Move to Murder: Who Killed Julia Wallace?

[NickB]

Moste,

Yes I made this suggestion but it was pooh-poohed.

The prosecution said: “He gets back somewhere about 8.30 and 8.35.” yet he appears to have returned at 8.45. It seems to me there is more time to play with at the back end than the front end.

Nick

[RodCrosby]

When checking where the highest concentration of the name Qualtrough is :
By a country mile
West coast of Cumberland /North Lancashire including Isle of Man .
Wallace’s neck of the woods, born and raised in Millom. Most people probably have never heard of that surname, Wallace almost certainly would have!
Just thought there could be some significance there.

Qualtrough is a Manx name in origin, and very common there. The Isle of Man is 70 miles from Liverpool, and in the 1930s was a popular holiday destination. Many people from Liverpool would have visited on the daily ferry.

Liverpool, as a major port, also attracted immigrants from all over Britain, and beyond.

There were 14 families named Qualtrough who were residents of Liverpool, including several shopkeepers, a couple of whom were within a mile of where Wallace/Parry lived.

At least one Qualtrough was also a client of the Prudential (although not Wallace's client) !

[etenguy]

Moste,

Yes I made this suggestion but it was pooh-poohed.

The prosecution said: “He gets back somewhere about 8.30 and 8.35.” yet he appears to have returned at 8.45. It seems to me there is more time to play with at the back end than the front end.

Nick

Hi Moste and Nick. The time of death was not as accurate as it could be, but MacFall suggested originally 8.00pm and then later as early as 6.00pm. I don't think there is any evidence it could have been later than 8.00pm, but even if you are correct, William has no more time after returning home than he had before he left.

[RodCrosby]

Moste,

Yes I made this suggestion but it was pooh-poohed.

The prosecution said: “He gets back somewhere about 8.30 and 8.35.” yet he appears to have returned at 8.45. It seems to me there is more time to play with at the back end than the front end.

Nick

The Police and the pathologists recognised that this theory was a non-starter.
Otherwise, they would have advanced it as their theory...

[Abby Normal]

Moste,

Yes I made this suggestion but it was pooh-poohed.

The prosecution said: “He gets back somewhere about 8.30 and 8.35.” yet he appears to have returned at 8.45. It seems to me there is more time to play with at the back end than the front end.

Nick

Hi nick and moste
I brought this up too.

Can anyone please explain whats in the evidence that he couldnt have killed her later when he gets home?

Is there a tram receipt or witness evidence? What specifically is it that rules this out?

[Harry D]

Hi harry
LOL. well I lean slightly to Wallace but it apparently isn't so obvious or not a mystery to a lot of people.

Abby, many a time I've failed to recognise someone's voice on the phone, be it friends, family, colleagues etc. and they weren't even trying to disguise their voice. So, Beattie can swear until he's blue in the face that it wasn't Wallace who rang, it doesn't mean it's a sure thing.

The timings don't bother me, either, as we know from the Ripper case that these are approximates with a margin for error.

Motive? Who knows? William & Julia might have kept up appearances but we never really know what goes on behind closed doors. That Julia had shaved 17 years off her real age shows that their marriage had its secrets.

I think Wallace acted alone, as I suspect he wouldn't want to complicate matters by involving an accomplice. He made the Qualtrough call from the telephone box on the way to chess club, bumped off Julia the next day, then sent himself on a wild goose chase, making sure to harass the tram drivers and policeman to secure his alibi. It was also quite fortuitous that the neighbours found him "struggling" to unlock the back door.

I also find it strange that the "intruder" took the money from the cash-box, and it returned to the high-shelf with the lid back on, as if they were used to doing so. This kind of methodical behaviour doesn't really fit with the frenzied overkill evidenced in Julia's murder.

Wallace did it.

[Abby Normal]

Abby, many a time I've failed to recognise someone's voice on the phone, be it friends, family, colleagues etc. and they weren't even trying to disguise their voice. So, Beattie can swear until he's blue in the face that it wasn't Wallace who rang, it doesn't mean it's a sure thing.

The timings don't bother me, either, as we know from the Ripper case that these are approximates with a margin for error.

Motive? Who knows? William & Julia might have kept up appearances but we never really know what goes on behind closed doors. That Julia had shaved 17 years off her real age shows that their marriage had its secrets.

I think Wallace acted alone, as I suspect he wouldn't want to complicate matters by involving an accomplice. He made the Qualtrough call from the telephone box on the way to chess club, bumped off Julia the next day, then sent himself on a wild goose chase, making sure to harass the tram drivers and policeman to secure his alibi. It was also quite fortuitous that the neighbours found him "struggling" to unlock the back door.

I also find it strange that the "intruder" took the money from the cash-box, and it returned to the high-shelf with the lid back on, as if they were used to doing so. This kind of methodical behaviour doesn't really fit with the frenzied overkill evidenced in Julia's murder.

Wallace did it.

thanks harry
good points.

[RodCrosby]

Hi nick and moste
I brought this up too.

Can anyone please explain whats in the evidence that he couldnt have killed her later when he gets home?

Is there a tram receipt or witness evidence? What specifically is it that rules this out?

Wallace said the last person he spoke to was Lily Pinches, at a newsagents in Allerton Road, at 8pm. She confirmed this but thought it was definitely after 8pm.

Wallace then caught a tram home (no estimate of the time, but it would obviously require walking to the stop and perhaps waiting).

Wallace's defence team hired a civil engineer, who timed the route at an average of 36.5 minutes [although it was not necessary to offer it in Court, as no allegation was made that Wallace killed had Julia on his return.] (see Antony's book)

The Johnstons were clear they had gone out at 8.45pm, based on looking at their clock, whereupon they encountered Wallace.

