MAN WHO SCOWLED

Dominion, Volume 29, Issue 220, 13 June 1936, Page 24

MAN WHO SCOWLED

Missing Murder Motive

With the concurrence of Chief Inspector Sands, of Scotland Yard, Hull police offer £lOO reward to any person who comes forward with information which leads to the arrest and conviction of the murderer of Oswald Fisher Walker, the CS-year-old Hull tool merchant. Since the hapless old man was discovered in his simp in George Street after he had failed to return home, nearly every line of inquiry has pointed to the grim fact that he was the victim of a carefully-planned murder. The police are not only convinced that a mysterious “customer” described as “a man with a scowl” is the murderer; they are certain also that he is a local man with a thorough knowledge of the district. The detectives have also come to the conclusion that the wounds on the victim's head—wounds so terrible that the skull was fractured —were indicted with both ends of a file from which the wooden handle had been removed.

The fiat end could have made the head injuries and the pointed end. which normally tits into the handle, the stabbing wounds that were found.

Quite extraordinary precautions had been taken by the perpetrator of the crime to prevent any possibility of being identified by footprints, fingerprints or any other carelessly-left "telltale.”

On one point, however, there seems to be divided opinion at police headquarters. Why was Mr. Walker murdered? Was it purely a murder for robbery, or was there some other motive which so far the police have been unable to discover? It is true that a brown leather wallet which the murdered man used to call his “business safe” is missing, and with it several £1 and 10/- notes it was known to contain, but on tile other hand, a gold watch and chain were left untouched. When the detectives saw the body the chain was plainly visible, so that it could not have been overlooked by the murderer. There was also a quantity of silver in Mr. Walker’s pockets. When this was noted by the detectives, the first thought that flashed across their minds was that the murderer had been disturbed at his terrible task of robbing the man he had battered to death.

A more intensive search of the premises proved, however, that the murderer had not only carried away the weapon he had used, but bad also carefully locked the back door of the shop behind him and taken away the key. The theory that it was a hasty and interrupted robbery thus fell to the ground. There remained then the alternatives that: the murderer, for reasons so far known only to himself, had only partially robbed the body, or that Mr. Walker was deliberately murdered for some other reason which has not yet been as much as hinted at. The victim was a business man of the old school. A keen Methodist, he was very highly respected in Hull and the surrounding district and was wellknowu as a ready subscriber to charities.

Although a keen man on a business deal, he yet persisted in old-fashioned methods affecting his own business which had been discarded by other men 30 and 40 years ago. These methods, in fact, have very greatly added to the difficulties of Chief Inspector Sands

and Detective-Superintendent Mulchinock. of the Hull C.1.D.. in their work.

The shop itself backs on to a lonely lane, which, although it is less than 100 yards from one of Hull's principal thoroughfares, is so dimly lit that it has long been a rendezvous of night prowlers. Not far distant are the docks, into which the weapon may have been thrown. A feature that nuzzles the detectives is that on the Wednesday l>efore the murder Mr. Walker seemed to disappear for two hours. What was lie doing? Where was he? Have these missing two hours in his usually well-regulated life any bearing on his murder?

These are some of the questions being discussed at police headquarters.

In a corner at the rear of the shop stands a saw-bench, which, if the murderer is eventually brought to justiee.'will form a fateful exhibit iu th>trial. In an official statement, couch ed in the matter-of-fact formulae of the police, the part played by that saw-bench is clearly set out. "The man suspected,” the official statement reads, "is 36 to 37 years of age. sft. Sin. iu height, medium build, dark complexion, clean-shaven, dark hair, round chin, round face, slightly scowling, unkempt, dirty hands. Dressed in working-class clothing, dark colour. dirty grey cap. Believed also to have been wearing dirty mackintosh with belt. This man called at the deceased’s premises and made inquiries as to a saw-bench which Mr. Walker had for sale, and which was stored in close proximity to where the body was found.

"It was said by Mr. Walker that the mau who visited him on the 7th and lllh instant was again calling on the 13th instant, after business hours, to complete the transaction, and a skeleton bill was prepared, omitting the name and address of the prospective customer.

“The saw-bench is of the type that could be used for cutting logs, and Mr. Walker said it was a firewood dealer that was negotiating the business, but it may well be that the whole story was a ruse to lure him to the rear of the permises after the employees had left for the night.” In eight days after their arrival in Hull Chief-Inspector Sands and Detec-tive-Sergeant Griffin, also from Scotland Yard, took nearly 300 statements and travelled nearly 100 miles a day in their quest for “the man with a scowl.”

Many local men “known to the police” have been asked to account for their movements on the day of the crime. Boats have been visited, open spaces searched, and empty houses examined, but so far without yielding anything of value.

The feeling is growing that either the murderer got clean away from Hull immediately after the crime, or that he is lying low, protected by friends. At the opening of the inquest on Mr. Walker, Dr. W. W. Adamson, pathologist. explained that the cause of death was fracture of the skull and contusion of the brain, with haemorrhage from the vessels of the skull, asphyxia and shock. z

In reply to the coroner, Dr. Adamson stated that an attempt to strangle had been made before the old man was battered on the head.