CRIME AND MYSTERY.

Auckland Star, Volume LVII, Issue 25, 30 January 1926, Page 23

CRIME AND MYSTERY.

HIS THOUSAND SWEETHEARTS

SCOUNDREL'S FRAUDS ON WOMEN

TWENTY-FIVE " WIVES."—BUSINESSLIKE DON JUAN.

Patrick Moran, areh-blgamlst «nd professional Don Juan, Is a unique subject for c fascinating etudy In criminal psychology. For 20 years, when not in prison, he has lived by the most gigantic system of heartless frauds upon women that has ever come under the notice of the police. Hβ entered the marriage market in air . Infinite variety of assumed identities, and his exploits eclipsed those of all other criminals who specialise in preying upon love-lorn women. The roan Iβ remarkable for his personality as well as his methods. Moran Is an Irishman, and he used all the blandishments of his race In his dealings with women, tout he could never have operated on such an Incredible seale,if he had not applied to his swindles the capacity of a well-trained bnelness man. "A Business Concern." ■Hβ conducted his fcrafflo In women's hearts and fortunes as a weli-organlsed commercial concern. He advertised himself In the matrimonial market, dealt with his correspondence on a business-like system, and kept a record of all financial transactions In a ledger. He had long lists of the women to whom he was "married" or "engaged," or whom he was courting. Hβ entered up agalnet each individual the name he was using, and -he caved time that was valuable to him t>y carrying on most of his love-mak-ing by correspondence. Sometimes he spent hours on end conducting his correspondence, and he never wrote a letter without making a request for money. At the time of his arrest he was In communication with 200 women in all parts of the country, who were giving and sending him lump sums and remittances out of their eariiings. These "loans" and donations brought him In a regular income of well over £1000 a year, and he was also able to put by thousands of pounds for prudent investment In house property. Cook's £l a Month From one woman alone he obtained <£SOOO, but he did not disdain to pick up trivial amounts which poor women caved for him out of their earnings. He Induced a London cook to send him £1 a month for 70 months out of her wages. He always acknowledged its receipt with a curt note of "thanks for the usual." Five thousand love letters from 800 women were found t>y the police at his headquarters In Alexandra (Road, Flnsbury Park, London, in a trunk at the home of one of his "wives" In Gloucestershire, and at his lodgings in (Bradford. Many of these letters were full of burnIng expressions of passionate love. Moran studied the psychology of his Tlctime. He wooed lonely, middle-aged women as a lonely widower who was longinj for companionship. t Hβ posed as a political agent, a propertyowner, an estate agent, or a Journalist. He excused bis long absences on the ground of pressure of business. Hβ was always full of promises of the home he would provide, and always full of reminders of the urgent need for substantial contributions. Sheltered by Victims. He hardly ever spent a penny himself on any of his dupes. They even had to finance his courtships, and pay all his travelling expenses, yet his hold over many of them was so great that even when his Infamies were exposed they refused to "give him away." When the police were on his track one of his "wives" sent him a warning wire. Another woman, whose life he had ruined, wae brought face to face with him at a police identification parade. She threw her arms rcftind his neck, and ewore she would love and protect him for ever. George Leslie was the name in -which he ■was convicted, but that was only one of the aliases in which he carried on his countless courtships. He has often used the names of Lucid, Lane and Gregory, and called himself by such Christian names as "George Alphonbus." His record, read in Court by Superintendent F. Petty, the chief of the C.I.D. of the Bradford City Police, showed that he was a convicted criminal end ticket-of-leave man. "During the past twenty years," said the superintendent, "he has systematically and unscrupulously obtained large sums) of money from women on the promise of marriage, and then coolly and heartlessly discarded them." t Moran is the son of a well-to-do Tipperary farmer, and was educated In Dublin for the Civil Service, but when he was eighteen he enlisted in the Royal Irish Rifles. He was soon promoted to the rank of colonr-sergeant, but hie Army career was brought to a discreditable end with c sentence of seven years' penal servitude for embezzlement. Double Bigamy. When he came out of prison he evolved his elaborate system of matrimonial frauds, and for this and double bigamy he -was sentenced to another term of seven years' penal servitude at the Old Bailey in 1911. He was then tried by the late Judge Kentoul, Who, when paesing sentence, said, "I think the earth never contained a more infamous scoundrel than you." Moran presented quite a distinguished appearance in the dock at the Leeds Assizes. He is a well-preserved, handsome man wlh clear-cut features and a military bearing. He insists that he is no more than 48 years of age, but the police know that he is 55. As the Judge ordered that he Is to be kept under police supervision for five years *tter his ten years' Imprisonment, the sentence is calculated to put an end to his criminal career for ever. Moran's face was puckered Into a smile of sardonic amusement as he listened to the story of his shameless crimes. Bight of his women dupes were grouped near the dock, but their presence left him undisturbed. "Wife" Collapses. Hβ was tried for defrauding three women, two of whom he had blgamously married. He pleaded not guilty to the charges of fraud, but admitted bigamy on three occasions:— In July, 1920, at Minsterworth, Gloucester. In November, 1920, at Leicester. In 1922, at Market Harborough. The jury, without retiring, returned a vordlct of guilty on all charges. "I cannot find any circumstance of mitigation," said the Judge, passing sentence of seven years for bigamy and three for fraud, to run consecutively. "Xou have been most cruel and heartless. Xou have robbed these Innocent women of their last penny."

