Casefile True Crime - Case 139: Beryl & Geraldine Evans (Part 1)

Episode Date: March 13, 2020

[Part 1 of 2] When newlyweds Beryl and Timothy Evans found out they were expecting their first child, they set about finding a place of their own to live. They soon found a suitable rental property in London’s Notting Hill district, located at 10 Rillington Place. --- Episode narrated by the Anonymous Host Researched and written by Erin Munro Creative Director: Milly Raso For all credits and sources please visit casefilepodcast.com/case-139-beryl-geraldine-evans-part-1

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Today's episode deals with a crime committed against a child that won't be suitable for all listeners. Today, the district of Notting Hill in London's inner west is renowned as one of the city's more affluent areas. But in the late 1940s, it was not a desirable place to live. A number of its buildings had been damaged or completely ravaged during the Blitz, an intensive German bombing campaign during the Second World War that killed more than 40,000 civilians. Many of the larger houses that remained standing were sold to landlords who divided them into multi-occupancy dwellings, with tenants leasing either a room or a single story. Ten Rillington Place in Notting Hill's Ladbrook Grove neighborhood was one such abode.

It was the 10th house in a row of narrow, matching three-story brick residences situated at the end of a cul-de-sac that adjoined a busy thoroughfare named St. Mark's Road. All of the houses had been built during the 1870s and by the late 1940s they had fallen into neglect and disrepair. As they were home to so many residents, the street had a bustling atmosphere, with local children often gathering outside to play during the summer months. The landlord for number 10 lived elsewhere. They had split the house into three flats that each occupied an entire story of the building. It was poorly maintained and had no phone or indoor bathroom facilities.

Instead, residents had to use bedpans or a lavatory in the backyard, which adjoined a small communal wash house. In March 1948, the property's ground and middle-floor flats were leased to long-term tenants, but the top floor remained available to rent. Newlyweds, Timothy and Beryl Evans had been living with Timothy's parents and sisters just around the corner on St. Mark's Road. Their living quarters were small and crowded. When Beryl discovered she was pregnant, she and Timothy decided it was time to find a place of their own. They were informed of a house nearby that had a sign in its top-floor window reading, Flat to Let. Its affordability, coupled with its convenient location near their extended family,

compelled the Evans' to submit an application, despite the property's less than desirable features. Their submission was approved, and on Monday, March 29, 1948, the young couple moved into 10 Rillington Place. Beryl, Susanna Thorley Beryl Susanna Thorley was born on September 19, 1929, in the south-east London area of Lewisham. She was the oldest of four children, with two younger brothers and a sister. During the Second World War, the Thorleys moved to the west London neighbourhood of Kensington. When Beryl's mother died in 1947, her father relocated to the Seaside Resort of Brighton, roughly 53 miles south of the capital. Beryl remained in London, where she worked as a telephone switchboard operator at Groverner House Hotel on Park Lane, a hotel in the upmarket district of Mayfair.

One of her colleagues was dating a young man, who in turn offered to set Beryl up on a blind date with his friend. Timothy John Evans was born on November 20, 1924, in the Welsh mining town of Murther Tidville, located in the country's south. His father, who worked locally as a coal haulier, abandoned the family seven months before Timothy was born. As a result, Timothy and his older sister Eileen were raised by their mother, Thomasina. In 1929, she remarried another coal worker named Penry Probert. Later that year, the newlyweds had a daughter, Mary. Timothy Evans' childhood was marred by a number of developmental delays. He struggled to walk and speak, though eventually learned how to do both. At age eight, Timothy cut a toe on his right foot on some glass by a river. The wound was bandaged to using a dirty cloth, which led to him developing tubercular veruca, a rash of small, red, papula nodules related to the infectious disease tuberculosis.

The injury never healed properly, and Timothy was often in hospital receiving treatments. He missed out on much of his schooling, causing his literacy to suffer to the extent that he could barely write and could only read simple texts such as comic books. In 1935, when Timothy was ten years old, the Welsh coalfields were experiencing a depression, so his stepfather relocated to London in search of work. The rest of the family joined him six weeks later, settling in the cities in the West. Timothy continued to miss school due to his ill health. In 1939, he was sent to a clinic in Hampshire that specialized in treating children with tuberculosis and stayed for an entire year. Though the physicians there couldn't entirely fix Timothy's foot injury, they managed to treat it effectively enough that it never bothered him significantly again, though he was left with a permanent limp. By the time he reached adulthood, Timothy stood at five foot five inches tall and had a slight frame. Described as cocky and cheerful, he had dark eyes and dark hair, which he slicked back across his head.

His leg impairment excused him from military service during World War II, and he remained in London with his family as the city endured the blitz. Although his limited education hindered his work prospects, he managed to secure a job as a car cleaner. Amongst friends and family, Timothy was renowned for exaggerating and telling tall tales. He'd developed the habit as a form of entertainment when he was bedridden as a child. He claimed that his father was an Italian count and that he had a brother who owned an enormous fleet of cars. Though he had a Welsh accent, he would sometimes feign a cockney manner of speaking to fit in with his English friends. Thomasina attributed her son's fibbing to his lack of self-confidence. If caught out in a lie, Timothy would become ashamed and would plead with his mother not to tell his older sister Eileen, whom he adored. In January 1947, shortly after Timothy's 22nd birthday, a friend offered to set him up on a date with a girl named Beryl Thorley.

Timothy was drawn to the petite, dark-haired Beryl, and the pair hit it off instantly. They met several more times to attend local dances and to go to the cinema. Within weeks of their first date, they became engaged. On September 20, one day after Beryl's 18th birthday, they married at Kensington Registry Office. Six months later, the couple moved into 10 Rillington Place in preparation of their growing family. Their flat consisted of a single bedroom with a joint living and kitchen space. Despite the cramped quarters and lack of modern amenities, they liked their new home and decided to stay put even when told of a ground floor flat available elsewhere that had its own garden and lavatory. Number 10 Rillington Place had several communal areas, including the hallway, staircase, and outside rear yard, so the evansers often saw their neighbours throughout the day.

