BAREFOOT WOMAN MYSTERY.

Auckland Star, Volume LXI, Issue 175, 26 July 1930, Page 3 (Supplement)

BAREFOOT WOMAN MYSTERY.

The discovery of a woman's partiallyrhd body on the grass verge of the main owtDorfc-Altri n cham road, near Manchester, has presented the Scotland Yard fen who have been called in with one sthe most baffling mysteries they have ® . er known. There were no marks of violence m the body, and at present no one Vnnws how the woman met her death, there she died, and how she came, only Trtlv dressed, to the spot where the body las found. The police were hampered in their investigation for two days on account nf the hidden identity of the woman tfri one knew who she was till B be was identified as Carrie Whitehouse, known also as Clarice Wilson, a Londoner, £ lived in Gorton, Manchester. She was «id to be the wife of a captain believed to in New Zealand. The woman was about > n years of age, and presumably married, f" when found she was wearing a wedding tine The spot where the body was found is only two feet from the road, and was in men view of anyone passing. There had i,'e n n o attempt at concealment, and if the theory is accepted that the body had bera brought and placed there, whoever did so must have wanted the discovery .to be made quickly. At a rough estimate little more than half an hour elapsed after the body had been placed there before the lights of a passing car brought it to view. There was nothing about the clothing to indicate who the woman was or from whence she had come, for she was only wearing a blue and white mixture jersey, cotton frock, and two white cotton vests. There was 110 other clothing on the body, even stockings and shoes being missing. But though the woman's identity was solved, the way in which she reached or was brought to the spot where her body was found remains as great a mystery as ever. There were no marks of violence on the body, and 'it was thought at first that a perfectly naturally explanation might be forthcoming. Perhaps, it was argued, the woman might have suffered from some temporary mental derangement and had wandered from her home, dying from exposure,on the roadside, or perhaps she lad .been poisoned.

Without Shoes or Stockings. Dr. A. R. Nightingale, police surgeon of Stockport,-and Dr. D. K. Bean, of Cheadle, after an examination lasting about four hours, failed to establish how the woman died. In the end the authorities were obliged to send certain organs tp Sir Bernard Spilsbury for examination. There is little doubt that the dead woman was brought to the spot in a vehicle of some sort. When the body was found the feet were without shoes or stockings, and there was no trace on'them of the woman having walked unshod at any time prior to her death. A still more probable theory, one which, however, disposes .of the suggestion of death from exposure, is that the woman died elsewhere. Maybe she had been in the company of a man or men in a house and had taken ill and collapsed. Her companion or companions, forseeing a compromising situation, may have carried the body into

s-car. and driven into the country and

placed the body on / the grass verge. The body was in a natural position; It looked at first as if the woman had lain down and gone to sleep. This suggestion expresses the belief of Mr. Arthur Robin-

ton, a motor mechanic, of Butler House, Grove Lane, Timperley, who found the body.- In his opinion the woman died from exposure. "I was driving my car from Bramhall along the Stockport-Altrincham main road when my headlights shone on a body lying on the roadside. I turned the carround'and went back, and was shocked to find the body of the woman. She was lying face downwards, and as soon as I touched her I knew- she was, dead. Her body seemed quite cold. On the way I had passed two police officers, and went back after them and drove them to the «pot. I think the woman must have died from exposure.-

Heard Car Drawing Up. "It was a bitterly cold night. There is Jot ove'rmuch room in even .the biggest type of car, and if she had been dragged «om one I would have expected her to do marked. It would "have been a ticklish job to have -lifted a woman clean out, . especially in a hurry."

Of course, it is not definite that the body *as conveyed to the spot where it was iound, but everything points in that direction, and the police support the theory. Mr.: Edward Neald, of Sharston Nurwhose home, 100 yards from the oaa, faces the spot, and whose son heard tne sounds of motors drawing up outside, Wrn- ? an d I and our soil r , . am had been to Stockport market and turned at 11.30, but we saw nobody. We aa : to p a gs close to the spot to turn into ine drive .to our house, and the lights of .If ? ar : would have shown the woman had fne been there then. About an hour later , was up, heard the sudden j;,i ? an d. starting of two cars. They Wipi-d"™ a v ri 7 e to g et her, but how Jong WlntT aS i i en them I could not say. imVhf ?, jo be a second car stopping have been the first one I lurnfioSf" ,u Hc , ld not . S° OH and I was the police called two hours ax a a sked if anyone was missing, roadside" 311 been foimd dead on the £ ave been searching over a an In -Lancashire and Cheshire for wH° ne i^ otor ear, but none has to find or t s have also been made clothing i t re .^} a^n der of the woman's lelievp +w success. The police play death was due to foul

