CAMDEN TOWN MURDER.

Auckland Star, Volume LXIV, Issue 249, 21 October 1933, Page 4 (Supplement)

CAMDEN TOWN MURDER.

BRITISH CRIME SENSATION, YOUNG WOMAN FOUND DEAD IN BED—DOUBLE LIFE OF ENGINEDRIVER'S WIFE—YOUNG ARTIST WITH STRANGE IDEAS BECOMES INVOLVED—A REMARKABLE STORY OF LIVES AND LOVES—ARREST FOLLOWS DAYS OF ANXIOUS SCHEMING TO AVOID AUTHORITIES A PARAMOUR'S CONTRACT THAT WAS BROKEN.

On the morning of Thursday, September 12, a young man named Bertram Shaw, employed as cook oa the Midland Railway, returned from his night duty to his llat at 29, St. Paul's Road, Camden Town, to meet his mother and introduce her to the girl who was about to become lis wife, wrote the late Edward MarjoriJoanks in his bock "Marshall Hall's Murder Trials." Her name was Emily Dimmock, but she iR-as always known as "Phyllis." He had taken her, as he thought, from the life of the streets to marry. her. She was already known as Mrs. Bertram Shaw. When he returned on that Thursday (morning he found his door locked. Letting himself in by a borrowed key, he found poor Phyllis lying naked on her bed with her throat cut. She was lying peacefully in an attitude of repose. Expert medical opinion 6aid she had died in her sleep at about 3 ajn. Only a few articles of trifling value were removed, and some other motive than robbery had to be found to account for the crime. The . murder became the sensation of the time, end, as no arrest was made for weeks, it seemed as if the whole affair would remain a complete mystery. But the Criminal Investigation Department of Scotland Yard, under Inspector Neill, were busily making inquiries. It was discovered that up to the time of her death Phyllis could.-not keep away from her old mode of life. Unknown to Shaw, she was frequenting public houses and taking men home. The "husband's" nights on his dining car gave her both temptation and opportunity. Seen at the Eagle. As late as 11.30 on the Wednesday night she had been seen with a young man of "shabby genteel" appearance at the Eagle public house, and reports reached the police that she had been seen at a later time with another man, smarter and better built. Further ' inquiries showed that on Monday night and Friday night she had been seen, with the flame young man with whom she had. been at the Eagle on Wednesday, at a neighbouring house called the Rising Sun. .Is Robert Wood, a young artist of 28, employed by the Sand and Blast Manufacturing Company, of Gray's Inn Road, to paint delicate designs on glass, said to oni of'his* colleagues, "It is not surprising. These women never know whom they're taking home." The police, however, had one important clue. Well concealed in a drawer in Phyllis' room they found a postcard; on one side was a rather decorative picture of a woman with her child, on the other side was writing which appeared to be a message of rendezvous from one woman jfco another for Monday night. It was received by her on the Monday' imorning. "Phyllis darling," it ran—"lf it pleases you, meet me at 8.15 at the [here, followed a little sketch of the rising sun]. Yours to a cinder, Alice." It was addressed to "Mrs. B. Shaw, 29, St. Paul's Road, Camden Town." Now, when the police had first come they found a postcard album lying on the floor; several postcards had been taken but, and some lay scattered on the floor. Altogether it looked as if the murderer i had been interested in looking for a postcard before he went. 1 Further, the police found in her room fragments of what appeared to be a torn and charred letter, . and the writing appeared to be the same as that cn the card of assignation for Monday. The ship's cook said that Phyllis had shown him both, that they were in the same handwriting, and that Phyllis had put the postcard in-a drawer. It was therefore naturally considered that if the writer of these documents could be discovered an arrest would be justified. And it was decided to use the newspapers and to give' the postcard in facsimile the widest publicity. In the ordinary course, a few words on a postcard reproduced in facsimile would be very hard to identify as the writing of any pne person. But suppose that a. young woman has received long and frequent, love-letters from a man over a-period of years, so that she knows every sport. and trick of his band; suppose, further, that her lover is an artist and has a habit of embellishing his "love-letters with little sketches—it might then well be that a girl would immediately recognise her lover's hand in a few words on a postcard, reproduced in facsimile in her Sunday newspaper; and fco it was.

