ROOM WITH SECRET DOOR.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLIII, Issue 13325, 3 November 1906, Page 2 (Supplement)

ROOM WITH SECRET DOOR.

MERCHANT BOBBED IN THE WEST END. NOTORIOUS AMERICAN CROOK ; SENTENCED. A DRAMATIC farewell love scene drew all eves in a crowded court to the drab O.d Bailey dock, The man was ordered into penal servitude the woman was to go free., '• lam innocent," exclaimed ;the man. and the girl, casting appealing glances at him. added with an emphatic gesture, Yes. He is perfectly innocent." The couple embraced affectionately, the gaoler intervened, aud the man. turning ou. his heel, left the dock, remarking. "An innocent man is going to prison for five years." The woman, to whom the mercy of the First Offenders Act was extended, was set at liberty. Husband and wife, they Lad stood side by side to receive sentence, having, at the July sessions, been found guilty of stealing a very valuable diamond ring, the property of Mr. Charles Mann, a merchant, who came from the North of England on a visit to Loudon. The husband claimed to be "John Walker, 42, bookmaker;"' his wile, Elizabeth, was 25. He is a smart-looking, well-groomed man, his hair being carefully brushed and his heavy moustache turned at the ends>. His wife is tall and fair, and has a wealth of golden hair. Both were fashionably attired. The man had earned notoriety in two continents as A CRIMINAL CELEBRIT? of the most dangerous character. The woman was his victim, wronged and ruined, a subject for compassion. They had been brought to the dock by a sordid crime. It had been proved that prosecutor met the woman in the West End late at night. He accompanied her in a cab to a house in Bol-sover-street, Portland Road. The two entered a room, which had evidently been designed for the purpose of robbery. The bed was concealed behind curtains in such a way that a person could enter the room without being observed. The .hinges of a secret door behind the curtain were well oiled and opened noiselessly. Somo time afterwards John Walker cautiously opened the front dooi of the house, and assuring himself that no one was about,in the silent street, he and his wife forced Mr. Mann on to the pavement, minus his diamond ring, which was valued at £50. Without his knowledge Walker had been " shadowed" night and day, and Mr. Mann's call for the Police"' brought Detective Beslee, a smart young officer, out of the friendly shadows which concealed his presence. The Walkers were arrested, but the ring was never recovered. The jury, in convicting both of being engaged in a "common design, recommended the woman to mercy. As to the man, Defective-Inspector Simmons made some astounding allegations—so extraordinary that the Common Serjeant postponed sentence for corroboration. . The officer proved that the man had been under special observation of the police, acting upon, instructions from the Chief Commissioner, for many months "past. Whether he was of Irish or American extraction the authorities could not say, but lie was looked upon as a, most dangerous criminal. Five years ago he came to England from America, and made the acquaintance of his wife. At that time she was a highly respectable woman. They became on intimate terms, with the result that a child was born. . Returning to America the man called to the woman to join him, and she accordingly left England for that purpose. But the man did not keep his appointment, and the woman was put in quarantine and not allowed to land. Walker, however, ultimately arrived on the scene, but before he was allowed to take the woman a shore he had to go through THE CEREMONY OF MARRIAGE with her. The wife, not caring- for New York, returned with her husband; to England. Since then,, said the officer, the man had undoubtedly been '■ living by dishonest means.Walker "tallied with the description of a notorious bank thief, and there was every reason to believe that he belonged to a notorious gang of burglars and safe-break-ers, who used nitro-glycerine in the course of their operations. The Scotland Yard authorities had communicated with the American police during the adjournment, and Detective-Inspector Simmons was able to add another chapter to the criminal career of Walker. The United States police had forwarded photographs and reports, which. the officer summarised in his evidence into the following record : — 1878.New York City, for burglary at a jeweller".'; establishment, three years' imprisonment in Sing-Sing Gaol. 1883.--Manchester (England), for similar crime, five years' penal servitude. 1893.—New York, for ba.uk robbery at Pawl in, two years. 1896. —Baltimore, for burglary, ten years. . 1901.—Pardoned by Governor and left for England. August, 1905.—South London sessions, for burglary at a Wandsworth public-house, seven months' imprisonment. The American records* were strenuously denied by Mr. Wilder Wright, Walker's counsel. Where was "the proof? The inspector was prepared with it. The record was that of a man with HALF A FINGER MISSING on r the right hand. Walker's had gone. There were tattoo marks, particularly a "J.W." Walker bore that also. "J.W." stood for John Walker, just as it had done for John Walsh, Jack Welsh, James'Wesley, John Ward. John Warren, John Walters, James Walden, and John Wogan, the aliases of. ! the original of the American crook." Photos, completed the identification, a feature which the inspector laid stress on being the unmistakable similarity of the. lines on the forehead of the photographed individual and Walker. After some controversy and a. carefuld perusal of the "marks," etc., the judge said he was- satisfied that Walker was the man of many names. It was added that Mrs.-Walker came of exceedingly respectable parentage, and although young she had. been senior nurse at a big hospital, and had occupied an important position at a lunatic asylum. The man bad caused her downfall. * The Common Serjeant, as stated above, ordered Walker five years' penal servitude, and the woman was released upon recognisances.