Inside 10 Rillington Place: John Christie and me, the untold truth

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Christie also admitted to strangling Beryl after offering to abort her unborn child but did not mention the daughter Geraldine.

Everyone who wants to know the truth already does. Those who still believe the “official” story don’t want to know the truth. [Once said of the events of 9/11 in New York]. During Easter of 1948, Timothy Evans and his wife Beryl moved into the top-floor flat at 10 Rillington Place, where Beryl gave birth that October to their daughter, Geraldine. In late 1949, Evans informed police that his wife was dead. [45] A police search of the building failed to find her body, but a later search revealed the bodies of Beryl, Geraldine, and a 16-week male foetus [46] in an outdoor wash-house. Beryl's body had been wrapped twice, in a blanket and then a table cloth. The post-mortem revealed that both mother and daughter had been strangled and that Beryl had been physically assaulted before her death, shown by facial bruising. [47] Evans at first claimed that Christie had killed his wife in a botched abortion operation, but police questioning eventually produced a confession. The alleged confession may have been fabricated by the police, as the statement appears contrived and artificial. [48] After being charged, Evans withdrew his confession and once again accused Christie, this time of both murders. Rillington Place is a 1971 British crime film. The film stars Richard Attenborough, Judy Geeson, John Hurt and Pat Heywood and was directed by Richard Fleischer, produced by Leslie Linder and Martin Ransohoff. It was adapted by Clive Exton from the book Ten Rillington Place by Ludovic Kennedy (who also acted as technical advisor to the production). Christie married his wife Ethel in 1920 and had a series of jobs, including postman, before being taken on by the War Reserve Police in 1939 – despite having convictions for theft and assault. In October 1944, Christie found his second victim, a work colleague named Muriel Eady. According the the Plymouth Herald, Eady had been suffering from bronchitis, and Christie lured her to 10 Rillington Place with the promise of a special cure.

In the garden, officers saw a human thigh bone propping up the fence. Further bones were found strewn around the garden with a newspaper fragment dated 19 July 1943. These remains were to be identified as Ruth Fuerst and Muriel Eady.

Evans was sent to the gallows in March 1950. But that wasn’t it: three years later, it was discovered that Christie, their quiet neighbour, was in fact a serial killer who had murdered at least six women, including his wife, at 10 Rillington Place throughout the 40s and early 50s, hiding their bodies on the premises. a b c d Kennedy, Ludovic (23 September 2004). "Christie, John Reginald Halliday". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (onlineed.). Oxford University Press. doi: 10.1093/ref:odnb/37280. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.) In the ground floor apartment were John Christie and his wife Ethel, a couple the Evans’ had become friends with during their time at 10 Rillington Place. Evans said John Christie had tried to abort the baby Beryl was carrying and it was his fault Beryl had died. He said Christie currently had their baby Geraldine and was going to find people to adopt her. Eddowes, John (1994). The Two Killers of Rillington Place. New York City: Little, Brown. p.5. ISBN 978-0316909464.

He was always so nice to me. He never said a wrong word, we got on so well. I couldn’t believe it when they said he was a murderer,” he says. “He wouldn’t have left a child without a mother, and he would never have killed Geraldine. Christie wasn’t like that.” Jesse, F. Tennyson (1957). The Trials of Timothy John Evans and John Reginald Halliday Christie. Notable Trials series, William Hodge. Murderpedia Timothy John Evans, the man who would later be blamed for a murder committed by John Christie.

Adapted by Clive Exton from Ludovic Kennedy’s crusading non-fiction book of the same name, 10 Rillington Placeexpertly tells the bleak story of English serial killer John Reginald Christie (Richard Attenborough), and the terrible miscarriage of justice created by his crimes. Please note that, as Christie remains infamous, this piece will include spoilers (as I’m assuming many readers will at least be aware of the basic historical facts). I am also going to confine my analysis solely to the version of events portrayed onscreen, rather than discussing discrepancies or omissions compared to the real case.

John Christie’s Troubled Youth And First Forays Into Crime

Peter and Lea Thorley (left) [Image: Steve Reigate Daily Express]. Peter at Beryl and Geraldine’s graveside (right) [Image: Lea Thorley] Peter Thorley’s book does everyone a service by shining a light on the character of Evans, and of course we must have sympathy for his lifelong pain at the loss of his beloved sister and niece–more so when so many people have been deliberately misled into dismissing the guilt of their killer. I found the photograph of Beryl lying in the Kensington Mortuary particularly moving, a picture I’d never seen before.

a b c Mary Westlake v Criminal Cases Review Commission [2004] EWHC 2779(Admin)(17 November 2004), High Court (England and Wales). It includes a segment from the Hansard transcript of Jenkins's decision to recommend a pardon in the House of Commons.

Timothy Evans Moves Into 10 Rillington Place

Video: On this day in 1953: Rillington Place murders". www.yorkshirepost.co.uk . Retrieved 9 December 2019. Tim hides out with his aunt and uncle in Merthyr Tydfil, pretending that he is in town on business. He claims that Beryl and the baby are visiting her family in Brighton. Tim's relatives send a letter to Beryl's father, who sends a telegram in response to say that he has not seen Beryl in months. When confronted by his relatives, Tim pretends Beryl had run away with a rich man and then visits the local police station. He confesses to disposing of Beryl's body in the sewer after the botched abortion. Three London police officers lift the manhole, but do not find Beryl's body. A search of 10 Rillington Place eventually uncovers the bodies of Beryl and the baby in the washroom, where Christie hid them.