John Christie | |
|---|---|
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| Born | John Reginald Halliday Christie 8 April 1899 Northowram, West Riding of Yorkshire, England, UK |
| Died | 15 July 1953 (aged 54) HM Prison Pentonville, London, England, UK |
| Cause of death | Execution by hanging |
| Resting place | HM Prison Pentonville, London, United Kingdom[1] |
| Other names | The Rillington Place Strangler, The Monster of Rillington Place |
| Known for | Serial murders, framing Timothy Evans |
| Conviction(s) | Murder (6 counts) |
| Criminal penalty | Death |
| Details | |
| Victims | 8+ |
Span of crimes | 24 August 1943 – 6 March 1953 |
| Country | England |
Date apprehended | 31 March 1953 |
John Reginald Halliday Christie (8 April 1899 – 15 July 1953) was an English serial killer and serial rapist active during the 1940s and early 1950s. He murdered at least eight people—including his wife Ethel—by strangling them inside his flat at 10 Rillington Place, Notting Hill, London. The bodies of three of his victims were found in a wallpaper-covered kitchen alcove soon after he had moved out of Rillington Place during March 1953. The remains of two more victims were discovered in the garden, and his wife's body was found beneath the floorboards in the front room. Christie was arrested and convicted of his wife's murder, for which he was hanged.
Two of Christie's victims were Beryl Evans and her baby daughter Geraldine, who, along with Beryl's husband Timothy Evans, were tenants at 10 Rillington Place during 1948–49. Evans was charged with both murders, found guilty of the murder of his daughter and hanged in 1950. Christie was a major prosecution witness; when his own crimes were discovered three years later, serious doubts were raised about the integrity of Evans' conviction. Christie himself subsequently admitted killing Beryl, but not Geraldine; it is now generally accepted that Christie murdered both victims and that police mishandling of the original inquiry allowed Christie to escape detection, which enabled him to commit a further four murders. In 2004 the High Court acknowledged that Evans did not murder either his wife or his child.[2]
- ^ Oates (2013), p. 169.
- ^ Mary Westlake v Criminal Cases Review Commission [2004] EWHC 2779 (Admin) (17 November 2004), High Court (England and Wales). It includes a segment from the Hansard transcript of Jenkins's decision to recommend a pardon in the House of Commons.