ALMOST PERFECT CRIME.

Auckland Star, Volume LXVII, Issue 181, 1 August 1936, Page 4 (Supplement)

ALMOST PERFECT CRIME.

Ex-Aircraftsman Frederick Field, convicted at the Old Bailey and hanged last month for strangling a woman named Sutton, in a Clapham flat—to which he had confessed—appealed in vain against the sentence of death which had btvn passed on him. Three years ago he had confessed to an almost identical crime—the strangling of Norah Upchurch in Soho—had been tried, also at the Old Bailey, on that charge, but he recanted his confession and was acquitted.. It is now possible to tell, for the first time the strange story of what Field himself described to a "Daily Express" correspondent, just before lie gave himself up, as "the perfect crime." "I Beat Them All." Norah Upchurch was found dead in an empty shop in New Compton Street. London, in 1031. That Field was strongly suspected of killing her was widely known at the time of the inquest. None knew that better than Field himself. The coroner subjected him to a very severe examination. He caine out of the ordeal innocent, in law. His reaction was remarkable. Almost physically exhausted by the strain of long hours in the witness box, he was nevertheless amazingly alert mentally.

He discussed the ease with me with a lawyer's ability, almost with a lawyer's impartiality. As he spoke of the coroner's Court his face lit up with a smile of triumph.

"Ah," he laughed, "they thought thev had got me, but I have beaten them all —yes, all of them —the coroner, Superintendent Cornish (in charge of the inquires), and all the rest of the police! I knew they were trying to put it on me, but I was too much for them all."

He knew the possibility of a charge remained, but he seemed a man without nerves, ready, even eager, to match his brains as often as necessary with the best that justice could produce. Innocent or guilty of the murder, Field's outstanding trait was his vanity.

A man of little education, he displayed a cleverness and an astuteness possessed by few in his class. According to the story he told it was his confidence in his ability to beat Scotland Yard that led him to strangle Nor ah Upchurch. Surprise Call. It was in October, 1931, that I first saw Field, and I heard nothing more of him until July 25, 1&33, when he called on me unexpectedly. He was

no longer the self-assured man I remembered. A police witness in the case of Mrs. Sutton, for whose murder'he was to hang, told the Court that when Field was making his confession in that case his eyes were not normal, that he seemed to be wanting to say something he lad on his mind.

That was how he appeared to me on the morning he called. A big, physically strong man, he was as nervous as a child. "Can I have a drink of water?" he pleaded. He swallowed it in a gulp. When he had calmed himself he said: "Well, I killed Norah Upchurch." And this was the story he then told, in part in response to questions, but mainly impromptu: —

"I did not know the girl until the evening of the murder. I had no reason why I should kill her—that is to say, no particular reason. I had made up my mind to kill some one to prove a theory, arid it was chancfe that chose the victim. I had had many arguments with workmates whether such a thing as a 'perfect crime' was possible. "It became an obsession with me. I could not, believe me, kill a cat or a bird. Cruelty is not one of my faults; what followed sprang from the challenge in my mind. I had been working at the shop where the girl's body was found. I should have returned the keys to the agents, but with my idea in mind I kept them.

"I went home after work and, telling my wife I was going out with a pal, I changed my suit and returned to the West End. I walked about a bit, and noticed a young.woman whose name we know now to be Norah Upchurch. I spoke to her, and we went into the doorway of the shop. On the way we passed two constables, to one of whom the girl said 'Good night.'

"We had hardly got inside before I put my hands round her throat. She Went down without any struggle or sound. She was dead. I was surprised to find how easily I had killed lier.

"I picked up her bag and left the shop quite openly. Everything had happened very quickly—all in a very few minutes. I went home as far as Morden by tube, and there caught a number 88 bus.

"After going a little distance I got off and walked the rest of -1110 way home. On the way T opened the girl's, handbag. I found four pounds in notes. I put these in my pocket, although, mind you, robbery was not my motive in any sense. Passing the Dollar Estate, near Sutton. I put the shop keys in the bag, which I then threw into a ditch.

"Although it was a foggy night, I remember perfectly where I threw thebag. It was near-a tree, which is a.

AN AIRCRAFTSMAN'S CONFESSION. SPOILED BY VANITY — DECLARED INNOCENT IN LAW AFTER ADMISSION — "I MADE UP MY MIND TO KILL SOMEONE" — UNFORTUNATE WOMAN'S FATE — AMAZING STORY OF AIRCRAFTSMAN FREDERICK FIELD.

sort of landmark. I could easily find tlie place again. There was also a gold ring. "That also I threw away. I did not want to keep anything which might destroy my success; my sole motive was to prove my theory that a 'perfect murder' could be done by a man with sufficient nerve and brain. I have no feeling of remorse. Of course, it was unfortunate for No rah Upchurch that she should have been the one I dropped on. but there it is. The one satisfaction I had at the time was that I had done what I had made up my mind to do. Joined In Talk. "I knew I could beat the police, and I did it. As time went 011 that satisfaction remained. My mates discussed the murder in my presence, and I joined in, but never once did it seem to occur to anyone that I might know more about it than other people. The position. however, was not quite what I could have wished. You see, although T had done a 'perfect murder' no one but myself was aware of the fact.

"That is the whole story, and now I am prepared to take the consequences. lam fed up with life. I have never had a break. I have always been the under dog. "Had anyone been arrested I should have confessed before it was too late to save him. I should, however, have watched the proceedings with more and more satisfaction as the evidence accumulated. to show that I had, in fact, completely beaten the police." It may be recalled that the fact that Norah Upcluirch's handbag was missing was regarded as evidence of robbery as the motive for the murder. Field's greatest difficulty was to explain what he had done Vifh the keys of the shop he should have returned to the agents. Alibi Passed. He did this by saying he handed them to a man he did not know, but was able to describe. By a coincidence, a man in custody on a minor charge appeared to answer the description. Field was taken to see the prisoner, and identified him as the man. Fortunately for that man he had a satisfactory alibi. Prolonged search by the police at the spot where Field said he threw the bag failed to produce results, but lapse of time and weather effects might well explain the fact. Field himself assisted in the search, apparently most sincere in his effort to locate the bag, the finding of which would, of course, have been vital evidence.

I saw Field after his acquittal. Once again he exhibited those signs of triumph which had struck me at the first interview. .He left an unpleasant impression on me, and a feeling, which i expressed at the time, that more would be heard of him.

Wanted A Job. He wrote me in November, 1933, ask'ing me to help him to a job. "I don't mind what sort of work I do," he said, "but by trade I am an electrician." I heard no more of him until his arrest for the Clapham crime. In a letter he wrote from Brixton before he was sent for trial he said: —- "When I came here I had made up my mind to put my hands up and give in, but during the past couple of days it\ has occurred to me that the other side are not fighting on the level, so have decided to make a fight for it, and although things may look hopeless at the moment I can assure you that I stand as good a chance as last time."

[A cable message recently stated that the father of Aircraftsman Field, after the latter's execution, revealed that his son had admitted his guilt of both the murder for which he was hanged and the death of Norah Upchurch.]