Every Town - The Many Lives & Crimes Of The Rolex Killer - New Yorkshire, England

Episode Date: December 2, 2022

A brand new Rolex Oyster Perpetual timepiece costs around $6,600 and in 1996, this Rolex model became the “star piece of evidence” in a murder that happened on the English Channel. It solved the killing of Canadian Ronald Platt, and led to the arrest and conviction of another Canadian named Albert Walker aka “The Rolex Killer.”💥 Watch On Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/scarymysteries🎧 Our Other Podcast: https://www.buzzsprout.com/1235579💀 Follow Our Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/scarymysteries 💀 Follow Our Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/andrew.fitzg👁 Follow Our TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@andrewfitzgerald💥 Follow Our Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/scarymysteriesofficial Support the show Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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Thank you guys so much for tuning in to you. today. This is Andrew Fitzgerald, your fearless narrator, digging through the craziest stories from every town and presenting them here for you to enjoy. We appreciate you guys tuning into our show, and if you ever want more content from us, check out our Scary Mysteries podcast and YouTube channel because they're both pretty crazy. Stay safe out there, and today we're dipping across the pond for a story we just couldn't pass up. Hope you enjoy it. Every town has a dark side. A brand new Rolex Oyster Perpetual Timepiece cost around $6,600 and is classified as one of the luxury brand's most affordable models.

If you can, it's definitely worth a splurge because of the prestige and distinction it brings its owner. But did you know that in 1996, this Rolex model became the star piece of evidence and a murder that happened on the English Channel? It solved the killing of Canadian Ronald Platt and led to the arrest and conviction of another Canadian named Albert Walker aka the Rolex killer. Thanks so much for tuning in to another episode about crime and mystery here on Everytown. Greed can make a person do very bad things. And Albert Walker is someone who let it get the best of them.

Not only that, but at one point, Albert became Canada's most wanted criminal and Interpol's secondmost wanted. So what exactly did he do to deserve such attention from authorities? The story started decades before in his hometown in Paris, Canada. So let's head over there first. Albert Johnson Walker was born on August 9, 1946 in Paris, a community located in the county in Grant in Ontario, Canada. Albert dropped out from high school and did numerous odd jobs.

His life took a good term when he was hired as a bank teller for a trust company, and in due time he also started filling out income tax returns for clients. Albert learned fast, and by the time he thought he had mastered the ropes of the trade, he resigned from the trust company two years later. He took the risk of establishing his own freelance bookkeeping business called Walker Financial Services Incorporated, and in a little over 10 years, Mr. Walker's company, company expanded into six branches with more than two dozen employees.

At the time, life seemed perfect for him, his wife Barbara and their three daughters. They attended church as a family, and Albert even became a Sunday school teacher, which strengthened his reputation as a respectable man in the community. But it's also the image of a successful businessman and pillar of the community that helped Walker to deceive 70 clients and embezzle $3.2 million as a more mortgage broker and financier, especially when a stock deal he had invested in collapsed in 1986. Many of his victims definitely lost their savings.

Albert was likely aware he was running out of time, so the investment planner had set up the United Canvas Corporation in the Cayman Islands and deceived his fellow churchgoers and friends out of millions of more dollars. He also remorgeted his house for $44,000 without the knowledge of his wife. In December of 1990, he allegedly said that he was going skiing in Europe with his then 15-year-old daughter, Sheena, the middle daughter in the family, but they never returned. He left Barbara and Canada to take care of their other daughters until he and Sheena returned, but Albert didn't have any intention to set foot in Canada ever again. In 1993, Mr. Walker was charged in Canada with 18 counts of fraud, theft, and money laundering. He became Canada's most wanted and close to being the top one in the Interpol's most wanted list at the time.