A Refined Beauty. Ruby Young, a delicate-looking, girl of refined beauty of the Rossetti type, with dark hair, pale, face and deep blue eyes, was an .artist's model. She had been a nurse, and had been seduced by a medical man. _ Shortly afterwards she made the acquaintance of Robert Wood, a young artist, in whose work the great William Morris had shown a kindly interest. Wood "fell; in love with her, and she him. He belonged to a very respectable middleclass Scots family living in London; he was of a -very gentle and lovable nature, but his general popularity with everyone, men and women, had made him spoilt and vain; and, whereas respectability \v;;; a fetish with him, a strange vanity made him seek the acquaintance of and pay court' to attractive women of the streets. He himself said that this was only a foolish whim of his in his curiosity to know all sorts of people. Probably he and Ruby would have married if she had not -told him of her "former misfortune. He gave her his mother's ring, became her devoted lover and constant companion, but never married her. He was poor, and she began to receive financial assistance from pther men. Wood's discovery of this did not terminate their friendship, and she much resented any.attentions paid by him to other women. Her jealousy had lately caused a serious breach between them. Then, on Sunday, September 29, she saw the "rising pun" postcard in her Sunday newspaper and recognised the writing at once as being that of her lover. She then recalled that lie had been very strange in his behaviour lately. Up to September 13 they had only tnet once, and then by chance, since the quarrel in July. But on that day she received a telegram from him asking her to pieet him at a shop. They went to a restaurant, and Wood isaid to her: "Ruby, if any questions are put to you, will you say you always saw me on Mondays and Wednesdays?" She asked him why, but lie: merely pressed her till) she promised. Afterwards they met several times, and he reminded her each time of her promise. Then, on Sunday, the 29th, came the publication of the postcard. Ruby had clipped out the cutting and put it in a letter to Wood which was lying on her* table when he himself called jon her. He was in great distress. "Ruby," he said, "I am in' trouble." "Yes," she answered, "I know you are — < that is your handwriting." He the-i said: "Be patient, and I will i jKcpl:>!:i :• i." i saiti that he had met Phyllis Dim- ! inock in xne Rising Sun on the Friday be- i fore the murder. A little boy came in to i pell picture postcards. She collected them and was going to buy one. Wood advised ( her not to, as they were "not artistic." He then produced some that, he had j brought back from Bruges, and she liked the one of the woman with the child. "There," she said, "that's a pretty one — jerite something nice on it for me " Wood had been showing Phyllis his 1 and he t-hen scribbled the words 1 of assignation on the postcard, and signed i it "Alice" at Phyllis' request, because "the ] governor might cut up rough" if he signed a man's name. He told her he would popt it to her. Next day he met her again in the street., and she said, "You have J not sent me my postcard." He did post : it to her on Sunday night. On. Monday i

he met her again, in the Rising Sun; she was with a lame man whom she said "she hated." Wood told Ruby ho had never seen her after that night, and that he had spent Tuesday with his brother; on Wednesday he had been out walking alone, but he could not prove it. She asked him if he had written again to Phyllis, and he said he had scribbled and sketched for her in the Rising Sun, and she might have kept something in his handwriting. Ruby and Robert then made a careful plan of where they would say they had been on the Wednesday. They arranged to say that they had parted at Brompton Oratory at 10.30, she to go home to Earl's Court, he to Ring's Cross. Ruby then began to be nervous about this conspiracy. ' "Your word and my word will stand against the world," said her lover, in his histrionic way. He left her happily, confindent that she would stand by him. They met again several times, and she went to see Charles Wood, a brother. He explained to her that it might be important for Robert to prove his whereabouts during the week of the murder. "I can answer for Wednesday, anyway," she said. / Robert had confided in his brother Charles, just as he had done with Ruby. After anxious discussion, Charles had advised him to send the following letter addressed to Charles at a poste restante, which was duly done. It was signed by Charles Wood, Bessie his wife, and Robert, and was expressed thus: "We

are jointly anxious to assist the police, but we are "very anxious to avoid the publicity and jjersonal inconvenience of present communication. Being satisfied of his bona fides, we think it wise to await the result of the inquest. We are . determined that if necessity arises after the inquest that Robert Wood shall make • his avowal to the authorities immediately." Meanwhile, the thing was getting on I Ruby's nerves. Robert kept on worrying ; her "to be true," and she replied, "I will be true, but don't bother me." The Kiss. t But she was a woman, very much alone in the world, and frightened. She went to another friend and put her predicament in a hypothetical way. "What ought a girl to do who is in that position?" she asked. Of course, her friend guessed the truth, and told her that unless she told the truth he would do so for her. This frightened her, and she was introduced by her frienjl to another man, who caused her to meet Inspector 2n eili outside Piccadilly 'l'ube station. Poor Ruby was now in a most unenviable position. She loved Robert Wood, and surely cannot have wished to give him away, but through her own indiscretion she was now almost compelled to help the police. on October 4, she met Robert Wood in Gray's Inn Road. She greeted him with a kiss; he had an uneasy feeling that he was being watched; "I believe that man is a detective," he said. Ruby bade him pay no attention. But very soon Inspector Neill came up to him, and explained that he would have to detain him, as lie had reason to believe that Wood had written certain postcards to Phyllis Dim mock. Wood replied that he had only written one, and, as he got into a cab with the inspector, and saw Ruby crying hysterically, he, still confident of her loyalty, said in his pathetic theatrical manner, "Don't cry, girlie. I have to go with these gentlemen. If England wants me, she must liav? me. Be true." "Be brave," answered Ruby, "and leave that to me." Rude Awakening. Trusting entirely in Ruby, as well he might, Wood made a long statement to the police, making the alibi which she had concocted with him the main point of a protest for being detained at all. This false statement was to bring him close to the gallows. Other investigations concerning him were not favourable to him. A young bookseller named Lambert had seen him with Phyllis in the as late as 10.30 on the Wednesday night. Wood had telephoned hini the very next day and begged him to say nothing about having sceu him with a girl. When Wood was arrested, the inquest on Phyllis Dimmock was already in progress. and it became necessary for his friends to be busy about his defence at once. His employers ridiculed the idea of his being a murderer, and retained Arthur Newton. Wood, they said, was gentle and amiable to a fault; and really the evidence against him was so islender that the clever solicitor at first thought the task before him was an easy one. But he n-as soon to have a rude awakening. [Dramatic disclosures which followed in further investigations will be revealed in next week's issue, in which Inspector Jtfeill "identified"- Robert Wood.]