Again Ruths barrister had no questions. It was accepted at the time that the residue from an exploding cartridge is driven backwards on to the hand that pulls the trigger. I could not give her an answer. Before she reached the Old Bailey her fate was determined. David Blakely was away at the Le Mans races. Statements Mrs Yule made between 11th April and 20th June were inconsistent. But on arrival at Holloway prison, following her arrest, and before she had time to get her story straight, she told the prison doctor she had actually had an abortion.Interestingly on 19th March 1952 a passport, number N9584, was issued to Ruth Ellis. The two men were of the same height, were of a stocky build and had a round face framed with greased-back dark hair. He was definitely intending to take charge.". She was 5 2", weighed only 7 stone and would have been physically incapable of firing one shot from a heavy, man-size gun, let alone repeatedly pull the trigger, firing six bullets in quick succession. Andre, who was nearly 11 years old, added quite innocently that Uncle Desmond that same day, "drove him and his mother (who was in a state) to a forest to teach his mummy how to shoot. For Muriel Jakubait, now 83, that picture of her sister, Ruth, taken just five years before her execution at the age of 28, merits a prominent place in a sitting room stuffed with family mementoes. Previous Article Do different brands of antidepressants work differently? When the prosecuting counsel asked her: "When you fired that revolver at close range into the body of David Blakely, what did you intend to do? With many theories about what really happened, this account attempts to lay out the facts, rather than speculating on hearsay and unprovable notions. They are a multi-awarded LGBTQ+ advocate, genderfluid editorial and runway model, motivational public speaker, performer, clothing designer, actor, singer, host, social media influencer and published author. Like Ellis, Challen was subjected to decades of abuse at the hands of her husband and this was recognised in her appeal, which took into account the insidious nature of coercive control. Extraordinarily Stevenson had, "No Questions.". From a young age, Desmond Doss, born on February 7, 1919, radiated the kind of empathy that he'd display as a soldier later in life. It followed my discovery of Desmond Cussen's signature on a business document in 1964 while he was lying low at a London hotel. These thick padded calico knickers were brought and I was told they had to be put on her. Much later it emerged that her friend and "sugar daddy", Desmond Cussen, an accountant with whom she had had a brief sexual liaison, had driven her to the pub and provided the gun. He was recruiting girls from the late 1940s.Ward and his post-war close friend, society and stars photographer Antony Beauchamp, who was married to Winston Churchills daughter Sarah, were working together in their sordid profession, making something of young girls from the right background.Wards skill was "finding uneducated girls from a poor background." "In effect she signed her own death warrant. At the end of January 2003 Muriel and I met Ross at the Museum to view the weapon used to kill Blakely. It came as something of a surprise to find a hand written document signed by Cussen in London in May 1964. He arrested Ruth after the shooting which happened outside the pub. They had to be tight. The cylinder catch revolves the barrel so that the next bullet is in place for the next shot. He told me on the telephone that Cussen had told him in the early 1960s [at the time of the Profumo scandal] of Ruth Elliss friendship with Dr Stephen Ward. Cussen had one gun and gave another to Ruth. Altogether there are 33 subtle changes.Where did the instructions come from, for Christmas Humphreys to make those changes?Its obvious now; Ruth was being set up. "According to their police statements, Cussen dropped Ruth and her son Andre at her flat in Kensington at 7.30 pm on the evening of the shooting and didnt see her again until she was in prison. It has also been claimed that Desmond was a party to the killing. Ruth stood no chance. Whether he was really aware of her intention to kill David is not clear. In 1989, Desmond Cussen completed a Master of Law at Cornell University. Scotland Yard were ordered to search for Cussen, but he was not at home and they gave up after an hour. Ruth Ellis and David Blakely were a tragedy waiting to happen. what happened to janelle on all of us; faith hedgepeth crime scene photos; why does spawn have one big boot. However the magistrates court papers were listed as FRUSTRATED (not available) at the PRO in Kew; they could not say where they were. She said, after being cautioned, "I am guilty. It is standard procedure in all police stations for the arresting officer to make a list of possessions belonging to the prisoner on a charge sheet. what are the three parts of a rope; mack woodruff wikipedia. The only way to find out about RAF personnel is to call up their service record. Mishcon rushed to the Home Office and the permanent secretary, Sir Frank Newsam, was tannoyed at Ascot races. As I leafed through the trial transcript during a visit to the PRO at Kew, the inadequate questioning of witnesses is obvious now for all to see. Evelyn told me categorically that "No prisoner in the condemned cell was allowed to use a pen, everything had to be written in pencil and was strictly supervised.". Free Online Library: The Welsh glamour model who became a killer; She was the last woman to be hanged in Britain after she admitted killing her lover in cold blood on the steps of a London pub. Hed already decided to "Subject the witnesses of the prosecution to a minimum of cross-examination. Mrs Gladys Yule was a prime witness for the prosecution. He gave his address as the Atlantic Hotel, Queens Gardens in London where I discovered hed lived for two years. The trumped up murder charge protected people at the heart of the establishment. Brilliant fantastic true story