The Chieftain: Victorian True Crime Through The Eyes of a Scotland Yard Detective (34 page)

On 27 April the lord mayor, having heard sufficient details from both the prosecution and the defence representatives, committed Walters and Murray for trial at the Old Bailey and they were remanded in custody. Much to Clarke’s concern, on 5 May an application was made for bail, which was granted.
⁷¹
As Clarke had feared, when their trial date arrived there was no sign of Walters and Murray.
⁷²
It later became known that they had absconded to America where their fraudulent skills and gangster-like propensities made sure that they could earn a living. Murray returned to Britain in 1876 and was soon back in prison. Precisely when Walters returned is not clear. However, when he did return he had added forgery to his other criminal attributes. As one of Clarke’s colleagues was to comment in 1894:

Probably there has been no criminal in the last quarter of a century who has given the detective police – not only those of the metropolitan force and of the City of London, but also those of the provinces and Ireland – so much work to do as the notorious forger, William Walters, the king of a very dangerous gang of ‘cheque raisers’ … The members of the ‘mob’ regarded him as a genius and looked up to him as their leader.
⁷³

Nonetheless, even criminal geniuses can get caught and Walters was tried at the Old Bailey in March 1880, pleading ‘guilty’ to forging and uttering a cheque and was sentenced to twenty years’ penal servitude.
⁷⁴

What became apparent with hindsight was that Walters and Murray were essentially the ‘front men’ for the gang involved in the 1874 Society turf fraud case. There were at least two others behind the scenes who were responsible for the design and implementation of the fraudulent scheme. One was Kerr, who avoided arrest and who would emerge in another turf fraud in 1876 as ‘William Kurr’. The other was Kurr’s partner in this and other ventures, Mr G.H. Yonge, the physically crippled but mentally alert Isle of Wight resident who had been so keen to talk to Clarke, and whose real name was Harry Benson. Unknowingly, by walking through Mr Yonge’s front door in Shanklin, Clarke had met his nemesis – but he was not to realise that for some time yet.

6

SUICIDE, ACCIDENTAL DEATH OR MURDER?

1876–77

When lovely woman stoops to folly

And finds her husband in the way,

What charm can soothe her melancholy

What art can turn him into clay?

The only means her aim to cover,

And save herself from prison locks.

And repossess her ancient lover

Are Burgundy and Mrs Cox!

Anonymous
¹

Clarke’s first major case in 1876 did not appear until March. Before then he had held the fort at Scotland Yard while Superintendent Williamson was overseas, investigating mutiny and murder on the British merchant ship
Lennie
.
²
In February the hazards of the job were highlighted by the unexpected death of Detective Inspector Davey, who had been sent to Naples to extradite a prisoner. While in Italy, Davey had gone down ‘with an attack of a malarious fever’ but had insisted on returning to Britain with his prisoner. On arrival he had collapsed and died; his prisoner escaped but was later re-arrested by Detective Sergeant Greenham.
³
Davey’s position was promptly filled by John Meiklejohn, who had previously been overlooked for promotion in 1875.
⁴
Meiklejohn’s replacement as detective sergeant was German-born Charles von Tornow; ‘blessed with a rare amount of courage, daring, and resourcefulness’, he would work closely with Clarke during the next two years.
⁵

A Curious Case of Conspiracy to Murder

At the end of March, Clarke’s attention was alerted to some correspondence from the post office ‘dead letter office’ that contained intriguing references to death by poison. The letter, addressed to ‘M.Q.’, had been written on 23 February 1876 and was delivered to the Junction Road post office in Kentish Town. It had remained uncollected for a month and had been transferred to the dead letter office, where it was read by a clerk who reported its contents to his superiors. It had then been forwarded to Scotland Yard.

No one reading the lengthy letter could doubt that the writer (who signed himself ‘W.K.V.’, from 59 Euston Road) was responding to an individual who intended to poison someone with chloral in a manner that would not cause undue suspicion. Extracts included:

I must say there is a risk of discovery with whatever mode of death … The peculiarity of my suggestion is that although the actual cause of death is found out, and that a narcotic, yet the verdict will be the most lenient –
viz
., ‘by misadventure,’ or as it is phrased sometimes more specifically, ‘the deceased was in the habit of taking chloral, and died from an overdose incautiously administered by himself’ … The cases of the poisoners Pritchard and Palmer, both doctors, were ingenious, yet they were detected. They lived before these chloral times…
⁶

Fortunately, the letter contained sufficient clues to discover the writer: ‘I write this letter at 52, Brady-street, Bethnal-green where I am since yesterday doing full duty for Surgeon Mainwaring. We have a surgery here, and I have access to the drugs, bottles and labels…’
⁷

When Clarke had located the surgeon, the author was identified from his handwriting as one of Mainwaring’s locums, William Kingston Vance. However, the identity of the intended recipient was unknown. Here Clarke had some good luck, as the post office authorities told him that they had received a letter from a ‘William Quarll’ asking for poste restante letters addressed to ‘M.Q.’ and ‘Q.W.’ to be returned to Junction Road post office for collection. The authorities did as requested and Clarke arranged for the post office to be kept under surveillance. When a woman arrived to collect the letter she was followed to her lodgings in Camden Town by Detective Sergeants Manton and Robson. She was identified as Ellen Snee, a married woman whose husband, Frederick, was often overseas. By keeping Snee under surveillance, the connection was established between her and Vance when she purchased a money order in the name of ‘W. Quarll’, made payable to ‘William K. Vance’, at a Camden Town post office. By 21 April, Clarke had sufficient information to obtain warrants for the arrest of both Vance and Snee on charges of conspiracy to commit murder.

