Move to Murder: Who Killed Julia Wallace?

[Herlock Sholmes]

. Man I have scoured so many newspaper articles I have a serious migraine. Anyway... The crime at 29 Wolverton Street is practically identical to the housbreaking at 19 Wolverton Street (with the exception of murder), which happened the month before (December 1930). The savings were taken, sheets and pillows chucked around, and the container of the savings placed back, before the burglar left. The residents had been away at the time.

Maybe a guilty Wallace was trying to make things resemble the work of the Anfield Housebreaker but this time it went wrong as he didn’t realise that Julia was at home?

On the 20th, you see an almost identical scene. Why have NO authors reported anything about the Anfield housebreakings beyond saying "a burglar had been terrorizing the Anfield district at the time"? It must be in the police case files as it was their immediate theory. But nobody mentions it? So what is going on with that... It seems like purposeful suppression of information... Perhaps fear of living relatives attempting lawsuits?... It is blatantly important information to know that a total of 20 to 30 break ins had been committed in the district (one as recent as a month ago) ALL using a "duplicate" or "skeleton" key. Which would obviously make someone think twice about whether no forced entry definitely = willful admittance. And especially the similarity in the scene of the crime.

I mentioned Goodman in the post above. I’d imagine that the main reason that the police didn’t lend any weight to any theory involving the Housebreaker was the Qualtrough phone call. It would have been obvious to them that the call and the murder were connected and so this separated the crime from the Housebreaker’s.

As the Johnston’s key appeared to fit the Wallace’s door it seems that security wasn’t great at that time. The Housebreaker might have just had a bunch of skeleton keys which didn’t the job?

[Herlock Sholmes]

BREAKING NEW EVIDENCE:

Startling information on the Anfield burgling spree and Wolverton Street provides new key evidence...



Yorkshire Evening Post, January 21st, 1931.

More insane information about Wolverton Street following very shortly as I type it...



Why have authors writing about this case SUPPRESSED this information? The use of a duplicate key is confirmed in the Derby Daily Telegraph of the same day as the initial theory of detectives (this same paper also has the story of the O'Mara madman brandishing an iron bar before setting his baby on fire wrapped in brown paper and parrafin and leaping to his death).

Also, were those suicides confirmed as genuine, or "staged" I wonder? It does appear to be a street filled with bad luck, despite its apparent middle-class residents.

The suggestion of the Anfield Housebreaker using a duplicate key was mentioned by Goodman (page 25)

[WallaceWackedHer]

Man I have scoured so many newspaper articles I have a serious migraine. Anyway... The crime at 29 Wolverton Street is practically identical to the housbreaking at 19 Wolverton Street (with the exception of murder), which happened the month before (December 1930). The savings were taken, sheets and pillows chucked around, and the container of the savings placed back, before the burglar left. The residents had been away at the time.

On the 20th, you see an almost identical scene. Why have NO authors reported anything about the Anfield housebreakings beyond saying "a burglar had been terrorizing the Anfield district at the time"? It must be in the police case files as it was their immediate theory. But nobody mentions it? So what is going on with that... It seems like purposeful suppression of information... Perhaps fear of living relatives attempting lawsuits?... It is blatantly important information to know that a total of 20 to 30 break ins had been committed in the district (one as recent as a month ago) ALL using a "duplicate" or "skeleton" key. Which would obviously make someone think twice about whether no forced entry definitely = willful admittance. And especially the similarity in the scene of the crime.