The ground floor flat was home to another married couple, while the middle residence was occupied by an elderly man. Later that year, Timothy commenced a new job as a delivery driver for a food wholesaler. He managed to drive a van all over London, despite having difficulty reading signs and maps. On Sunday, October 10, 1948, Timothy and Beryl welcomed their firstborn, a girl they named Geraldine. Beryl was an affectionate mother, while Timothy spent hours playing with his daughter. He would bring her home small gifts that he collected throughout his delivery shifts. On Wednesday evenings, Thomasina would babysit her grandchild so that the new parents could go to the cinema together. Yet, their relationship grew increasingly fraught and difficult.

Money was scarce. They struggled to afford rent and make repayments on their furniture. Timothy felt his wife did not know how to cook, clean, or manage a household budget. Beryl was frustrated at the amount of time and money her husband spent drinking at local pubs. He also had a quick temper that was exacerbated by alcohol. Their neighbours overheard their loud arguments, which sometimes became physical. By July 1949, Beryl had returned to work part-time to support her family. She struck up a mild flirtation with a colleague and once teased Timothy about it when he paid her a visit. He slapped her, and the pair caused a scene that resulted in Beryl losing her job.

On another occasion, Beryl threw a jar of baby cream at her husband, causing a gash that required stitches. Beryl's father concluded that his daughter was unhappily married, and her relationship with Timothy was not, quote, a genuine friendship. Other relatives and acquaintances were of the opposite opinion, believing the couple were happy and in love. Timothy's younger sister, Mary, attributed their marital issues to struggling to make ends meet in post-war London. A young girl who babysat Geraldine described them as a lovely couple, very fond of each other. They did quarrel a bit, but never badly, and never for long. On the evening of August 28, 1949, a police officer was called to 10 Rillington Place following reports of a loud fight.

In the top floor flat, they found Timothy, Beryl, Tomasina, and a teenage girl in the midst of an argument. The girl, 17-year-old Lucy Endicott, was a friend of Beryl's who was temporarily staying with the Evans''. Beryl had slapped Lucy after accusing her of sleeping with her husband the previous night. Tomasina was demanding Lucy leave as her presence was causing problems in her son's marriage. Lucy denied the allegations. She claimed to have witnessed Timothy beat Beryl and threatened to throw her out of a window. The feud ended with Lucy and Timothy leaving the flat. They stayed together for two nights until Lucy tired of his company and went home to her mother.

Timothy returned to Beryl, who accepted him back. At around 7am on Tuesday, November 15, 1949, Cornelius Lynch was in the midst of preparing for work when he heard a knock on the front door. He was surprised to greet his 24-year-old nephew, Timothy Evans, the son of his sister, Tomasina. Timothy was far from home. Although he was born and raised in Southern Wales, he currently lived in London, 164 miles from Cornelius's house in the Welsh village of Murthervale. Timothy informed his uncle that he had been travelling with his boss searching for areas to expand his food wholesaler business. Their car broke down in the city of Cardiff, about half an hour's drive south, leaving them stranded for a few days at least. Cornelius and his wife, Violet, were happy to let their nephew stay with them for as long as he needed.

Timothy spent the following days going for walks in the nearby hills, reading comics by the fire and accompanying his aunt on shopping errands. A week-long absence from home would go unnoticed, as Beryl was holidaying at her widowed father's place in Brighton and had taken one-year-old Geraldine with her. A framed picture of the infant was displayed in the Lynch's house, and Timothy was often caught talking to it. On one occasion, he turned to his aunt, Violet, and told her, Just wait till you see her, Auntie Violet. She's a smasher. While at a pub with his nephew one day, Cornelius noticed Timothy holding what appeared to be a woman's wedding ring. When asked if it was Beryl's, Timothy said no, he'd just found it somewhere. He also gifted an old friend's wife a necklace, though didn't reveal where it had come from.

On his fifth day in Murthervale, Timothy celebrated his 25th birthday. He left the following day of Monday, November 21, telling the Lynch's he needed to meet his boss in Cardiff to collect some pay and expenses. Three days later, Timothy reappeared. He admitted to his aunt and uncle that he never went to Cardiff, he had actually been back to London. When asked if he had seen his wife and daughter during his brief trip home, Timothy replied that he had. He revealed that Beryl had walked out on him and baby Geraldine. During his journey back to Murthervale, he dropped his daughter off with some acquaintances in the city of Newport, just outside of Cardiff. The Lynch's were suspicious of their nephew's odd behavior and confusing explanations and were not inclined to believe that Beryl had abandoned him and her baby.

One night, Cornelius asked Timothy to again confirm what had happened. He changed his story, this time saying Beryl was pregnant by another man so he had left her and would never see her again. Meanwhile, Timothy's mother and sisters hadn't heard from him in more than a fortnight. On Sunday, November 27, Timothy's sister Eileen visited 10 Rillington Place only to find the Evans' top story flat quiet. She inquired with the neighbors and spoke to the occupants of the ground floor flat, a middle-aged couple named John and Ethel Christie. Ethel reported that Beryl had left the property with Geraldine almost three weeks earlier on Tuesday, November 8. She was certain of it as she helped Beryl carry her bags. Ethel's husband to John told Eileen, they've had a row, best to leave young couples alone.

The following day, Timothy's other sister Mary arrived at Rillington Place to carry out her own investigations. She also spoke with the Christie's and couldn't understand why Beryl hadn't written as she must have known they would worry if they didn't hear from her. John Christie revealed that Timothy had sold all the couple's furniture as though he had no intention to return. It appeared to have been in response to his mother, who was interfering with the couple's lives too much. John stated that Beryl left without saying goodbye, though his wife claimed otherwise, explaining Beryl bid her farewell and stated she would write. Mary planned to contact the police if she didn't hear from her brother or Beryl by the end of the week. John Christie advised her against it, as Timothy would not thank her if she involved the authorities in his personal matters. When Tomasina last spoke with her son, he claimed that Beryl and Geraldine were holidaying in Brighton.

