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THE TRIAL OF WILLIAM HERBERT WALLACE WILLIAM HERBERT WALLACE THE TRIAL OF WILLIAM HERBERT WALLACE Edited with an Introduction by W. F. WYNDHAM-BROWN Barrister-at-Law of the Middle Temple, and of the Northern Circuit LONDON VICTOR GOLLANCZ LTD 14 Henrietta Street Covent Garden 1933 Printed in Great Britain by Xbc Camelot Press Ltd., London and Southampton EDITOR^S NOTE The time which has elapsed since the appeal of William Herbert Wallace against his conviction and sentence has in some ways lightened, and in some ways made more difficult, the task of editing the material avail- able for a book on the trial. The judgment of the Court of Criminal Appeal, which, for the first time, quashed a conviction for murder on the ground that the verdict could not be supported by the evidence, placed the Wallace case in a class of its own. It not only established a precedent ; it also created a new status for an individual in his relation to society. By the decision of the Court, Wallace recovered his freedom, but he remained the man who had been sentenced to death on the verdict of his fellow countrymen. His position was obviously very different from that of a person who has been acquitted on the evidence at the conclusion of a trial. The implications of such a result as that which followed the Wallace trial are far-reaching, and raise questions of considerable importance from the legal, social, and even individual point of view. It follows that the story of the crime, and the life and character of the person who was tried, found guilty, and sentenced for the murder ofJulia Wallace, possess a unique and additional value, and are calculated to evoke something more than a mere passing or impersonal curiosity. The remarkable sequel has invited, if it has not compelled, a more general treatment than is usually considered necessary in less complicated cases. In such circumstances it appeared unnecessary to 5 ; editor’s note restrict oneself exclusively to the trial and appeal, as that would have limited the field of investigation, and involved the rejection of some interesting and helpful material. It is for these reasons, and also for their relevance to the case itself, that extracts from the diaries and from articles written by Wallace have been included in the present book. It was inevitable that much of the evidence given at the trial should be of a repetitive nature, or of such topo- graphical or scientific quality as to be of little interest or assistance either to the lawyer or to the general reader. I have, therefore, eliminated certain parts of the evidence, but always, I hope, with discretion fairness and ; and I have endeavoured to omit nothing of importance or significance, or which could contribute in any degree to an understanding of the case. I very much regret that I found it impossible to obtain a verbatim copy of Mr. Roland Oliver’s opening speech for the Defence. I take this opportunity of thanking the editor of the Liverpool Post and Mercury for his courtesy in permitting me to include a report of the speech which appeared in that newspaper at the time of the trial. I am very grateful for much valuable information and assistance to Mr. Hector Munro, of Messrs. Herbert J. Davis, Berthen & Munro, solicitors, of Liverpool, who were instructed for the Defence. I wish also to express my thanks to the following : The Assistant Chief Constable of Liverpool for his consent to the reproduction of a photograph of 29 Wolverton Street the editor of John Bull for allowing me to quote from articles published in that journal ; and to Messrs. Barnett Lenton & Company for permission to use the official shorthand notes of the trial. W. F. Wyndham-Brown. September 6 — CONTENTS 1 . Introduction page II The Mysterious Murder 13 The Character of Wallace 17 The Time of Death and the Alibi 22 Circumstantial Evidence 25 The Telephone Message 27 The Mackintosh Theory 34 The Case of Courvoisier 38 Conflicting Evidence 38 The Summing-Up and the Verdict 45 The Appeal 48 II. The Trial— 51 First Day Indictment and Plea 53 Opening Speech for the Crown 53 Evidence for the Prosecution Leslie Heaton 83 Arthur Thompson 99 Lillian Martha Kelly 84 Katie Mather 99 Gladys Harley 84 Sydney Hubert Green 100 Samuel Beattie 84 Police-ConstableJames Edward James Caird 91 Sargent 100 James Edward Rothwell 95 Lily Pinches lOI Alan Groxton Close 96 Joseph Crewe 103 Thomas Charles Phillips 97 Lily Hall 107 Second Day John Sharpe Johnston 109 Professor John Edward Wheatley Florence Sarah Johnston MacFall 129 Frederick Robert Williams 123 Dr. Hugh Pierce 144 Jane Sarah Draper 128 William Henry Roberts 146 James Sarginson 129 Detective-Superintendent Hugh Moore 149 Third Day Detective-Sergeant Harry Bailey 157 Detective-Inspector Herbert Gold 158 CONTENTS Opening Speech for the Defence page 162 Evidencefor the Defence William Herbert Wallace 168 Kenneth Campbell