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Thread: Riddle of the Hanging Boy 1946

  1. #1
    MissInformed
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    Default Riddle of the Hanging Boy 1946

    I first read about this in Whittington Egans book 'Liverpool Shadows'.

    Charles Greeney, 11, was found hanging in his kitchen in Edge Lane, whilst his parents were out.

    The strange coincedence was that the house was also burgled that night, but none of the burglars were found guilty.As it didn't seem they had done it.

    Any thoughts/ideas anyone?

  2. #2
    Senior Member SteH's Avatar
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    Rose Heilbron defended the four accused and got them off on two counts - that the hanging was a experiment gone wrong as Charles has been reading a book about knots earlier and there were no signs of a struggle.

    I can understand the knots argument but as to the struggle there wouldnt be one if all 4 simultaneously got hold of him to hang him. However, if they killed Charles to silence him over a burglary why go to the bother of constructing a noose? Better to bludgeon him to death surely?

    My thoughts are that it was a tragic accident, the burglars had gone into the property knowing his parents were out (wrongly assuming nobody else would be home) and got the fright of their lives when they saw Charles hanging.

  3. #3
    MissInformed
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    Just found a pic on tom slemens forum http://www.slemen.com

    of the actual house- 62 Edge Lane
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  4. #4
    theninesisters
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    I'm SURE that's the house that I had a mooch around on the outside when I was taking snaps of the Edge Lane area. The side road is Dorothy Street as I parked up there.

    I wanted to see if my car attracted any attention before I left it there for a while but as it's an Ex-police car, it wasn't touched

    It's at the end of the block on the pic below.
    Last edited by theninesisters; 03-23-2007 at 07:59 PM.

  5. #5
    theninesisters
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    I have another pic of the house....on the list to be demolished....

    Not if Jona has anything to do with it....
    Last edited by theninesisters; 03-23-2007 at 07:59 PM.

  6. #6
    Senior Member ChrisGeorge's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by MissInformed View Post
    I first read about this in Whittington Egans book 'Liverpool Shadows'.

    Charles Greeney, 11, was found hanging in his kitchen in Edge Lane, whilst his parents were out.

    The strange coincedence was that the house was also burgled that night, but none of the burglars were found guilty.As it didn't seem they had done it.

    Any thoughts/ideas anyone?
    A lot of hangings are sexual escapades gone wrong. The person can receive a sexual rush from restricting oxygen to the brain but sometimes the person is unable to get out of the noose before it kills them.

    Chris
    Christopher T. George
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  7. #7
    Otterspool Onomatopoeia Max's Avatar
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    Is that Egan book the old 60's one?

    Gididi Gididi Goo.

  8. #8
    PhilipG
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    Quote Originally Posted by ChrisGeorge View Post
    A lot of hangings are sexual escapades gone wrong. The person can receive a sexual rush from restricting oxygen to the brain but sometimes the person is unable to get out of the noose before it kills them.

    Chris
    That's true.
    Michael Hutchence out of INXS springs to mind, but surely that kind of activity wouldn't be known in those times, and not by an 11 year old.

  9. #9
    Senior Member ChrisGeorge's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Max View Post
    Is that Egan book the old 60's one?
    Hi Max

    It sounds to me like a retread of Richard Whittington Egan's old writings but it is nevertheless described as a "new" book of 2002, viz (in a description on ABE books):

    The Bluecoat Press. 2002. softcover ISBN: 1904438059, 2002. This book, and its companion volume 'Liverpool Echoes', represent unfinished business - Richard's last literary sojourn to the city he loves so well. In his own words, he 'wanted to scatter a few more feathers of memory.hence this book.' Belonging as he did, to Liverpool's wealthy elite, he enjoyed a perspective which was denied to the majority, and it is all the more fascinating for that. But despite moving in such elevated circles for much of his life, his interest and sympathies are with humanity in all its forms, and this comes across strongly in his work. 'Liverpool Shadows' contains heroes aplenty - from Dr. Duncan, the Plague Doctor, to the valiant escapees from the doomed submarine, 'Thetis' - but they are probably outnumbered by the villains: a veritable rogues' gallery from the vast underbelly of the city, as well as those whose crimes were once cloaked in respectability, such as the slave traders and slum landlords the book is a celebration of Liverpool's wonderful diversity and is a befitting swansong for one of Liverpool's greatest advocates. 190pp.

    Chris
    Christopher T. George
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    Senior Member ChrisGeorge's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by PhilipG View Post
    That's true.
    Michael Hutchence out of INXS springs to mind, but surely that kind of activity wouldn't be known in those times, and not by an 11 year old.
    Hello Philip

    You might well be right. There is however a book on this phenomenon titled, Autoerotic Asphyxiation: Forensic, Medical, and Social Aspects by Sergey Sheleg and Edwin Ehrlich (August 2006). The authors state:

    'Adelson (1973) considered autoerotic fatalities 'a unique group of accidental hangings involving young boys between the ages nine and fourteen or fifteen.'"

    Possibly we, the society at large, are largely ignorant of what some pre-teen and teenage boys know and do?

    Chris
    Christopher T. George
    Editor, Ripperologist
    Editor, Loch Raven Review
    http://christophertgeorge.blogspot.com/
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  11. #11
    Gnomie
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    Quote Originally Posted by MissInformed View Post

    the actual house- 62 Edge Lane
    My friend lived here a few years back Ive been a few parties there

  12. #12
    MissInformed
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    oohhh any pics of the interior gnomie?

  13. #13
    Gnomie
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    No sorry. i will ask him if he has any, he is living in Reading now.

  14. #14
    theninesisters
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    Quote Originally Posted by MissInformed View Post
    oohhh any pics of the interior gnomie?
    If I can find a way in there will be

  15. #15
    MissInformed
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    cool!

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