** The Murder of Julia Wallace **

[etenguy]

bingo. and once shes dead, hes got more than enough time now to do a thorough burgle. but was does he do? leave money lying around, scattered on tje floor, in a glass in another room. oh but puts the safe back. lol. cmon.

Hi Abby

There are a lot of issues with seeing this crime as an intended burglary, the following are just a few.

• As you state, much was left in the house that a burglar would find valuable and easy to take.
• Would a burglar, even interupted, commit murder?
• Julia seems to have been taken by surprise when murdered - not a sign that she interupted a crime.

So, as you conclude, was the intended crime murder from the outset? I think the evidence suggests it was and in that case Wallace becomes a strong suspect.

[etenguy]

Cheers etenguy. Crossed post.

This was very convenient for Wallace, that he should pass the back door of his neighbours just as they were leaving for the evening. He couldn't have known that would happen and yet that gives him the witnesses when finding the body. If the Johnstones had left 30 minutes earlier, the whole door and lock issues would not have been seen by anyone and Wallace would have found Julia alone. This being the case, that Wallace would not know his neighbours would conveniently come out, there is no reason for the door lock issue to be played up by Wallace, which leads me to wonder whether the issues Wallace faced with the door that night were real.

[Abby Normal]

This was very convenient for Wallace, that he should pass the back door of his neighbours just as they were leaving for the evening. He couldn't have known that would happen and yet that gives him the witnesses when finding the body. If the Johnstones had left 30 minutes earlier, the whole door and lock issues would not have been seen by anyone and Wallace would have found Julia alone. This being the case, that Wallace would not know his neighbours would conveniently come out, there is no reason for the door lock issue to be played up by Wallace, which leads me to wonder whether the issues Wallace faced with the door that night were real.

i see it tje other way. his plan was probably to act locked out , amd if no one saw him going back in forth, his next step would be to start knocking on neighbors doors looking for help. i bet he was ecstatic his neighbors came out just then.

and poof... he suddenly can get in. how convenient.

[Herlock Sholmes]

I assume this is the dividing wall between the Wallace and Johnston houses. Happy to be corrected.

It is Cobalt. The Holme’s lived at number 27 to the left of the Wallace’s and the Johnston’s lived to the right at number 31.

[cobalt]

I've made a few points about locked gates and doors in recent posts so in the interests of accuracy I re-read Wallace's answers during the trial.

Wallace did not commit himself as to whether Julia bolted the back gate or not. He was pushed quite hard on this point in the dock: the prosecution claimed he had stated to police on the night of the crime that he had actually heard Julia do this. At trial Wallace denied he had used these words and restricted himself to saying that he was not aware whether she had: he did not hear her do so, therefore was uncertain on the matter.

Apology for an earlier comment I made about Wallace noticing the back gate was unbolted on his return: I did not appreciate that this was the only route into the rear of his premises therefore he was bound to have been aware of this fact before his attempts to unlock the back door. And on this first sojourn to the rear of his house Wallace stated that he peered through a window and was unable to see a light from the kitchen which he thought he should have been able to do. So his self-described conduct was far less suspicious than what I outlined in an earlier post.

Or maybe not! If Julia bolting the back gate behind him was the standard procedure, why would Wallace have gone round to the back of the property after being unable to open the front door? He must have assumed it was bolted and from the photos I have seen, the walls would have been insurmountable to the gangly, unhealthy Wallace. It's as if Wallace knew the back gate was unbolted and there is only one way that he would have known that.