Wynn Scunthorpe Murders

1. Auflage 2014
ISBN: 978-0-7509-5817-2
Verlag: The History Press
Format: EPUB
Kopierschutz: 6 - ePub Watermark

E-Book, Englisch, 128 Seiten

This chilling collection of murder cases delves into some of the villainous deeds that have taken place in Scunthorpe's past. Among those featured are a woman who beat her teenage daughter to death for refusing to get out of bed, a steelworker who stabbed two people before barricading himself and his children in his home, and a policeman who strangled his wife and set up the crime scene to make it look like the work of an intruder. Illustrated with a wide range of archive material and modern photographs, Scunthorpe Murders will appeal to everyone interested in Lincolnshire's criminal past.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Wynn, Douglas

Leseproben

CASE ONE 1921

THE MYSTERY OF THE REEDS

Suspect:

Charles Wolfe

Age:

30

Charge:

Murder

It was in the early morning of Tuesday, 15 November 1921 that farmworker Frederick Rimes was cutting reeds in a low-lying valley near the railway viaduct at Brumby. The area was usually very wet and boggy, but it had been a dry summer and the ground was less damp than usual. Nevertheless the reeds were over 7 feet high and very thickly clumped in places, so it was a lonely spot, frequented by very few people. When he saw something white on the ground in front of him he stopped working and bent to examine it. Then a ray of sunlight caught it and he jumped back in alarm. It was a small skull. He took a closer look and saw that it was not from an animal; it was round and undoubtedly human. The skull of a small child.

As he looked closer he could see bones scattered about. This was no sheep carcase or even a dog. This was murder! He rushed back to Rowbottom Farm, to the farmer who had employed him, and burst out with his news. The farmer himself went to inspect the find and then cycled to Scunthorpe police station to report the discovery. At 10 a.m. that Tuesday, Superintendent Johnson, Sergeant Sharman and several police constables cycled out to the spot indicated by the farmer. What they found there surprised and shocked them. Though the bones had been scattered somewhat by animals, it was obvious enough that there were two separate individuals, one smaller than the other. But little else remained. No flesh adhered to the bones, so they must have been there some time, but there were some scraps of clothing that might help to identify the bodies. There was a girl’s hat, boots, jacket and a pocket handkerchief.

When Dr Bellamy, the police doctor, arrived he opined that they were the skeletons of two children: the older one possibly 6 or 7 and the younger 2 or 3. He wasn’t able to positively determine the sex of the children right away, though from the clothing at least one looked to be female. He also estimated that they had been on the ground for at least two months.

‘This was murder!’

Superintendent Johnson considered that the two children might have been local and had wandered off, become disorientated, couldn’t find their way back home and so perished in that lonely spot. But if that was so, why had nobody reported them missing? And he could recall no notices asking for information about missing children. No, their disappearance was decidedly suspicious. He therefore reported the find to the local press and asked for information from anyone who had heard of children going missing over the last two months or so.

Among the reports that he received was one from Mrs Kate Martin living in Fenton Street. She reported that she had started a job as a housekeeper in March, working for a Charles Wolfe. He had two children, Grace who was 6 and young Herbert who was 3, and Martin looked after them and their clothing. In July, Wolfe obtained a position as a steamroller driver for a firm in Manchester. On a Friday early in August, he sent Martin a letter asking her to send the children to him by train to Ardwick Station on the Great Central Railway. But she was unable to do this and on the following Friday he cycled to Scunthorpe. On the Monday, she dressed Grace in a white hat, brown coat and white socks and Wolfe took both children away, telling her that he was trying to get the children into a home. He left at about 2.30 p.m. that day with the children and returned alone at about 9.30 p.m., saying that a nurse had met the children in Doncaster and they had gone with her.

Scunthorpe Viaduct. (Courtesy of David Robinson)

Martin was able to give the police Wolfe’s address, since he had written to her several times since he had left. And on Thursday, 17 November, Inspector Metcalf from the Scunthorpe Police travelled north and interviewed Charles Wolfe where he was living at Crooklands, Preston Richard, Westmoreland (now part of Cumbria). He repeated that he left his children with a nurse at Doncaster Station. When he was asked where they were now he said he didn’t know, but suspected that they were out of the country and in France. The inspector said he was not satisfied with Wolfe’s statement and brought him back to Scunthorpe where he was remanded in custody until the following Monday.

