MacDonald was 81 Bedford Street South, home of Miss Crompton, where he shot her in the head, killing her instantly. MacDonald then turned the gun on himself and died from his injuries in hospital three hours later. 

Old Curiosity Shop Murder

The slaying of a defenceless 82 year old man in the quiet suburb of Aintree attracted national headlines in 1953.

Retired tailor George Walker owned a Victorian detached house  at 98 Warbreck Moor, the ground floor of which he used as a bric-a-brac shop. It was known locally as the Old Curiosity Shop. 

On 9th January 1953 Walker allowed 20 year old unemployed labourer John Todd to work unsupervised on a grandfather clock. Walker's sister Mary was suspicious of Todd, who had a knife dangling from a sheath attached to his waistband.  

The following Wednesday afternoon (14th January) Todd killed Walker by repeatedly striking him with an axe, which the old man used for breaking coal. He then took Walker's silver pocket watch and left the premises, his crepe shoes leaving a trail of bloody footprints.

The alarm was not raised for almost 24 hours, when one of Walker's dogs barked at the home of a Marion Owen, a woman who lived  in the next street. The police were called and on breaking into the property, his body was found in the hallway.

Walker's sister gave a description of Todd and this was confirmed by two boys who had called at the shop on the day before the murder, to be told by Todd to come back the next day. On the orders of his mother who was completely unaware at the time, Todd himself gave a statement to police after an appeal for anyone who had visited the shop recently to come forward, telling how he had bought a gramophone there.

Todd, who lived in Roxburgh Street in Walton, was arrested on 19th January after his girlfriend Iris Tucker read an account of the murder in a newspaper. On seeing the description of the man wanted for questioning -Todd had a pointed nose and a wart to the side of his left eye- she gave a statement to the police. The young man was charged with murder and appeared before magistrates the next day, the same day as George Walker's burial in Everton cemetery.

At the trial, Todd was defended by Rose Heilbron and claimed that Walker had fell against him with a bloody nose and that the silver watch was his own. When shown a photograph of the corpse, Todd tried to say that the mess had happened after he had left the property. After being found guilty on 9th April, Todd was sentenced to death by Justice Cassels who told him 'You cruelly and brutally battered that man to death.' 

He was hanged on 19th May 1953, the Home Secretary refusing calls from his defence team for an enquiry into the sanity of a man who prior to this occurrence had not been convicted of any criminal offences.