Yet, it had been almost a month since the otherwise communicative Beryl contacted her in-laws. Tomasina sent a telegram to Beryl's father in Brighton, as she had purchased a dress for Geraldine as a Christmas gift and wanted to confirm Beryl would still be there before sending it. In his reply, Beryl's father revealed that his daughter hadn't been staying with him. A short time later, Tomasina received a letter from her sister-in-law, Violet Lynch, informing her that Timothy had spent the previous two weeks at her home in Murthervale. A number of individuals told Tomasina that her son owed them money, leading her to suspect he had run away from his debts. Furious that Timothy was lying and had seemingly abandoned his responsibilities, Tomasina wrote back to Violet. She panned. There is some mystery about him. You can tell him from me. I never want to see him again as long as I live. He packed up a good job here. He is like his father. No good to himself or anybody else. Violet Lynch received Tomasina's letter the morning of Wednesday, November 30. She read it to Timothy at the breakfast table before accusing him of lying.

He maintained his story that Beryl and Geraldine were in Brighton. He also denied selling their furniture. He appeared anxious and didn't finish eating his meal. At 3.10 that afternoon, he walked into Murthervale's police station. Timothy told the officer on duty, Detective Constable Gwynfren Evans, I would like to have a chat with you alone. He was taken into the station's charge office, where he announced, I want to give myself up. I have disposed of my wife. When asked what he meant, Timothy elaborated. I put her down the drain. The detective queried whether Timothy knew what he was admitting to. He answered, Yes, I know what I'm saying. I can't sleep and want to get it off my chest. He was cautioned and asked if he wanted to make a written statement. As he couldn't read or write, Timothy suggested he talk about it while officers dictated. He was then transferred five miles north to the criminal investigation department in his hometown of Murther Tidville.

Once there, Timothy gave an official statement to Detective Constable Gwynfren Evans and another officer, Detective Sergeant Glindor Goff. He started with the discovery months earlier that Beryl was pregnant with their second child. The news distressed 19-year-old Beryl, who was already struggling to make ends meet with one child. She had also started a new job at a news agency and would have to quit if she had another baby. She wanted to terminate the pregnancy, but abortions were illegal in the United Kingdom at the time. Timothy didn't share his wife's concern, telling her, If you are having a baby, well, you've had one. Another one won't make any difference. Beryl said about trying to abort the pregnancy herself. Timothy warned that she would only end up making herself unwell, but Beryl was adamant.

Timothy approached his mother to see whether she knew of anything that could induce a miscarriage. As a practicing Catholic, Tomasina was firmly against the idea. Beryl also discussed the matter with Timothy's sisters, her brother, a friend, and her neighbors, John and Dethyl Christie. At the advice of those she spoke to, she obtained some over-the-counter pills and a syringe to inject glycerine and carboleic soap into her body, but her attempts failed. As time went on, the combination of her unhappy marriage, unwanted pregnancy, and other home remedies caused Beryl to become increasingly ill and emotionally distraught. She confided to her neighbor, Ethyl Christie, that she wanted to have an illegal abortion performed, but couldn't afford one. Then, in early November, Beryl's overall well-being appeared to improve. On Friday, November 4, her brother, Basil, noted that she seemed to be in good spirits, with upcoming plans to go on a holiday with baby Geraldine.

Yet, her husband told a different story. On Sunday, November 6, after a month of trying and failing to induce a miscarriage, Beryl told Timothy that if she couldn't have an abortion, then she would take her own life, as well as Geraldine's. The following morning, Timothy visited a cafe for breakfast. A man sitting nearby engaged him in conversation, asking, You were looking pretty worried. Is there anything on your mind? Timothy shared his troubles with the stranger, who in turn gave him a bottle wrapped in brown paper, stating, Tell your wife to take it first thing in the morning before she has any tea, then to lay down on the bed for a couple of hours, and that should do the job. That night, Beryl went to fetch a cigarette from her husband's coat pocket and discovered the bottle.

Timothy spoke of his encounter with the stranger at the cafe, but cautioned her not to consume the bottle's contents. He went to work the next day of Tuesday, November 8. Upon returning home in the evening, he noticed the flat was in darkness. Inside, he found Beryl in bed, deceased. Between 1 and 2 am, he dragged Beryl's body downstairs, out the front door, and lowered her head first into a storm drain. He then smoked a cigarette by the living room fire. Timothy claimed he didn't go to work the next day, and instead resigned, telling his employer that he had received a better offer. He visited his mother to tell her Beryl and Geraldine had gone to Brighton.

He then arranged to have a second-hand furniture dealer purchase all of his furniture for £40. The dealer couldn't collect the items until Monday, November 14, so Timothy remained in London for the next five days. Afterwards, he caught a train to Wales to visit his aunt and uncle in Murthervale. He told the officers that he had arranged for someone to look after baby Geraldine before departing. Timothy concluded his statement at 5.10 pm, at which point it was read back to him and he signed it. Three officers were dispatched to 10 Rillington Place, where they spotted a storm drain in the street out front, as Timothy described. Even with their combined strength, they were unable to lift its heavy cover. Their efforts drew the attention of ground floor resident John Christie, who emerged from his flat and re-affirmed that Beryl and Geraldine had left some time ago.

Through the use of levers, the officers were finally able to lift the storm drain lid. They peered inside, only to find it empty. At approximately 9 pm, Detective Constable Gwynfren Evans returned to where Timothy Evans was being held and told him, the drain which you say you put your wife's body down has been examined and there is nothing there. He replied, well, I put it there. When asked who helped him lift the cover, Timothy stated that he had done so entirely by himself. Given its weight, the detective was skeptical and remarked, I don't think that your wife's body has ever been in the drain. Timothy responded, no, I said that to protect a man named Christie.

