** The Murder of Julia Wallace **

[cobalt]

To me the false name and address in Menlove Gardens are what point towards Wallace's guilt.

It was unnecessary for any opportunist burglar to provide either the false name or false address by telephone. A 'Mr. Harrison of 25 Menlove Gardens' would have served equally as well and required Wallace to knock on at least three doors if he was a genuine caller. The name 'Qualtrough' is too clever by half.

The whole ruse is over egged and serves only Wallace's interest. The utter falseness of the name and and address offers a motive for a burglar, thinking a day in advance, that would otherwise be absent. It reeks of Wallace creating a scenario.

From what I have gathered it seems that Wallace's colleagues at the insurance company were generally supportive whereas the wider public thought him guilty. So people that knew him personally thought he had been wronged whereas those who knew of him through the media thought him guilty. I don't know if this tells us anything. As I say, I remain agnostic.

[etenguy]

To me the false name and address in Menlove Gardens are what point towards Wallace's guilt.

It was unnecessary for any opportunist burglar to provide either the false name or false address by telephone. A 'Mr. Harrison of 25 Menlove Gardens' would have served equally as well and required Wallace to knock on at least three doors if he was a genuine caller. The name 'Qualtrough' is too clever by half.

The whole ruse is over egged and serves only Wallace's interest. The utter falseness of the name and and address offers a motive for a burglar, thinking a day in advance, that would otherwise be absent. It reeks of Wallace creating a scenario.

Hi Cobalt

I agree with you. The whole telephone call, jaunt to Menlove serves only to provide an alibi for Wallace. Anyone who was outside Wallace's home (at the telephone kiosk) on Monday night and saw him go to the Chess club (and they knew that as that is where they called) could have stolen the cash box Monday night.

Some suggest the call was not placed by Wallace and the thief/murderer wanted the crime on a Tuesday to increase their haul as that was the day assumed to be when Wallace had most cash at home. But the choice they had was to take what was available Monday night or set in place a plan which they could not know would work.

Wallace's behaviour, as you observe, only adds to the feeling that the trip to Menlove was to provide an alibi.

So - having said that - I am still unconvinced Wallace could have commited the murder and cleaned up after the murder in the short time between Alan Close seeing Julia (6.30 ish, though originally he suggested it might have been as late as 6.45 and before he saw the police his friends all testified Close had said a quarter to 7 - so Close seems to have changed his position on the time as a result of a walk through test with the police leading him to closer to 6.30. However, the paper boy who delivered the Wallace's newspaper between 6.30 and 6.35, did not see Alan Close, so maybe Alan's first report on timings was closer) and Wallace leaving the house for Menlove (6.45 by Wallace's testimony and no later than 6.49 based on police tests of the route). We also have to allow some extra time for Julia to empty the milk and return the cans to Alan Close and have a short conversation with him about his cough.

Since I am of the view it is more likely than not that Wallace committed the murder, I have to accept there was sufficient time - but I need to be able to explain these timings, and I cannot. There was certainly time to commit the murder - but to clean up and face the world composed too - seems very tight.

[cobalt]

etenguy,

Thanks for your thoughts which are very much in line with my own.

Caz has recently shown, to my satisfaction, that Wallace's time span was potentially wider than what I originally thought. He could have left the house as late as 7.10pm and still claimed to be on his jaunt to Menlove Gardens. So Wallace had no need to panic the way I assumed he might have, due to the late arrival of Alan Close.

However the facts as best understood have no interest in such conjecture. Wallace definitely left at around 6.50pm. The milkboy Alan Close can be reliably placed on the doorstep, seeing Mrs. Wallace, no earlier than 6.35. That leaves a maximum time of 15 minutes for the murder and more importantly the clean up. Wallace did not take advantage of any elastic time on the Menlove side of his alibi but, if guilty, acted with alacrity. As you say, he might have had little more than five minutes.

This is all certainly possible but like you I find it unlikely. A classic case of the Scottish verdict: Not proven.

[etenguy]

Only if he had got away with murder would he have been able to explain what happened with genuine authority. So was he reliving his worst nightmare? Or was he living the dream - of having been there, done that and cheated the hangman

Hi Caz

His life following the murder seems to have been quite bad, being shunned, losing his job, having to move away, his illness - maybe he thought he would garner sympathy (if he was the murderer) but it does not appear he did.

[etenguy]

What would have been the motive for Wallace to murder his wife? It does not appear to have been financial. They appeared to be a dedicated couple, though some closer to them reported a strange tension between them. Certainly what we know of the Wallace diaries paints a picture of a generally happy and content couple and many saw them that way. I believe there was about three years worth of diary entries from 1928 - surely he was not painting this picture as part of planning a murder across three years?

