John Christie and his wife

He joined the Army in 1916 and was shipped off to France in 1918 where he was gassed.  He spent some time in hospital and on demobilisation received a disability allowance.  His injury affected his speech so that he wasnt able to speak for some weeks.  He returned to Halifax in 1919 and found a girlfriend in his neighbour Ethel Simpson. They married on 10th May 1920.  He was then working as a clerk in a mill but gave up to become a postman, it was here that temptation was put his way.

He began stealing postal orders and in April 1921 was sentenced to 3 months in prison.  In 1923 he appeared before the magistrates on charges of obtaining money by false pretences and violence.  He received 12 months probation.  Ethel stayed with him but he neglected her sexually but it was known that he visited prostitutes.  The marriage floundered and in 1924 Ethel went to live with relatives in Sheffield and he went to London.

Things didnt go too well in London, he was injured in a road accident soon after his arrival, was in trouble with the Law in September and charged with Larceny; sentenced to 3 and 6 months consecutive imprisonment. He lived with a prostitute in 1929 and being unemployed probably lived off her, they had an argument and he struck her over the head with a cricket bat; he received 6 months hard labour for this crime.  In 1933 he was sentenced to 3 months for stealing a car from a priest he had befriended.  During this time in prison he persuaded Ethel to move to London to live with him.  In 1938 the couple moved to 10 Rillington Place (link to the movie http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0066730/)

10 Rillington Place

In 1939 he managed to become a volunteer Special Constable fro The London Police Force (no questions asked!!).  Assigned to Harrow Road Police Station for 4 years he enjoyed the new respect his position gave him and was hard working and efficient.  He also began an intimate relationship with a woman working at the police station whose husband was a serving soldier.  This lasted until 1943 when the soldier returned, caught them in the act and gave him a severe beating.

In 1950, Christie’s evidence helped to convict Timothy Evans for the murder of his wife, Ethel Evans, and their baby daughter whose bodies had been found in the top floor flat at the house. However, when a new tenant moved into the house in 1953, bodies were discovered under floorboards, walled up in cupboards and buried in the garden.

Christie was tried and on July 15 1953 was hanged while Evans was given a posthumous pardon in 1967.  Christie was known to have killed at least 7 women in his lifetime.

with reference to Linda's Crime Notes http://www.parmaq.com/truecrime/Rillington.htm