It's not true about the man in the cafe either. I'll tell you the truth now. He then proceeded to give a second statement which the officers transcribed. He admitted to lying about meeting a stranger in a cafe, but maintained the rest of his statement was essentially true. Roughly a week before Beryl had died, Timothy was approached by his downstairs neighbour, John Christie. John, who was aware of Beryl's attempts to terminate her pregnancy, remarked, I'd like to have a chat with you about your wife taking these tablets. I know what she's taking them for, she's trying to get rid of the baby.

If you or your wife had come to me in the first place, I could have done it for you without any risk. John revealed that he had been studying to be a doctor prior to the outbreak of World War One and showed Timothy a medical textbook he owned. Timothy was unable to read it, but it contained diagrams and illustrations of the human anatomy. John said he could perform an abortion, but cautioned there was a one in ten chance Beryl would die. Timothy was disinterested in the offer and went upstairs to his flat. When he entered, Beryl immediately asked whether John Christie had spoken to him about performing an abortion. Timothy said he had, but told Beryl she wasn't to have anything to do with it. As she trusted John, she intended to take him up on his offer.

Several days later, on Monday, November 7, Timothy arrived home from work and was told by Beryl that John Christie had made arrangements to carry out the procedure the next morning. Shortly before her husband left for work the following morning, Beryl asked him to tell John on his way out that everything was all right to proceed. She threatened to tell him herself if Timothy didn't. Timothy did as he was asked, then went to work. When he returned home that evening, John Christie was waiting for him at the bottom of the staircase. He followed Timothy upstairs and told him. It's bad news. It didn't work. Timothy entered his flat and found his wife's body on their bed covered with a quilt.

He uncovered her, seeing that she was dressed in a black skirt, her checked blouse and a light blue jacket. There was blood around her mouth and nose and between her legs. Geraldine was nearby in her cot. Timothy picked her up, wrapped her in a blanket and took her into the kitchen where John Christie was waiting. He said Beryl had been dead since about 3 o'clock, adding that her stomach had been septic poisoned and that she would have had to go to the hospital anyway. He refused to give any details about the failed abortion procedure or what had involved. For the past month, the middle floor flat at 10 Rillington Place had been unoccupied. Its sole resident, an elderly man named Charles Kitchener, had been hospitalized to undergo an operation on his eyes.

John Christie took Beryl's body into the vacant flat and promised to dispose of it later down a nearby drain. Timothy remarked that it was foolish to dispose of Beryl's body, but John said it was necessary to prevent police prosecuting him for performing an illegal medical procedure. He instructed Timothy to go to work as per usual in the morning while he looked after baby Geraldine, as suspicions might arise if she was sent to her grandmother's home unexpectedly. Over the next few days, John urged Timothy to leave London as soon as possible in order to conceal the death of his wife. He recommended a local furniture dealer Timothy could sell his belongings to and said he knew a young couple in the nearby area of East Acton who would be happy to look after Geraldine. Timothy did as he was told, and while he was at work on Thursday, November 10, John had the young couple come by to collect Geraldine. Timothy told his relatives that his wife and daughter were on holiday, as instructed by John, and disposed of Beryl's clothing by tearing it up into pieces and giving them to a rag dealer. Once his personal affairs were in order and the flat was empty, he caught a train to Murthervale.

By the time Timothy concluded giving this second statement, it was 11.50pm. He had been in police custody for almost nine hours and spent the remainder of the night in solitary confinement. Both John and Ethel Christie were questioned at length in relation to Timothy's accusations. John denied offering to perform an abortion on Beryl that had been aware she was trying to terminate an unwanted pregnancy. He advised her against it for the sake of her health. Ethel told police that Beryl mentioned going to a location near a hospital where she could pay to have an abortion carried out. The Christie's described the Evans' marriage as an unhappy one, with John explaining, quote, Beryl has told my wife and I on more than one occasion that Timothy has assaulted her and grabbed hold of her throat. She said he has a violent temper and one time would do her in. John had spent the first two weeks of November practically housebound after taking time off from the factory where he worked due to ill health. On the date of Beryl's alleged death, he was at home suffering severe back pain and inflammation of the small intestine.

He left his flat twice to see the doctor at 5.20pm and to visit the library with his wife. John saw Beryl for the last time that day as she left the house. At 7 o'clock that evening, Timothy returned home and spoke to the Christie's, telling them that Beryl and Geraldine had gone to the city of Bristol to visit friends and he would join them later in the week. Almost a week later on Monday, November 14, Timothy told John that he had quit his job and was moving. Before his departure, Timothy gave his neighbour two suitcases as well as Geraldine's pram and high chair, asking him to hold onto them until he found a new home for his family. He reappeared almost 10 days later on Wednesday, November 23. John said that his wife had inquired about Beryl, at which point Timothy revealed that she had left him. Police also spoke with Timothy's mother, who confirmed she hadn't seen her son, his wife, or their child in weeks.

They passed on a message from Timothy, asking her to contact John Christie to confirm the address of the young couple who had Geraldine. His message didn't make sense to Thomasina, who replied, I know my son has a very vivid imagination and is a terrible liar. Timothy's personal belongings were retrieved from the Murthervale home of Cornelius and Violet Lynch, including the letter his mother sent days earlier, conveying her frustrations that he had abandoned his family. Afterwards, Detective Constable Gwynfren Evans spoke with Timothy Evans again, who feigned ignorance over the letter penned by his mother. He was asked when he last saw Beryl's body and whether he had helped John Christie move it to Charles Kitchener's middle floor flat. Here, Timothy changed his story yet again. He claimed he had heard his 50-year-old neighbour huffing and puffing as he struggled to drag his wife's body downstairs.