classic film "Dance With A Stranger" Ruth Ellis should together Desmond Cussed not David Blakely. Although he didnt know it, Mr Steels recollections about the young chap who he paired up with in the Home Guard were to prove invaluable in my search for the truth. He gave the prosecution an easy time, subjecting prosecution witnesses to a minimum of cross-examination. In a conversation with Sylvia Smith, she told me that Ruth Ellis and David Blakely, who she described as a "good looking young man" frequented the pub between approximately 1951 and 1953. The whole point is that, according to Public Record Office documents, the police in 1955 claimed they were searching for Cussen the evening before Ruth was hanged, to interrogate him about the gun used to kill Blakely; but couldnt find him. Statements from new witnesses had one thing in common. Desmond has been featured in major outlets such as The New York Times, NBC News . Jakubait could be in line for compensation - awards are discretionary - as could her niece Georgina's six children. Eventually I was permitted to view the file that contained Christmas Humphreys set of magistrates court documents at the Royal Court of Justice in the Strand. After picking his way through legal language with Stevenson and Humphreys, Justice Havers found an excuse not to allow a verdict of manslaughter and decided not to leave the issue to the jury. The pair frequently visited the Paddock Club, which was a mile or so from Cussens Leatherhead family home, since the late 1940s. Andre held explosive information but was not interviewed by the police during the investigation into the crime. David Blakelys list of property in possession of the Hampstead police in 1955 was recently released for public scrutiny. Apparently nobody else was involved. On April 10 1955, Ruth was ready to end it all and headed to the Magdala pub where David was drinking. Ruths sister Muriel Jakubait found her mothers handbag, tucked away in a chest of drawers. He was perfectly placed when the Profumo fiasco broke in 1963.This discovery opened up a new line of investigation, which in turn led to the infamous spying activities of Donald Maclean and Guy Burgess.The convincing story, spun and repeated for fifty years, disguised the real Ruth Ellis. Nothing about Cussen was quite what it seemed. Her parents Berta and Arthur Neilson, Ruths son Andre and Desmond Cussen arrived on her doorstep unexpectedly. "She was clean, smart, and certainly did not have stains down her clothes. In May 1950 he returned to England and was kept under surveillance by MI5. "Ruth had clearly been brainwashed.To the police it was an open and shut case of cold-blooded murder. He had no idea, until our book was published three years later, that his Home Guard partner was the same man who would play an important role in Ruth Elliss life and death in 1955. Recently released hospital prison records reveal that Ruth fabricated the main thread of her defence. He had other women and she acquired another, older lover in his thirties, a former bomber pilot named Desmond Cussen, who wanted to marry her. The impression of the "ineffective drip" was quite misleading. I wonder. "The judge and jury in the original trial did not have the full picture. More than 17 books and the 1985 film Dance with a Stranger have looked at the events leading up to Ellis's execution, but answers to some of the puzzles that remained unsolved have emerged only in the past few years. I dismissed the taxi and walked back down the road to the nearest pub where I saw Davids car outside.". He starts to live a fulfilling life. She continued the affair with Blakely, sometimes going to a hotel with Blakely. One led me to a new witness, John Steel, an elderly Leatherhead gent, with a phenomenally accurate memory for everything wartime. In 1955, at the age of 28, Ellis was the last woman to be hanged in the UK after she shot her lover dead outside a pub in Hampstead two months earlier. Edward married Caroline Alice Cussen in month 1885, at age 21 at marriage place. After the visit he also said he could not forget Ruth Ellis's words to him: It is quite clear to me that I was not the person who shot him.When I saw myself with that revolver I knew that I was another person."". Muriel never could understand why her sister didnt put up a fight, if only for the sake of her children.But its the circumstances of Ruths police statement, in a previously unpublished Home Office file, which were odd.It sounded as if she had previously rehearsed her statement. She saw "A lady on the pavement in front of the public house..and saw her chase a man.". OK 100%100 56 50 669/10 221AW Ruth said she hadnt told the truth because to do so "seemed traitorous absolutely traitorous." Ruth had to be found guilty. It would appear he deliberately omitted the reference to the effort needed to fire the Smith and Wesson gun. Cussen seemed to be following Ward around.When the names Ward, Keeler and Profumo cropped up later in the Atlantic hotel, I realised that Cussen whod been staying there for two years was not there by accident. In his police statement he explained, "In order to fire 6 cartridges, it is necessary to cock the trigger six times, as in the case of a revolver pulling the trigger only fires one shot. On 11th April the prison medical officer noted that as a teenager she had "rheumatic fever, which was followed with arthritis in the fingers of the left hand and of the ankles." ", Ruths defence counsel, Melford Stevenson, stated categorically that Ruth was guilty. See also Other Works | Publicity Listings | Official Sites View agent, publicist, legal and company contact details on IMDbPro Getting Started | Contributor Zone Contribute to This Page Edit page Desmond Cussen Personal Details Biography Other Works Barbershop customer Matthew - an eternal mature student who would ditch the books to spend his time in the shop - was played by Gyearbuor Asante, who sadly passed away in 2000. 