Caird 230 ProfessorJames Edward Dible 223 David Jones 231 Dr. Robert Coope 226 Louisa Harrison 231 Allison Wildman 227 Amy Lawrence 231 Douglas Metcalfe 228 Margaret Martin 231 Fourth Day Closing Speech for the Defence 233 Closing Speech for the Crown 248 Summing-up 268 The Verdict 290 Sentence 290 III. The Appeal 291 IV. Extracts from the Diary and other Writings of William Herbert Wallace 295 {a) from Wallace’s Life Story 298 {b) from Wallace’s Diary 300 {c) from the Diary and Life Story 301 {d) from Articles by Wallace which appeared in the Press 309 8 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 1 William Herbert Wallace Frontispiece 2 The call-box from which the message was telephoned to the City Cafe facing page 54 3 A copy of the notice referring to the Chess Competition 88 4 29 Wolverton Street, Liverpool 160 INTRODUCTION The Mysterious Murder The Character of Wallace The Time of Death and the Alibi Circumstantial Evidence The Telephone Message The Mackintosh Theory The Case of Courvoisier Conflicting Evidence The Summing-up and the Verdict The Appeal INTRODUCTION THE MYSTERIOUS MURDER The murder of Mrs. Julia Wallace at her house in Liverpool on the evening ofJanuary 20th5 1931, has been “ described by various authorities as follows ; The greatest murder mystery of the century ’’— One of the most baffling murders in human history ”—“ One of the most diabolically ingenious murder mysteries of modern times.’’ Mr. Justice Wright, who presided at the trial of William Herbert Wallace at the Liverpool Assizes, expressed the opinion in his summing-up that it was “ almost unex- ampled in the annals of crime.” In view of these state- ments it may be relevant at the commencement of this introduction to observe that the actual crime, although one of the utmost brutality, was not one which, in itself, involved on the part of the murderer any high degree of either subtlety or originality. Within recent years several murders have been committed, each of which has revealed, in the means employed to cause death, both greater imagi- nation and ingenuity than are to be found in the Wallace case. It is the circumstances which surround the death of Mrs. Wallace, the character of the people concerned, the absence of apparent motive, and the masterly and inexplicable activities of her assailant on the night of the crime which make the trial of Wallace one of the most interesting and dramatic in criminal history. Before proceeding to a more detailed consideration of the case, it may prove helpful to state in brief outline a few of the admitted facts which bear on the tragedy. 13 THE TRIAL OF WILLIAM HERBERT WALLACE William Herbert Wallace, an agent of the Prudential Assurance Company, had been married to his wife, Julia, for over eighteen years at the time of the murder, and they had lived together at 29 Wolverton Street, Liverpool, for sixteen years. There was no evidence that they quarrelled, or, even, disagreed, and, indeed, both from the diary kept by Wallace for several years, and from the statements of friends and neighbours, it appeared that their life together was one of peace and mutual contentment. Wallace, himself, when asked in the witness-box, ‘‘ What were your relations with your wife ? ’’ replied, “ What I should describe as perfect.” On the evening ofJanuary igth, Wallace was due at the City Cafe to attend a meeting of the Liverpool Central Chess Club, and to play a match with a fellow-member, according to the list of fixtures, for a competition which was called the Second Class Championship. The board referring to this competition was situated in a conspicuous position near the door of the caft. On that evening, shortly after seven o’clock, a telephone message was received at the caf(6 for Wallace, from someone who called himself “ Qualtrough,” and it was taken down in writing by Mr. Samuel Beattie, the captain of the club. The voice which delivered the message was described by a waitress of the caf6 as ‘‘just an ordinary voice—a man’s voice,” and by Mr. Beattie, who had known Wallace for a number of years, as “ a strong voice, a rather gruff voice.” He replied, when asked at the trial if the voice was anything like that of Wallace, “ Certainly not.” In view of the case for the Crown that “ Qualtrough ” did not exist, and that Wallace himself had telephoned the message in a disguised voice, this evidence was of considerable importance. It was about half an hour later when Mr. Beattie saw that Wallace had arrived, and had commenced a game of chess. He approached him, and gave him the information 14 Introduction that a man named Qualtrough had telephoned and left a message that he wished to see him the following evening, at 25 Menlove Gardens East, at 7.30 about ‘‘ something in the nature of your business.” Wallace replied, “ Qual- trough ? Qualtrough ? Who is Qualtrough ? I don’t know the chap.

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