He had then assisted by carrying her legs while John lifted her torso. Quote, That's the truth, and that's the last time I saw her body. When asked if he had returned to London after fleeing to Murthervale, Timothy responded, Oh yes, I forgot about that. He claimed to have returned to inquire about Geraldine's welfare, but John Christie had told him he couldn't visit his daughter for another two or three weeks as she was still settling in to her new home. Detective Evans expressed his disbelief at Timothy's story, prompting the response, I may have made a few mistakes, but as far as Christie is concerned, I have said the truth. Meanwhile, a search of 10 Rillington Place was underway.

Police examined the garden for recently disturbed earth, but found nothing. In the ground floor flat belonging to John and Ethel Christie, police found Geraldine's clothing, pram and high chair. The Evans' upstairs flat was empty of furniture, but four newspaper clippings were discovered. They detailed a notorious crime that had taken place earlier that autumn. On October 4, 1949, Stanley Setty, a wealthy car dealer from London's East End, disappeared. Nearly three weeks later, his torso was found in a marsh in the nearby county of Essex. A 29-year-old named Brian Hume was later charged with the murder. The clippings included pictures of the bundle that Stanley's torso had been wrapped in.

Officers also found a briefcase that had been stolen in August from a residential Notting Hill address, enabling them to arrest Timothy Evans for grand larceny. By the morning of Friday, December 2, more than 36 hours had passed since Timothy Evans had given his initial confession, yet police still hadn't found Beryl or Geraldine. Timothy remained insistent that John Christie had killed Beryl and had knowledge of Geraldine's whereabouts, but John staunchly denied these claims. By this stage, Chief Detective Inspector George Jennings had been placed in charge of the case. Another officer and a biologist from Scotland Yard joined him in a thorough search of Tan-Rillington Place.

The house was again checked from top to bottom, but resulted in no significant discoveries. They went into the communal backyard next, finding a broken dustbin that didn't garner their interest. They searched the outdoor lavatory before turning their attention to the small wash house that had joined it, though the door stuck shut. Ethel Christie, who was observing the goings-on with her husband, explained that the door had a habit of jamming and fetched a knife which was used to prise it open. It was so dark inside that the officers needed a torch to see. The wash house measured just 54 by 52 inches and was primarily used for storage or fetching water. There was a copper boiler in the left corner and to the right was a sink with a pile of timber boards stacked against it.

Chief Detective Inspector Jennings reached behind the wood pile and felt something. He removed some of the boards and uncovered something wrapped in a green tablecloth and tied with a cotton sash cord. He asked Ethel what was in it, but she had never seen it before. The officers laid the bundle on the cement outside the wash house. As they did so, a pair of feet that were bound together slipped out. Detective Jennings returned to the wash house and spotted something else hidden behind some wood stacked behind the door. It was the body of a baby girl with a man's tie knotted around her neck. You could be sitting in the perfect Airbnb spot right now.

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So find out how much at Airbnb.ca slash host. The large, bound parcel contained the body of 19-year-old Beryl Evans, bent with her head between her feet. The infant body was that of her one-year-old daughter, Geraldine. As the weather in London had been cold in recent weeks, both corpses were preserved and had no foul odor. Beryl and Geraldine had been deceased for roughly three weeks, and the cause of death in both cases was asphyxiation by strangulation. Ligature marks and bruises on Beryl's throat and neck were consistent with her killer using a piece of rope or twisted stocking.

She was dressed in a skirt, blouse and jacket, with the latter two undone, exposing her upper body. Her underwear was missing. Her face was bruised with her right eye and upper lip both swollen, indicating that she'd been struck about 20 minutes before her death. Beryl also had two bruises on her upper left thigh, one on her left shin, and another small bruise inside her vaginal wall. Her womb contained a 16-week-old male fetus and bore no signs of the work of an amateur abortionist. It was believed that the bruise in her vagina might have been from a self-inflicted injury done to induce a miscarriage,

yet the possibility that her killer had attempted to sexually assault her post-mortem was also considered. Geraldine Evans was fully clothed. Her only injuries were ligature marks on her neck, caused by the tie found with her remains. The pair's clothing was identified by John and death or Christie, who confirmed the items had belonged to their neighbors. When shown the tie used to kill Geraldine, John thought he might have seen Timothy Evans wearing one quite similar. Timothy Evans was transported from Mertha Tidville back to London so that he could be formally charged with the murder of Beryl and Geraldine. Without telling him that the bodies of his wife and daughter had been found, the officers escorted Timothy on a train to London that night. A police tip-off alerted the media, and a press photographer was waiting as the train pulled in at Paddington Station.

They snapped a picture of a startled and distraught Timothy as he disembarked, flanked by two officers. He was taken to Notting Hill Police Station, where he was placed in the charge room. Layed out on the floor were the items recovered from Beryl and Geraldine's bodies, including their clothing, the blanket, tablecloth and cord used to wrap Beryl's body, and the knotted tie used to strangle Geraldine. As Timothy surveyed the items, Chief Detective Inspector George Jennings stated, At 11.50 today I found the dead body of your wife, Beryl Evans, concealed in a wash house at 10 Rillington Place, Notting Hill. Also, the body of your baby daughter, Geraldine, concealed behind some timber in the same outbuilding, and this clothing was found with them. Tears appeared in Timothy's eyes. As he picked up the tie, Detective Jennings informed him that his wife and daughter had been strangled to death, and that he had reason to believe Timothy was responsible. Timothy replied, Yes.

Timothy immediately provided a brief, verbal confession to the crimes, which Detective Jennings transcribed into his notebook. It read, Beryl was incurring one death after another. I could not stand it any longer, so I strangled her with a piece of rope, and took her down to the flat below the same night, whilst the old man was in hospital. I waited till the Christie's downstairs had gone to bed, then I took her to the wash house after midnight. This was on Tuesday 8th November. On Thursday evening, after I came home from work, I strangled my baby in our bedroom with my tie, and later that night I took her down into the wash house after the Christie's had gone to bed. When Timothy signed this confession, he allegedly told the officers he felt a great relief at finally sharing the truth, before offering to go into more detail about the crimes. He then provided another, more detailed statement, his fourth since turning himself in to police two days earlier. He described murdering Beryl around 6.30 on the evening of Tuesday, November 8, after she initiated a dispute that quickly became physical.