Now, in order to get away for his crimes, Albert's scheme of deceiving more people and living a life with more lies just escalated. Two months after Albert abandoned Barbara and their two daughters, under the guise of going skiing in Europe, Mr. Walker resurfaced in London with a new identity. as a wealthy American entrepreneur named David Wallace Davis, which was actually his Canadian client. His daughter Sheena had a new name, Noel Davis, and was introduced as his wife. In the years, they stayed in London. She had two kids, Emily and Lily, but the father had remained unknown. She said later during her father's trial, my dad suggested that because there was a small child, we should present ourselves. as a couple. Albert and Sheena lived in Harrogate in North Yorkshire, the largest ceremonial

county in England. In Harrogate, Albert, aka David, met Elaine Boys, a receptionist for a fine art auctioneer. During the course of their conversations, Elaine had mentioned that she and her boyfriend, a TV repairman named Ronald Joseph Platt, who also hailed from Canada, would love to move back to his home country one day. As proof of his wish to live in Canada, Ronald, a former soldier, had a maple leaf tattooed on the back of his right hand. Albert then entered into a business deal with Ronald and Elaine by offering them directorship at his company, the Cavendish Corporation.

Mr. Walker used them as a front for a bogus company operation with accounts in Switzerland to launder cash to further his stay in Britain. Ronald and Elaine eventually accepted Albert's offer, and the latter was sent on business trips abroad, frequently asking them to convert money from Swiss francs to British pounds when they reached their destination. It earned the trust of the couple, but it was wrong that they fully trusted Mr. Walker. In February of 1993, Albert bankrolled the trip of Ronald and Elaine to Calgary, Canada as a Christmas gift. but with the condition that Mr. Platt leave his driver's license, signature stamp, and birth certificate. I proclaim that he need those for the business to continue while Ronald was away.

Excited to settle back in Canada, Ronald agreed to Albert's proposal because he was either too trusting or too naive. Once Ronald had flown to Canada, initially with the intent of permanently settling there, Mr. Walker stole his identity and became the new Mr. Ronald. Joseph Platt. The new Mr. Platt moved to Essex with Sheena and her two girls. They lived as husband and wife and cited Ronald Joseph Platt as the father of the two girls in their birth certificates. Albert kept in contact with the real Ronald Platt and occasionally called up Elaine who eventually left her boyfriend in Canada. But soon, the real Mr. Platt was disillusioned with Canada's economy, which left him out of money, so he decided to go back to England in 1995.

The real Ronald also settled in Essex, close to Albert and Sheena. Albert knew that he was against time as the truth of having two Ronald Platts discovered would spell disaster. If it happened, it would open the floodgates of Albert's string of deceptions in England. As he had assumed Ronald's identity and there was no turning back, Albert thought that there was only one best solution. He had to eliminate the original Ronald Joseph Platt and let the copycat. remain alive. So Albert made a plan to kill Ronald when he set the date to July 20th, 1996. The wanted con man invited Ronald on a fishing trip on his yacht in Devon, which is a county in southwest England. It was in the pretense that Ronald would help him sail his boat,

the Lady Jane, over to Essex. Then four miles out at sea, Mr. Walker hit Ronald over the head with an anchor. He then tied it around his waist and dumped his body into the English Channel. And just like that, Albert Johnson Walker, who became David Wallace Davies, was now permanently Ronald Joseph Pratt version 2.0. But would he be able to assume that identity for life or would he need to shift to another one? Well, the con man, not he had gotten away with the perfect crime, but such gratifying thoughts didn't last long. Two weeks later, a fisherman named John Copic found a badly decomposed body tangled in the nets of his fishing trawler. The dead body didn't have any identification that would have helped him recognize him. It was identified, though,

that he had an injury to the back of his head, so it could be possible that he was drowned on purpose. His identity was a mystery to the police at first until they found something that could be valuable. What the dead man did have on him was a watch. Not just any watch either, but an expensive Rolex oyster perpetual model. Rolex watches are crafted to last, so even if the piece has been submerged in seawater for weeks, details like serial numbers can still be retrieved. Fortunately, the luxury brand committed to quality and customer service meticulously keeps records of their sales and services. When contacted by the police, the company disclosed

that a man named Robert Platt was the owner of the watch and had that particular Rolex model repaired a decade earlier in 86. Thus, the victim of the murder was Mr. Platt. And interestingly, the British police were also able to determine when Ronald died by examining the date on the watch calendar. And since the Rolex movement had a reserve of two to three days of operation when inactive, police used the date on the watch and calculated the length of time it was inactive.

They were then able to establish the time of the murder, practically down to the second. Because of their business dealings, police were also able to find Albert's phone number. When they spoke to him, he expressed his willingness to help and went into the police station voluntarily. He initially told authorities that he'd given Mr. Platt money to set up an electrical business in France that had not seen him since June. But of course, this was another lie. In one instance, Essex police contacted. He contacted Albert to clear up a few matters, and he was still using the name David Davis at the time.