So anyway... I do think the taxi driver's journey is an interesting one. They were in fact headed directly for Sefton Park but the passenger demanded he turn off on Beaumont Road, and then Kingsley Road (sp?), and that the description curiously matches Joseph Wallace, and a plausible route can be traced from disposal of the weaponry to an arrival at the rented home or Amy's apartment. Antony checked for the time Joseph arrived in Liverpool, but there is no record of him arriving at the time he should have. So it is quite curious... And coupled with the weird item Wallace claimed missing, and rumors of Amy's weird sexual behaviors in Malaya, and of course the "sexually odd" comment, you may want to explore that further...
---

BUT, moving on, considering 19 was also hit and the scene so similar, and up to THIRTY other burglaries with NO FORCED ENTRY in the area, there are two strong solutions that come to my mind:

1) The same intruder attempted to burgle 29 Wolverton Street. It's possible but at the same time difficult to believe... I know Julia was reclusive, but surely anyone familiar enough with Wallace would know he had a wife right? So I don't know why they tried to sneak in with her in there... Maybe they mistakenly thought she had gone out? Or someone at the City Café either didn't know Wallace had a wife (but knew he attended chess club) OR neglected to tell the burglar.

I also do NOT know why Julia did not scream had it been a true invasion. There are possible ways, like if she was sleeping due to her illness and then stirred to a sound, sat up, was surprised to see someone familiar in the home, was quizzically like "what are you doing here?" and then hit before she could realize the danger... Pure speculation on my part...

2) Someone knew who was involved in these crimes, then blackmailed them into committing murder and staging it to look like the scene at #19.

Unfortunately, as per Antony's book, the benzidine test was NOT carried out on any of the drains or basins etc. (?!) so we do NOT know whether or not they were used... However, assuming they really weren't, then yes I think the killer would be noticeably covered in blood... It seems obvious... And then somehow they manage to basically "vanish" into thin air? Nobody sees any blood-soaked man around the scene, nor hears any suspicious noise... The most likely way the person could "vanish" without a trace, is if they were living on the odd side of Wolverton Street, or the opposite side of the entryways on Richmond Park, encapsulated in the red box below, the blue box being #19 that was burgled in December:

https://i.imgur.com/I58Kmhh.png

Not sure why Imgur pictures upload so tiny, it's very frustrating... But anyway, that red box encapsulates the home address of what I feel would give the killer the easiest chance to get away without being spotted, given they were soaked in blood. Obviously the closer to 29 Wolverton Street they are, the better the odds, but I shouldn't think it'd be too difficult to make it up to the other end without being seen... I don't believe sounds of cars were heard, and as you have learned, it was a particularly quiet neighborhood, despite the messed up suicides and burglaries lol.

Then later on you see that the cat re-appears. On such a cold rainy night a cat would certainly have returned home, unless, as was posited, it was kept at a neighbor's house (Antony suggested perhaps it had visited the previous owner). You would think a neighbor with good intentions would have returned the cat the next day so Julia - so attached to that cat - did not worry as much as she did, but instead it does not show up until late at night, seemingly anxious to get inside and relieved by the officers opening the door.

On the other hand the cat may have been used to gain entry into the home, and subsequently Julia was killed, before the murderer exited out the back and swiftly back into their own home to wash themselves off and so on, taking the cat out to cover up the fact that it was used in that manner (there was no other way it could have gotten in) or maybe wash off splatter that had got on the cat lol... It's possible the iron bar and poker were taken as red herrings, or Draper is lying (which poses an interesting idea - as I've not been able to ascertain the coverage area in which the crimes took place, and there is no information on the list of homes at which Draper or potential colleagues worked).

We know that in each case of intrusion a skeleton or duplicate key was used, and the intruder (at least at #19 we can verify) had intricate knowledge of the home and where things were kept. Information which could be provided by any staff that worked there, or any neighbor who had entered the home before - something for your consideration... It also was NOT unknown for housebreakers to form little "syndicates" of sorts, so anybody who entered may have had someone in the "syndicate" within that encapsulated box, and used that home to wash themselves off, etc.

Also consider that 29 was the only possible "Anfield burglary" (or faked Anfield burglary) that resulted in murder, and promptly after this, the crime spree stopped dead in its tracks.

---

This has taken me absolutely AGES but I think you will find there is a lot of new evidence for you to consider. Time to go to bed.

P.S. The fact the Anfield burglaries and duplicate keys were not brought up by the defence is a ******* travesty and a miscarriage of justice IMO.

