Woman's Screams At Midnight.

Auckland Star, Volume LXVIII, Issue 234, 2 October 1937, Page 13 (Supplement)

Woman's Screams At Midnight.

Body Found in Morning. LONDON. A woman's screams, repeated at intervals just after midnight, were followed by the discovery at 8 a.m. the next morning of a woman lying dead beneath a may tree on Putney Common, S.W. She lay five yards from the wall of Putney Cemetery, and had apparently been dead some hours. She wore a brown coat, trimmed with fur, blue dress, black shoee, silk stockings. She did not appear to hare been robbed. Her handbag lay open by her side, with money scattered round it on the ground. A black buckled belt was a few yards away. The only signs of violence on the body were light bruises on the arms. Mrs. E. Thompson, whose eottage overlooks the spot, said: "A little after midnight I was in bed reading when I was startled to hear a woman's screams. She sounded in distress. In "Lovers' Lane." "The cries were repeated. -» A few minutes later I heard footsteps hurrying along the concrete road outside my cottage." Mr. A. H. Goody, senior keeper of the common, said: "I went across when I saw police get out of their car, and I saw the body, the handbag, and copper and silver coins scattered round it. "The woman's face seemed badly discoloured, but there was no sign of injury qr a struggle. I told the police I believed I'd seen her in the neighbourhood before, but I don't know who eh© was." Divisional Detective Inspector J. Henry took charge of the police inquiries. It is believed that some time on Saturday night the woman was Aseft in the company of a man. She i« between 55 and 60 years of age, with hair turning grey. A medical examination did not reveal the cause of death.