The Murder of Julia Wallace (1931) - Full DPP case files

[Al Bundy's Eyes]

Hi Wallace, all the old gas fires we had had to be held "on" for about 30 seconds or there about or they shut off as a safety measure. They're also tricky buggers and never light first time, so you'd be on your hands knees swearing at it.

[WallaceWackedHer]

Okay hang on let me try to paint the picture here, I've got it. I've never ever ever understood how a shot to her left sent her into the fire. But let me just forget what MacFall said because this seems to be what's happened, right:



Julia's just put on the gas, she's just lit the fire. She's now going back for the knob (reaching right this would mean) to regulate the fire).

Morgue photo shows precisely where she was hit [GRAPHIC]:

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

At that moment a strike comes raining down on her. NOW it makes sense the direction of the force puts her into the fire. Her skirt is burned, the fire probably not properly regulated yet.

I'm right aren't I?

We just figured out Blue's Clues mate.

[Al Bundy's Eyes]

Hi guys, you've got my interest here, I grew up with coal and gas fires of varying vintage and also had a living flame gas. As far as I can see, the Willson heats up like a traditional gas fire, with the glowing blocks, in front is a ceramic "fake coal" which starts to glow when hot, giving an unconvincing coal fire effect. These things gave off a ferocious heat, as such it was normal to have a traditional fire guard. I recall melting my shoes to one in the early nineties.
I've attached a link to an interesting article.

https://ezinearticles.com/?History-of-Gas-Fires&id=6143838

[WallaceWackedHer]

Why didn’t they take a photo of her skirt so that we could actually see whether it matches up?!

We could do with an older poster who remembers this type of fire.

Someone told me moste is an older poster, maybe he remembers these things.

Here's an extract from the trial, the abridged Brown version but still I can copy paste that so it's easier:

"Do you know that the bottom of this woman’s skirt
shows a mark where it was upon that gas-fire ? — I do not.

There is evidence, if you will take it from me, given by
the police that there are three characteristic burn marks
on the lower part of the skirt, corresponding with that
gas-fire, which would indicate that the gas-fire had been
alight, would it not ? — Yes.

You see the handle to the gas-fire is on the right-hand
side of it ? — Yes.

And just above it is a gas-light ? — Yes.

Suppose a woman went into that room, lit the gas, and
lit the fire, she would have to stoop down, would she
not ? — Presumably, yes.

If she did that with her back towards the doorway and
someone was on her right-hand side, he would be in a
position to strike her as she rose ? — He would.

And her head might well be in the very position in
which you put it ? — Exactly."

"Handle to the gas fire" I think is the thing you turn to put on (and then regulate) the gas, and in the advert for the sunbeam I think you will agree with me that it can be seen where it is:



What has evidently happened, unless the killer put the gas knob on, is:

Julia has turned on the gas using that handle.

She's fetched her box of matches (maybe she kept a box in her pocket), drawn a match, struck it, and stooped down there to ignite the gas. Her next move would be to regulate the gas using the knob, but she's been hit.

OR she did regulate it... But I think now I can see how this has happened... Because the knob is on the right, she's in front of the fire and to reach the knob she has to lean across to the right. Now look at the morgue photo.

WARNING: Morgue Photo:

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

(Tbh don't like looking at that because it reminds me this is a sad death of an innocent woman not a Poirot episode).... But you see that gaping wound right? That's the kill shot. That's HER left I think. Unless the image is flipped.

So if she's reaching down to that knob there, I don't think she can have been hit there WHILE she was doing that because the side of the fireplace would cover that spot.

So she's either been hit after lighting the fire just before she goes to reach for the knob to regulate the fire, or it's after she regulated the fire and rose.

That giant gaping wound is more on the top of her head it seems, top front left. So the killer is above her.

---

That has to be it, right?

[WallaceWackedHer]

What's quite interesting, is that as you can see in the modern video, there's some kind of mechanism like a lock and key for regulating the fire. I suppose the intensity/temperature. I also saw William reference "regulating the gas fire" in the John Bull articles.

In the advert directly above for the sunbeam, there appears to be a similar little nodule thing on the right hand side.

I've always had the impression in my mind that lighting the fire would be a two second job, chuck a match and job done. Evidently it's not the case, it would actually take around 30 seconds because you have to turn the gas on, then strike a match, light the gas, and then fiddle with the gas knob to get it how you want it.

So that's very, very interesting isn't it...

What if she wasn't hit while lighting the fire, but while fiddling with the gas knob?

And actually again that's quite interesting for a pre-med attack isn't it... If she has to turn on the gas with a key/knob thing like we see in that video, then strike a match, and you were planning to kill her as quickly as possible... Well, you would have it done and dusted before she ever even struck the match. Probably before she could even turn the gas on.

That doesn't make any sense... That's pretty important evidence actually.

[Herlock Sholmes]

Why didn’t they take a photo of her skirt so that we could actually see whether it matches up?!