[WallaceWackedHer]

From the Londonderry Sentinel:

Mr J. Johnston, an engineer who lives next door to the house where the murder was committed said:-"Mr Wallace came to me at about a-quarter to nine last night and said 'I cannot get in. Have you heard anything!' He then pushed the back door very hard and it opened...

Will continue after pointing out this Johnston statement in court:

Were you able to hear, from where you were, whether
he tried with his key or anything ? — No, he did not seem
to try the key ; he seemed to turn the knob in the usual
way.

And said, “ It opens now ” ? — Yes.

Mr. Justice Wright — Could you see ? — Yes ; I could
see him at the door, my Lord.

And it seemed to open quite easily ? — Yes. There was no
violence in the action of opening the door.

And now back to the newspaper article:

... He went in and a few minutes later came out terribly upset and said 'My wife is dead.'"

...

"The man who did those injuries," Mr. Johnston said, "must have been a giant with terrific strength."

...

Twenty four hours before the murder Mrs. Wallace's black cat had disappeared, and has not been seen since. [This error about the cat still not being found was in numerous papers, it was reported on the 23rd that the cat had turned up "the previous day" (the 22nd).]

[WallaceWackedHer]

BREAKING NEW EVIDENCE:

Startling information on the Anfield burgling spree and Wolverton Street provides new key evidence...

Suspicion is being directed (writes our Liverpool correspondent) towards a man who has been housebreaking in the Anfield district with the aid of duplicate keys. Between 20 and 30 cases have been reported in the police division of houses being entered during the temporary absence of the occupants, and in every case a duplicate or skeleton key was the means by which entry was obtained.

Yorkshire Evening Post, January 21st, 1931.

More insane information about Wolverton Street following very shortly as I type it...

This man has cleverly evaded capture, although a deliberate watch has been kept for him. The fact that a duplicate key appears to have been used to gain admission into Mrs. Wallace's house is regarded as more than a coincidence.

Mr. Wallace has been very ill for some time. He recently came out of the Southern Hospital at Liverpool where he had been treated for an internal growth. He was very weak and neighbors say that his wife not only nursed him back to health, but kept his insurance agency going.

Wolverton Street is a street of strange fatalities. Within a short period there have been three suicides in the street, and there are five widows living there whose husbands have died in tragic circumstances. One man dropped dead at a football match, and another died while on holiday.

Why have authors writing about this case SUPPRESSED this information? The use of a duplicate key is confirmed in the Derby Daily Telegraph of the same day as the initial theory of detectives (this same paper also has the story of the O'Mara madman brandishing an iron bar before setting his baby on fire wrapped in brown paper and parrafin and leaping to his death).

Also, were those suicides confirmed as genuine, or "staged" I wonder? It does appear to be a street filled with bad luck, despite its apparent middle-class residents.

[WallaceWackedHer]

More newspaper findings. I believe this may contain a testimony from #27 Wolverton Street:

The street is in a quiet neighbourhood and any unusual sounds or occurrences must have been noticed by neighbours.

The "Post" learned that Mr. and Mrs. Wallace lived a quiet happy life together, and there were few visitors to their house. The street is occupied by typical middle-class suburban people, and a more unlikely scene for a murder could hardly be imagined.

A lady who lives next door to the Wallaces [I believe this may be #27, as Mrs. Johnston is referred to as a different neighbor.] told the "Post" that during the day the window cleaners had been working at the Wallaces house and later, about 5 p.m., the baker's boy called.

He evidently delivered the bread otherwise he would have left it with her [the neighbor, I assume] as he had done on previous occassions when Mrs. Wallace was out.

"Had there been any disturbance of an unusual nature next door," she said, "my dog - a pom who is quick to resent any strange noise - would have given the alarm by its furious barking. Everything was quiet however, and the discovery came as a shock to me."

