April 2021 - George Pallas

2021/04/252021/04/24

Nancy Titterton: Horsehair Makes an Important Clue to Murder

Sometimes the tiniest clue can solve a crime. Such was the case with the rape and murder of writer Nancy Titterton in 1936. In the 1930s, many of today’s forensic tools and techniques were decades in the future. Even so, forensic science was a valuable crime-fighting weapon.

Nancy Titterton, Aspiring Writer

Nancy Titterton was a budding writer (some of her stories had appeared in magazines). She married Lewis Titterton, an executive at the National Broadcasting Company, in 1929. They lived at 22 Beekman Place, then and now a fashionable area of Manhattan near the East River. The year 1936 saw Nancy working on her first novel.

On April 10, 1936, two furniture repairmen delivering a repaired sofa, found the door of the Titterton apartment open. Inside, they found Nancy dead in the bathtub. She had been raped and strangled with her own pajamas, which were still tied around her neck.

Not surprisingly, police looked at the two furniture shop men, Theodore Kruger and John Fiorenza, with suspicion. Kruger owned the shop and Fiorenza was an assistant.

The love seat sofa the Tittertons had repaired

Two Clues

Detectives led by Assistant Chief Inspector Lyons had only two significant clues to work with. One was a light-colored horsehair found on Nancy’s bedspread. The horsehair matched the stuffing of the sofa (furniture then often had horsehair stuffing). This heightened their suspicions against Fiorenza (Kruger’s alibi apparently satisfied investigators).

The Tittertons lived at 22 Beekman Place, Manhattan — Nancy Titterton lived with her husband at 22 Beekman Place, Manhattan

The second clue was a 13-inch length of course string. Marks on her wrists indicated that killer had used string or cord to bind Nancy’s hands during his attack. He took the cord with him, but he overlooked this small segment. Detectives found it under Nancy’s body.

Newspaper photograph of the cord detectives found under Nancy Titterton's body, leading to the capture of her killer — Newspaper photograph of the cord detectives found under Nancy Titterton’s body, leading to the capture of her killer

One other possible clue turned out to be a dead end. A smear of green paint on Nancy’s bed sheets was the shade painters were using throughout the building. However, of the four painters assigned to the job, only one had been at work the day of the murder. Building tenants were able to confirm the fourth painter’s whereabouts at the time in question.

An Obsession with Nancy Titterton

Lyons and his team began the process of finding the origin the string left at the murder scene. They eventually traced it to the Hanover Cordage Company of York, Pennsylvania. Hanover’s records disclosed that the company had sold a roll of that exact cord to Kruger’s upholstery shop.

Detectives George Swander (left) and James Hayden (right) take suspect John Fiorenza (center) from Nancy Titterton's apartment — Detectives George Swander (left) and James Hayden (right) take suspect John Fiorenza (center) from Nancy Titterton’s apartment

Upon further investigation, detectives learned that John Fiorenza had a criminal record. It included four arrests for theft and a two-year stretch in prison, where a prison psychologist diagnosed him as delusional. They hauled Fiorenza in for questioning.

Lewis Titterton (center) outside the courtroom at Fiorenza's trial. — Lewis Titterton (center) outside the courtroom at Fiorenza’s trial.

For five hours, Fiorenza denied killing Nancy Titterton before he finally broke down and confessed. He claimed he developed an infatuation with the woman when he picked up the sofa for repair on April 9. Early the next morning, he went to the Titterton apartment where he gagged Nancy and tied her hands. He then stripped her and dragged her into the bathroom where he raped her and strangled her with her own pajamas. Then he went to work, later returning with Kruger and the sofa to “discover” the body.

Epilogue

Fiorenza claimed he was insane at the time of the killing. That defense didn’t cut much ice with the jury, who convicted him of first-degree murder. He paid for this brutal murder with his life in Sing Sing’s electric chair on January 22, 1937.

In 2015, author Robert Grey Reynolds, Jr. published a book about the case, The Bathtub Murder of Crime Club Founder Nancy Evans Titterton: Good Friday April 10, 1936.

