There were quite a few paranormal investigators and mediums offering the Liverpool Police help at the time in 1931. One claimed she heard Mrs. Wallace exclaim "Herbert... How could you?" Nonsense of course as it is highly likely that Julia didn't even see her killer strike the first blow, Wallace or otherwise.Originally Posted by jimmy
It is Accomplished
Re: I have recieved an email from George Skelly regarding his talk at the St Georges Hall on Saturday 20 March. in the Civil Court..........
Hi Brian,
Have been informed that the talk is a Tickets affair, which are obtainable from St Georges Hall and Radio Merseyside, "from sometime this week".
At the moment they are free. But I'm told they may charge £1 on the door!
Proceeds are to the Lord Mayor's Charity Fund.
Must be part of the History Fair which is at St George's Hall on 20th and 21st March.
Any news on the long awaited new book with alleged new evidence, written by John Gannon. Seems to have died a death after being promoted in the echo but then derided on a forum, a bit like somebody else's notion one time?
---------- Post added at 03:26 PM ---------- Previous post was at 03:05 PM ----------
The last anyone heard seems to have been a full year ago.
Paddy Shennan meets a writer who believes his forthcoming book will solve an age-old Liverpool murder mystery
IT is one of our biggest murder mysteries – but, after two years of painstaking research, a Liverpool writer believes he may have cracked the history-making case of the murder of Julia Wallace.
Already, several books, TV films and forests of newspaper print have been devoted to the intriguing tale of The Man from the Pru – the studious, chess-playing insurance agent William Wallace, who was found guilty of murdering his wife, Julia, at their home – 29 Wolverton Street, Anfield – on the evening of January 20, 1931.
Wallace was sentenced to hang in April 1931 but, the following month, at the Court of Appeal, legal history was made when he became the first man to overturn a conviction for murder and was set free.
He moved to Bromborough, but died two years later – a stress-induced death, it has been suggested, due to the ongoing whispering campaign that followed him.
Nonsense, according to full-time writer John Gannon, 49, from West Derby, who is putting the finishing touches to his 85,000-word manuscript which he hopes will be published under the title Julia Wallace And The Devil In The Detail.
John has had access to the files of Merseyside police and the Director of Public Prosecutions and unique access to the personal files of William Wallace’s solicitor, Hector Munro, which has enabled him to build on the published works of others, including Roger Wilkes, who John credits with helping and encouraging him in his dogged quest.
William Wallace, we already know, attended a meeting of the Liverpool Chess Club on January 19, 1931, where he was handed a telephone message asking him to call at 25 Menlove Gardens East, Liverpool, the following evening to discuss insurance with an “R.M. Qualtrough.”
Wallace made that fruitless journey – the address didn’t exist – and returned home to discover his wife’s battered body. The police believed Wallace could have made the journey AND killed his wife – and the jury agreed.
Crime writer Jonathan Goodman mentioned, but didn’t name, a man who knew Julia Wallace well in his book The Killing Of Julia Wallace. This man had worked with William but been sacked for stealing money.
Then Roger Wilkes (Wallace: The Final Verdict) named Richard Gordon Parry, who had been a junior employee at Wallace’s firm, but was sacked for stealing. A petty criminal, he was always short of money.
Wilkes suggested Parry knew Wallace’s takings for the day would be at his home and, since he also knew Mrs Wallace personally, he could easily have gained entry. Parry was seen by police but, despite a blood-stained mitten being found in his car, they were satisfied with his alibi. He died in 1980 without admitting any involvement in the crime.
But now, based on his extensive investigations and re-examination of the evidence, John Gannon’s forthcoming book will make some startling and sensational claims:
William Wallace, trapped in a miserable marriage and in extremely poor health, knew he didn’t have long to live – and didn’t want to spend his last years with his wife.
He DIDN’T batter Julia with an iron bar, but DID plan the murder – persuading petty thief Richard Gordon Parry to make the phone call which provided Wallace with an alibi, and blackmailing another man, who the ECHO will call Mr M (for Murderer!), to do the deed (you’ll have to wait for the book to learn the man’s identity).
Mr M was also desperately poor, but was looking forward to marrying into money – and a well-connected family. Wallace, though, knew (though probably hardly cared) that his wife had been paying Mr M for sex – and the ‘Man from The Pru’ said he would expose this sordid secret, naming Mr M in (what would have been extremely well-publicised) divorce proceedings, thereby ruining his future wealth and happiness, unless he carried out the murder (Parry would drive Mr M from the scene). Mr M. went on to live a quiet and prosperous life, with his new wife.