Fenton Street today.

The inquest on the two skeletons was opened in Scunthorpe on Saturday, 19 November before coroner Mr G.E. Davy and a jury. The court was crowded, as the discovery of the skeletons had caused a sensation in the town. Wolfe, whose name was given as Charles Herbert Wolfe and whose age was 30, was present, as were his father, mother, sister, brother and sister-in-law, who all lived in the town. The coroner told Wolfe that he would have an opportunity of giving evidence if he wished and he answered, ‘Righto.’

Frederick Rimes gave evidence of finding the remains and Sergeant Benson produced photographs he had taken of the crime scene. Superintendent Johnson reported going to see the skeletons at the place they were found. In answer to a question from one of the jurors, he said that the position of the bodies was a kind of inverted V, with the head of the female towards the feet of the younger child. It appeared to him to be a natural position and he said it was possible that they might have died in their sleep. Sergeant Sharman produced the clothing that had been found by the bodies, but said that there were no laundry marks on any of the clothing. He also produced some brown hair that had been adhering to the skull of the older child.

Dr Bellamy had collected all the bones and had arranged them into two bodies. He was able to tell the jury that there were few bones missing and to confirm that they came from two individuals; one older child aged 6 or thereabouts and one from a much younger child of 2 or 3. There was practically no tissue left on the bones and nothing to indicate any violence or cause of death. He estimated that death had taken place some two months before, although it was very difficult to pinpoint the exact time.

Charles Wolfe. (Courtesy of John Young)

Next into the witness box was Kate Martin. She repeated the evidence she had given the police and when she was shown the clothes which had been found near the bodies, she said she was sure that they were worn by Grace when she last saw her. She also said that she had seen Wolfe later that evening when he had told her that the girl would become a nun and the boy a sailor, when he grew older.

At this Wolfe spoke up. ‘Tell me if you did not suggest many times to get the children away, as you could not stand the slander being put about. Answer me straight lass.’

Martin replied that she had suggested he might try and get the children away as they were so dirty.

Wolfe put another question. ‘What did I look like when I walked into the house that Monday night? Was I excited?’

‘No,’ replied Martin. ‘I don’t think you were.’

The next day she said Wolfe returned to Manchester. Further evidence of the clothing was given by Gertrude Martin, Mrs Martin’s daughter, who had lived with her in the Fenton Street house. She said that she helped to get the children dressed on that fateful day. She had shortened the elastic on the girl’s hat by putting a knot in it. And it was the same knot that was on the girl’s hat produced in court.

Grace Wolfe. (Courtesy of John Young)

When the court adjourned for lunch Wolfe was visited by his father and mother. After lunch evidence was given by a coalman who said that he saw Wolfe with his children at about 6.30 p.m. that Monday on Althorpe Bank, which is on the opposite side of the River Trent from Scunthorpe. This was the first indication that Wolfe’s story of taking the children to Doncaster that night might not be true. Inspector Metcalf gave evidence of Wolfe telling him that the children were in a home in France. The inspector then told him that it was possible he might be charged with the wilful murder of his two children. Wolfe replied, ‘Have my two poor babies been found then?’ The coroner adjourned the inquiry at that point until Tuesday, 29 November. When he was asked if he would like to give evidence Wolfe said, ‘I reserve my defence. I have nothing to say, only that I am innocent of anything.’

Herbert Wolfe. (Courtesy of John Young)

When the inquest was resumed on Tuesday, 29 November the coroner’s court was again very crowded and a murmur of anticipation went round the room as Mrs Wolfe, Wolfe’s estranged wife, went in the witness box. The coroner told her that she need not give evidence unless she wished to do so, but the jury would be glad to hear it if she wished to speak. Mrs Wolfe, however, intimated that she did not wish to speak. Thereupon the coroner read the following signed statement, given previously to Detective Smith:

I am the wife of Charles Wolfe and I reside at 2 Clare Street, Burnley. I was married to Charles Wolfe on the 26 June 1915, at the Westgate Congregational Church, Burnley. Two children were born of the marriage, Grace Mary was born on 24 August 1915, and Charles Herbert was born on 20 March 1918. After the marriage I resided with my father and the prisoner, who was employed as a steam road engine driver for a firm of the name Norman E. Box, contractor, Manchester and was away from home a good deal. He visited me on an average of once a fortnight. After about six months I removed to 49 Holsby Street,...