Julia Wallace Murder Case

[RodCrosby]

Steve Binns giving a talk on the Wallace case, St. George's Hall, 5/2/2009
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xqsTlkB31EE

[RodCrosby]

29 Wolverton Street on Google StreetView

http://maps.google.co.uk/maps/mpl?la...18413320274304

follow in Wallace's footsteps.

[lierbag]

I don't recall ever seeing a reference to Richard Gordon Parry's home address at the time of the murder, although most reports refer to it being in the proximity of the Wallace's own home. Anyone have any idea?

[JAYBEA]

hi i am new to this forum but have been facinated with the wallace murder case for years. Was reading a book i have by i think Rodney Castledon called infamous murders where he talks about the wallace case. He mentions that when she was killed julia wallce was not wearing "normal ladies underwear" which he attributed to a comment made by gordon parry as the wallaces' being sexually odd has anyone else ever come across anything like this?

[Ged]

Seems she was wearing a nappy/incontinence type garment.

[Paddy6]

I seem to remember reading somewhere that Parry lived with his parents in Derwent Road. His father was pretty well placed in the Corporation Treasury and that led to some speculation that Masonic influence was used to get the police to stop questioning him.

[Mark R]

You're right Ged, Julia was wearing an incontinence pad/nappy type garment.
Parry actually lived with his parents in Woburn Hill.

[Ged]

Wow, Woburn Hill. I know somebody who'll be interested in that.

[Spike]

OOOOh this is a big thread. I have heard of this Murder but i dont really know that much.

Who is this Gordon Parry? where does he fit into it?

Jog my memory did the husband get charged/stand trial/ serve time/ proved innocent?

And who do you think did it? and how?

[ChrisGeorge]

OOOOh this is a big thread. I have heard of this Murder but i dont really know that much.

Who is this Gordon Parry? where does he fit into it?

Jog my memory did the husband get charged/stand trial/ serve time/ proved innocent?

And who do you think did it? and how?

Hi Spike

Mark R could probably answer your questions better than I could. There are many people who think Wallace did it and that his alibi was a load of bull feathers. For what it is worth, this is what is stated about the case on Wikipedia--

"Wallace consistently denied having anything to do with the crime, but was charged with murder and stood trial at Liverpool's Crown Court. Despite the evidence against him being purely circumstantial, and the statement of a local milk delivery boy ? who was certain he had spoken to Julia Wallace only minutes before her husband would have had to leave to catch his tram ? Wallace was found guilty after an hour's deliberation, and sentenced to death.

"In an unprecedented move, the Court of Criminal Appeal quashed the verdict on the grounds that it was 'not supported by the weight of the evidence', and Wallace walked free. . . . Richard Gordon Parry [was] a junior employee at Wallace's insurance firm. Parry was a petty criminal aged 22 who was always short of money. . . . Parry died in 1980 without admitting his involvement in the crime."

Herbert and Julia Wallace are buried together in Anfield Cemetery. Some might argue that the burial of the couple together is an indication of Wallace's innocence.

All the best

Chris

[Spike]

Cheers Chris Off to have a read

[Ged]

Ive got James Murphy's book and though I don't agree with his conclusion it's a great read and very atmospheric. For me, it was Parry, the bloodied glove, no forced entry into the house meaning it was someone Julia knew, Alan Close seeing Julia alive later on than Walace could have done it, him being a petty thief and having a motive when WHW shopped him for stealing the money when he done WHW round when he was ill. Radio City also thought it was him during their investigation in the 1970s but he died before he could be confronted but earlier interviewers said he was cocky and seemed to 'know a lot about the case'. - Too much methinks.

[RodCrosby]

It was either someone Julia knew, or was conned into letting into the house.

My theory: Parry was the "brains" behind the plot, but had an accomplice, who probably panicked and killed Julia.

It makes no sense for Parry to have arranged such an intricate plan and then try to rob the house himself. He had to have an accomplice.

Unless of course Parry was a homicidal maniac, who planned to kill Julia all along. But if that was so, there was no need for the Qualtrough plan. Parry could have struck the previous night when Wallace was at the chess club.

No, the Qualtrough plan was intrinsic to a planned robbery, not a killing.
Wallace goes off in search of Qualtrough, while Qualtrough (the accomplice) knocks on the door of 29 Wolverton Street, with the intention to rob. Julia, embarrassed and confused, admits Qualtrough to await the return of her husband.

Qualtrough panics for some reason (Julia smells a rat?) and kills her.

Parry takes a detour to pick up Qualtrough as pre-arranged, learns of the killing, and later tries to clean out his car. Qualtrough left the gloves and iron bar in it when Parry dropped him off somewhere not far away.

I think this fits the evidence better.

[RodCrosby]

There is also a curiously overlooked segment of John Parkes' testimony:

"After the murder, and his virtual confession to me, Parry came round with another chap. And after that, the Atkinsons advised me to change my route to work, in case anything nasty happened." [Wilkes, 1985, p.237]

WHHOOAA!

Parry, the supposed killer, recruits someone else to lean on Parkes to keep quiet? Not likely, imho.

Or was "the other chap" the actual killer, and Parry merely the accomplice, driver and brains behind the plot?

[Ged]

I know it's only his opinion but he had Wallace hanging for this.

He said it took a chess players mind to think of the Qualthrough and Menlove Gdns East plan.

He brushed aside a motive, had Wallace in the nude when he commited the murder but for the overcoat that Julia was found with. (could have a point)

Said he knocked at the Johnson's (who he said were friends of his grandparents) but weren't they on their way out for a night out when they bumped into Wallace in the entry?

He didn't mention Milk Boy, Alan Closes' statement about him seeing Julia at a time that put WHW out of the frame.

He didn't mention that the judge practically implied that the jury should find him not guilty - though they didn't.

He didn't mention the 'bloodied glove' belonging to Parry nor his motives or part in the story.

Will we ever know


He was on between 9am and 9.30am if you want to use the listen again facility.