[Herlock Sholmes]

What would have been the motive for Wallace to murder his wife? It does not appear to have been financial. They appeared to be a dedicated couple, though some closer to them reported a strange tension between them. Certainly what we know of the Wallace diaries paints a picture of a generally happy and content couple and many saw them that way. I believe there was about three years worth of diary entries from 1928 - surely he was not painting this picture as part of planning a murder across three years?

Hi Eten,

I believe that things weren’t happy below the surface. We have Dr. Curwen and Nurse Wilson, we have William’s former colleague describing him as “the most soured man that he’d ever met,” and “bad tempered devil.” We have Julia snipping 16 years off her real age. We have William’s kidney illness and Julia’s regular mystery illnesses and William in the same old job.

So we have a 57 year old man with health issues that will only get worse and probably shorten his life, having to spend much of his spare time playing nursemaid to Julia who is increasingly looking and acting like his mother rather than his wife. Maybe he felt that she was a hypochondriac? And all this time he still has to go out to work six days a week trudging mile after mile in all weathers whilst perhaps looking at some members of the company, younger than him and with less service in, getting nice cushy office jobs? We have no evidence of whether William was actually aware of Julia’s true age or not but maybe he found out and it left him feeling that he’d been conned into marrying a woman of his own age?

Pure speculation of course.

[cobalt]

I think Wallace must have been aware of his wife's age. A birth certificate is required in order to receive a marriage certificate and there seems to be no dispute that they were a legally married couple.

If Julia had somehow managed to keep that information from Wallace's watchful eye then she would have found it harder to disguise the fact she was in receipt of a state pension. From 1925, women in the UK aged 65 were entitled to such which would have meant Julia being a recipient for around 4 years at the time of her death.

[etenguy]

I think Wallace must have been aware of his wife's age. A birth certificate is required in order to receive a marriage certificate and there seems to be no dispute that they were a legally married couple.

Hi Cobalt

You may be right, but her gravestone states she died at age 52 and Wallace two years later at age 54

[etenguy]

Hi Eten,

I believe that things weren’t happy below the surface. We have Dr. Curwen and Nurse Wilson, we have William’s former colleague describing him as “the most soured man that he’d ever met,” and “bad tempered devil.” We have Julia snipping 16 years off her real age. We have William’s kidney illness and Julia’s regular mystery illnesses and William in the same old job.

So we have a 57 year old man with health issues that will only get worse and probably shorten his life, having to spend much of his spare time playing nursemaid to Julia who is increasingly looking and acting like his mother rather than his wife. Maybe he felt that she was a hypochondriac? And all this time he still has to go out to work six days a week trudging mile after mile in all weathers whilst perhaps looking at some members of the company, younger than him and with less service in, getting nice cushy office jobs? We have no evidence of whether William was actually aware of Julia’s true age or not but maybe he found out and it left him feeling that he’d been conned into marrying a woman of his own age?

Pure speculation of course.

Hi Herlock

His diary entries seem to suggest he is not happy at work [police summary of one entry - Dislike of work job uncongenial]. He also talks of feeling depressed and his illness, and of Julia - but not of Julia in any majorly negative way (from what we know of the contents). He does mention how concerned he was when Julia was late travelling back from a visit (train delay due to lorry I seem to remember) and he went to the police he was so worried about her (corroborated). This was less than a month before her murder. You may still be correct if he only recently found out of Julia's deceit - but murder on that basis? Possibly.

[Herlock Sholmes]

Hi Herlock

His diary entries seem to suggest he is not happy at work [police summary of one entry - Dislike of work job uncongenial]. He also talks of feeling depressed and his illness, and of Julia - but not of Julia in any majorly negative way (from what we know of the contents). He does mention how concerned he was when Julia was late travelling back from a visit (train delay due to lorry I seem to remember) and he went to the police he was so worried about her (corroborated). This was less than a month before her murder. You may still be correct if he only recently found out of Julia's deceit - but murder on that basis? Possibly.

Hi Eten,

Any suggestions as to a motive have to be speculative of course but I do think that we have to consider all of those who spoke of them and not just those that said nice, complimentary things. A couple are more likely to put on a happy face for friends and family I’d suggest than for strangers. We have no idea if or when William found out about Julia’s whopper about her age but it’s possible that he might have found out and it served as the straw that broke the camel’s back. If I had to favour one it would be the one that I mentioned - he didn’t like the idea of spending his remaining days nursing and aged hypochondriac. He may even have believed that he didn’t have long left - in fact we have no information from his doctor. Maybe he’d only given William a very few years to live?)

