Scandinavian Shooting

A Norwegian sailor who shot his friend dead was sentenced to just a year's imprisonment. 

For three weeks over the Christmas period at the end of 1911 two Norwegian sailors, Alfred Martinsen and Alfred Karlsen, slept in a dormitory at the Scandinavian Hotel in Great George Street. The pair got on well but things took a turn for the worse at on Saturday 6th January 1912 when drink got the better of them.

 At around 11pm they returned to their lodgings with Karlsen being in a merry mood. He put on cap then pretended to be an officer, walking up and down the aisles giving orders to men who were asleep. Without warning, Martinsen appeared and produced a revolver, firing it straight at Karlsen. A bullet entered Karlsen's eye and he collapsed and died instantly. 

Martinsen, realising what he had done, desperately tried to revive his friend but could not do so and after surrendering the gun went to his bed where he laid down to await his inevitable arrest. He offered no resistance when taken into custody by Constable Jennings, saying he could not bear the thought of what he had done. On being told he would be charged with murder he said simply 'Go ahead.' He appeared before magistrates on the Monday morning and was remanded in custody.

On 25th January Martinsen was brought before the police court, where the prosecutor Mr Duder asked for the case to be sent to the assizes before the inquest had taken place. This was an unusual step, but Mr Duder stated that they were imminent and the cost of bringing witnesses from Norway later in the year would be expensive. Mr Duder admitted he could find no motive for the attack and suggested that Martinsen was in a state of semi drunkenness and mistakenly thought he had quarrelled with his friend. 

Another Norwegian seaman named Segrid Wille said that shortly before the incident he had been in a public house with the two men and Martinsen had shown them the gun. The licensee asked them to leave and they did so, being best of friends at that time. A lady called Mathilde Odegaard recalled seeing Martinsen and Karlsen together on the night of the tragedy and they had been on good terms. One of the men who had been asleep in the dormitory, Hilding Olsson, recalled that Karlsen was parading up and down shouting to people 'Get up and work'. Olsson went on to say that on hearing a gunshot, he got up and saw Martinsen leaning over the body of his friend, who had blood coming from his eye. 

The shooting had been witnessed by Sedberg Hermansson, who described both men as being sober but having had some drink. He said that they were only ten feet apart when the shot was fired and Martinsen immediately went forward and said 'What is the matter Karlsen are you dead.'  Martinsen, who was rubbing Karlsen's head, immediately handed the revolver to a Danish seaman when asked to do so.

Dr Naughton Dunn from the Southern Hospital revealed the results of the postmortem which took place after Karlsen had been pronounced dead at 11.45pm. The bullet had passed through the eye and passed right through the brain and bounded off the skull, causing instant death. After Constable Jennings gave evidence as to the arrest, Martinsen was committed for trial at the forthcoming assizes which were just two weeks away.

When Martinsen appeared at the assizes on 12th February, it was accepted by the jury that he had not had any malice aforethought and not intended to kill. He was found guilty of the lesser charge of manslaughter and sentenced to twelve months imprisonment. 

Abnormally Thin Skull Saves Defendant

A man who was charged with murder after killing a man with one punch avoided trial due to medical evidence finding abnormalities with the victim's skull.

At 3pm on 25th October 1938 a stonemason named Albert Shaw noticed three young males loitering around the back of an empty house in Jervis Street (which was situated off Russell Street). 

Shaw reported the suspicious behaviour to the police in nearby Warren Street and the males were moved on. Shaw returned to work ten minutes later but soon afterwards they returned and an argument broke out. One of the males, eighteen year old William Nicholls, punched 53 year old Shaw leading to him falling back and striking his head on some steps.

Nicholls tried to escape by climbing a wall into Back Gill Street, but he was followed by a police officer who apprehended him. An unconscious Shaw was taken to the Royal Infirmary where he died later that evening, his skull having been fractured. On being charged with murder Nicholls replied 'He struck me and I hit him in self defence.'

On 10th November Nicholls appeared at the Magistrates' Court for a committal hearing. Medical evidence was heard that Shaw had an abnormally thin skull. Given this the magistrate decided there was not enough evidence to justify any charges. Nicholls was released from the dock and was free to return to his home in Leander Street, off Brownlow Hill.

Painter Killed by Foreman's Punch

A labourer who was told there was no work available for him died after the foreman punched him for refusing to to leave.