1940 is a long time ago. A firearms expert advised me that accuracy with a .38 Smith and Wesson would have been hopeless except in trained hands. Ruth lied in court. They said, "The Home Office does not hold the information that you have requested.". I knew nothing of the background and I didnt care. (Features) by "Western Mail (Cardiff, Wales)"; News, opinion and commentary General interest . She was undoubtedly indebted to him. But Ruth lied. The Castle itself dates back to the 13th Century but the main . He looked like a spiv with dark, greased back hair; with a round boyish face and an unnatural looking thin moustache. One bullet was fired at close range, therefore the other three bullet wounds in Blakelys body, had been fired accurately from a distance, out of arms reach. Moreen Gleesons encounter with Ruth and Cussen and Ruths subsequent hanging, troubled her. But neither Frost's book nor . There are more than enough invisible clues to show Ruth was set up. "The killing was a true crime of passion," says de Maid, the Ellis family solicitor. Over the years, Desmond Cussen, Ruth's so-called alternative lover, has been described as a bit of a drip, an unassuming, docile, father figure. At other times they were taken in a lorry to Bisley to practise with Sten guns. But there was more to the story than came out at the trial. It summed up the case to a tee. So too were Desmond Cussen and David Blakely. CB Rank (Hub) West Coast Communities Female Founded Companies . When I was compiling evidence for our book, I spoke to John Ross, curator of the Crime Museum at New Scotland Yard. He was the older, sugar-daddy, type character that Ellis had turned to when Blakely started getting a bit handy with his fists. In it was a small, tatty notebook-cum-address book (now kept safe in a bank vault). My mum said, 'Don't ask any questions and let Ruth do the talking.' Firstly he joined the RAF aged seventeen, trained mainly in South Africa, was a bomber pilot, throughout the war, flying Lancasters and was demobbed in 1946. He told the jury that she had been "driven to a frenzy which for the time being unseated her understanding". However I strongly suspect he grew up in a family that was used to deception. The former hostess had tracked her inconstant and abusive lover David Blakely to a Hampstead pub a few months before getting the ride, and the murder weapon, from her unrequited hanger-on Desmond Cussen and shot Blakely dead on the street. She became the lover of the Maharaja of Cooch Behar before being killed in a mysterious car crash in January 1955.By chance I discovered Ward won Ruth a walk-on part in the 1951 film Lady Godiva Rides Again a comedy about beauty contests. But Ruths list of property and clothing is noticeable by its absence. He then repeated that the other shots had been fired at a distance. The real killer was probably standing there in full view, but totally invisible to them. During her comeback at Carroll's, Ruth had made friends with a man named Desmond Edward Cussen. He was avoiding her and his friends denied he was there. I was sooo surprised to see that Abstergo got their hands on Desmond's body, he deserved more, not to be experimented on.--------- Monthly giveaway: May 2022. He was from an exceptionally well to do family. This was Cussens one and only trail left anywhere since 1955.After Ruths death, Cussen and Ward moved from their Devonshire Street flats where they were close neighbours, to Bayswater addresses in London; Cussen to Lanterns Hotel in Craven Road, Ward to Orme Square. I suspect that the gun conveniently broke during test firing as the results would have cleared Ruth of the murder. The judge took away power of the jury.". It's the middle of the night, I can't sleep so I'm going with option #4. Just before I began this chapter, and thanks to a Westerham historian, I received interesting information from a woman who worked at the House at Home public house in Westerham, in the early 1950s. What else was there to hide?In our book we set out evidence that the court in 1955 never got to hear. He looked like a spiv with dark, greased back hair; with a round boyish face and an unnatural looking thin moustache. "Let me make this abundantly plain: there is no question here but this woman shot this man.You will not hear one word from me or from the lady herself questioning that.". Two days before the hanging, Ellis's lawyers had submitted evidence, including the testimony of witnesses that Blakely had inflicted repeated beatings on her and that she believed he had caused the miscarriage she suffered just 10 days before the shooting with a punch to the stomach. From my point of view publication of the book was just the beginning. He said, "No scaffold was erected in Holloway prison before the execution of Mrs Ellis. This was the high security research establishment where Britains nuclear weapons programme began and is mentioned in our book. He said Ruth took a gun which she knew was loaded, and shot David Blakely dead by "emptying that revolver at him, four bullets going into his body, one hitting a bystander in the hand, and the sixth going we know not where. A prison officer who had sat in on the interview confirmed Mishcon's account but added that Ellis had said she asked Cussen for the gun, a detail that was to prove crucial to the Home Secretary's decision to let her hang. Jakubait revealed only four years ago that their father had raped her at the age of 14, producing a son who was brought up as her brother, and had abused Ellis as well. Norman Beaton's wasn't the only tragic death to come out of the Desmond's cast. ", Seemingly this was Blakelys habit. A further new discovery is that Ruth occasionally visited Tatsfield, a village north-west of Westerham and home to Soviet Super Spy Donald Maclean. The only documented evidence being two entries on the voters list for 1950 and 1951.The defection of Donald Maclean and Guy Burgess was being planned at that time.By 1949 Maclean was under suspicion for passing secrets to the Russians. 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