Timothy hid her across the face, and Beryl retaliated. Quote, In a fit of temper, I grabbed a piece of rope from a chair which I had brought home off my van, and strangled her with it. I then took her into the bedroom and laid her on the bed, with the rope still tied around her neck. Before 10 that night, I carried my wife's body downstairs to the kitchen of Mr Kitchener's flat, as I knew he was away in hospital. He then fed Geraldine, put her to bed, and smoked a cigarette, before returning to Charles Kitchener's vacant flat to wrap Beryl's body in a blanket and green tablecloth. He bound her concealed body with cord from a kitchen cupboard, and carried her downstairs to the wash house. She was placed under the sink, with planks of wood stacked in front. Timothy then slipped back into the house, and spent the rest of the night lying fully dressed on his bed.

Over the next two days, he fed and changed Geraldine before going to work, leaving her alone at the flat until he returned in the evenings. On Wednesday, November 10, he had an argument with his employer, and subsequently quit. Upon arriving home, he picked up Geraldine from her cot, and strangled her with one of his tires. After waiting for John and Ethel Christie to go to bed, he crept downstairs with the Geraldine's body, and hid her in the wash house as well. News of Evan's arrest broke quickly. On Saturday, December 3, two London papers published stories about his late night interrogation, with the evening standard running a headline that read, Man All Night with the Police. That same morning, Timothy was formally charged with murder, to which he replied,

Yes, that's right. He was transported to Brixton Prison in London's Inner South to await trial. Upon admission, he confessed to the prison's principal medical officer, who was required to ascertain whether he was sane and mentally competent to stand trial. For reasons unknown, Beryl's father and siblings were not given details regarding her and Geraldine's funeral. Authorities arranged for the mother and daughter to be laid to rest in a shared grave, known as a porpoise grave, alongside six other bodies. Their burial site was located in the Catholic section of London's Gunnersbury Cemetery, despite Beryl being of Jewish faith. In the days that followed, investigators set about building a case for the prosecution. They revisited 10 Rillington Place on Monday, December 5, to obtain a more detailed statement from residents John and Ethel Christie.

Both reported hearing heavy thudding from above on the night of November 8, as though someone were moving furniture. In relation to the backyard wash house, Ethel told police that they locked its door each night. However, there was no lock on the door, with residents merely jamming it shut in a manner that made it difficult to open. As the room's boiler was broken, the space was typically used for storage. Ethel had been using it daily since November 8 to rinse out a bedpan and saw the pile of timber stacked in front of the sink, but didn't notice anything tucked behind it. John Christie didn't visit the wash house until Monday, November 14, the date Timothy Evans left for Wales. At 7.30 that morning, John ventured out to fetch some firewood. He entered the wash house and noticed the timber pile, but didn't disturb it.

The day before Beryl was murdered, she spoke to Ethel about a friend named Joan Vincent coming to visit. Beryl was less than enthused, accusing the woman of causing trouble between herself and Timothy. Joan was one of Beryl's oldest friends, having met in school when they were children. They lost touch, only to reconnect after a chance meeting at a post-ponatal clinic where they took their infant daughters. The two women would catch up several times a week, taking it in turns to visit one another. Joan told police that she couldn't quite recall when she had last visited Beryl, naming November 5, 7 and 8 as possible dates. Joan arrived at 10 Rillington Place around lunchtime. The building's front door was open, something she had never seen before.

She went upstairs and found the door to the Evans' flat, which was usually kept open, closed. She knocked and called out, Beryl, it's me. There was no answer, which Joan found odd as Beryl was always home at lunchtime. She attempted to open the door by turning the handle. It gave slightly before closing again as though someone were pushing against it. Convinced there was somebody standing on the other side, Joan said, If you don't want to see me, you've only got to say so. There was no reply, so Joan left.

In the course of their investigation, police discovered that around the time of Beryl's murder, structural work was underway at 10 Rillington Place. The landlord had hired a team of five laborers to repair plastering and replace floorboards. A manager, plasterer, carpenter and two assistants commenced work on Monday, October 31 and were at the property on and off over the next two weeks. Repair work on the roof of the outdoor wash house and lavatory commenced on Tuesday, November 8. Plasterer Frederick Willis and his assistant Frederick Jones left the building's front door open as they were constantly entering and exiting to gather equipment. At around 10am, Jones was mixing materials out front when a young woman came downstairs with a baby in her arms, accompanied by another young woman. She put the baby in a pram and left. He couldn't recall seeing her again. The plasterers finished mending the wash house ceiling by the following day and for the rest of the week were regularly in and out of the small building as they stored their tools in there.

When their work finished on Friday, November 11, Jones cleaned and swept the room thoroughly before leaving the property for good. Both men were certain there had been nothing out of the ordinary there during that period. All five workmen were shown a crime scene photograph of the wash house that depicted the timber pile by the sink. Carpenter Robert Anderson identified the planks as floorboards he had removed from the ground floor hallway on November 14. He left them in the wash house for the tenants to use as firewood. These statements were at odds with Timothy Evans' final confession. He had described placing the bodies of Beryl and Geraldine in the wash house on November 8 and November 10 respectively. Yet, the workmen had been accessing the small room on both those dates.