On the morning of 18th September 1887 a labourer named Joseph Peach turned up for work at the Black Bull Bridge in Walton which crossed the Cheshire Lines railway. However he was told by the foreman Thomas Cook that he was late and there was no room for him on the scaffold.

When 54 year old Peach refused to go he was punched by Cook and fell four feet between some railings. When a workman shouted that a doctor was needed Cook said 'Let the bast*rd die.' A doctor arrived on the scene and Peach was taken into the Black Bull Inn, under strict instructions that he should not be moved. 

Despite the doctor's order, Peach was then taken back to his Townsend Lane lodgings in an unconscious state by two painters who were staying nearby in Vicar Road. He died the following day at 6.10pm and Cook was taken into custody.

On 28th September a committal hearing took place at the magistrates court. James Clarke and James Head, who had taken Peach back to his lodgings, admitted that they had not seen any punch thrown but just saw him lying on the floor. However, they could both state that Cook did not want to send for a doctor. Another painter, William Drury from Warrington, did say though that he had seen Cook strike Peach with a clenched fist. Dr Fleetwood, who had carried out a postmortem, said that death was down to effusion of blood on the brain and this could have been as the result of falling on a hard substance. 

Cook was committed to the Assizes for trial and appeared before Mr Justice Day on 16th November. In his defence, Cook said he had just pushed Peach away as there was no room and he fell backwards. This led to him being found guilty of manslaughter and sentenced to six months imprisonment. 

Sister in Law Killer Reprieved

A man who cut his sister in law's throat was reprieved from the death sentence.

At around midnight on Saturday 2nd August 1913 Police Constable Monk found a woman lying with her throat cut in Celia Street in Kirkdale. She was 26 year old Jane Wiseman and although she was in a semi conscious state, she was able to say to the officer 'It was my sisters bloke, Griff.'

An ambulance was summoned to take Jane to the Stanley Hospital, where she expired soon after arrival. A police cycle squad was deployed and about two hours later 23 year old William Griffiths was arrested and taken to the Westminster Road Bridewell. On being charged Griffiths, replied 'All I have to say is that it was an accident, I had a row with my father.' 

At a committal hearing on 19th August, Jane's father said that Griffiths had been drinking heavily since drawing some bonus money. He was unable to give any motive for the attack, saying that they had always got on.

At the assizes on 6th November, evidence was presented that showed Griffiths had been outside his home in Braemar Street two days before the attack and shouted 'I will do one of her family.' He had been on shore leave for about three weeks and drinking heavily for most of the time.

In submissions for the defence, Mr Madden said that Griffiths could remember nothing about the crime and that there was no ill feeling between him and Jane. Describing the killing as the result of a 'drunken orgy'. In summing up however, the judge said that by running away and disposing of the razor blade, Griffiths was demonstrating behaviour that indicated he was in control of his actions.

The jury deliberated for half an hour and returned a verdict of guilty but with a recommendation for mercy. Griffiths was sentenced to death, the judge saying that the recommendation would be forwarded.

On 21st November leave to appeal was refused, the judges ruling that the jury had heard all the evidence necessary. Griffiths had worked as a stoker on board the SS Megantic, but his sentence was commuted to penal servitude for life just days before he was due to hang. 

Judge Calls Killing 'A Thousand Pities'

A judge lamented the lack of care given to a man whose mental health problems led to him killing his young son.

In 1936 Henry Haver, a thirty year old unemployed seaman lived in The Willows off Breck Road, the site of which is now occupied by a grassed area and much of Sandalwood Close. Since the previous September, when he returned from two voyages, his attitude towards his wife had changed and he accused her of having affairs.

By May of that year the situation had got so bad that Haver's wife left both him and their twenty month old son Kenneth. Concerned for their welfare, relatives called the police on 12th May and an officer went to check on things. He was greeted by Haver who said that he had killed his son by choking him. A search of the house took place and Kenneth's body was found under the mattress. When taken into custody and charged Haver replied 'I understand, they have drove me to do it.'

On 17th June Haver appeared at the Liverpool Assizes before Mr Justice Atkinson. For the defence, Dr Stephen Barton gave evidence and said that he had examined Haver back in February. In the doctor's opinion, the man was suffering from delusional insanity and was certifiable. Asked by the judge why nothing was done at that time, Dr Barton replied 'It is difficult to do anything in a case of this kind, frequently owing to the fact that a patient appears to be reasonable in many ways and no support would be offered to any action being taken.'