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2021/04/182021/04/18

A Different Class of Murder: True Crime Book Review

Recently, I introduced you to John Bingham, Lord Lucan, the British Peer of the Realm suspected of murder. This week I review a book about the case, A Different Class of Murder: The Story of Lord Lucan.

An editorial note. You may notice that I always recommend the books or videos I review. I am not a professional critic; It’s my job to, hopefully, enlighten my readers, not to slam an author’s work. Rather than criticize a book or writer I didn’t like I won’t post a review.

Class and Murder

You may recall that Bingham, the 7^th Earl of Lucan, was in the middle of a contentious divorce. His wife, Veronica, accused him of domestic violence and he accused her of mental instability. Things came to a head on the night of November 7, 1974. A man entered the Lucan home at 46 Lower Belgrave Street, Belgravia and killed Sandra Rivett, the Lucan children’s nanny. Veronica said the killer was her husband. Lucan, in conversations before he disappeared, claimed to have tried to stop an attack on his wife.

Books and articles written about the case generally assume that Lucan was the killer. The theory is that he intended to kill his wife but killed Rivett by mistake, then disappeared. One camp argues that he committed suicide. Another contends that he escaped with the help of his wealthy friends and is (or was) still alive.

A Different Class of Murder

In A Different Class of Murder, author Laura Thompson takes a different approach. She examines the history of earls, the background of the Lucan family, and the 7^th Earl’s life and lifestyle. This is before she tackles the crime itself. Interviews with key participants, several of whom are no longer living, bring the Lucan story to life.

Thompson concludes her book with a chapter on possible scenarios. Of course, she considers both the “Lucan did it” and the “Lucan didn’t do it” options. Then she explores some non-traditional possibilities. One scenarios is that Sandra Rivett was the intended victim all along, while another poses the idea that Veronica herself killed Rivett.

Thompson’s final scenario is one I’ve never seen proposed before. Although she really doesn’t argue strongly for any one of her scenarios, this one is logical, fits the evidence, and explains some circumstances that were heretofore puzzling. I won’t tell you what it is. You have to read the book!

Recommendation

Although Thompson is fond of rather long chapters, her writing style is engaging, and her research is thorough. A Different Class of Murder doesn’t just tell the story of a crime. It also gives the reader a window into the aristocracy in postwar Britain, a time of sweeping social changes. I heartily recommend it.

Did You Know?

One of Lord Lucan’s ancestors, George Bingham, the 3^rd Earl of Lucan, gave the order that launched the disastrous “Charge of the Light Brigade” during the Crimean war.

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2021/04/112021/04/11

Graham Backhouse: Scheme for Easy Profit Turns to Murder

This week, we continue the English crime theme with the case of Graham Backhouse. In 1984, Backhouse, a sheep farmer, tried to kill his wife. He then murdered his neighbor to try to cover up that crime.

Graham Backhouse Tries to Murder His Wife

Graham Backhouse worked as a hairdresser when his father died in 1979, leaving him Widden Hill, a sheep farm. There is no record of how skilled Backhouse was as a stylist, but he was a lousy sheep farmer. By 1984, he was heavily in debt. His solution? Insure his wife for £100,000 and kill her for the proceeds.

Graham Backhouse inherited Widden Hill Farm from his father in 1979

April 9, 1984 was an ordinary day in the small village of Horton in Dorset in Southwest England. Margaret Backhouse had some errands to run and her husband, Graham Backhouse, offered her the use of his Volvo station wagon. As soon as she turned the ignition key, a pipe bomb exploded. The bomb contained with nitroglycerine and 4,500 shotgun pellets. Its blast lacerated Margaret’s body with hundreds of pellets and nearly tore off her legs. But neighbors found her and took her to a local hospital, where she eventually recovered.

