Timothy Evans was a simple young man of limited intellect. He was married and had a young daughter. He rented rooms from a John Reginald Halliday Christie, at Christie's home of 10 Rillington Place, in Ladbroke Grove, London.

Christie was in his early 50's. He appeared a very insignificant man. The sort of person you could lose in a crowd of two. He was married, employed as a clerk, and was a Special (volunteer) Policeman.

Evans' wife became pregnant and they could not afford another child. They agreed to Christie's suggestion that he perform an (illegal) abortion. After an assurance that the child would be looked after for a few days by a friend of Mrs. Christie, Evans went to his hometown in Wales during this time. On returning Christie told him the abortion went wrong and his wife had died. Evans was distraught and returned to Wales.

Evans then went to a Police station in Wales and confessed he had 'done away' with his wife. In his mind he had 'done away with her', as he felt responsible for the whole mess. Arrested by the Police for the murder of his wife, he was subsequently charged only with the murder of his daughter. His wife's body was found, strangled. There had been no abortion attempt. It was when he was charged with his daughter's murder that he first learned his daughter was dead. He immediately then realised Christie had been responsible for both deaths.

On trial for his life, Evans retracted his 'confession' and contended Christie was responsible. He was convicted and sentenced to death. From the murder charge until his execution he steadfastly maintained his innocence and claim 'Christie did it'.

What little public attention the case attracted gave no sympathy. It appeared a simple, cut and dried case. Christie's evidence at Evans trial effectively condemned Evans. But Christie's mind was seriously affected by guilt after Evans' execution. In 1953 Christie's wife was found strangled at 10 Rillington Place, and Christie was missing. Arrested whilst wandering aimlessly in London a few days later, Christie's house was searched, and 6 sets of remains of strangled ladies were found. Christie had been strangling women since the war.

Charged with the murder of his wife Christie was convicted and sentenced to death. His confessions included that of the murder of Evans' wife, though he adamantly denied killing Evans' daughter.

The unease was growing. Could there have been two stranglers living in the same house at the same time? It seemed unlikely. Author and Broadcaster Ludovic Kennedy investigated the case in the book, '10 Rillington Place'. Public opinion grew uneasy about the case, especially as 1953 also produced the controversial Derek Bentley execution (hanged for a murder his co-conspirator committed while he was under arrest, and the co-conspirator was too young at 16 to hang). As an aside the author has a relatively unusual view of the recent pardon awarded to Bentley, which may be the subject of a further article.

In August 1964, the last two men in Britain hanged and a 5-year moratorium of executions commenced shortly after. In 1966 following a Judicial Review, Timothy Evans was posthumously pardoned. It had finally been admitted… in modern times a factually innocent person had been hanged, and it had been legally acknowledged. In 1969 the death penalty was abolished, retained only for (a) treason in wartime (b) arson in Her Majesty's Dockyards (c) mutiny in the Armed Forces and (d) Piracy on the High Seas. A set of gallows remained in full working order at HM Prison, Wandsworth. They were never used. In 1999, the death penalty, not having been used for 35 years, was finally abolished. It can now only be restored if a future UK Government withdraws from the European Community and votes with a majority to restore it.

Has there been a 'Timothy Evans' in the USA? Probably more than one, but none have ever been admitted, but no one knows of any judicial process to review after an execution. What state would wish to identify one? Sooner or later it is the author's belief that a 'Timothy Evans' will be admitted or will occur in the USA, and the support for the Death Penalty, claimed to be miles wide, will be seen as an inch deep.

The last execution in the USA will be that of the death penalty itself.

John Kinghorn
June 2001.