We could do with an older poster who remembers this type of fire.

[WallaceWackedHer]

Ah yes, I knew my MURDER CASEBOOK magazine would come to the rescue... The photographs in this thing are like Blu-Ray quality lol:



So I do see there's like a grid pattern but it's right at the bottom... I don't know how the fire actually operates. I'll keep looking.

I just know that it's meant to look like a coal fire despite being gas:



They sold a few different variants but mostly they look the same as each other.

I can only assume it is operated very similar to this:

So basically an actual fire is lit, and then like you see there it has some fake logs for decoration. So maybe those "coals" are fake coals for decoration on the Sunbeam in the same way.

In that case the actual base of the flames would be at the bottom, where the "grid" looking thing is.

[WallaceWackedHer]

I feel like the adverts are saying, by "no need to disturb your coal grate", that a grate like this is left in place:



And the gas fire fitted into it or behind it or something. So the burning would be from the grate on her skirt. Right? And the actual exposed fire, by looking at adverts, would not be protected, and would allow for very direct contact without protection.

So the skirt could be scorched on the grid, and something like the mackintosh makes contact with the ACTUAL fire part, hence why it's set so badly ablaze. This is how the Sunbeam fireplaces looked:





To me, that "fire" part seems COMPLETELY exposed?????

---

And yet...

I don't see any gridlike thing on the parlour fireplace:



Let me bust out my magazine because it has a mega close up.

[WallaceWackedHer]

You know what's curious though... I know exactly what type of fireplace that is. It's a Wilson's Sunbeam Gas-Fire. Why does Gannon and others reference horizontal burning and grids. Where is the grid? I've been through loads of advertisements in old newspapers. It's a really peculiar type of fireplace and I'm not sure how it works/looks when lit.

'Sunbeam'—the GAS fire like coal fire! Wilson's patent "Sunbeam" has all the advantages of a gas-fire and has the genial, merry appearance of the old-fashioned coal-fire without its dirt and trouble. No need to disturb your coal grate—remove the front bars, place the "Sunbeam" in oosition and connect gas supply. Finished in handsome egg-shell black.

Can anyone figure out how this bloody thing works? I don't get it.

[Herlock Sholmes]

They'd have to have placed a chair next to the fire for it to fall off the back and for that to happen... This woman did dress in homemade clothes etc so it's possible, but when you have strong evidence something was burned on that fire grid, combined with her skirt having burn marks matching that fire grid, it seems overwhelmingly probable it happened at the same time.

I agree. The likelihood is that it occurred at the same time as the mackintosh got burned.

[WallaceWackedHer]

It’s the likely explanation but it might have occurred whilst it was being dried at some point. Placed too close to the fire or perhaps it was over the back of a chair but slid off. No way of knowing of course.

These days we would have a had a police photo of course.

They'd have to have placed a chair next to the fire for it to fall off the back and for that to happen... This woman did dress in homemade clothes etc so it's possible, but when you have strong evidence something was burned on that fire grid, combined with her skirt having burn marks matching that fire grid, it seems overwhelmingly probable it happened at the same time.

[Herlock Sholmes]

I think it was, because the scorch marks are horizontal matching the grid of the fireplace. So unless she had fallen into it previously... It seems highly likely it was done at the time.

It’s the likely explanation but it might have occurred whilst it was being dried at some point. Placed too close to the fire or perhaps it was over the back of a chair but slid off. No way of knowing of course.

These days we would have a had a police photo of course.

[WallaceWackedHer]

Many thanks, WWH. Hopefully, I'll be able to get along to the BFI to see this before long. Frustrating though, as you say, that it's not more easily available.

Best regards,
OneRound

No worries. If you can manage to secure a copy I'll buy it for us all to put on my site.

[OneRound]

Simply use the BFI:

"A viewing copy of ‘Who Killed Julia Wallace? (1975) is held in the BFI National Archive, and may be available to view for non-commercial research and study purposes. If you would like to arrange a viewing of this title using the BFI’s Research Viewing service, pleasesee find further details here: www.bfi.org.uk/archive-collections/searching-access-collections/research-viewing-services."

Many thanks, WWH. Hopefully, I'll be able to get along to the BFI to see this before long. Frustrating though, as you say, that it's not more easily available.

Best regards,
OneRound

[WallaceWackedHer]

.
Hi WWH - I would be very grateful if you could set out how it is possible to watch the Yorkshire tv movie. It is of massive and never ending frustration to me that I knew in his final years the actor and lovely man Eric Longworth who played Wallace in this production but only found that out after his death. Consequently, I never discussed the case with him which I would have relished.

Many thanks,
OneRound

Simply use the BFI:

"A viewing copy of ‘Who Killed Julia Wallace? (1975) is held in the BFI National Archive, and may be available to view for non-commercial research and study purposes. If you would like to arrange a viewing of this title using the BFI’s Research Viewing service, please find further details here: www.bfi.org.uk/archive-collections/searching-access-collections/research-viewing-services."