Upon realizing this discrepancy, Chief Detective Inspector George Jennings summoned plasterer Frederick Willis and his assistant Frederick Jones to clarify matters, along with their manager Raymond Phillips. Detective Jennings asked Phillips to speak with him first while his two employees waited in another room. Three hours passed and Willis and Jones grew frustrated. Finally, Jones was brought in for questioning. Detective Jennings wasted no time in telling him that his earlier statement was incorrect, as the bodies had been placed in the wash house before he concluded his work there on November 11. Jones was certain this could not be the case, as he had not seen anything suspicious in the wash house the entire time he was at 10 Rillington Place. He was insistent, refusing to budge from his story. His boss, Raymond Phillips, was called into the room and told,

We've got 30 or 40 witnesses to prove the bodies were in the wash house, but your man says they weren't. Phillips turned to Jones, pointing out that if the police said this was the case, then it must be so. Jones altered his statement, writing that he now recalled clearing out the wash house on Tuesday, November 8, not Friday, November 11. Frederick Willis was then asked to join them. He too began to doubt his own recollections and changed his statement, adding the words, I feel now that it would have been quite possible for anything to have been under the sink in the corner. An officer was dispatched to 10 Rillington Place to verify the amended details with the Christie's, who had become the primary witnesses in the case. John Christie confirmed that on Tuesday, November 8, the plasterers told him they had finished the repairs on the wash house and lavatory.

He also clarified that they had stored their tools and materials in the front room of his flat from that date until November 11. Thomasina visited Brixton Prison to see her son. She had tried to visit him while he was under arrest, but was told she would have to wait until he'd been formally charged. Upon reuniting with him after weeks of no contact, Thomasina asked, Tim, why did you do it? He responded, I didn't do it mum, Christie done it. Before explaining that he hadn't even realized that Geraldine was dead until police brought him back to London.

Timothy claimed that police had interrogated him until five o'clock in the morning to coax a confession from him. He pleaded with his mother to have John Christie visit him, stating, He's the only one who can help me now. Timothy Evans was granted legal aid for his defense as he had no money to pay for an attorney. He continued to profess his innocence, though his legal team viewed his sworn statements as very damning. Their brief noted that it would be difficult to decide whether to try for an insanity defense or provide an alternative scenario in line with their client's claims. Timothy's barrister Malcolm Morris visited him in prison on a number of occasions. During these meetings, Timothy explained that he had been scared police would become violent with him if he didn't confess to the murders.

He reverted back to his second statement, blaming John Christie for killing Beryl, despite there being no evidence of her having undergone a botched abortion. He remarked that John must have killed Geraldine as well. Morris warned his client that the court probably wouldn't believe this version of events, and if he was to insist on it as his defense, then he would be required to testify. Timothy understood and readily agreed to do so. British legal practice at the time meant that even if a defendant was charged with multiple murders, they would only be prosecuted for one. Therefore, the prosecution had to decide whether to try Timothy Evans for the murder of Beryl or Geraldine.

In cases where two murders were tied together in a single event, evidence that related to the first murder could be given in a trial about the second, but not the other way around. After some consideration, they chose to proceed with trialling the accused for Geraldine's murder. This way, they could still enter evidence about Beryl's death into court, thus strengthening their case against him for the murder of Geraldine. The trial commenced on Wednesday, January 11, 1950, at the Central Criminal Court of England and Wales, commonly known as the Old Bailey. There was little media interest in the case, and it was barely covered by the daily papers. Before proceedings began at 1030, Timothy Evans' legal team were startled to learn that key witness for the prosecution, John Christie, had a criminal record. This was despite Chief Detective Inspector George Jennings stating that John's record was, quote, as white as the driven snow.

Three decades earlier in 1921, John Christie stole two money orders during his employment as a postman, leading to a three-month prison sentence. Three years later, he committed larceny twice and was again sent to prison. The same year, he and Ethel separated, and John struck up a new relationship with a woman he met in London named Maude. Five years later, he was convicted of assaulting Maude after striking her in the head with a cricket bat. He was sentenced to six months' hard labour. His final conviction was for stealing a car in 1933, for which he served another three months. The prosecution and police were satisfied that John Christie had since become an upstanding citizen, worthy of testifying on their behalf in a murder trial. Following the outbreak of World War II, he worked as a war reserve constable until his resignation in 1943.

He and wife Ethel had since reunited and had lived at 10 Grillington Place since 1938. Despite this, the defence regarded John Christie as an unreliable witness. When John was called to give evidence at trial, he gave detailed accounts of arguments he'd overheard between the evidences, painting their relationship as destructive. He claimed that on the evening of November 10, the night that the prosecution was alleging the accused had killed baby Geraldine, Timothy had arrived home, quote, extremely angry, upset, really wild. He told John that he had quit his job and was hoping to find a new one in Bristol, where Beryl and Geraldine supposedly were, and would be selling his furniture before leaving. Defence barrister Malcolm Morris cross-examined John, using the opportunity to share his defendants' explanation for both murders by stating, Well, Mr Christie, I've got to suggest to you, and I do not want there to be any misapprehension about it, that you are responsible for the death of Mrs Evans and the little girl.

While he acknowledged that he had known about Beryl's unwanted pregnancy, John firmly denied suggesting that he could perform an abortion for her. When asked whether he owned any medical textbooks, John said he owned a St John's ambulance manual that included diagrams of the human body, but had never shown it to Timothy Evans. He called the accusation that he helped carry Beryl's body downstairs ridiculous, as he had been bedridden with severe back pain and information of the small intestine during the week in question. In a final attempt to undermine John's credibility, Morris concluded his cross-examination by addressing his prior convictions. Other witnesses for the prosecution included Ethel Christie, whose testimony matched that of her husband's, Timothy's aunt, Violet Lynch, and Dr Robert Tear, the pathologist who had performed the autopsies of Beryl and Geraldine. He described how the pair were killed by strangulation and made it clear that there was no evidence of damage to Beryl's uterus indicative of an abortion procedure. All four of Timothy Evans' confessions were read to the court. The defense aimed to discredit them and managed to find one unreliable aspect. According to an inspector who was present at the time Timothy provided his statements, chief detective inspector George Jennings mentioned where Beryl and Geraldine's bodies were found before Timothy provided that information himself.