Detective examine Graham Backhouse's Volvo after the bomb explosion (Weston Media Publishing) — Detective examine Graham Backhouse’s Volvo after the bomb explosion (Weston Media Publishing)

Graham Backhouse was a natural suspect but claimed he was the victim of a vendetta and the intended target. A few days earlier, a worker on the farm found a severed sheep’s head impaled on a fence post. A note accompanied it that read “YOU NEXT.” Another threatening letter arrived at Widden Hill the same day as the bomb explosion. Backhouse claimed that he had had sex with several women in the area and that might be the motive for the attack. He also pointed the finger at his 63-year-old neighbor, Colyn Bedale-Taylor as a possible suspect. The two had an ongoing dispute over property lines.

Graham Backhouse Kills His Neighbor

On April 30, someone at the Backhouse home dialed 999 (the British equivalent of 911). When police arrived, they found Graham Backhouse lying on the floor covered in blood. At the foot of the stairs lay the body of the neighbor, Colyn Bedale-Taylor, dead from two point-blank shotgun blasts to the chest. When police first arrived, Bedale-Taylor held a Stanley utility knife in his hand. But a young constable removed the knife before crime scene analysts got there.

Graham Backhouse suffered deep knife wounds to his face and chest and required medical attention. Police interviewed him in hospital. He said that Bedale-Taylor came to the farmhouse and accused him of having a part in the death of Bedale-Taylor’s son, Digby. (Digby had recently died in an accidental car crash.) Backhouse said he asked Bedale-Taylor if he had planted the bomb and Bedale-Taylor said he had. According to Backhouse, his neighbor also admitted writing the threatening notes and setting up the sheep’s head. Bedale-Taylor then lunged at Backhouse with the knife, which he had carried with him.

What Really Happened?

The story Graham Backhouse told them about the attack and killing of Bedale-Taylor made little sense to police. Blood spatters at the farmhouse were round. This indicated the blood had dripped rather than being flung off in a struggle. Furthermore, there were blood spatters under furniture supposedly knocked over during the struggle. This meant the blood had been there before the purported fight.

Backhouse’s wounds were also inconsistent with his story. There were no defensive cuts on his hands as he would have had if he had been fending off a knife attack. And then there was the deep cut across his chest. That wound, said pathologist Dr. William Kennard, could only have been inflicted if Backhouse had stood perfectly still and not struggled with his attacker.

The police began looking at other evidence in the events swirling around Graham Backhouse. They had been unable to identify the obviously disguised handwriting on the “YOU NEXT” note. But document examiner Mike Hall noticed the faint impression of a doodle on the paper containing the note. Detectives found a matching doodle in a notebook tucked away in a drawer at Backhouse’s farmhouse. They also found a fibre clinging to the threatening letter that matched one of Backhouse’s own sweater.

A detective holds up the "YOU NEXT" note at the Backhouse trial (Weston Media Publishing) — A detective holds up the “YOU NEXT” note at the Backhouse trial (Weston Media Publishing)

Epilogue

Graham Backhouse went on trial for murder and attempted murder at Bristol Crown Court in early 1985. The prosecution contended he planted the bomb to collect his wife’s life insurance and murdered Bedale-Taylor to divert suspicion. He was convicted of both crimes. In giving him two life sentences, the judge remarked, “You are a devious and wicked man. The enormity of the crime that you have committed is very grave.”

Backhouse suffered a fatal heart attack in June 1994 while playing cricket at Grendon Underwood Prison. He was 53. Margaret Backhouse died in her sleep at age 48 on March 13, 1995.

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2021/04/042021/04/04

Fingerprint Evidence Leads to Big Break in Murder Case

After meeting the elusive Lord Lucan last week, we stay in England for another murder case. But this one occurred seventy years before the allegedly homicidal earl disappeared. This is the case of the 1905 Farrow murders.

The Farrow Murders

Thomas and Ann Farrow were 71 and 65 respectively. They managed Chapman’s Oil and Colour Shop, a storefront below their home in the High Street of Deptford, South London. On Monday, March 27, 1905, employee William Jones arrived for work at 8:30 a.m. and found the shop shut. Expecting the shop to be open, Jones knocked but received no answer. Peering through a window, he saw overturned chairs. Now alarmed, he found a local resident, Louis Kidman, and the two forced the door open.