After the jury found Haver guilty but insane, the judge ordered that he be detained as a criminal lunatic at the King's pleasure. He then said 'It is a thousand pities that something was not done in February when this man's state of mind was ascertained. It was also extraordinary ill luck that the relatives moved too late. If they had moved 24 hours earlier this terrible thing may never have happened.' Haver was taken to Broadmoor, where he died in 1958.

Man 'Does Wife In'

When a man strangled his wife he went looking for the police himself to confess to his crime.

At 550am on the morning of 30th October 1935 a police car was flagged down on the corner of Berry Street and Knight Street by 42 year old Robert Williams.  He then said to the officer, Constable Cass ' 'I have been looking for a policeman for an hour, I think I have done the wife in.'

Constable Cass accompanied Williams to his home where he found his wife dead in bed with scratches on her throat. Williams turned to the officer and said 'I have been sleeping on the sofa for a short time, we have been leading a cat and dogs life for about two years.'

Williams was taken before the police court later that day and as the prosecutor Mr J R Bishop read out the details of the case he shouted 'I never made that statement its wrong, all wrong.' Mr Bishop added that Professor MacFall had made an examination of the body and found death to be from strangulation.

When Williams appeared at the Manchester Assizes on 25th November 1935 he was found to be guilty of murder but insane. This led to him him being detained at the King's pleasure.

Murderer Throws Himself in Front of Train

The killer of a fifteen year old girl in Waterloo in 1920 committed suicide by throwing himself in front of a train once he realised police suspected him of the crime.

On the morning of 3rd February that year a workman found the body of a well dressed girl on an allotment off Brook Road. She had been gagged with a handkerchief, her throat had been cut and her head battered. Her eyes were wide open and her face had a look of terror.

The body was soon identified as that of 15 year old Mary Drury, who had left her home at 2 Gordon Avenue at 7pm the previous evening to visit her friend in Park View. Mary's father Arthur, a clerk in a meat company, had been desperately searching for her all night when she failed to return home by 9pm.

There were very few clues for the police to go on at first, but the coldness of the body indicated that the monstrous deed had been committed the night before. Apart from one young boy saying he had seen a girl chased by a man in the vicinity there were no potential witnesses and no sign of any murder weapon. So many people had been at the scene after the body was found that any footprints of the killer had been obliterated. Mary's father could think of no motive for the murder, saying she had nothing valuable on her and that she was of 'contented disposition.' 

Mary's friend, Isabel Connell, who she was meant to visit, could also think of no reason why anybody would do such a terrible thing to her. However she did say that Mary had a boyfriend, but she didn't know who it was. Miss Milroy, the headmistress of the Wesleyan Girls School said that Mary was one of the most advanced scholars and set a good example to her schoolfellows. 

A postmortem found that Mary had not been sexually violated during the attack but also that she was not a virgin. It also established that the blows to the head had been caused by a blunt instrument and the throat had been cut with a pocket knife. Death, it was found, was as a result of shock due to the injuries. The inquest opened on 5th February but the deputy coroner adjourned it until further facts were known. 

The following day, four miles away at Sandhills Station, signalman Edward Leahy told a colleague he was going out for a little while. The 31 year old married father of two stepped onto the track and was run over and killed by an electric train. When his body was recovered, it was so mutilated that it could only be identified by the presence of trade union cards. Police then revealed that they believed Leahy would probably have been able to assist them with the investigation into Mary's death. On the same day, Mary was laid to rest in the graveyard of St Luke's Church.

The resumed inquest took place at Waterloo Town Hall on 20th February and heard evidence from Superintendent Gregson. He said that Leahy, who lived in Brighton Road, had a plot at the allotment and been questioned on 4th February. He had admitted having been on the allotments between 7 and 8pm on the evening of the killing and when challenged about blood on his shirt sleeves, he said that it was rust from the lever in the signal box. On being asked why he needed a pocket knife he had responded 'Surely you don't suspect me.' 

Extracts from a diary found in Mary's pocket were then read out, detailing relations with Leahy which were described as of an 'indelicate nature.' A doctor then stated that two strands of Mary's hair had been found on the coat which Leahy had been wearing when he was run over by the train. Isabel Connell then said that Mary had told her she lent two shillings to Leahy, although she hadn't thought them to be courting in any way. After hearing all the evidence the jury returned a verdict of wilful murder against Leahy. 

Four days later on 24th February Leahy's inquest took place. Evidence was heard that he had left the signalbox after a phone call was made to there enquiring as to his presence. No evidence was heard as to his state of mind and a verdict of suicide was returned.