Murder Mile UK True Crime

This is Part One of Two of The Bearded Man. 12:45am on Saturday 14th January 1956, at the junction of Hertford Street and Park Lane in Mayfair, 34-year-old sex-worker Robina Bolton known as Ruby was last seen alive. The next morning she was found murdered in Flat 7 at 32 Westbourne Terrace, a flat she shared with her husband Ernest. Ernest would claim he last saw Ruby alive as she entered a taxi w...

On Tuesday 15th April 1913, at the bachelor flat of 26-year-old aviator Jack hall - having promised to marry both of of his lovers - Jack would be found dead in his bed having been shot in the chest, just hours before his marriage. But which of his lovers would kill him, and why? Was it out of anger, love, jealousy, or as part of a premeditated revenge? Date: Tuesday 15th April 1913 at 11:45am Loc...

On Saturday 5th December 1992, 33-year-old travel agent Gillian Bennett entered Marn Garage at 370 Uxbridge Road, W12. With her life and career going well, she purchased a nearly-new bright-red K-reg Fiat Uno. Given a sense of freedom with her own car, this should have been an exciting chapter in her reassuringly safe little life. And yet, finding a series of odd mechanical issues which required t...

Friday 31st July 1863. Wealthy merchant Frederick Chappell owned a small flat in a townhouse on the Marylebone Road. On the second floor, he secretly ensconced 24-year-old Emily Mitchell. Once his maid, now his pregnant mistress, she lived the life of a lady… but she could never be treated as his wife, as she was not of the right class. With the baby, due to be born in secret, even though its conc...

At a little after 11:30pm on Friday 14th September 1945, Captain John Ritchie of the Canadian Army was attacked on Bourchier Street by two British soldiers clutching half a brick. But why? This is a case less about the man who died, or the men who did it, but how a war had shaped and then broke them? Date: Friday 14th September 1945 at 11:30pm Location: Bourchier Street, Soho, London, UK, W1 (inco...

In the summer of 1958, the occupant of Room 622 in the Strand Palace Hotel was Bernard Smith; a kind and decent man who was quiet and respectable. Running a successful furniture business in New York, he doted on his two sisters, his niece and he would do anything for them, and likewise for him. With his health declining, having discussed his retirement with his sisters, Bernard had sold up, left A...

In the early hours of Saturday 25th July 2009 at roughly 4am, two such strangers would meet by chance right here. One was Nadim Gulamhuseinwala and the other was Thomas Connor; two men from very different cultures, but blessed with a gift at an early age, they were both given the opportunity to make the most of it. In their own ways, they would both get the success they deserved… … one got recogni...

On Wednesday 22nd July 1942, the body of a woman was pulled from the water right here. She had been missing for more than a week, but no-one had reported her missing. We know her only as Lena Cunningham. How she got here, why she died, and what she was running from is still a mystery, but her death and life was a tragedy which is all too common, but should never have happened. Date: Wednesday 22nd...

In a small basement front room of 3 Rundell Road in Maida Hill once lived a little family; 26-year-old chambermaid Minnie Barry, her fiancé 24-year-old porter Frederick Sorensen and their 3 year old son Frederick. Times were hard, money was tight, and – as a truly diligent woman with a big heart and a focus to provide for her family – she got them through the toughest of times, but only just. But...

This is Part Three of Three of The Night Porter. On the morning of Sunday 18th September 1972, in Room 11,68-year-old Emmy Werner was found dead in the bed of Room 11 in the Queen’s Hotel, Bayswater. Having locked her door from the inside – gaining entry - someone had beaten, suffocated and strangled her. It was a cruel and motiveless crime on a defenseless old lady, which remains unsolved to this...

This is Part Two of Three of The Night Porter. On the morning of Sunday 18th September 1972, in Room 11,68-year-old Emmy Werner was found dead in the bed of Room 11 in the Queen’s Hotel, Bayswater. Having locked her door from the inside – gaining entry - someone had beaten, suffocated and strangled her. It was a cruel and motiveless crime on a defenseless old lady, which remains unsolved to this d...

This is Part One of Three of The Night Porter. On the morning of Sunday 17th September 1972, in Room 11,68-year-old Emmy Werner was found dead in the bed of Room 11 in the Queen’s Hotel, Bayswater. Having locked her door from the inside – gaining entry - someone had beaten, suffocated and strangled her. It was a cruel and motiveless crime on a defenseless old lady, which remains unsolved to this d...