[caz]

The guard for tram 5 was clear that Wallace (as he would later pick out in a parade) was in the queue at around 7.06 and made a big deal about where he wanted to go. So not a quiet man from the Pru at all.
"Thomas Charles PHILLIPS says:-“I am a tram conductor No. 3078 ... about the last to get on was the man who asked me if the car went to Menlove Gardens East. I told him “No” that a 7 or 5W would take him, but then I changed my mind and told him I could give him a transfer ticket or a penny fare and he could change. he got on and took his seat inside. I went in for the fares and he said he was a stranger in the district and that he had an urgent “call” or “business” at Menlove Gardens East and emphasized the word “East”. I gave him a penny ticket and he then said “You won’t forget Guard, I want to get to Menlove Gardens East”.

It seems to me that Wallace always made a big deal about MGE from everyone he met that night including the policeman and I think he even asked the pc for the time. He could not have had better tracking if he had had a google map app in his pocket!

That was indeed my point, Dupin. A guilty Wallace would have judged his next best move according to the time he had finally been able to leave the house. It turned out to be just early enough to go for the full-on game plan of: "Here I am and this is where I need to go". Had he been suspiciously late in leaving, I think he would have adopted the low profile of a quiet man, keeping himself to himself and not speaking to a soul - until he could legitimately claim that Menlove Gardens East was conspicuous by its absense, and then lie about how long he had been quietly trying to find the address under his own steam before giving up and asking for assistance.

In fact, he was smarter than I first thought, by coming up with a fake address which sounded like it was real - even to people who were roughly familiar with the area. That gave him a lot of extra minutes had he needed to use them, to claim he would have been on time for the appointment if only the address he was given by "Qualtrough" had existed. He could also claim that the killer must have come up with the idea to keep him out of the house for as long as possible.

Love,

Caz
X

[caz]

Hi Caz

His life following the murder seems to have been quite bad, being shunned, losing his job, having to move away, his illness - maybe he thought he would garner sympathy (if he was the murderer) but it does not appear he did.

Hi etenguy,

I suppose it depends on Wallace's character, before and after the murder. If he was guilty, he had perhaps been silently seething with bitterness at his lot for some time, without it showing much on the outside. If he was an underachiever, who put the blame on everything and everyone but himself, he could have wanted to punish his wife as a way of feeling better about himself. But it's doubtful that killing her and getting away with it - just - would ever have made such a man happy, or any more likely to enjoy the time left to him. After all, none of it would actually have been Julia's fault, and living without her wouldn't have solved any problems of his own making. Maybe it was a much needed ego boost for Wallace to claim to know exactly what was in the killer's mind and how he had done the deed.

He was officially off the hook, so here was a risk-free opportunity to boast that he was as smart as the killer himself.

Love,

Caz
X

[caz]

What would have been the motive for Wallace to murder his wife? It does not appear to have been financial. They appeared to be a dedicated couple, though some closer to them reported a strange tension between them. Certainly what we know of the Wallace diaries paints a picture of a generally happy and content couple and many saw them that way. I believe there was about three years worth of diary entries from 1928 - surely he was not painting this picture as part of planning a murder across three years?

Looking at this the other way round, I imagine it would have been unusual for anyone to paint a picture in their personal diary of a married life they secretly loathed and longed to escape from. Old habits, such as keeping a regular diary, die hard, so I would expect Wallace to have carried on doing so, even if he was just keeping up appearances that the marriage was ticking along nicely as always.

Love,

Caz
X

[Abby Normal]

What would have been the motive for Wallace to murder his wife? It does not appear to have been financial. They appeared to be a dedicated couple, though some closer to them reported a strange tension between them. Certainly what we know of the Wallace diaries paints a picture of a generally happy and content couple and many saw them that way. I believe there was about three years worth of diary entries from 1928 - surely he was not painting this picture as part of planning a murder across three years?

hi eten
motive? who knows what evil lurks in the heart of men. maybe he loathed her and or just wanted to feel what it was like to kill someone. and maybe if he knew he didnt have long to live who cares if hes caught. maybe he wanted to see if he could get away with it, like a game of some sort.

but it dosnt seem to be an obvious traditional motive..financial, jealousy, revenge/rejection etc.

[Herlock Sholmes]

Looking at this the other way round, I imagine it would have been unusual for anyone to paint a picture in their personal diary of a married life they secretly loathed and longed to escape from. Old habits, such as keeping a regular diary, die hard, so I would expect Wallace to have carried on doing so, even if he was just keeping up appearances that the marriage was ticking along nicely as always.

Love,

Caz
X

And for all that we know Caz, William might have been having thoughts about killing her for years so the diary of a contented husband would have been in his favour at any point. He may have hesitated out of fear of being caught or from indecision until something gave him the red light. He might have discovered Julia’s whopper about her age or perhaps his doctor had told him that he had less time left than he’d realised?