John, naturally, doesn’t want to pre-empt his book by giving away too many of the details he has unearthed, but he says: “The killer knew Julia Wallace and was a man who was always short of money.
“Parry himself – and, quite possibly, the killer – had been known to call on Julia Wallace in the afternoon.
“And I believe the killer, who was never tracked down, was a reluctant killer – he was pressed into it by Wallace, who I believe had the power to ensure he lost everything that was coming his way. Parry, though, was up to his neck in it – always desperate for money, I believe he made that phone call and was paid by Wallace.
“As for Wallace’s motive, due to his ill-health he knew he only had a couple of years left to live. There is evidence that he and his wife hadn’t been getting on and I believe he just wanted to end his days as he did – living quietly in Bromborough, in a house with a garden and with his various hobbies to keep him busy.
“The man who struck the blows never surfaced and he has never been named. After he got married, he suddenly knew people in high places.”
After so much work and so much research, is there now a feeling of anti-climax for the author?
“Not at all,” he says. “It is, basically, a domestic murder but it’s an intriguing domestic – an X-rated Agatha Christie domestic! I could never describe it as mundane – not least because I’ve been on such a journey of highs and lows during my research.
“And I do think my research and the book will be enough to allow people to finally draw a line under this case.”
John Gannon can be contacted via his page on the social networking site CrimeSpace. Go to http://crimespace.ning.com
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http://crimespace.ning.com/forum/top...Comment:226417
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---------- Post added at 04:15 PM ---------- Previous post was at 03:33 PM ----------
This caught my eye.....
At 4:45am on November 29, 2009, Thomas Peter Brady said…
Dear John.I am obsessed by the Wallace case.If you met my friends they would tell you.Most people dabble.They know nothing about it.I went to a talk in St Georges Hall recently by a character called Frank Carlisle. Moron.Publicity seeker,I challenged his statements and found myself hated by his groupies.I patiently explained why he was mistaken.They did not want to know.
Then I ran into Tom Slemen and his mate Keith Andrews.More morons.They think the next door neighbours the Johnstons did it.I tackled Slemen at a meeting.Actually I will digress for a moment.There was a meeting advertised at a club on Church Road Wavertree.It was a winter Sunday night at 7 pm.I got there at 6 and the doors were locked with a hundred outside.It was like Anfield on St Etienne day ! .The interest is huge.Anyway I proved to Slemen and Andrews that their theory was nonsense and they scrapped their book.I would love to meet you John for a general chat about the case,You are not Slemen.You are clearly a scrupulous researcher and you can use the apostrophe ! Tom Brady
on this page.....
http://crimespace.ning.com/profile/J...ource=activity
---------- Post added at 04:36 PM ---------- Previous post was at 04:15 PM ----------
http://crimespace.ning.com/profiles/...=00b9c78v5n0cw
Some interesting though probably unsubstantiated any possibly now uncheckable theories.
I know why it's died.............because he can't get a publisher. Nobody's apparently interested in publishing the Wallace "old chestnut", including Bluecoat Press.
I went to Anfield a couple of months ago and saw the Wallace grave (very sad) and this rekindled my interest and a search led to crimespace. John Gannon replied to a comment I made, at which time he mentioned him being unable to obtain a publisher. Apparently he has new information which is in the book. I for one would love to know more about the case - which is unlikely unless JG lets me have a copy - which isn't going to happen realistically.
Anyone a publisher or a friend of - make yourself known!
I did notice your posts on the crimespace forum. I do wonder if publishers are only put off when they hear the supposed new material or whether they think there just isn't a market for the subject full stop. Part of the supposed new material was mentioned in the echo interview and quite frankly was poo pooed, rather like Tom Slemen's supposed new evidence which nearly led to him being sued - allegedly? There is always the avenue of being a vanity writer and paying to have the book published yourself then if the subject matter is of interest, clawing your outlay back via interviews or increased book sales etc. I personally think any new evidence including Wallace being in collaboration with Parry or Marsden being unlikely since he pointed the finger straight at those two in I think his 2nd statement. I would though like to see the Parry statement in full as it is said that James Murphy only included part of it, the part which incidentally could fit in with his own theory. Although MarkR has seen all the Merseyside police files and in fact we have the mortuary photographs etc, Mark has not yet been to Kew to view the original Parry statement but hopefully he will get to do this.