While I am away researching further episodes of Murder Mile, here's something to keep you entertained.   Last time in New Blue, I interviewed Paul about the day-to-day duties of a serving Met Police Constable. This time, I had a friendly chat with Sally & John of True Crime Investigators UK, two retired police detectives about life as a detective. In part one, we discussed a detective's d...

While I am away researching further episodes of Murder Mile, here's something to keep you entertained. Last time in New Blue, I interviewed Paul about the day-to-day duties of a serving Met Police Constable. This time, I had a friendly chat with Sally & John of True Crime Investigators UK, two retired police detectives about life as a detective. In part one, we discussed a detective's day-to-d...

While I am away researching further episodes of Murder Mile, here's something to keep you entertained. Last time in New Blue, I interviewed Paul about the day-to-day duties of a serving Met Police Constable. This time, I had a freindly chat with Sally & John of True Crime Investigators UK, two retired police detectives about life as a detective. In part one, we discuss a detective's day-to-day...

On the night of Tuesday 23rd October 1928, a constable’s torchlight spotted two bodies splayed on the grass. Drenched in blood, their throats slit, he believed their deaths were a double suicide. And although proven untrue, the killer’s motive would come not from love or hate… …but from the twisted imagination of the master of horror. Date:  Tuesday 23rd October 1928  at roughly 10p...

On Tuesday 6th June 1961, three American airmen booked-in and headed out for a fun night in Baywater. They were Gerald Bererras, William Hammond and Stanley Roach. Just shy of midnight, two of the men were attacked by a group of local men armed with fists, bottles and a knife. And in the ensuing fight for their lives, Stanley Roach was stabbed to death. But why did they murder Stanley Roach, a man...

On the night of Thursday 7th December 1950, 42-year old William Donoghue stabbed 74-year-old Thomas Meaney to death. The two men had met that night (as friends of a friend), they got on well, they had been drinking and then they fell asleep. The attack was unprovoked and frenzied. And yet, this would be an incident so bizarre, even William would struggle to believe that he had murdered Thomas Mean...

Back in the 1920’s, London Zoo had two elephant experts; Sayed Ali and San Dwe. They lived on site, they loved their elephants, and - according to the zoo’s owners - everything was going swimmingly. That was until the night of Friday 24th August 1928, when Sayed was found beaten to death in his bed. But who would want to murder this little man, and what did it have to do with the most sacred of el...

On Wednesday 1st October 1947, at 10:30pm, the body of Renee was found in Regent’s Park, three miles east. She had been gagged, strangled and beaten. What she was doing there? Nobody knows. But it was entirely out of character for a girl who rarely stayed out late and never walked in dark parks with strangers. And yet, she was found right there, and the last five hours of her life are unknown. So,...

On the far eastern edge of Regent’s Park is Cumberland Green on the corner of Chester Road and the Outer Circle. It’s a non-descript expanse of grass with several intersecting paths and few trees. On Wednesday 1st October 1947, at roughly 10:30pm, the body of a woman was discovered here. Her name was Gladys Hanrahan, also known as ‘Renée’, a 35-year-old book-keeper who worked in a local dairy. She...

On the morning of Friday 17th July 1964, Kathleen Cotter, a mother of three who lived in the top floor flat of 7 Randolph Avenue in Maida Vale found 77-year-old Samuel Bragg dead in his bed. The old man had been ill for many months owing to malnutrition and advancing dementia. As was protocol, the police were called, an investigation was conducted, but his autopsy would confirm what everyone suspe...

On Saturday 30th January 1965, at 10:50am, two men met for the very first time on the west bound Metropolitan Line of King’s Cross underground station. The first was a 44-year-old porter called Lawrence Gwyther, and the other was a 42-year-old homeless alcoholic called John Richie. Until that very moment, the two men had never met. And although their brief interaction would last just a few seconds...

This is Part Two of Two of The Bloody Butler. With their employer on holiday in Scotland, on Saturday 9th August 1969 at 2:30pm, Frank & Victor were seen enjoying a pleasant lunch at Coq Au Vin, a French restaurant at 8 Harriet Street in Knightsbridge. At 3pm, they returned to 69 Eaton Place. With Frank too tired, and with Victor looking to party the night away, he hit the town alone. Why are...

This is Part One of Two. On the next morning of Sunday 10th August at 09:08am, Victor Ford-Lloyd the butler to Sir William Ackroyd entered the top floor flat at 69 Eaton Place after a night out. In the master bedroom, he found his friend, his lover and the man servant to Sir William dead. Having died several hours earlier, he was lying motionless, with a sticky pool of congealed blood about his he...