In the same article, the newspaper statement from Amy Wallace, the one I think she was angry about being published in the papers:

"Mrs. Wallace was one of the most peaceful and loveable of women. In fact her kindness was perhaps her only fault. Her husband, my brother-in-law, was perhaps nervous of her being all alone at home at night, as they had no family, and had told her more than once not to open the door to strangers.

I expect she did not like to keep them out in the cold, and this terrible business may have been the result of her kindness. I am sure she had no personal enemies. The motive must have been robbery."

An important differing statement from Mrs. Johnston, which I've never seen mentioned elsewhere:

"There have been burglaries in the street, and about a month ago a house was broken into at the other end of the street and some of us have been nervous."

I believe Wallace had also said a home had been broken into some 12 or 18 months earlier but I'm not sure? But I know he had mentioned the very recent one, which had occurred just before Christmas. If my reading on other source materials is to be believed. The scene of that crime was at #19 Wolverton Street where the Shotton's lived, and was VIRTUALLY IDENTICAL. The bedroom rifled (pillows and blankets thrown around), the savings stolen but nothing else (and the container replaced), and importantly. NO FORCED ENTRY. Implying someone on the street had commited the crimes. But I cannot find any information on this to confirm or deny. Just information that semi-confirms it.

Apparently on the same night as the murder, a little after 10 o'clock at night, near a cinema, a man named Daniel O'Mara in a nearby area had threatened crowds with an iron bar, set his baby ablaze (wtf) with paraffin, thrown it out the window, then jumped himself headfirst onto the pavement. Both died, leaving behind his widow and 5 year old daughter. He had been out of work for 5 years and was short of cash and seriously depressed.

Address: No. 48 Scotland Road (near the Vauxhall area). By Google maps, this is a 28 minute journey from 29 Wolverton Street, by bus, including walking time... But of course these are modernized bus routes, not the trams etc.

There are more details if you wish.

[This is all from the Nottingham Evening Post, January 21st, 1931]

Mr. Johnston in a different paper on the same day states:

"I followed him into the dining room, which is between the front room and the kitchen, and saw Mrs. Wallace lying on the floor in a pool of blood."

[WallaceWackedHer]

1) Why did Joseph rent out a home for Amy to move into with him when he could have gone to Amy's place?

Well, Joseph I believe was quite a lot better off financially than his brother. Looking at Amy's flat on Google Earth, which appears to be on the second floor of a large semi- detached Victorian house ,she may only have been renting a room with access to a bathroom. So it would make sense Joseph wanting his wife to join him in their own place.

This is the description of Amy:

"Amy, of course—domineering, definite, up to the minute in the clothes she wore and the hair styles she assumed, worldly-wise, and not caring a damn for anyone or anything."

Did she even have a job? Didn't her husband send her money? Lol.

[WallaceWackedHer]

By the way, I forgot to mention, the first entry to the park is right on that roundabout, it is 9 minutes to this entrance. 11 minutes is from the drop off point to 31 Bentley Road.

Although the Holmes's (#27) home has side by side front doors with Wallaces,the Johnstons parlours at #31 are divided only by a double brick wall. On the other hand 27 and 29 have 2 sets of staircases between the two parlours including the double brick wall of course. So the Johnstons would be better positioned to hear stuff in the Wallaces parlour than the Holmes's
Interestingly, 'Wilkes' has the Holmes's sitting down having tea in the middle kitchen when the sound was heard . I would challenge that they heard a falling Julia onto a carpeted , rugged , floor if this was the situation.

The Johnstons did not live in the parlor, but sitll, I see the point.

[moste]

5 / An image of W H Wallace with his brother Joseph:

It was this photo that made me think ' hello, those brothers could pass for each other, ....I wonder!

[moste]

1) Why did Joseph rent out a home for Amy to move into with him when he could have gone to Amy's place?

Well, Joseph I believe was quite a lot better off financially than his brother. Looking at Amy's flat on Google Earth, which appears to be on the second floor of a large semi- detached Victorian house ,she may only have been renting a room with access to a bathroom. So it would make sense Joseph wanting his wife to join him in their own place.