Inside, they found Thomas Farrow dead on the floor. Ann was unconscious in the couple’s bed upstairs. Both Farrows had suffered severe beatings. Jones or Kidman called for the police and a doctor, and Ann Farrow was taken to hospital. She would die there four days later without waking up.

The Police Investigate the Farrow Murders

The Farrow murders didn’t baffle police that much. There was no sign of forced entry. Mr. Farrow was still in his night clothes, leading police to conclude someone had convinced him to let the attackers in. An empty cash box estimated to have held £13 (more than £1,000 today) pointed to robbery as the motive.

The cash box recovered from the scene of the Farrow murders. Arrow points to Alfred Stratton's incriminating thumbprint. — The cash box recovered from the scene of the Farrow murders. Arrow points to Alfred Stratton’s incriminating thumbprint.

There were other clues besides the cash box. On the floor near Farrow’s body were two crude black masks made from stockings, indicating two attackers. Police also found evidence that one or both robbers washed up in a nearby basin after the attacks.

Melville MacNaughten, head of the CID, took it upon himself to examine the cash box. He noticed a greasy smudge that looked like it might be a fingerprint. MacNaughten was fully familiar with using fingerprints as a method of identification. He thought this might be a good case to test this relatively new technique. Carefully packing the cash box in his handkerchief, he took it to Scotland Yard’s nascent fingerprint bureau.

The thumbprint that convicted two murderers.

Positive Identification

When police interviewed witnesses, and there were many, most reported seeing two men leave the shop at about 7:30 on that Monday morning. One of them, Ellen Stanton, positively identified one of the men as Alfred Stratton. Stratton didn’t have a criminal record, but the police knew him to have criminal contacts. Stratton’s brother, Albert, was also known to police and he match the description of the second man.

Alfred Stratton’s girlfriend, Annie Cromarty, strengthened the identification. She told police that he had discarded a dark brown coat and changed his shoes the day after the murders. She also led police to £4 of the stolen cash where Stratton had hidden it. Based on this information and the eyewitness identification of Alfred Stratton, police obtained warrants and arrested the pair on April 2.

After their arrest, police fingerprinted both brothers and compared their prints to the one found on the Farrow cash box. It turned out to be an exact match to Alfred Stratton’s right thumb.

Trial and Conviction

The Stratton brothers went on trial for the Farrow murders on May 5, 1905 at London’s Old Bailey. KC Richard Muir presented the prosecution case. In addition to the eyewitness testimony, which wasn’t universally strong, he had the fingerprint. He called DI Chares Collins, established his credentials in fingerprinting, and had him explain in plain language how fingerprinting worked. Collins then demonstrated how the fingerprint on the cash box matched Alfred Stratton’s right thumbprint.

Sketch of the Albert (L) and Alfred (R) Stratton in the dock for the Farrow murders

Naturally, the defense tried to discredit fingerprint evidence in general and Collins in particular. They called Dr. John Garson, who had been one of Collins’ mentors. Garson testified to his opinion that the cash box print didn’t match Stratton’s.

Court sketch of the Alfred and Albert Stratton

However, Garson was an expert in anthropometry—the use of body measurements for identification—not fingerprinting. Furthermore, KC Muir produced two letters Garson had written. One was to the Director of Public Prosecutions, the other was to the solicitor for the defense. In both, he offered to testify at the trial for the side that paid him more. This revelation crushed the defense and caused Mr. Justice Channell to remark that Dr. Garson was an “absolutely untrustworthy” witness.

The jury required only two hours to convict both brothers of murder and both received the usual sentence of death by hanging. Both Stratton brothers were hanged on May 23, 1905.

Epilogue

The Farrow murders case was a significant milestone in the field of criminology. It was the first case where fingerprint evidence led to a murder conviction. Today, over a century later, the use of fingerprint evidence is commonplace. Defense attorneys sometimes point to the lack of fingerprints as evidence of innocence.

Gary Powell includes the Farrow murders in his 2018 book, Convicted: Landmark Cases in British Criminal History.

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