So it would seem Wallace would have had a maximum of 8 minutes to murder Julia on his return, and clean himself up, etc.
Probably less, as the Johnstons had already heard him knocking at the door, before they left the house, and thought nothing of it.

How did he dispose of the weapon, btw? Did he swallow it?

[Abby Normal]

Wallace said the last person he spoke to was Lily Pinches, at a newsagents in Allerton Road, at 8pm. She confirmed this but thought it was definitely after 8pm.

Wallace then caught a tram home (no estimate of the time, but it would obviously require walking to the stop and perhaps waiting).

Wallace's defence team hired a civil engineer, who timed the route at an average of 36.5 minutes [although it was not necessary to offer it in Court, as no allegation was made that Wallace killed had Julia on his return.] (see Antony's book)

The Johnstons were clear they had gone out at 8.45pm, based on looking at their clock, whereupon they encountered Wallace.

So it would seem Wallace would have had a maximum of 8 minutes to murder Julia on his return, and clean himself up, etc.
Probably less, as the Johnstons had already heard him knocking at the door, before they left the house, and thought nothing of it.

How did he dispose of the weapon, btw? Did he swallow it?

Thanks for clearing that up Rod. seems times where tight on both ends for Wallace to do the deed.

[RodCrosby]

The timings don't bother me, either, as we know from the Ripper case that these are approximates with a margin for error.

I don't think the Ripper was ever suspected of travelling by tram...

It was accepted on the Police's own timings that Wallace could have left the house no later than 6.49pm.

and then we have:-

"Alan Close told the Police that he had seen Mrs. Wallace alive at a quarter-to-seven, and I heard him say so..." Douglas Metcalf, 1981 [repeating his adamant testimony in Court from 50 years previously]

[Abby Normal]

I think to understand the time needed, we should allocate the time for each activity he would have needed to complete. Though we would need to speculate, so would not be conclusive.

The murder itself could have been over quite quickly, but with all the other factors, I think more time would be needed. The mac was not head to toe, so if he had worn his clothes, some blood would have attached above or below the mac. No blood was found on his clothes at all. No blood was found in the sinks or waste pipes, just an inconclusive spot in the toilet bowl.

Also, as Rod states, he needed to be calm after the murder, and not court suspicion. Hard to do after the first murder one commits,

Im assuming since he was going on a business call he had a brief case or bag of some sort when he left? bloody towel (perhaps clothes)and murder weapon could be brought out of house in?

[RodCrosby]

There's no mention of a briefcase, etc. anywhere in the evidence. Wallace just said he got some forms together for Qualtrough before leaving the house. The implication I suppose was that Wallace carried them in his overcoat inside pocket, although the point was never discussed.

Are you suggesting that not only did Wallace manage to hide the weapon, but he also managed to hide a briefcase and bloody towells somewhere on his route to Menlove Gardens, defeating the thorough searches of the Police?

[Abby Normal]

There's no mention of a briefcase, etc. anywhere in the evidence. Wallace just said he got some forms together for Qualtrough before leaving the house. The implication I suppose was that Wallace carried them in his overcoat inside pocket, although the point was never discussed.

Are you suggesting that not only did Wallace manage to hide the weapon, but he also managed to hide a briefcase and bloody towells somewhere on his route to Menlove Gardens, defeating the thorough searches of the Police?

Hi Rod
Im thinking if he did it, he may have brought evidence out of the house, either in a briefcase or bag, and dumped somewhere around Menlo gardens?
I don't know just thinking out loud.

[RodCrosby]

Hi Rod
Im thinking if he did it, he may have brought evidence out of the house, either in a briefcase or bag, and dumped somewhere around Menlo gardens?
I don't know just thinking out loud.

As I said at the beginning this is a very complex case with a labyrinth of evidence to absorb, Abby.

But it's always best to start with the evidence, and see where it leads, rather than start with a theory, and then look for evidence to [seemingly] support it.

There was no evidence against Wallace, and nothing has changed that fact since 1931.

The same cannot be said for Parry.

I actually think the Police took Parry seriously as a suspect, but came up against his teflon alibi for the time of the murder.
Then they turned away, figuring "Wallace must have done it - somehow!" without considering one final possibility before leaving Parry.

That other possibility is where I believe the Truth lies, and there is strong circumstantial evidence, and even belated testimony evidence [John Parkes and Mrs. Atkinson] pointing clearly in that direction.

[etenguy]

I don't think the Ripper was ever suspected of travelling by tram...

It was accepted on the Police's own timings that Wallace could have left the house no later than 6.49pm.

and then we have:-

"Alan Close told the Police that he had seen Mrs. Wallace alive at a quarter-to-seven, and I heard him say so..." Douglas Metcalf, 1981 [repeating his adamant testimony in Court from 50 years previously]

There is insufficient evidence for us to identify who committed the crime. The next best thing as a starting point is to rule out those suspects who could not have committed the crime.

The timings are much more accurate than ripper times, fixed by clocks both ends of the journey Wallace took. Alan cross stated 6.45 but was persuaded it might have been up to 15 minutes earlier. The paperboy though, fixed by a clock, said it was after 6.35. This suggests to me insufficient time to commit the murder, clean up, leave no blood traces anywhere, have no blood traces on himself and dispose of the weapon. The return journey also left even less time to commit the murder.

If something is not possible, then I think we can rule out the suspect. In this instance, there is the slimest chance that he just had time if he worked very quickly and attacked Julia immediately she brought the milk into the house and that Alan Cross had thought it slightly later than it was when he spoke with Julia. But I think it improbable.