[WallaceWackedHer]

Here's some more information of note:

There were a group of youths arrested for burglary in the Allerton area. This was reported in the paper around mid December (the Echo). The last place a few of those arrested robbed was a home in Menlove Gardens on the 21st of December 1930, stealing around £243 worth of jewelry. They were arrested on charges of having carried out a string of 29 burglaries in the area.

Two sixteen year olds with the names Harold Charles Paine, Victoria-terrace, Wavetree, and Joseph Shipley of Grenfell-road. They broke into a home south of Mossley Hill, stealing items to the value of £1. Paine had already been on probation in London for housebreaking.

Three others were arrested for robbing £243 of jewelry from Menlove Gardens: James Herbert King (17) of Wellington-grove, John James Hughes (18) of Wellington-grove, and David Martin (18) of Colville-street. They were remanded in custody for a week.

And of note also, the description of the man here:

Is well spoken and about fifty years of age; about 5ft. 11ins. in height, of a thin build with sharp features; hair is turning grey; he has a moustache and sallow complexion; he was wearing a pair of rimmed glasses, a dark overcoat, and carried an umbrella.

Other reports say "slight moustache". Rather matches Joseph wouldn't you say? Is there anything at all to prove (apart from Amy's word) that he wasn't in the country?

Also a few things for your consideration:

1) Why did Joseph rent out a home for Amy to move into with him when he could have gone to Amy's place?

2) WHY did Wallace feel the need to tell officers that a DOG WHIP (a very weird ******* item) was missing from his home for 12 MONTHS? Would you randomly tell people about some item you hadn't seen in a year? Had it some significance? We know it is BDSM equipment which is weird as **** in and of itself, but you know that Amy Wallace was apparently part of a "flagellation sect" (looool) in Malay:

Amy wallace, Julia's sister in law, was a dominant lady, and when in Malaya with her husband in the 1920's, indulged in 'beating black boys'.

^ Flagellation items rofl.



^ The item Wallace randomly noted had been "missing from his home for 12 months" for no reason at all.

Of course, he didn't notice the missing poker or iron bar that Sarah Draper claimed had been there, but recalled and mentioned for some reason a 12 month missing bondage item.

3) The fact Parry's "sexually odd" comment may have referred to something of that nature. Wallace admitted to owning a BDSM item, so that would certainly be considered weird... Though how Parry knew Wallace was into BDSM remains a mystery.

4) Seeing as the driver said the man had gone down a side road, my original route is wrong, and would be further down Kingsley Road where he got out. At the very least here:

https://i.imgur.com/jz2uAkF.png

It is 11 minutes at a typical walking pace to Bentley Road. Of note there is a large park here called Prince's Park. It has an enormous lake:



If the man in the cab was disposing of items, he may have chosen to dump them in the park, possibly in the lake. This would also serve a dual purpose of removing any potential minor stains on the item etc. Then, if not going to Bentley Road but to 83 Ullet Road, he could have come out of the park at Windermere Terrace, a tiny exitway from the park leading to 32 Ullet Road, and then from there, a 12 minute walk to 83 Ullet Road.

Again this is all at a typical walking speed calculated by Google Maps, but it is suggested the man was in a "hurry", so we can expect him to have made these times much quicker.

5) An image of W H Wallace with his brother Joseph. William is 6'2:

https://i.imgur.com/IbAlGGa.png

I want to check the weather for that day (19 May, 1931, Liverpool) due to Joseph wearing shades, but I cant find the site I used before when finding the weather when the cat was missing ... He looks like a Cartel leader lmfao.

5) I know it had been raining earlier in the day, but apparently the weather had turned out "fine" on that evening? So make of it what you will that he carried an umbrella. Wouldn't be surprising as a precaution.

