A neighbour told police that he had heard a dull thud coming from next door, at about noon, which narrowed down the time of the attack, but no witness could be found who had seen anyone leaving the house at that time, or shortly afterwards.
A possible motive for the crime was soon discovered. A couple of days before she had died, Violet had withdrawn a large amount of cash, and no trace of this was found inside her home, suggesting that robbery may have been the motive.
Despite the fact that when her body was found, Violet was lying next to a magazine containing an article on fingerprints, no trace of her killer was ever found.
(5) The murder of Countess Teresa Lubienska, 1957
Teresa Lubienska was a war heroine. She had been held in Ravensbruck concentration camp, where she tried her best to comfort her fellow prisoners. For that reason she was given the nickname the Angel of Ravensbruck.
On the night of 24 May 1957, Teresa went to a friend’s house in Ealing, for a meal. Leaving late at night, to return to her house in Cornwall Gardens, she was accompanied onto the underground by a Catholic priest, who had also been at the meal. The priest alighted at Earl’s Court. Teresa travelled on to Gloucester Road station, where she got off the train at 10.19pm. Minutes later, Teresa staggered into the lift, bleeding badly from five stab wounds in her chest. She was only able to shout, ‘Bandits! Bandits!’
Teresa died from her wounds in the ambulance taking her to hospital. Some sources have suggested that she was merely the victim of a mugging but that is unlikely as her handbag was found in the lift, and she still wore a valuable brooch on her lapel. Perhaps a better suggestion is that she was deliberately targeted, as she had been a vociferous opponent of the communist Polish government.
The investigation into Teresa’s death lasted for more than four years and thousands of statements were taken. None of it ever brought the police closer to arresting the culprit.
(6) Archibald Thompson Hall, 1977
Archibald Hall, who also used the alias Roy Fontaine, was a butler, with a lucrative sideline in theft. Hall’s routine was to take a position in a high-class household, usually forging his own references in order to obtain employment, and then steal what he could before moving on. He was also adept at forging signatures and often used that skill to take money from his employer’s bank accounts. This life of crime led to various prison sentences but, upon his release, Hall would always return to his criminal ways.
In November 1977, Hall obtained a position as butler to a retired Labour member of parliament, Walter Scott-Elliott and his wife, Dorothy, at their flat at 22 Richmond Court, Sloane Street, Kensington. The Scott-Elliott’s were an extremely rich family with houses in France and Italy. Their London home was crammed with valuable antiques and collectibles and Hall decided that they were perfect targets. Walter was, by this time, rather senile and his wife was suffering from acute arthritis.
In order to steal as much as possible, Hall decided he needed some assistance. He contacted an old ex-girlfriend, Mary Coggle and she, in turn, suggested a friend of hers, a petty crook named Michael Kitto. The three decided to work together to steal as much as possible from the Scott-Elliotts.
In December 1977, Dorothy Scott-Elliott spent some time in hospital. This was the perfect time to rob the flat and, on 8 December, Hall invited Kitto into the flat to determine what they would take. As Kitto was being taken on his conducted tour, he and Hall walked into Dorothy Scott-Elliott’s bedroom. Unfortunately for them, she had been released early from hospital, and demanded to know what they were doing in her room. Hall silenced her by smothering her with a pillow.
Walter Scott-Elliott was in his own bedroom and shouted out, asking what the commotion was. Hall went into his room, told him that his wife had been having a nightmare, but was now fine. Walter accepted this and went back to sleep.
Dorothy’s body had to be disposed of, but Walter couldn’t be left in the house by himself. The solution was to engage the services of Mary Coggle, who dressed up as Dorothy and wore a wig and the dead woman’s fur coat. Dorothy’s body was then placed into the boot of the family car and Hall then drove it up to Scotland. Walter was drugged and didn’t even realise that the woman sitting in the car next to him was not in fact his wife.
Near Loch Earn, Dorothy’s body was thrown into a stream. Hall then drove Walter to a hideout in Cumbria, before he and Kitto returned to Sloane Street, and ransacked the flat. They then returned to Cumbria, collected Walter, took him back to Scotland and strangled him. When he did not die immediately, Hall battered him to death using a spade. His body was then buried in a shallow grave.
Hall’s problems were still not over, however. Mary Coggle had taken a liking to Dorothy’s fur coats and insisted on keeping them for herself. Hall and Kitto wished to sell them. The solution was obvious. Mary was smothered to death with a plastic bag and her body thrown into a stream.
Still the murders were not at an end. Over Christmas, Hall and Kitto stayed with Hall’s brother, Donald. After enjoying his hospitality, Hall killed his brother mainly because, as he was to say later, he had never really liked him.
Once again, the plan was to dispose of Donald Hall’s body in Scotland. On the way north, Hall and Kitto stayed at a hotel in North Berwick, where they changed the number plates on their car, just in case any potential witnesses should spot them driving north. Unfortunately, on the way to dispose of the body, Hall and Kitto were stopped at a routine police checkpoint, where it was revealed that the number plates did not match the make of car.
Arrested, Hall made a full confession to the police, also admitting an earlier murder where he had killed an associate and buried his body in the bed of a stream in Scotland. In all, he was now admitting to five murders, two in Scotland, two in Cumbria and one in Kensington. Tried in Edinburgh, both Hall and Kitto were sentenced to life imprisonment.
Foul Deeds in Kensington and Chelsea Page 20
