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John Christie, 10 Rillington Place Notting Hill
The information in the following passage has been taken from transcripts of a detailed confession given by John Christie following his arrest in 1953.
John Reginald Halliday Christie was a typical 'repressed' lust killer who could achieve satisfaction only through rape, murder, and probably necrophilia. Over a period of 13 years Christie killed eight women, including his own wife, without causing the slightest suspicion. His respectable and quiet manner was in no way like it seemed.
The story begins in 1943 at number 10 Rillington Place, London, where Christie lived with his wife Ethel, he had the upstairs of the house made into a flat and was renting it out to tenants. In the same year Ruth Fuerst had the misfortune to visit the house. According to Christie, she undressed and asked to have sexual intercourse. He goes on to say the girl asked him to go away with her and that he refused. Christie then states that he had sex with her during which he strangled her with a piece of rope. He then described how, he claimed to receive a telegram informing him that his wife was on her way home and because she was expected, he covered the body up in her coat and put her under the floorboards in the kitchen. Later that night he took the body into the garden and buried it.
A year later Muriel Eody called at 10 Rillington Place, she thought Christie was a medical man. Complained of catarrh, Ms Eody had made an 'appointment', arranged by Christie to coincide with his wife's absence. He mixed up a concoction of inhalants containing Friar's Balsam. The inhalant was in a small glass jar with a metal screw top lid which had two holes. Christie inserted a gas pipe into one of them and encouraged Ms Eody to inhale from the other. Christie later explained that the Friar's Balsam covered up the smell of the gas. He went on to explain how, after she became dopey, he had a 'vague recollection' of tying a stocking around her neck and then burying her in a different part of the garden.
It is at this point of the story that a peculiar twist occurs. In 1949 a man named Timothy Evans, along with his wife and baby daughter, rented the flat in Christie's house. In November of the same year Mr Evans walked into a Police station in Wales and announced he had found his wife dead at Rillington Place. He confessed to the Police how he disposed of her body down a drain. Police visited the house and found not only the body of Mrs Evens, but also that of the baby. Timothy Evens was duly arrested, and at first confessed to strangling his family himself. Later he accused John Christie.
Quiet, respectable Mr Christie denied any involvement, and oddly enough, was the chief prosecution witness. Timothy Evens was found guilty at his trial and hanged on March 9 1950.
On December 14 1952 John Christie claims to have woken up to find his wife having a convulsive fit. He stated that her face was blue and that he tried to revive her. Christie went on to state that he couldn't bear to see his wife in so much pain, so he tied a stocking around her neck and strangled her 'to put her to sleep'. He went on to explain how he noticed a bottle of sleeping pills (Phenalbabitone) with a cup of water beside the bed. He told Police that there had been 25 tablets in the bottle and that only two remained, suggesting his wife had committed suicide. In his confession he stated that he left his wife in the bed for 3 days because he didn't know what to do with her. He then suddenly remembered there were some loose floorboards in the living room and put her there to 'rest'.
All was quiet at Rillington Place until January 1953. Christie killed two women, both prostitutes during this time. The first, Rita Nelson, was strangled at Rillington place. Christie claims that Ms Nelson was drunk and followed him home demanding money. He claimed she forced her way into his house and started a fight when he refused to give her 10 shillings. He says the fight became very heated, and Ms Nelson picked up a frying pan to try and hit him over the head at which point he pushed her down onto a chair and strangled her. He left her body on the chair and went to bed. He recounts how, in the morning, he got out of bed, made and ate his breakfast with Ms Nelson still there in the kitchen. He told Police how he pulled away a cupboard to gain access to a small alcove saying, "I must have put her in there... I don't remember doing it."
On January 12, Christie visited a cafe in Notting Hill Gate. he was sitting at a table and, as the cafe was very busy, two girls sat at the same table. The girls were talking about trying to find accommodation and Christie claimed that one of the girls asked him for a cigerrette and started a conversation, he invited her to Rillington Place to look at the flat. Later the same day one of the girls, Kathleen Maloney, went to visit Rillington Place. Christie told a tale of her being interested in the flat and wanting to move in. He stated that the girl then propositioned him to make arrangements for her to 'visit him' as a sort of payment in kind. An arguement followed and Ms Maloney said she would 'bring somebody down on him'. Christie explained that he thought she meant she was going to get someone to beat him up. He said he couldn't remember what happened to Kathleen Maloney, saying - "she was on the floor... I must have put her in the alcove straight away."
On March 6th 1953 Hectoria MacLennan was to come across Christie, it is unclear why she came to visit the house, as Christie didn't say, however he did discribe her death - recalling how they had a struggle and some of her clothes were torn. He said that some of her clothes must have got caught around her neck and told police he felt her pulse and she wasn't breathing. Again he stated that he must have put her in the alcove but that he couldn't remember doing so.
On 19 March 1953 John Christie vacated 10 Rillington Place. The unfortunate new tenants tried to trace the unpleasant odour coming from the kitchen. They found it seemed to originate from a section of the wall which appeared to be hollow. Tearing off the paper, and peering in, Mr Brown, the new tenant, saw what appeared to be a woman's legs.
John Christie was arrested on 31 March 1953. On June 8 1953 he confessed to the murder of Beryl Evans, but not to that of the baby. Christie's defence of not guilty by reasons of insanity was rejected by an Old Bailey jury and on 15 July 1953 he was hanged at Pentonville Prison, London.
It was not until 1966 that Timothy Evans was given a very much overdue posthumous pardon.
Shortly after the grisley happens at Rillington Place, the entire street was destroyed and in it's place today stands Rushton Mews.
See the message board for ongoing 'Christie' debates.
References
The Investigation of Murder by F E Camps and Richard Barber, Scientific Book Club 1966
10 Rillington Place by Ludovic Kennedy. Panther Books 1971 edition.
The Man on Your Conscience by Michael Eddowes, Cassell 1955
Forty Years of Murder by Professor Keith Simpson Granada 1980
Brett Whiteley 1939-1992 10 Rillington Place W11 1965 CN[pi] image 594 x 559 mm signed Presented by Rose and Chris Prater through the Institute of Contemporary Prints 1975 P05296 type: on paper, print work identifier: P05296 |
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