The Christie Case

[Limehouse]

Originally Posted by contrafib

Interesting stuff, Sara. The official line is that the cold weather refridgerated the bodies and stopped them smelling. As mentioned in an earlier post of mine, part of the mystique of this case is how noone seemed to notice anything in that doll's house.
Something that i need an answer for. What exactly happens to bodies physiologically after they are buried? I ask becuase i always thought they became skeletons, but Beryl's body was exhumed 3 years after her burial to check for gas. So?
While i'm about it, a couple of other things. When Beryl's body was first examined, was a swab taken for semen? This would have been revealing. One more, in everything i've read, there's no mention of fingerprints? Did they not exist then? Surely, if semen can be identified, so can prints. Wouldn't the tie that was still round baby Geraldine's neck when her body was found have had fingerprints on it???? I'm puzzled

re what happens to bodies when buried - well it depends on the surroundings. I believe that if the environment is dry and cold, the body will be better preserved than if the environment is damp or too warm.

I agree about the tie around the babies neck - whose tie was it? Was that ever established? Finger prints may not have been detectable on the tie fabric but there would surely have been hairs or skin fragments or fibres from a sweater that was worn close to the tie (men tended to wear sleeveless pull-overs with shirts and ties in those days.

[Sam Flynn]

Originally Posted by Limehouse

I noticed in Radio Times that the film was beingshown on Thursday night but did not have the bottle to watch it again. It's just so utterly creepy and miserable!

...to make it worse, GerALDine's constant wailing adds a painful auditory dimension to what's already a visual and mental ordeal. Brilliant performances by all concerned, though.

[Graham]

Julie,

I'm with you all the way regarding "10 Rillington Place". I've seen it several times, and always felt the need for a hot shower afterwards. It is film noir taken to extraordinary limits. You can feel the dirt and the shame and the sordidness oozing out of the screen....brrrrr! But for all that, absolutely brilliant and one of the few examples of a movie acheiving what it was meant to acheive.

That famous clip of James Mason visiting 29 Hanbury Street gives me the almighty creeps, too...especially as I visited that place myself years ago, and it was exactly as the Mason clip portrays...horribly sordid, mean, and dirty.

Graham

[contrafib]

Re: buried bodies. Surely conditions in a sealed coffin don't vary, do they?
Is it me, or does it seem that in those days people were more naive/negligent/unassuming??? I keep making the same point, don't i? (see my earlier posts)
The experts at the time confirmed the lack of smell idea. Soon after the Evans trial, a fellow called Ernest McNeil was interested in buying 10 R Place but decided against it due to the bedbugs and general filth. He remarked to Christie that he was amazed that Christie's dog hadn't smelled the bodies in the wash house. At that point, Reggie got a bit snappy with him and told him to stop asking questions.
I like the film but it bothers me because it's one-sided. Again, apologies for reiterating earlier posts, but do you agree it would be a good idea to make a two-sided film/programme? Evans has been proved by official files to have not been the harmless fool as played (superbly) by John Hurt.

[Suzi]

I agree as to it pushing all the buttons for a 'le filme- noire' but at the end of the day- it's a great movie- GeRALdine notwithstanding!!!- especially the 'er wallpaper sequence and our man Dew on the bridge-'Mr Christie....'

Lots of dark moments- and you wouldn't want a gas fire again would you- but a GREAT piece of work! (IMHO!)

Never made me want a shower- but maybe it may be doing it's bit for hygiene standards in the UK today if it's shown often enough!!

[Sam Flynn]

Originally Posted by Suzi

our man Dew on the bridge-'Mr Christie....'

It wasn't Dew wot spotted 'im, Suzi, it was PC Ledger. You must be thinking of Donald Pleasance... erm, Dr Crippen

[contrafib]

No action here for a while. Still wondering about the fingerprints issue. The system had been in use for a long time by the time of this case. Surely, a search of the Evans flat would have provided some clue as to whether Christie had been up there. Or fibres?? Maybe the police didn't bother much, as they were sure it was Evans since he'd voluntarily come to the police station in Merthyr to confess.

[algernon]

Id imagine the presence of Christies fingerprints in Evans room wouldnt have meant very much anyway.
Ive always been intrigued by Ethel Christie,or rather,how much she knew.After reading Eddowes book ,it appears she lied,or at best was mistaken in some of her evidence at Evans trial.I dont go along with idea that Christie murdered Ethel because she somehow,at that late date,discovered what a monster her husband was..
Personally I believe the Evans verdict was correct..and that Christie had no hand in any of it.....

[contrafib]

Everyone wonders what Ethel knew. I think Christie killed his wife becasue he got sick of her, and i guess the urges came to him.
You could be right about Evans but what's the main thing that makes you think that? hard to believe Christie knew nothing. That was a doll's house and Christie was a busybody who made a point of knowing what was happening in the house.