Vance was arrested at 59 Euston Road, and ‘came quietly’, obligingly providing Clarke with a copy of an advertisement in the
Daily Telegraph
which had prompted the correspondence: ‘To medical men in need of money, or to students well up in chymistry [sic] and anatomy. A gentleman engaged in an interesting experiment is willing to give liberal remuneration for professional assistance, Q.W., Post office, Junction-road, Kentish-town, N.W.’
⁸
Having replied to the advertisement, Vance had then received a letter, which had later caused him to write his uncollected response. The letter read as follows:

I am tired of my life. I could do a great deal of good to a person I am interested in by leaving the world just now, and, one way or another, I am resolved to do so, but if possible I should prefer not to wound the feelings of the person who will gain most by my death, by allowing it to be supposed voluntary. Besides, the most merciful verdict of a coroner’s jury would be sufficient to invalidate my will. Now, although I have some acquaintance with medicine and chymistry [sic], I know of no drug or combination of drugs which would do this for me without risk of discovery. It is possible you may … I am willing to allow time for experiments, and have no objection to a personal interview. I will give any assurance of bona fides that may be thought necessary. I only request that this communication be considered strictly private.
⁹

Vance had never met his curiously suicidal correspondent, and was indeed surprised to discover that a woman was involved. His lodgings were searched by Clarke and a large quantity of drugs were removed. These were sent for analysis to Dr Thomas Bond, lecturer on forensic medicine at Westminster Hospital (later to become known for his forensic association with the Jack the Ripper murders and as one of the first individuals to attempt offender profiling). The detectives then travelled to Camden Town to arrest Ellen Snee, who was ‘a good deal alarmed and surprised’.
¹⁰

Snee and Vance appeared at Bow Street Police Court on three occasions between 21 April and 5 May, during which time Clarke and his colleagues were adding to the evidence against the two prisoners. Five more letters relevant to the case were found at the Kentish Town post office; Snee’s landlady described her as ‘a person who was suffering’, and one of the bottles removed from Vance’s house was found to contain chloral, a drug that Thomas Bond confirmed would provide a death whose symptoms would appear similar to natural causes. At the end of the hearing on 5 May the prisoners were committed for trial at the Old Bailey, both being charged with conspiracy to murder Ellen Snee; Vance additionally being charged with unlawfully encouraging Snee to commit self-murder.
¹¹
(It was only in 1961 that the Suicide Act decriminalised suicide in England and Wales.)

This strange case, which ‘excited much interest’, came to trial on 31 May. Clarke was the first prosecution witness to appear, adding to his previous evidence by stating that an impression of the name ‘William Quarll’ had been found in Ellen Snee’s diary. Snee’s landlady informed the court that her tenant often suffered much pain and had three cats, one of which had recently been sick, the implication being that it had been used as a ‘guinea-pig’ to evaluate the effect of chloral. Snee’s defence counsel contended that an attempt to commit suicide was not an attempt to commit murder, but was overruled. The jury retired for thirty minutes before reaching a ‘guilty’ verdict, but recommended both prisoners to mercy – Vance on the basis of his previously good character, and Snee because of the frequent absence of her husband. Snee received six months’ imprisonment and Vance eighteen months, though the judge showed some regret that the relevant statute did not allow him to sentence Vance to ten years’ penal servitude.
¹²
By 1881 William Vance had resumed his medical career; however, Ellen Snee had already achieved her objective of an early death. She died on 18 April 1880, not from chloral poisoning, but from tuberculosis.

The Balham Mystery

Before Clarke had completed the Vance and Snee inquiry, another poisoning case landed on his desk on 1 May 1876. The coincidence of the two events occurring within weeks of one another was noted in
The Times
on 18 May: ‘The investigations have been made by one of the most experienced detectives, Inspector G. Clarke, under Superintendent Williamson … they have come to the conclusion that there is no reason to suppose that there is any … connexion.’
¹³
The second case was nevertheless to become the public sensation of 1876.

On the morning of 21 April 1876 Charles Bravo, a barrister in his thirties, had died at his home, the Priory in Balham. It was an unexplained death (though as far as his wife was concerned, a suspected suicide). A post-mortem was undertaken and the inquest took place at the Priory. Neither the coroner nor Bravo’s family or friends took any early action to notify the police or the press. However, the police were brought in when the inquest jury returned an open verdict on 28 April, ‘that the deceased died from the effects of a poison – antimony – but we have not sufficient evidence under what circumstances it came into his body’.
¹⁴
Certain members of Bravo’s family, including his stepfather Joseph Bravo and a work colleague Carlyle Willoughby, were convinced that Bravo was not a person likely to commit suicide. On Monday 1 May Willoughby contacted Scotland Yard, and the detective department was asked to investigate.
¹⁵
That same day Superintendent Williamson passed the case to Clarke. Though still busy with the Vance and Snee inquiry, Clarke immediately headed off to Balham ten days after Bravo had died, to a ‘crime’ scene that had not been preserved:

11 May 1876

I beg to report that as directed, assisted by Sergeant Andrews, I have made enquiry and find that Mr. Charles Delaney [sic] Turner took the name of Bravo on the marriage of his mother with a Mr. Bravo of 2 Palace Green Kensington several years ago. He was a barrister having chambers at 1 East Court, Temple and about October last formed the acquaintance of a Mrs. [Florence] Ricardo, widow of Captain Ricardo of the Guards, and residing at the Priory Balham and they were married on 7th December. They continued to reside at the Priory and are said to have lived very happily together.

On Tuesday the 18th ult. Mr. Bravo returned from the City in the afternoon, and went out riding. On his return between six and seven o/c he complained that the pony had run away with him, and said he felt shaken, and had a hot bath, and at ½ past 7 dined with Mrs. Bravo and her lady companion a Mrs. Cox.