Shop employee George Ball thought he had got away with murder when he dumped the body of his manageress in the Leeds & Liverpool Canal, but he didn't account fot its lock system which exposed his crime.
In 1913, 40 year old Christina Bradfield managed her brother John's tarpaulin shop in Old Hall Street. Her staff included 20 year old George Ball and 18 year old Samuel Elltoft. On 10th December, as Bradfield was counting the days takings, she was sexually assaulted and battered to death with a piece of wood by Ball. He then instructed Elltoft, who had been putting up shutters outside the shop, to help him dispose of the body.
The corpse was placed in a sack as Ball decided the next plan. Whilst doing this, he had to deal with Walter Eaves, a ships steward whose bowler hat was damaged by a shutter blowing off the window. Ball gave Eaves a florin in compensation, but Eaves remained in the street waiting for his girl. He then witnessed the two young men pushing a handcart up the road, with a suspiciously shaped sack on top of it.
After pushing the cart for half a mile, the sack was thrown into the canal, Ball believing it would eventually end up at the bottom of the River Mersey. Unfortunately for the pair, the sack got caught in a lock gate and was discovered by the master of a barge the next midday. After police had informed John Bradfield of the find they soon concluded who the prime suspects were. Elltoft was arrested at 1.30am the next morning but Ball had already disappeared. Ball was arrested a week later, having been spotted by an old schoolfriend. He had shaved his eyebrows and worn an eyepatch and glasses to try and disguise himself.
At the trial, Ball and Elltoft gave completely different fictional accounts of the events of 10th December. Walter Eaves was the key prosecution witness, telling of the curious looking sack. Ball was hanged for murder while Ellttoft received 4 years penal servitude for being an accessory after the fact. |