path o fe arcl SpiJsbury, the Home Office at Pa i a Vlsit to the mortuary examinat; an r conducted a post-mortem body Carrie Whitef r^ 6l^ lVa ? T . he result o£ a elue page letJr ? y! le deciphering of a ninef°und ih t>i''o i 3 j wntten in Pencil, and %er r!!V o, "woman's apartments in letter w ° Street,_ Manchester. This * enc * n an envelope, "was tare boon ' - a , man who is believed to freel- Vvof ln the- woman's company the -teferred+A fe 6 tr£lge d y - One passage of snrim a secre t dread the "woman had have Wn"®/" som ething. The police ' Whom iv. J ln K to trace the person to t unposted letter was written; had nnf'tv 8e - foaturc °f the case -winch ' the iron,. e \'°l ls 'y heen disclosed was that on W1 ° h , at } a scratc] b six inches long, ■ e £ between the ankle and calf. ..Evidence at Inquest. • soTn U p 8 A be dear t0 you (fche i ur >') about tii > pe J son or persons know more '■»« \ltr ot her liEe sr Percnno i that Person, or those of a n i° thillS ?° fear in tl;e way Prevpnt 1 charge there is nothing-to L!S comiiig forward and tellthey know." These last corona f e to l ' lc j lll '.V r by the Cheshire (Mr. J. A. the rWi " e at Uheadle on ueaa woman. duHnvflf Stated th . at Mrs - Whitehouse of tiio „ e war married an Army captain B °t t>r<W u. e Wi'tehouse. She could coroner Ra ;j l ®, marria g e . however, and the cun'"stin» i woman must, in the cirJ. Sain<c_ri es '- ? spoken of in her maiden ■■&S$F le , Wilkin son. ohestpr fj• Peusou, wife of a Manas' that eni P ,o yee, identified the body lonian Z Kl .ster. She and the dead ham TJ OI • i cir childhood in Xotting'fhp nL sistei ' vas b °rn in 1887. tna i'ricd , ~v ner: tP K ' yo " know s ' ie was tain" in ' ti. - I ® er husband was a capdu:'! ne tw,, -^ riri y- '-They were married V \Vi , tlle war. . !r>. lia«o , ''r c ?'^ 6ncc is there of the mar- | ■ -V; 1 do not know.

body found by lonely wayside. death due to cocaine poisoning, SCOTLAND YARD FACES BAFFLING PROBLEM,

There is no definite evidence. It was one of those things that happened during the war. Was the husband or the supposed husband killed in the war?— No. What was his name?— Captain Bert Whitehouse.

What happened to him after the war?— I don't know.

Where has he disappeared?—l don't know.

The Coroner: You see, Mrs. Penson, if we can find the husband, if there is a husband, and if he is living, he might be of some assistance to use in this inquiry. ■ You cannot identify your sister as Carrie Whitehouse without any evidence of her marriage. She is Carrie Wilkinson as far as I know. Do you know she had other names? Mrs. Penson: Not until recently. Life In London. Did you know she was Clarice Wilson in London?— Yes. Was she married again?— No. Mrs. Penson said that in 1922 her sister and Captain Whitehouse were in business in Nottingham. In 1923 her sister disappeared for a time.

The Coroner: She was convicted of prostitution in 1924. ill's. Penson: I am sorry to hear that, but I did not know it.

She said that about 1925 she received a letter from her sister asking for help to get her husband a berth as a steward on a ship at Southampton. She sent the money and registered it," but did not get a reply to her letter. Later she received a letter from her sister, who was then in St. Pancras Hospital, about to undergo an operation.

A month .or so after she had left hospital she got into trouble in London, and the police court missionary asked witness if she would have her. She had not seen her sister since last when she came to her house in Manchester.

The coroner: Was she then short of money?— Yes, I helped her.

Did you know she took intoxicants?— Yes, I thought that was her worst trouble.

The coroner, addressing the jury, said that the police had traced the dead woman's movements up to between-7.30 and eight on the night she was last known to be Her body was. found at 1.30 the next morning. The question was what had happened to her in the interval. Her mode of living was one which could not be publicly carried out, and the material hours regarding which the police wanted information were those when the woman was most likely not to be seen about.

"Knowing what we do, we may say that she was probably in the company of one or more men during those last hours. If that person or those persons have nothing to fear in the way of a criminal charge there is nothing to prevent them coming forward and telling us what they know. It hi ay be unpleasant for them, but it is a very obvious duty to come forward and own up." Sir Bernard Spilsbur?, pathologist to the Home Office, said that cocaine had been taken by deceased through the mouth, but he did not believe she was a drug addict.

A verdict was returned that death was due to cocaine poispning, there being no evidence to show who administered the drug.

The coroner said the police would continue their inquiries. Latest advices from England .state that the Cheshire police issued a description of a certain man whom they were desirous of interviewing in connection with the mysterious death of Carrie Whitehouse. The man is about 20 years old and a native of Manchester. He had not been seen for several days, despite widespread inquiries by the police.