However, he was not in his house when police came, which was actually a blessing in disguise for the law enforcers. Ronald's neighbor told them that the person living next door was not Mr. Davis, but Ronald Platt. Who owned a yacht in Devon? Alarm bells rang, and police put him under the microscope for three weeks, before ultimately arresting him in a Halloween. armed raid. Albert Walker was zeroed in on as the suspect in Ronald's murder. On October 31st, 1997 was arrested, while Sheena was found stuffing gold bars in a diaper bag. Albert's preliminary hearing commenced in the spring of 1998 in the village courtroom in Tangmouth, England, since the crime was committed there. The evidence against Mr. Walker was strong. The GPS later

pinpointed his yacht to the area at the time when Ronald died. One of all the fingerprints was also found on a plastic bag on the boat, while Sheena, who was already in her mid-20s, also testified against her father, excusing her behavior by claiming she had been hypnotized by him. Their case against Albert Walker was entirely circumstantial, since there were no witnesses and nobody had seen the two men together for at least ten days prior to the murder. Still, nevertheless, though, the Exeter, Crown Court prosecutor Charles Barton,

called or entered written evidence from 36 witnesses, including Sheena, who had traveled from her mother's home in Paris, Ontario, to testify. She carefully avoided shedding light on questions pertaining to her daughter's biological father. Albert also danced around the issue during his two days in the witness box. He did admit that he was a liar and a thief and stole his client's money in Canada, but emphatically denied murdering Mr. Platt. The jury, composed of eight women and four men, deliberated for only two hours before reaching a verdict. Do you find the defendant Albert Walker guilty or not guilty, a clerk asked. The jury four men replied in a clear, unfaltering voice, guilty. Albert showed no emotion as the verdict was delivered and a sentence passed.

At 52 years old, he faced life in jail, and it would be 15 years before the possibility of parole. Justice Butterfield told Albert, It was in my judgment that this was a callous, premeditated killing, designed to eliminate a man you had used for your own selfish ends. Afterward, a relieved and smiling lame boys who attended the trial daily, described her former boyfriend Ronald Platt as a kind, honest, and gentle man. For his life to end in this tragic way by a so-called friend, whom Ron and I felt at ease with and trusted is,

well, I cannot find the words to express my horror. That feeling was clearly shared by the jury. Albert tried to appeal his conviction, but his application was refused in 1999. And seven years later, he was transferred to Canada to serve the remainder of a sentence. By 2000, bankruptcy trustees have recovered about half a million dollars of embezzled money,

but authorities are not really sure how much the full former financial advisor pocketed, and how much his financial losses were from his failed business ventures. There was possibly $150,000 in gold bullion that was never recovered, but Albert never revealed how much money remained hidden. Sheena and her children were allowed to return to Canada after the trial, and Britain signed an agreement with the Canadian authorities in June of 2004 to transfer Mr. Walker back. He was returned to his home country in February of 2005, after languishing nearly seven years in English prison to continue serving out a sentence. But this didn't sit well with his daughter, Sheena, who said she feared for her family and that her

father was evil. She said, I was under the impression that he'd be gone for a lot longer, and I would have time to build a better life from my family, just in order to protect them for the future and any thread he possesses to us. The Canadian police had said they fully intended to received with 37 outstanding fraud, theft, and money laundering charges against Albert. He pleaded guilty in 2007 to 20 theft and fraud charges. Most recently in July of 2021, the already 75-year-old Albert Walker's petition for freedom was nixed by the Parole Board of Canada. At the time, the board asked Mr. Walker, what led to the fraud and theft charges,

he said his biggest risk factor at the time was insecurity and the need for love and affection from others. Asked about the toll of his financial crimes on his victims, Albert maintained no one needed to file for bankruptcy or faced financial devastation. The boy then concluded, Albert Walker lacked remorse and didn't have a sound understanding of how his actions affected his victims. And to think, this is all thanks to a Rolex watch. Albert Joseph Walker got his time in jail for the many crimes he had done, which He's never regretted, not even once. So that's it for this week's episode of Everytown, guys.

Tune in next week for another one filled with scary, strange and mysterious stories. Because who knows? Maybe your town will be next.