The defense only had one witness, Timothy Evans. Timothy explained to the court that he had initially blamed a stranger he met in a cafe for Beryl's death in order to protect John Christie. Upon learning that her body wasn't in the storm drain as he believed it would be, he had decided to tell the truth. He described his latter two confessions as a load of lies that he'd made up because he was destroyed at learning of Geraldine's death and believed police would knock him about if he didn't comply. He stated that when police showed him his wife and daughter's clothing and the other artifacts found with their bodies, they also revealed that the pair had been in the wash house concealed by timber. In his final question to his client, Malcolm Morris asked, Had you anything left to live for when Geraldine was dead? Timothy replied, No sir. Prosecutor Christmas Humphries referred to the defendants' known and extensive history of lying. He described to John Christie, a World War I veteran who also worked in the War Reserve police during World War II as a perfectly innocent man who had no motive to murder his neighbors.

Humphries asked the defendant, Can you suggest why he should have strangled your wife? Can you suggest why he should have strangled your daughter? To both of these questions, Timothy replied, No. At the conclusion of his 10 minute long closing argument, Humphries asked the jury. Even if Christie had been responsible for the woman's death, why should he two days later go up to that flat and strangle an innocent little baby lying there aged 14 months? Even this fluent liar, who will lie as and when he pleases, cannot invent an answer to that question. The defense's closing argument was significantly longer. Malcolm Morris reminded the jury that unlike John Christie, Timothy Evans had no previous convictions for violent behavior.

He asserted that elements of his client's story were not something that an uneducated illiterate man could invent. He explained that his client made no admissions that Geraldine was dead until after he was told her body had been found, at which point he confessed due to his fear of the police. The trial judge reminded the jury that they were only required to reach a verdict regarding Geraldine Evans' murder. Despite the defense's story that Beryl had died after arranging for John Christie to perform an abortion, the judge clarified that she had not died from such a procedure and added, Evans is a person who does not hesitate to lie. The jury deliberated for 40 minutes before returning with their verdict. They found Timothy Evans guilty of the murder of his one-year-old daughter Geraldine. In 1950, death was the mandatory sentence for murder. When asked if he had anything to say as to why the court should not sentence him to death, Timothy replied,

No, sir. He remained silent as the judge stated. Timothy John Evans, the jury has found you guilty of willful murder and the sentence of the court upon you is that you be taken from this place to a lawful prison and thence to a place of execution and there you shall suffer death by hanging. May the Lord have mercy on your soul. At these words, John Christie broke into sobs from his seat at the back of the courtroom. As the Christie stood to leave, Timothy's mother shouted at John, Murderer, Murderer. Ethel replied, Don't you dare call my husband a murderer. He's a good man. Timothy Evans was taken to Pentonville Prison in North London to await his execution.

He was a model prisoner who was generally liked by the guards. One officer noted that Timothy talked of his deceased wife and child, almost as if he had forgotten the crime. While another commented, he speaks of his wife with respect. Timothy passed time playing cards with other prisoners or discussing football and boxing. He found renewed faith in the Catholicism he had been raised with and attended mass every week while also receiving regular visits from a priest. His mother, stepfather and sisters visited often. Timothy continued to maintain his innocence. A month after his trial, he appealed his conviction on several grounds, including that evidence relating to Beryl's death should have been inadmissible and that the judge had misdirected the jury to find him guilty.

His appeal was ultimately dismissed. Once again, Timothy showed no visible distress at the verdict, but upon returning to prison, he began pacing in his cell. His execution was scheduled for Thursday, March 9, 1950. Five days beforehand, Timothy appeared before a medical board to confirm he was of sound mind. He again attempted to recant his confessions, stating, I didn't care what happened to them, so I made the statement. He speculated that John Christie had killed Geraldine to get her out of the way. He didn't dwell on his situation, but found it painful to discuss.

The board found no cause to provide a medical reprieve. Two days before his execution, Timothy was visited by his mother and sisters. He asked them if there was any hope, and his mother replied, We have done all we can, son. There's nothing more. I want you to make your peace with God. Don't worry, you'll go to heaven. At their final visit, Timothy's older sister, Eileen, stayed behind after the others had left and said, Look, Tim, you've got nothing to lose now. Tell me the truth so that I can know. Did you do it? He answered, No, Eileen, I didn't do it. Christie done it. On Thursday, March 9, 1950, Timothy spoke with a priest before the executioner arrived at 9 a.m.

He was taken to the prison's execution shed, where a hood was placed over his head, and he was hanged. His body was buried in an unmarked grave in the grounds of Pentonville Prison. The execution failed to make headlines. Five months later, the owner of 10 Rillington Place sold the house to a 35-year-old Jamaican immigrant. By this stage, Charles Kitchener had permanently vacated the property, and the building's new landlord planned to lease each of the rooms in the middle and upper floor flats to maximize returns. Seven new tenants moved in, four of whom were also from Jamaica. John and Ethel Christie remained in their ground floor residence, though they were displeased by their new neighbors. The pair held racist views and made a number of complaints about noise and intrusions to their property to a free legal advice service. Eventually, John Christie negotiated exclusive access to the property's backyard on the grounds that he and his wife needed privacy.

By Tuesday, March 24, 1953, the Christie's were no longer living at 10 Rillington Place. That afternoon, Beresford Brown, the tenant who now occupied the top floor flat, was making some repairs to the Christie's old kitchen after the landlord had given him permission to make use of it. As he installed some brackets for a wireless radio, he tapped a portion of the room's rear wall and discovered that it was hollow. Beresford peeled back a small portion of wallpaper, revealing a small, hidden alcove tucked away alongside the kitchen. He shone a torch inside and was alarmed at what he saw. Tobay continued. Next week. Copyright© OSHO International Foundation