Thanks for mentioning that Ged. Interesting to read Brady's post from Crimespace...He says about people who have a "dabble" that know nothing about it, then parades himself as some sort of expert. I'd like to know how he proved Slemen and Andrews to be wrong (don't get me wrong, I am not convinced of the Johnston theory, but would like to know how he proved it to be so). Is it Brady that is of the opinion that it was WHW in collusion with Parry? Nothing new there either...and as you say Ged, WHW mentioned Parry, Marsden & Young during the police investigations. Wallace was hardly going to hire a contract killer then finger him. Unfortunately, the 'definitive' book on the Wallace Case has not been written yet...Goodman came close to it and Murphy's is excellent but too one-sided. The Philip Sugden book on JTR is a great book - and one that I hope to eventually follow in the form of a Wallace book. I am not suggesting that I am any expert on this case (just an anorak!) but am perpetually disappointed with every "mine is the last word on the case" yawn...
I think that we will never know exactly, as the sands of time pass more and more hyperbole and supposition arises from so called 'experts' (after all experts only think they know more than anyone else)
It is Accomplished
In commemoration of this most intriguing of cases which is 80 years old next thursday evening, Mark Russell and myself have put together a little summary in one of our spare weekends which we hope you will like. Interspersed with previously unseen photographs and information, with a little more to come, there is no doubt that the why's, who's and wherefores concerning this case will continue to roll on. Tom Slemen will be speaking about it on the Billy Butler show next week as well.
Enjoy.
http://inacityliving.piczo.com/?g=50980053&cr=7
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Nice one Ged. I will have a read of that.
---------- Post added at 10:46 PM ---------- Previous post was at 09:51 PM ----------
Bloomin Eck Ged. Some work gone into that.
Just spent 40 mins reading it. I will have to read the rest some other time.
Noticed a few places mentioned near to where I live.
Great Work.
BE NICE......................OR ELSE
Well done Ged. A great read. I believe Wallace was innocent, and have done since I saw "The Man from the Pru" years ago, and then read more information on the case. Nothing I've read leads me to believe Wallace killed his wife. As for the the alibi he "created", who'd create such a stupid one? The Wallaces were a couple who created a life together, boring as it sounds today, but seemed happy in their lives. If Wallace had wanted to kill her, surely he would have used something from his knowledge of chemistry. Somebody took both their lives, Julia violently and Wallace a year or so later. A very sad ending for both.
(Took me and hour and 10 minutes to read!)
I tried to look at this page but found problems with the text, which caused some passages to be overlaid on others in a way that caused them to be almost illegible; in other instances text was obscured by pictures that seemed to have this same overlay effect. Is this a fault on the website or some sort of compatibility problem with my computer? A pity, because I've found this a fascinating story ever since I heard the radio drama-documentary produced by Roger Wilkes, formerly of the Liverpool Free Press, way back around 1980, I think it would have been. At the time this was acclaimed as the definitive account, yet as far as I can see it only gets a passing mention here... but I must admit I gave up reading it right through because of the legibility issues.
Is the latest definitive version going to be associated with the storytelling of one Tom Slemen? I thought this was supposed to be serious history?!?!
Thank you everyone for your replies.
John doh, I think it can only be a problem associated with the browser you opened it up in or something but I do know what you mean because when viewing it on somebody elses computer the same thing happened to me. It seems the rest on here though and on other forums have thankfully not been troubled by it.
The Roger Wilkes programme was in January 1981 to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the case. It led to a phone-in, new evidence and people who were still alive from the case getting in touch. He then brought a book out called the final verdict, naming his suspect, a person who had been fingered before but his name could not be mentioned in publications as he was still alive.
I offered Radio Merseyside the chance for the real local expert on this case, Mark Russell to talk about it, in fact I think I brought the anniversary to their attention - trust be known, but it seems they've plumped for Tom Slemen who has turned from ghosts into detective with his sidekick Keith Andrews. Tom has his own murder suspect whom he named on his site and then had to remove it as this person's family threatened libel legal action.
It will be therefore interesting to hear what he has to say.
Wolverton st. The place of my childhood
I've bookmarked the site for later.
Well I won't be listening to Tom Slemen. I read one of his books once, and it was a load of tosh. That's just my opinion of course, because he is certainly popular with lots of people. I also know who he named as the murderer of Julia............tosh again.
A new Wallace author, (when the book finally comes out) John Gannon (about the 20th writer on the subject) names yet another suspect and the reasons why (supposedly). I've seen who he names and without seeing the reasons why, it looks suspect in itself. I emailed John via the crimespace site but as yet no reply. Notice you've been on it too burkhilly.
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