Moran took the announcement of his punishment with an Inscrutable smile. Hβ bowed gravely to the judge, and bowed to his "wives," one of whom was in a state of collapse, and made his exit unperturbed. A sum of over £1200 was the amount he obtained ifrom the three women in respect of whom he was charged, but he ha<l actually committed fraud and bigamy wholesale, and had collected many more thousands of pounds. Bought a House. ■Quite recently he obtained £2000 from a wealthy widow, £800 from a Bradford woman, but they, like many more of his victims, were reluctant to prosecute. Moran bought the nuuse in Finsbury •Park, which he made his headquarters, out of the money he squeezed out of women. He called it "The Depository," and he entertained some of hia victims there from time to time. He purchased other houses in London and two bungalows at Peacehaven as well, sinking at least £3000 of his "capital" 'in this way. His post-bag at Finsbury Park often contained 20 letters a day. They came from women in answer to matrimonial advertisements. Leslie, as he was known at- this address, was regarded as a model resident. He was understood to have been educated at Dublin University, and was very popular by reason of liis charming manners. All the time he was secretly pursuing his ■campaign . of despoiling marriage-able women. He began his overtures by letter, representing himself as an eligible widower, and enclosed a photograph for inspection. His One Photograph. (Moran never believed in giving anything away, and he even used but one photograph for all the hundreds of women with whom he established communication. Invariably he encloseed a stamped, addressed envelope for Its return. Now and then he went on tour to visit his more remunerative victims, -but he preferred interviews to be arranged in London. He usually took the women to tea in the West End, "borrowed" his expenses from them, and bartered matrimonial promises for cash and securities, which he asked for at once on one pretence and another. In a number of cases 'Moran led his victims <to the altar, lived with them for a short while, and then went away on the plea of urgent business as soon as he had obtained their money. How many bigamies Xloran has committed the police cannot tell for certain. They have definite proof of 11, but it Is believed that the total must be quite 25. When he was arrested'ln Bradford, mc police were searching for three of bts "wives" In tho Essex suburbs of London. Moran rarely completely deserted a "wife." One was satisfied with the Intermittent visits he paid her at her country louse. He often left her for a fortnight to look up two other "wives." When lie appeared In person to any of his victims It was usually In the role of ardent lover, but hie correspondence was so voluminous that he tad no time to write over long love lettera. To economise time he made a practice of nsinc; abbreviations for hie expressions oi Hevetion. Thus he began his lettere. "D.0." (D<;.irest One) and "D.L." (.Darling Love). He referred to himself as "•(}.," and ended up with "8 x'a," or whatever number he thought tie circumstances demanded. Sometimes It was as man/ aa "60 x's." One of tho curt letters in which he combined romance and 1 finance, which was read in court, ran:— D.L.—Thousand thanks lor letter wlt-H usual. The nsaal was the writer's remittance. Another letter ran:— What a dear, good, pleasing girl. Your ever-pleasing letter received with all in order. A specimen -.of the letters which Moran received was also read. It was from one ot his "wives," enclosing her savings, whlcn she had drawn out of the post office,, who wrote: — '■ My .Barling Husband, —Enclosed you' will find small contribution towards our new home. . Moran's exposure was brought about by women, who had become tired of hla continual excuses for not providing them wlta a home, complaining to the police. Arrested at Bradford. Scotland Yard took up the investigation, but Moran had by then left London. A description of him was circulated, and he was recognised in Bradford, and arrested by the police there. It wae found that he had gone .to Bradford,- where he was living In a good-class residential district, to collect a substantial sum of money from one of his dupes. Moran first began his frauds upon women aa far back as IS9B, and in the first eight yeara lie obtained £1000 from ten different women under promise of marriage, but it was In 1909 that he began to operate on a grand scale. It was not until he had been exploiting the system for two and α-half years tint the police got on his track. It was then that he was cent to penal servitude. In those days be had his headquarters in Liverpool Street, E.C., and a matrimonial paper, called "Cupid's Chronicle," brought hlin many of his victims. When the police rai<J.e<3 his office they found 2700 love letters written by 77 different women. He was then keeping a careful account of all his courtships, and the police found that in 1009 he had 23 women on his books; in 1910 he had' 85; and at tie time of his arrest he was making love to 42. Double bigamy was proved against him at Mβ trial. Besides various old charges or embezzlement, it was disclosed that he professed to be a devout Catholic, and had once perpetrated a fraud on his own religious community. Catholic Home Ruined. During the absence of the priest he was left in charge of the St. Joseph's Catholic Church Home at Devonport. He had the home partly pulled down on the pretence that he had been offered money to erect a better building. Then he disappeared, ana in consequence of his false pretences tne home was ruined. <His matrimonial career Is one long story of heartless deception. His first marriage was in 18S9, at Devonport, to a young IrlsQ girl whom he-'-met while he was serving in the Army. He deserted her, leaving her with two children. The wife died while quite young when he was serving the term of seven years' penal servitude passed upon him for embezzling postal orders when a lance-corporal in the Bedford Beglment. 'His legal wife at the time of his bigamies was a Mrs. Kate Ransom, whom he married In 1906 at Compton Glffard, Devonshire, when he was In business as a mineral water manufacturer. Hβ obtained £1500 from her, epent ell the money, and then deserted h«r. She divorced Mm In 1928.