6) Amy Wallace had supposedly gone to Julia's home at 3:30 PM on the 20th, Wallace had left the home at 3:15 and was seen apparently crying at around 3:30 PM. I am not sure if anyone corroborated her visit or not by the way, that will have to be relayed to me. Amy is the one who said that Julia had told her that her husband he had an important business meeting that night.

7) In some places I see reference to Wallace's sister-in-law being at the funeral, which could be either Amy Dennis or Amy Wallace. Although in newspaper reports, there were apparently only 4 mourners, ALL male, including W H Wallace, and possibly Edwin if I remember right.

8) IF Wallace was seen crying for real, then it would tend to make me believe he loved Julia, but that she had to be silenced out of necessity for some reason.

---

On a side note, I found the address of Sarah Draper in the newspaper: 38 Tollerton Road.

[moste]

Although the Holmes's (#27) home has side by side front doors with Wallaces,the Johnstons parlours at #31 are divided only by a double brick wall. On the other hand 27 and 29 have 2 sets of staircases between the two parlours including the double brick wall of course. So the Johnstons would be better positioned to hear stuff in the Wallaces parlour than the Holmes's
Interestingly, 'Wilkes' has the Holmes's sitting down having tea in the middle kitchen when the sound was heard . I would challenge that they heard a falling Julia onto a carpeted , rugged , floor if this was the situation.

[moste]

Quote: Where did you get that? I need to buy more books so I don't make stupid ideas lol.

Walter and Bertha Holmes heard noises at # 29 at 6 30 pm before Wallace left for the Qualtrough meeting.according to 'Roger Wilkes' s book ( Wallace the final verdict) Mrs Holmes thought it was at their front door, Mr. Holmes said " No it came from the Wallaces's" a sound as though some one had fallen.
Sounds a bit hazy but any way....

[WallaceWackedHer]

Continuation of the above:

The driver followed a route via Lodge-lane and Beaumont-street, but at the corner of the latter street the man asked that the driver should turn down the street to Kingsley-road. Asked if he desired any particular house in Kingsley-road, the man retorted, "No. You may as well stop here."

After getting out of the cat and paying the fare, the man hurried off down one of the side streets, disappearing in the darkness towards Princes-road.

From inquiries made, the police now issue the following description of this man:-

Is well spoken and about fifty years of age; about 5ft. 11ins. in height, of a thin build with sharp features; hair is turning grey; he has a moustache and sallow complexion; he was wearing a pair of rimmed glasses, a dark overcoat, and carried an umbrella.

A request is made that anybody who saw, either in the Anfield or Sefton Park districts, a person answering to this description, should communicate at once with the C.I.D. headquarters in Dale-street.

The route is below (the driver would have stopped near the top of Kingsley Court by the sounds of it):

https://i.imgur.com/jkUDFsB.png

^ Link because the image is blurry when posted here.

The red marker is the home Joseph Wallace rented, while Ullet Road is where Amy Wallace's apartment is.

[WallaceWackedHer]

I will post more as I come across new information:

The Liverpool police have now a valuable clue in the Anfield murder mystery, and their efforts are centred on the search for a man who was driven in a hired car from the vicinity of the crime on Tuesday evening. With the identification of this man startling developments are probable. A complete story of this unidentified man's ride in the car is in the hands of the police. Investigating officers have ascertained that at sevon o'clock on Tuesday evening-an hour within the time in which theory has the crime to have been committed-a man called at a garage not far from the house in Wolverton-street, where Mrs. Julia Wallace was brutally battered to death. He asked to be driven to Sefton Park, and the garage man was struck by his obvious nervousness and agitation.

"Drive me quickly. I'm in a hurry!" said the man. As he took his seat beside the driver of the car he exclaimed !You won't kill me, will you?"

Surprised the driver reassured him, at the same time asking what he meant by such a strange remark. The man replied, "I am in a nervous state."

- Saturday 24 January 1931, Liverpool Echo

I'm typing them out by hand so sorry for errors.

SEFTON PARK IS ON ULLET ROAD!!!!!!!

ULLET ROAD IS WHERE AMY WALLACE LIVES.