GRIM FATE

Evening Star, Issue 22571, 12 February 1937, Page 10

GRIM FATE

ECCENTRIC SPINSTER TINY BLOOD SPOTS ON HAT. Three pin-points of blood on a hat established at Manchester Assizes recently the guilt of “ The Dwarf ” —the name he had been given because of his deformed legs—-who was sentenced to death .for what the prosecution described as a “ cruel, cool, calculated, and revolting crime.” Without showing the slightest trace of emotion, Max Meyer Haslam, 23-year-old cotton worker, of Nelson, Lancashire, listened to Mr Justice Lawrence pronouncing sentence. Before the final words, “ May the Lord have'mercy on your soul,” spoken, the judge paused. Then Haslam bowed his head, and in a quiet, but firm, voice remarked: ‘‘Thank you. my lord,” POWERFUL FINGERS. In spite of his small stature, Haslam is a man of unusual strength, and stated to be capable of bending six-inch nails with his powerful fingers. The victim of the murder was Miss Ruth Clarkson, of Caxton street, Nelson, an eccentric 70-year-old woman, who, following the death of a companion, lived alone. Miss Clarkson died as the result of 17 wounds on her head, which, according to a pathologist, could have been inflicted with a tyre lover, which was proved to have been bought by Haslam in a shop in Nelson. A stone step on which the murderer was seen to sharpen the lever was among tho exhibits in court. Three days, it was disclosed, elapsed between tho woman's death and the time she was found.

At the same time her dog, and only companion, was found strung up by the neck to a bedpost. Haslam declared that he found Miss Clarkson and the.dog dead, and stayed all night in the house, into which he' had broken, to avoid arrest in connection with the affair. POCKETFUL OF JEWELLERY. On the morning after the murder, according to witnesses, Haslam turned up with a pocketful of jewellery, identified as belonging to Miss Clarkson, and pawned a quantity on the same day. To one witness he said, “ I had to kill a dog to get it,” and later, it was alleged, Haslam remarked, “ I had to kill the old lady and all,” adding: “1 bet she thought M'A'voy had tapped her.” * Haslam had also asked questions about a swamp near the town where a horse had disappeared, and said he had a body to get rid of. This Haslam denied. Dealing with the blond spots on the hat. Dr Arnold Renshaw, the Manchester pathologist, asserted that blood could not have spurted in such a way except from a living person. Haslam had made statements concerning other bloodstains on his clothing, but could offer no explanation for these spots. Haslam, as stated, was sentenced to death.