English Serial Killer John Christie aka The Rillington Place Strangler (Crime Documentary)
- 6 years ago
John Reginald Halliday Christie (April 8, 1899–July 15, 1953) was an English serial killer active in the 1940s and 1950s. He was arrested, tried and hanged for murder in 1953.
Prior to his arrest, he was involved in another previous murder trial: As a principal witness for the Crown. His fellow tenant Timothy Evans was accused of the murders of his own wife and child, and subsequently convicted of, and executed for, the murder of the baby; many critics have speculated that Christie committed the murders and framed Evans for them.
Others have suggested that there could have been two separate murderers living in the same shared house at the same time. Mr. Justice Brabin stated in 1966 that it was "more probable than not" that Evans killed his wife and that he did not kill his daughter Geraldine. While neither Christie's nor Evans' innocence or guilt concerning these particular crimes have ever been conclusively proven, the case sparked massive public outrage and contributed to the suspension of the death penalty in Britain in 1965.
The first person Christie admitted to killing was Ruth Fuerst, whom he impulsively strangled during sex in August 1943. In October 1944, he murdered a work colleague, Muriel Amelia Eady, by promising to cure her bronchitis with a "special mixture" he had concocted, using domestic gas which contained carbon monoxide that would render a person unconscious. Once Eady was knocked out, Christie choked her to death and raped her post-mortem. Christie buried both Fuerst and Eady in the building's communal garden.
Timothy Evans and his pregnant wife, Beryl, moved into the top-floor flat of 10 Rillington Place in April 1948. On October 10, Beryl gave birth to a daughter, whom they named Geraldine. In November 1949, Beryl Evans found out she was pregnant again and feared they could not afford another child. Evans later told police that Christie promised the couple he could abort the baby.
Kennedy writes that, on November 8, Christie used his "special gas" to incapacitate Beryl, whom he strangled and raped post-mortem. When Evans returned from work that night, Christie told him that Beryl had died during the procedure and that they had to hide the body (abortion was illegal in England at the time). Christie then convinced Evans to stay with a relative in Wales and leave Geraldine in his care. Evans later said he returned to the apartment several times to ask about Geraldine, but Christie had refused to let him see her.
On November 30, 1949, Evans went to the police in Merthyr Tydfil and said he had accidentally killed Beryl by giving her something contained in a bottle that a man had given him to help abort her unborn baby, and then disposing of her body in a sewer drain. He told the police that, after arranging for Geraldine to be looked after, he had gone to Wales.
Prior to his arrest, he was involved in another previous murder trial: As a principal witness for the Crown. His fellow tenant Timothy Evans was accused of the murders of his own wife and child, and subsequently convicted of, and executed for, the murder of the baby; many critics have speculated that Christie committed the murders and framed Evans for them.
Others have suggested that there could have been two separate murderers living in the same shared house at the same time. Mr. Justice Brabin stated in 1966 that it was "more probable than not" that Evans killed his wife and that he did not kill his daughter Geraldine. While neither Christie's nor Evans' innocence or guilt concerning these particular crimes have ever been conclusively proven, the case sparked massive public outrage and contributed to the suspension of the death penalty in Britain in 1965.
The first person Christie admitted to killing was Ruth Fuerst, whom he impulsively strangled during sex in August 1943. In October 1944, he murdered a work colleague, Muriel Amelia Eady, by promising to cure her bronchitis with a "special mixture" he had concocted, using domestic gas which contained carbon monoxide that would render a person unconscious. Once Eady was knocked out, Christie choked her to death and raped her post-mortem. Christie buried both Fuerst and Eady in the building's communal garden.
Timothy Evans and his pregnant wife, Beryl, moved into the top-floor flat of 10 Rillington Place in April 1948. On October 10, Beryl gave birth to a daughter, whom they named Geraldine. In November 1949, Beryl Evans found out she was pregnant again and feared they could not afford another child. Evans later told police that Christie promised the couple he could abort the baby.
Kennedy writes that, on November 8, Christie used his "special gas" to incapacitate Beryl, whom he strangled and raped post-mortem. When Evans returned from work that night, Christie told him that Beryl had died during the procedure and that they had to hide the body (abortion was illegal in England at the time). Christie then convinced Evans to stay with a relative in Wales and leave Geraldine in his care. Evans later said he returned to the apartment several times to ask about Geraldine, but Christie had refused to let him see her.
On November 30, 1949, Evans went to the police in Merthyr Tydfil and said he had accidentally killed Beryl by giving her something contained in a bottle that a man had given him to help abort her unborn baby, and then disposing of her body in a sewer drain. He told the police that, after arranging for Geraldine to be looked after, he had gone to Wales.